Folkata Confata

Becharam Manna, convenor of the Singur Krishi Jomi Rakkha Committee, was awestruck by the grandeur of the Governor8217;s house.

Manna, a person with humble background, was so enthralled by costly chandeliers, furniture and artifacts of the Raj Bhavan that he could not stop himself from getting photographed. He took out his mobile and clicked his own photo with the walls of the Bhavan forming his background.

Later, after having lunch with Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, he was heard saying, 8220;I never dreamt of entering Raj Bhavan, let alone having lunch with the Governor.8221;

Choked expressway, hounded officials

Nowadays, the officials of National Highway Authorities of India NHAI are a harried lot of people. Since the Calcutta High Court directed the NHAI to clear the choked stretch of Durgapur Expressway in Singur which has been overtaken by Trinamool Congress supporters, the officials are being 8220;hounded8221; by mediapersons.

With the situation at the expressway showing no signs of improvement, journalists are leaving no stone unturned to question the NHAI officials. 8220;The media would hound me all through the day and it was becoming difficult for us to step outdoors. I had gone out to the local market to buy vegetables and even there I was stalked. It made my life a hell,8221; said a senior official of the NHAI at Durgapur.

A nostalgic Subhash defends auto drivers

Reminiscing one8217;s youthful days is always a riveting experience. But when a maverick minister like

Subhash Chakrabarty treads the nostalgic path at a public function, it makes everyone sit up and listen.

During a recent interactive session at the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry BNCCI, the state transport minister defended the autorickshaw drivers of Kolkata in a unique way.

8220;They the autorickshaw drivers can never be a minister like me or a businessman like you. Even if we would like to, we cannot put an end to autorickshaws. Most of the drivers are young people. They remind me of myself 27 years ago when I did not even dream of being a minister, let alone being a minister for 27 years,8221; Chakrabarty said.

Shaping policies the MIT way

Finance Minister Asim

Dasgupta8217;s association with Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT is a well-known fact.

That he inspires the state government policies with the lessons of his MIT connection became obvious at a recent public function organised by the state education department. There Dasgupta spoke about his rendezvous with MIT8217;s most famous professor of linguistics Noam Chomsky and how those meetings influenced some of the policies of the state government.

8220;In 1977, when we met Noam Chomsky, he had emphasised on the need for learning the mother tongue. So, our decision of withdrawing English at primary level was not wrong,8221; Dasgupta said referring to the Left Front8217;s government decision to withdraw English as a subject in primary schools during the 70s. Dasgupta did not stop there. 8220;Around five years ago, when Chomsky had visited Kolkata, I had the privilege of interacting with him again. He had then spoken on the importance of learning English. We later decided to reintroduce English at the primary level considering the changed scenario,8221; Dasgupta added.

8216;Obey traffic rules or join CPM rally8217;

The CPM8217;s grand rally on September 1 had thrown the city traffic out of gear and the traffic policemen had a tough time trying to bring in some order on the streets. With CPM supporters virtually seizing Kolkata8217;s main roads, some traffic policemen even lost their temper. When a taxi driver tried to bypass a 8220;no entry8221; sign, a traffic sergeant was seen unleashing his fury.

When the driver tried to argue, the policeman retorted: 8220;Why are you arguing with me? Go and ask your leaders. Go and ask Biman Bose. If you can8217;t obey traffic rules, go and join the rally instead.8221;

CAB8217;s mantra:

award the losers

Jagmohan Dalmiya-led Cricket Association of Bengal8217;s CAB top brass did the unthinkable this week when it appointed the coaching responsibility of the state8217;s talented Under-19 team to a person who had recently flunked in the official examination for basic-coaching.
Madan Ghosh, a stalwart cricket coach in Maidan, recently failed to clear the Level 8216;A8217; coaching license examination conducted by the

country8217;s cricket board.

Just two days after this embarrassment, the CAB pompously

appointed Ghosh as the U-19 coach amid protests from various sections of cricketing community.