-IANS   An anti-tobacco group on Thursday expressed shock over West Bengal chief minister MAMata Banerjee's joke asking people to smoke more, so more revenue could be garnered to compensate investors of the collapsed Saradha financial scam. "This is a great discouragement for those working in the area of public health," said Bhavna Mukhopadhyay, executive director, Voluntary Health Association of India. Mukhopadhyay said the West Bengal chief minister announced a 10% tax hike...

-The Indian Express New Delhi/ Kolkata: Chit fund 'kingpin' names politicians from Bengal, Assam in letter to CBI. Sudipta Sen, promoter of Saradha Group, has claimed that Trinamool Congress's Rajya Sabha members Kunal Ghosh and Srinjay Bose assured him that his business interests will be protected "as they have a very close connection" with Chief Minister MAMata Banerjee. In an 18-page letter to the CBI, Sen has alleged that a number of politicians...

-PTI MAMata Banerjee stages reversal of former apathy towards fate of those affected by Saradha Group demise Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister MAMata Banerjee staged a reversal of her former apathy towards the fate of those whose savings had disappeared amid the collapse of the deposit-taking Saradha Group. Having said on Monday that "what has gone, has gone", Banerjee on Wednesday announced a 10 percentage point hike in value-added tax (VAT) on tobacco...

-CNN-IBN Finance Minister P Chidambaram's wife Nalini Chidambaram was engaged as a senior advocate to appear on behalf of Manoranjana Sinh and her husband and a Narasimha Rao government minister Matang Sinh in a company petition filed by her before the company law board against M/4 Positive TV Ltd, sources close to the Union Minister's wife have said. The case is still pending before the Company Law Board. Sources say Nalini represented...

-IANS KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister MAMata Banerjee on Thursday came in for sharp criticism from within her party and the opposition after she suggested people to "smoke more" to provide compensation to victims of a chit fund scam. "Smoking is bad.. let there be tax on it. But am I responsible for what Sudipta Sen did? Why should I pay more tax on every cigarette I smoke? I haven't fleeced the...