Railway minister Mamata Banerjee, travelling as usual in a Maruti car, waits in a traffic jam en route to Parliament in New Delhi on Friday. Rather than the traditional ministerial briefcase, she carried the Railway Budget papers in her trademark jhola into the Lok Sabha. PHOTO: PTI

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Mamata’s budget: ‘izzat’ for poor, 57 new trains

July 3: No bragging, no big-bang announcements. As anticipated, the first Railway Budget presented by Ms Mamata Banerjee on Friday was more like a thanksgiving speech that was full of political overtones and populist measures.Full story

Bengal gets a bonanza

July 3: It rained goodies for West Bengal on Friday. Railway minister and Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who makes no secret of her determination to wrest power from the ruling Left Front in her home Full story

Left gets stumped by ‘Didi’

July 3: Ms Mamata Banerjee’s Railway Budget has left the Left leaders virtually stumped, particularly those in West Bengal. The slew of pro-poor measures as well as the rain of goodies for West Bengal had CPI(M) leaders floundering Full story

Lalu: It is unrealistic

Former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav tried to point out holes in Mamata Banerjee’s Budget, saying her promises were "unrealistic". He also accused her of neglecting Bihar.Full story

50-yr record rice yield, crop sowing may change

July 3: The government on Friday said there had been a record procurement of rice (30 million tonnes) this year, "a record in 50 years", even as it indicated that it might shift the pattern of sowing of certain crops depending on the monsoon. Full story

Melting snows reveal bodies from Pakistan

July 3: At least six members of a group of infiltrating militants who "disappeared" soon after reportedly sneaking into the Indian side of the Line of Control in Gurez sector in March this year have been found buried in snow in Jammu and Kashmir.Full story

Kasab mom to visit him

April 14: External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee said Tuesday that 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab’s mother was coming from Pakistan to visit him in jail in Mumbai. Full story

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Here & Now

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• 57 new trains to cover entire nation
• Budget may hit Left vote
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