-The Economic Times   The West Bengal government on Thursday promulgated an Ordinance to re-acquire 400 acres of the 997-acre Singur property that was leased out to the Tatas in March 2007 for the Nano project . The ordinance has been signed by governor MK Narayanan. The ordinance presumably kills two birds with a stone. It will enable chief minister Mamata Banerjee to keep a nearly three-year-old promise she had made to Singur's...

-The United Nations   More than one billion people worldwide experience some form of disability, the United Nations and the World Bank said today in a report that calls for the elimination of barriers that often force the people with disabilities to “the margins of society.” The World Report on Disability, developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, with contributions from over 380 experts, urges governments to “to...

-The Telegraph   Chief minister Mamata Banerjee today said the state government had “taken back” through an ordinance the 997.11 acres lying with the Tatas and vendors in Singur to fulfil the promise of returning plots to disgruntled farmers. The dramatic announcement evoked studied silence from the Tatas, sounded the death knell for the agreement the business group signed with the erstwhile Left government and triggered hair-splitting that raised questions about the...

-The Hindu   Polit Bureau discusses reports of West Bengal, Kerala State Committees on Assembly elections The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Friday reiterated its commitment to inclusion of the Prime Minister in the purview of the proposed institution of Lokpal. Addressing journalists after the Polit Bureau meeting, MP Sitaram Yechury recalled that a law on Lokpal was something that the party was pursuing for 30 years since the Bofors issue...

The World Health Organisation says disabled people more likely to be denied healthcare and less likely to find work. The proportion of disabled people is rising and now stands at one billion, or 15 per cent of the global population, according to the first official global report on disability. An ageing population and an increase in chronic health conditions, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, mean the proportion has grown from...