Several primary school teachers in West Midnapore’s Jungle Mahal area have sought transfer in the face of Maoist “threats and extortion”. Since Mamata Banerjee’s government assumed charge on May 20, anti-Maoist operations in Jungle Mahal have stopped, allowing the rebels the opportunity to regroup and “start atrocities against teachers again”. In the past 15 days, at least 26 teachers have submitted applications to the district chairman of the primary education board seeking...

27 party supporters killed since election results announced The Left Front would raise the issue of terror being unleashed upon its cadres and party workers in protests outside the State Assembly and Parliament and may also raise it during the all-party meeting called by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, State Left Front Committee chairman Biman Bose said here on Thursday. Claiming that 27 supporters and party workers had been killed since...

In a setback to the Election Commission (EC), its pilot poll conducted on Sunday to establish a paper trail for electronic voting machines (EVMs) reported significant errors. Preliminary results of the EC pilot poll indicated discrepancies between votes polled in EVMs and the paper trail, according to three people involved and familiar with the testing process. Two of them are EC officials who confirmed the mismatch, but did not give any...

-The Times of India   Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) general secretary Akhil Gogoi is known for drawing huge crowds in his demonstration programmes. But on Monday, when the RTI activist launched an indefinite sit-in stir against the recent hike in electricity tariff, he had only three men and a woman by his side. Is people's support for his campaign on social issues on the decline? Akhil reacts instantly. "The government...

This essay describes and compares Parliament and the Supreme Court and examines the relationship between them. Parliament may still be a great institution, but its members are no longer great men. How long can a great institution remain great in the hands of small men? The SC has held its place in the public esteem rather better than the Lok Sabha, despite the occasional allegation of financial impropriety. Parliament, the...