If you are a health food freak who lives on salads and swears by the benefits of organically grown raw vegetables, it's time for a reality check. In 16 countries across the globe, nearly 3,000 people have been sickened and 29 have died after eating raw vegetables contaminated by a group of bacteria collectively called Escherichia coli ( E. coli). Authorities first cited contaminated Spanish cucumbers as the culprit and now...

West Bengal Chief Minister MAMata Banerjee faced a major embarrassment on Friday as she was forced to put on hold an ordinance restoring land in Singur to farmers. The state government on Friday instead proposed to table a Bill in the legislative assembly on Tuesday so that the land in Singur-currently the site of an abandoned Tata Motors factory-can eventually be given back to farmers. "The ordinance that was promulgated on...

PTI   Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday made light of the criticism being faced by West Bengal Chief Minister MAMata Banerjee for first announcing an ordinance and then saying a bill would be moved in the assembly to reclaim the 400 acre at Singur. "So what? It's a good decision," Mukherjee told reporters in reply to a question before leaving for his Jangipur Lok Sabha constituency in Murshidabad district. The chief...

When it was almost certain that the governments of the country were to take their hands off from total acquisition of land for a private project, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council has started thinking otherwise. The thought went out for hundred per cent acquisition by the government. Had this come at the germinal stage of discussion about changes in the colonial Act, it could have resulted in MAMata Banerjee’s face...

-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...