Boommi Gowda used to fear the night. Her vision fogged by glaucoma, she could not see by just the dim glow of a kerosene lamp, so she avoided going outside where king cobras slithered freely and tigers carried off neighborhood dogs. But things have changed at Gowda's home in the remote southern village of Nada. A solar-powered lamp pours white light across the front of the mud-walled hut she shares with...

-The Telegraph   The flow of farmers to fill up forms for land return in Singur thinned to a trickle today, the “lack of hurry” attributed to yesterday’s Supreme Court stay on distribution of plots. Pulak Sarkar, the block development officer (BDO) of Singur, said only 106 forms were submitted between 10 am and 7pm today. “Yesterday, we had received 250 forms. Altogether, 1,590 forms have been submitted since Sunday,” he said. The 15...

Protest against government attempts to suppress democratic resistance by villagers Police avoid confrontation; no work on construction of boundary wall As Orissa on Wednesday made failed attempts to acquire land for the Posco steel plant in Jagatsinghpur district, five political parties announced that they would begin an indefinite Dharna opposing the Naveen Patnaik government's attempts to suppress democratic resistance by villagers who oppose establishment of the project in their locality. The Dharna would...

-The Telegraph   The Bengal government has decided to start returning Singur land from tomorrow, the day the Supreme Court will begin hearing a Tata Motors plea for a stay on the process. About 3.8 acres from the former Nano site’s southeastern part were identified today for distribution among 12 farmers from Gopalnagar, setting off celebrations. Initially, the administration announced the plots would be handed over this evening but later put it off by...

-PTI   Several political parties on Tuesday pledged their support to journalists and non-journalists who staged a day-long Dharna across the country to protest against the “delay” in notification of the Wage Boards for them and promised to raise the issue in Parliament. Senior leaders of the BJP, the CPI(M), the CPI and the JD(U) alleged that the government was “dithering” on the issue as “it wants to serve the interests of...