-The Telegraph Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will not know Pushpa Tudu. Neither will state election commissioner Mira Pande. Such an assertion can be made because Pushpa Tudu does not want her real name to be published - a wish that tells the human story behind the stand-off between the Bengal government and the state election commission. Early last week, Pushpa Tudu (name changed), a probable CPM gram panchayat candidate, was addressing a small...

-The Telegraph Bengal leads in dependence on private tuition but bottom of the pack in basics More schoolchildren in Bengal take private tuition than in most other states but they are anything but the best when tested for basic reading and arithmetic skills, a national survey has revealed. Although the survey by the NGO Pratham focused on schoolchildren going to government institutions in the districts, teachers say students of the top schools...

-The Times of India SURI: A clash between farmers and policemen at the site of a mining project in Birbhum left 37 people injured on Tuesday and conjured up images of Nandigram, opening a new frontier in Bengal's bloody land battles. The protesters alleged police opened fire when they refused to let them take away earth-moving equipment brought in by a coal mining company. The equipment was stranded at the site after...

-The Telegraph The Union environment ministry has raised concerns over the proposed power plant on Nayachar island, casting a cloud on the Rs 8,600-crore investment proposal by NRI businessman Prasoon Mukherjee. At a meeting earlier this month with Bengal government officials, an expert appraisal committee under the central ministry asked the state to come up with a revised environment protection plan. Handing over a 100-page dossier prepared by a group of professionals, chaired...

-The Telegraph Industries minister Partha Chatterjee today turned down a suggestion by CPM leader Surjya Kanta Mishra to follow the Tamil Nadu model by amending the central land acquisition act to fulfil its objective of returning land to Singur’s farmers instead of battling it out in court. The leader of the Opposition also assured Chatterjee that the Left Front would support the state government in the Assembly if it agreed to introduce...