The Mamata Banerjee government has sought the Supreme Court’s permission to withdraw its Left predecessor’s appeal against a Calcutta High Court order that had described the March 2007 police firing in Nandigram as “unconstitutional” and “wholly unjustified”. If the apex court allows the state’s latest plea, it will pave the way for cases being filed against any erring policeman, officer or government official. The “unconstitutional” tag too will stand, as will the...

Farmers are joining India Inc in mind, body and spirit. In a quiet revolution underway across the countryside, growers are setting up companies, replete with balance sheets, professional CEOs, board of directors, and income tax returns.  By pooling together the land and produce of their shareholders, these companies are signing lucrative deals with large retail chains, food companies and exporters keen to establish reliable supply chains. As many as 200 companies...

Perennially hungry Chotanagra panchayat, 120km from district headquarters Chaibasa, may be forgiven for rubbing its eyes today in disbelief at the sight of a piping hot lunch. Amid the flurry of goodies — from land to tube well repair kits to tricycles — distributed by Union minister Jairam Ramesh, chief minister Arjun Munda and his deputies, what starving villagers relished most were steamed rice, mashed vegetables and eggs, courtesy the Central...

Four deadly cobras among 40 snakes unleashed by farmers in latest anti-corruption protest in northern India Two farmers fed up with bribery demands have dumped three sacks filled with snakes on the floor of a busy tax office in northern India. The 40 or so snakes of different sizes and species, including at least four deadly cobras, sent clerks and villagers climbing on to tables and scurrying out of the door to...

Four colleagues of arrested journalist Jigna Vora have recorded their statements in the presence of a magistrate in connection with her alleged role in the murder of senior journalist J Dey. According to the police, Vora, who was working as deputy bureau chief with The Asian Age in Mumbai, had allegedly used her office computer along with her personal computer to send e-mails. “Four colleagues from the technical department in her...