-The Hindu   The West Bengal Government on Thursday issued an ordinance that will enable it to reclaim 400 acres of disputed land (out of 997.11 acres) alleged to have been acquired at Singur from farmers against their wishes to set up the Tata Motors small car project, since relocated. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the Governor had signed the ordinance and that the 400 acres would be returned to the owners. “As...

A day after it announced issuing an ordinance to reclaim disputed land at Singur, the Mamata Banerjee government on Friday said it would not notify the ordinance, but would instead place it as a Bill in the ensuing Assembly session. The session, which was earlier slated to commence from June 24, will now start on June 13. Ms. Banerjee told reporters at the Secretariat: “The Ordinance is not being brought into...

-The Hindu   Polit Bureau discusses reports of West Bengal, Kerala State Committees on Assembly elections The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Friday reiterated its commitment to inclusion of the Prime Minister in the purview of the proposed institution of Lokpal. Addressing journalists after the Polit Bureau meeting, MP Sitaram Yechury recalled that a law on Lokpal was something that the party was pursuing for 30 years since the Bofors issue...

A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took centre-stage putting his party's weight behind protestors over land acquisition in western Uttar Pradesh, the government on Thursday said it would introduce a new land acquisition bill having provisions for better compensation and rehabilitation measures in the next session of Parliament. "We must have a new land acquisition law. Government has drafted a new act that has provisions for better compensation, rehabilitation and...

U.S. support for Muhammad Yunus is so strong that Dhaka may find a negotiated settlement to protect the Nobel Laureate's image and the independence of the Grameen Bank. Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus's three-decades-long journey with microfinance was laborious. But he most certainly did not encounter a crisis like the one he is facing now. It was only in December 2010 that the Bangladeshi — who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with...