-Express News Service Protests erupted across the state, but the Trinamool Congress government stood firm on its circular on the newspapers that readers of all government libraries should read.   “There is no question of withdrawing the circular. Every government has its own policy and the circular was prepared in accordance with government rules and policies. I knew about it. The chief minister also knew it before it was issued,’’ Abdul Karim Choudhury,...

-The Telegraph The Mamata Banerjee government’s move to appropriate the financial powers of the zilla parishads in North 24-Parganas, Nadia and Murshidabad has set the stage for battle in next year’s panchayat elections. Senior Trinamul leaders said with the financial powers gone, these three zilla parishads have effectively been wrested from the Left. Panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee said the move to take away the financial powers was an “administrative necessity” as in the...

-The Telegraph The Mamata Banerjee government today curtailed the financial powers of three CPM-run zilla parishads where funds disbursals have come to a standstill because of an alleged tussle to claim credit. The district magistrates of North 24-Parganas, Nadia and Murshidabad have been empowered to disburse funds. The Left had been reduced to a minority in the standing committees of the three zilla parishads after it lost power last May. State panchayat minister...

-The Telegraph Lakshman Seth, the former CPM member of Parliament blamed for much of the bloodshed in Nandigram, was arrested by a Bengal police team this afternoon while hiding in a Mumbai guesthouse along with two party colleagues. Seth, former MLA Amiya Sahoo and East Midnapore leader Ashok Guria are the key accused in the alleged killing of six villagers during the CPM’s “recapture” of Nandigram in November 2007. Seth, entangled in...

-The Hindustan Times Under fire from the opposition for the indefinite postponement of the Lokpal Bill, the government on Wednesday assured the Rajya Sabha that it will be taken up before March 30 during the ongoing budget session. In his reply to the notice given by the leader of the opposition Arun Jaitley, seeking immediate resumption of the debate on the bill, parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said it will be...