-The Hindustan Times Democracy is in peril in West Bengal, Partha Sarothi Ray alleged within hours of walking free from jail on Wednesday, after a number of intellectuals, including Noam Chomsky urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his release. Ray was arrested on April 8 for participating in a sit-in demonstration protesting the eviction of about 200 families from Nonadanga by the Mamata Banerjee administration. He was granted bail on Wednesday, after...

-The Times of India The molecular biologist who was arrested and put behind bars for 10 days for his role in the Nonadanga protests said on Wednesday he was committed to the slum-dwellers' cause. Partho Sarothi Ray insisted at a press conference within hours of walking out of jail that he had been framed, and described the situation in Bengal as a "dark state of democracy". "I was not on the spot...

Will Vijay Mallya commit suicide for running up huge losses at Kingfisher Airlines," asks Talaka Rajiah, a farmer near Parkala town, 35 kilometres from Warangal in Andhra Pradesh's Telangana region. "He will not. The government has already thrown some lifelines for him and the airline sector in the Budget," says Rajiah, who also happens to be the secretary of the Telangana Farmers Association. "But when it comes to farmers the...

-The Hindustan Times   Two days after members of a local club at Baruipur thrashed retired scientist Aparesh Bhattacharya and his daughter, Aditi, allegedly at the behest of the owner of the rented house where they used to stay, the police swung into action and slapped a case under bailable sections against the accused. "We've received a complaint from Aditi and started a case against the owner of the house, Gautam Pal,...

Social activists and students of Jadavpur University took out separate processions here on Tuesday in protest against the police action last week against Ambikesh Mahapatra, a professor of the university, for circulating e-mails containing graphics of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other Trinamool Congress leaders. Dr. Mahapatra, who was arrested in connection with the incident and subsequently released on bail, was present in both the processions. Students carried placards...