-The Telegraph   Mamata Banerjee tonight used her strongest language yet to condemn “the Jungle Mahal mafia” and virtually warned of a rethink on the undeclared ceasefire in the Maoist zone after the leader of a local party was shot dead in West Midnapore. Although the chief minister sought to paint the killers as the mafia, not Maoists, she ripped into the rebels’ supporters in universities in Calcutta, reflecting the distance she has...

-The Hindu   Cautioning against keeping “high-investment facilities” idle, the former Atomic Energy Commission chief, M. R. Srinivasan, has sought a vigorous public relations push to counter the “misinformation campaign” against the Kudankulam nuclear project. Noting that there is some amount of misunderstanding in the minds of the people protesting against the project after the Fukushima accident in Japan, he said, “Safety is not in anyway compromised.” “The Atomic Energy Department, Nuclear Power Corporation...

A question mark has appeared yet again on Maoists' intention to open Dialogue with the West Bengal government, with the gunning down of a local Trinamool Congress leader in the Jhargram area of Paschim Medinipur district on Tuesday. “A group of armed assailants waylaid Lalmohan Mahato when he was on his way to give tuitions at Pukuria village, and fired at him from point-blank range. He died on the spot. Posters...

-The Business Standard   India made it clear today that it wanted extension of the current Kyoto Protocol on emission cuts, but said it would not accept any further legally binding emission framework. “Before we decide on a new legally binding framework,” said environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan, “it is important to ensure that the existing framework does not crumble. There is at present a legally binding framework (Kyoto Protocol). We want it to...

Do agencies like the Ford Foundation push their own agenda through the NGOs they support? It’s often said, tongue in cheek, that India’s “shadow” government works out of the nondescript, low-slung buildings abutting the Lodhi Garden in Delhi. That’s partly hubris, but it also stems from being close to the centre of power. This rarefied zone houses powerful “cultural” institutions like the India International Centre, as well as a host...