-The Indian Express Kolkata: The humble potato comes a poor second to pricey onion in State matters. But that was before Mamata Banerjee wielded the knife. Over the past couple of days, the West Bengal Police, directed by the Chief Minister, has seized thousands of trucks carrying potatoes to neighbouring states such as Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar. Mamata's provocation was the rise in the price of the vegetable back home. However, while...

-The Hindu     While making grain available to all is important, it is equally essential to ensure that all food supplied for consumption remains unadulterated and uncontaminated. When India became independent, the Constitution declared it to be a socialist, secular, democratic Republic. The first fundamental right under the Constitution sets down that every citizen has a right to life. This has been interpreted by the highest court as every citizen's right to a...

-Down to Earth Disabled youth on wheelchair severely thrashed in Kolkata; police arrest over 1,600 people for violating noise rules, unruly behaviour Pintu Biswas is the seventh person to die in West Bengal since 1997 for protesting against noisy firecrackers Last Saturday, the night of Kali Puja, was witness to the gruesome murder of a 40-year-old trader, Pintu Biswas, as he protested the bursting of noisy chocolate bombs outside his house. The incident...

-The Hindustan Times The country's intelligence agencies are out to scuttle a law that's being drafted to protect your privacy. The Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing have told the government to water down the proposed law that makes it a crime to leak sensitive personal information collected by government departments and the private sector. The agencies conveyed their views to national security adviser Shivshankar Menon at a recent meeting at...

-The Hindu The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a specialised arm of the World Health Organisation, has sounded an alert for policymakers with its conclusion that there is sufficient evidence now on outdoor air pollution as a cause of lung cancer. A separate evaluation of particulate matter in the air has led to its classification also as a ‘Group 1' pollutant, indicating firm evidence of cancer-causing properties. Given that rapidly...