-The Hindu Even as political cartoons have come under attack from some unamused politicians — triggering debates on the purpose and importance of cartoons and freedom of speech — the annual award list for the cartooning contest held in the memory of political cartoonist Maya Kamath was announced. Winners all A Pakistani cartoonist, an acclaimed caricaturist from Bangalore and a Delhi artist finished at the top of the contest, which drew a total...

Q The idea of regulating the media is very much in the news. What are your views on the matter? A Obviously, the ideal way to do this would be self-regulation. I don’t think anyone in the profession has any doubt about that. Everybody agrees that self-regulation is a very good thing, but we don’t seem to move beyond that. And we are consequently opening a window for people who want...

-CNN-IBN West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has come up with yet another bizarre advice. She is now advising people on what television channels they should watch. Addressing a gathering in North 24 Parganas, she told people to stop watching certain news channels and switch to entertainment channels instead. She told her cadres to avoid some TV channels and listen to music instead. She also criticised a section of the media for...

-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 Centre has cited three shortcomings in the implementation of the rural job scheme in Bengal and linked the next instalment of grant to the resolution of the problems. In a letter sent to chief minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday, Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has identified the critical areas as low completion rate of works, delay in e-transfer of wages and inadequate action on complaints of irregularities. “Let me make it...