A Bangladeshi barge carrying around 60 tonnes of fly ash sank in the Hooghly, near Budge Budge, on Thursday apparently after the engine developed a snag during high tide.

The Anmona-2, which was returning to Bangladesh with fly ash from the CESC plant in Budge Budge, has been tied away from the navigational channel, about 60 feet from the bank.

The civic authorities on Wednesday started demolishing encroachments on Bikramgarh Jheel, off South City, that has shrunk from 100 to 20 bighas following rampant landfill by a section of realtors.

The Bengal government has said it will provide all support to Bangladesh in a campaign to make the Sunderbans one of the new seven wonders.

The assurance to Bangladesh forest minister Hasan Mahmud came from Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

A pusher tug, a small barge that propels a bigger vessel, drowned in the Hooghly near Prinsep Ghat on Friday night, releasing oil into the river.

Attempts to salvage barge Bhagadutta, owned by the Assam government, might start from Monday, Calcutta Port Trust officials said.

JAYANTA BASU AND SOUMEN BHATTACHARJEE

Team Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Team Mamata Banerjee have formed a mahajot (grand alliance)

The state environment department has ordered police to close down the Shibpur botanical garden cafeteria that had hosted a wedding reception on January 24.

Milon Mela or the Maidan

The World Bank will provide Rs 200 crore over the next five years for the preservation of coastal Bengal, including the Sunderbans, Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh said today.

Copenhagen, Dec. 14: India, China and 128 other countries briefly walked out of the climate change talks here today in protest against the failure of industrialised countries to make firm commitments on greenhouse gas emission cuts in the years beyond 2012.

There