Tata Motors' small car project at Singur, which will produce the

The Supreme Court today refused to stay the Calcutta High Court order upholding the acquisition of 1,000 acres in Singur for the Nano plant. A bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan rejected pleas by a Calcutta lawyer and two Singur farmers to stay the January 18 judgment that held the land was acquired in "public interest'. The apex court, however, issued notices to the Centre, the state and Tata Motors. The farmers' counsel, Kalyan Bandopadhyay, alleged that the land had been acquired "illegally'.

Even after spending crores of rupee on the relaying and upgrading the city's sewer lines under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), civic body can hardly heave a sigh of relief that they have given the city dwellers respite from waterlogged streets during the monsoons. Thanks to the century old sewer lines and age-old pumps at various pumping stations. Moreover, engineers are also skeptic about the fate of these pumps once de-silting and sewerage-relaying projects under the JNNURM are completed.

If things go as planned, transplantation of liver would be a reality in Kolkata within a couple of months. After Mumbai, Kolkata would be the second city in the country to facilitate transplantation in a state-run hospital at a much cheaper cost.

To augment the supply of drinking water to the city, particularly the southern fringes of Kolkata, Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) will be setting up a water treatment plant along with a 2.5 million gallon capacity underground reservoir cum pumping station at Garden Reach. The decision was taken at a meeting of the works and tender committee held in the conference room of Unnayan Bhavan, recently. The project will be constructed on turn key basis. The committee has advised the wing resposible for setting up the pumping station to invite fresh tenders.

Seeking to clear the air over his criticism of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Sunday said the Government and its policy-makers and not any individual were responsible for the crisis in the agriculture sector. "I am not blaming any person. I am blaming the Government. The Government and those who decide its policies lack foresight. It is because of their point of view that the country is facing such a crisis,' Bhattacharjee told a private channel.

Turtle meat on sale at Bansdroni bazaar. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya Turtle meat is being sold across the city and its adjacent areas, in violation of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The act bans slaughter, sale and consumption of the turtle, a protected species. Forest department officials said there were reports of turtle meat being sold in Garia, Kidderpore, Kestopur, Lake Gardens and other places. "We conduct raids and arrest the sellers,' said Atanu Raha, the state principal chief conservator of forests.

Sharing the plight of residents of Kolkata reeling under acute power crisis, West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi has decided that Raj Bhavan, his official residence, will suffer a voluntary two-hour power cut daily from on Wednesday. "This decision follows Gandhi's view that Raj Bhavan need not be an exception to the city's electricity supply situation', a source said on Tuesday. The decision will be reviewed as and when necessary.

For eight successive years - between 1999-2000 and 2006-07 - the port at Visakhapatanam occupied the number one slot among the twelve major ports in the country. In 2007-08, it lost that position to Kandla. Against Visakhapatanam's 64.59 million tonnes, Kandla managed to handle a little more at 64.89 million tonnes of cargo. The Kolkata port (including Haldia) slipped to the third position at 57.28 million tonnes.

Autorickshaws and private buses are responsible for the snarls on city roads, a Besu study has revealed. The study, commissioned by the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC), was conducted by the transportation engineering and planning wing of the civil engineering department under the leadership of Prof Sudip Roy. "There are over 100 auto routes in the city and the count is rising by the day,' said Roy. "Initially, an auto carried three passengers. Now, they ferry up to six in violation of traffic rules.'