In tune with the CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat's prescription after the panchayat poll debacles to the CPI(M)-led government to put on hold any development project vis-a-vis land acquisition drive, the West Bengal government on Tuesday declared that in face of any protest during land procurement for the Dankuni Township in Hooghly district, the entire project might be scrapped. Significantly, the state government has already put a brake on Salim Group's proposed projects in East Medinipur and North and South 24 Parganas.

The commerce ministry in a letter to the Goa government has said that there is no provision to denotify approved and notified Special Economic Zones (SEZs). "We have received such a letter and will be taking a stand within a couple of days after thorough discussion on the issue," State Chief Secretary J P Singh said this evening. The commerce ministry's refusal to denotify three SEZs has come as a tough challenge for the state government that will now have to take stand on the issue within two weeks.

P. Sainath The farmers contesting the Jadcherla seat helped to defeat the sitting MLA. The Jadcherla 13, of whom eight are seen in the picture, succeeded in lowering the votes of the main parties. They made history by standing as 13 independent candidates fighting the same Assembly seat but contesting for, not against, one another. They did it again on Sunday

Mamata Banerjee has announced fresh agitations at Singur and Nandigam demanding action against Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, CPM secretary Biman Bose and senior party leader Benoy Konar who, she alleged, were responsible for Tapashi Mallick's killing at Singur and the carnage at Nandigram on March 14 when the police and CPM cadres gunned down 14 farmers.

Tata Power and Reliance Energy are unable to bring the development the 1,600 mw and 4,000-mw power projects on fast track, thanks to the Maharashtra government's dillydallying over expediting the land acquisition process of these projects. The government, though, was striving to meet the ever increasing power demand in the state was not eager to push through land acquisition process at the cost of its survival. It took three years since the state government signed an MoU on April 4, 2005, to streamline the land acquisition process.

The first Nano car will roll out from the Singur plant in West Bengal, Ravi Kant (pictured) said, ending speculation over the possibility of rolling out Nano from other locations. Kant said that the company is on schedule as far as the launch date of mid-October is concerned. Work at the plant is moving at a brisk pace. Fierce agitation from locals, a political backlash and controversies over land acquisition, recruitment of workforce, arrangement of basic utilities and water logging during the last monsoon had already pushed the original deadline back five or six months.

After suffering reverses in panchayat polls in several districts of West Bengal, the CPI (M) on Thursday said industrialisation in the state would continue, though steps to acquire land would be taken "cautiously". "The process of industrialisation will continue. However, we have to take steps cautiously (to acquire land) and decide on where industries would be set up," party Politburo member Biman Bose told reporters here. Mr Bose, who is here to attend the Central Committee meeting, said, "We have to take the people into confidence and move forward."

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee reiterated here on Monday her demand that the 400 acres of land that she claims had been acquired from peasants in Singur without their consent for the setting up of the Tata Motors' car manufacturing project there should be returned to their owners. She scoffed at veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu's remark on Sunday that any attempt to sabotage the project would send the message to the people that the Trinamool Congress is against development.

As China continues to boom in the coming decades, it would be well advised to think big. Big cities, that is.

Trouble broke out at Singur in West Bengal's Hooghly district on Sunday when police had to burst tear gas shells to disperse a mob that damaged a watch-tower near the project site of the Tata Motors' automobile manufacturing unit where construction work was underway. The mob allegedly hurled bricks at the police when challenged, injuring some of them. Additional security forces were rushed to the area, a senior district police official said.