The stage is set for a showdown in Singur with Mamata Banerjee followers who have laid siege around the Nano plant announcing they won't allow any employee to enter the factory from Friday.

The announcement came from Naxalite leader Purnendu Bose, now one of the partners of the Krishi Jami Raksha Committee. Bose is among the several leaders of Trinamool allies who have pitched in their lot with her campaign against the Tata plants. He was one of the leaders nominated by Mamata to sit for talks with the government on August 20.

Cutting Corners

Ashok Mitra

New Delhi, Aug. 27: The Tata Motors may face penalty or premium for excess emissions from its high-end Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles when a stringent environment law is enforced in Europe in 2012.

In an initiative aimed at reducing CO2 emissions from new passenger cars by 19 per cent, the European Commission had adopted a proposal for legislation in December 2007.

The manufacturers can, however, make cars with emissions above the permitted limits, but have to balance by vehicles which emit less than the set standards.

KOLKATA: The political agitation at Singur near the Tata Motors project site cast its shadow on the operations of another automobile company, that of Hindustan Motors Ltd.

The C. K. Birla group company on Wednesday put up a notice at its factory gate shutting down its production for a day.

An official spokesperson of the C. K. Birla group (which controls HM) said that the factory had advanced its weekly off from Saturday to Wednesday in view of the congestion on the Durgapur Expressway.

Bs Reporter / Mumbai August 28, 2008, 5:59 IST

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani today backed the Tata group's Nano car project, saying industry and politicians need to work together for the country's industrial growth.

"A fear psychosis is being created to slow down certain projects of national importance,' Ambani said, adding that the "political move' will be counter-productive for the country's economic growth, its global image as well as the ability to attract investments from across the world.

Bs Reporter / Kolkata August 28, 2008, 5:57 IST

A meeting scheduled between the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) officials and vendors of Tata Motors' Nano project at Singur for tomorrow, which was expected to break the continuing impasse, has been cancelled.

A vendor said that Tata Motors had sent a mail that a meeting with the West Bengal commerce and industry secretary was scheduled for tomorrow. However the meeting now stands cancelled, said another vendor. A Tata Motors spokesperson said that the company was not involved in the meeting.

P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday asked the developed bloc to get real about global trade issues.

He also expressed the Centre's willingness to play "a facilitating role' to prevent any adverse impact on the investment climate in West Bengal in the current context of a controversy over the Tata Group's Nano-car project there.

Bs Reporter / Kolkata August 27, 2008, 4:25 IST

No return of land to farmers, CM reiterates.

Buddhadeb BhattacharjeeIn a sharp deviation from his party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M), West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today described gheraos, the practice of disrupting work by intimidating managements, as "illegal and immoral' and said he was opposed to bandhs, or full-scale closure of state services.

SINGUR STALEMATE CONTINUES TO ROCK POLITICS AND ECONOMY
Shishir Prashant / Dehradun August 27, 2008, 0:38 IST

The B C Khanduri government seems to be in no hurry to provide concession on lease rent as well as some more land to Tata Motors at the Pantnagar industrial estate.

A high-level meeting, held yesterday, took no decision on the demands of the auto major and instead left it to the chief minister. However, top officials here said a positive note would soon be put before the state cabinet to take a final decision.