In what caused acute embarrassment to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, governor M.K. Narayanan on Monday termed incidents of farmer suicides unfortunate. “Farmer suicides are unfortunately taking place and we need to find the ways and means so that it does not happen. I suppose they were deeply in debt,” Mr Narayanan said.

Hundreds of poor people were rendered homeless on a chilly winter evening after a devastating fire reduced their shanties into ashes at Kalikapur off EM Bypass in Kolkata on Sunday.

The visit of Yingluck Shinawatra, Thailand’s first woman Prime Minister, to India next week will strengthen the rapidly increasing economic and political ties between the two maritime neighbours.

Crib deaths continued to haunt Malda District Medical College and Hospital where four more babies died between Friday evening and Saturday morning.

The Congress party is again heading for a confrontation with the Mamata Banerjee government: this time over the farmers’ suicide issue.

CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat on Friday said that Mamata Banerjee had failed to keep the promises she had made to the people of West Bengal in the run-up to the Assembly polls. Commenting on the state government’s failure to tackle grave issues like farmer suicides and crib deaths, Mr Karat termed it a “failed administration.” He was speaking after the conclusion of the four-day central committee meeting at Alimuddin Street party office in Kolkata.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has accepted the proposal of Calcutta University vice-chancellor (V-C) Suranjan Das to upgrade St Xavier’s College and accord it university status. Ms Banerjee also asked the V-C to prepare a blue print to turn this elite autonomous institution as a centre of excellence. These developments took place during the Fifth Convocation and Valedictory Programme of the college in Kolkata on Friday.

Thirteen policemen were killed in a landmine blast and subsequent indiscriminate firing by Maoist rebels in Jharkhand's Garwah district on Saturday, the police said.

At a time when chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who also holds the health portfolio, is persistently urging the medical fraternity to serve the patients with care, a woman died after giving birth to tw

Small parties in dynastic politics
Amita Verma
, Jan. 13