KOLKATA, 14 MAY: In an initiative to combat high rates of malnutrition in children of West Bengal, GlaxoSmithKline consumer healthcare have partnered with Horlicks and the Child In Need Institute (CINI) to launch ‘Aahar Abhiyan'. One rupee from every large pack of Horlicks sold in West Bengal will be contributed to the initiative, and the funds will be distributed by CINI to various CINI-administered nutrition centres in the state.

New Delhi, 14 MAY: West Bengal has the highest number of red category industries causing high pollution, followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, while 43 industrial clusters have been identified as “critically polluted”, the Lok Sabha was informed today. Environment and Forest Minister Jayanthi Natarajan said during Question Hour that the Central Pollution Control Board and IIT-Delhi had conducted a survey based on Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index for assessment of pollution load of industrial areas. “The survey was conducted in 88 major industrial clusters in the country.

ASANSOL, 30 APRIL: Barely 24 hours of the Task Force meeting to curb illegal mining, coal smugglers went on a looting spree at two open cast mines (OCM) in Raniganj Coalfields under the Eastern Coalfields Limited last night. Both the OCMs fall in the Kunustoria area of ECL. The area has witnessed massive pilferage of coal from the mines besides illegal mining by the organised mafia.

Kolkata, 29 April: Bangladesh foreign minister Dipu Moni tonight said her country “is sure” that the Teesta water-sharing agreement with India will materialise.
“We are sure the agreement will materialise. The people of Bangladesh are also optimistic about it,” Mrs Moni told reporters on the sidelines of a function, where she was conferred with the Mother Teresa International Award for excellence in social work.

KOLKATA, 29 APRIL: In wanton destruction of trees along the VIP Road to facilitate the construction of a flyover between Teghoria and Lake Town by the state Public Works Department as many as 186 trees have so far been felled. And, needless to say, all this at a time when the chief minister, Miss Mamata Banerjee, has promised to usher in a cleaner and greener Kolkata.

DURGAPUR, 29 APRIL: The artisan’s fair at Durgapur Haat, which was scheduled to be held from 2 May 2012, has been postponed till after the Durga Puja due to lack of footfall resulting from the intense heat wave. The haat, the first of its kind in the state, was inaugurated by chief minister Mamata Banerjee on 13 April last year.

NEW DELHI, 29 APRIL: The Union rural development ministry has claimed that the West Bengal government has “not submitted a single project” under the integrated watershed programme in the last three years while a few states have not spent a single penny on the programme in the last financial year.
According to sources, Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, has written to the chief ministers of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha for reportedly not spending any funds under the Integrated Watershed Management (IWMP) programme for the financial year 2011-12.

KOLKATA, 26 APRIL: The compliance report of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) was conspicuous by its absence among similar reports of different state government departments concerning Victoria Memorial which were placed before the Division Bench of Mr Justice Pinaki Ghosh and Mr Justice Mrinalkanti Choudhuri of Calcutta High Court last week.

The UK’s University of Liverpool has tied up with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to identify areas in India that are at higher risk of malaria outbreaks, following changes in monsoon rainfall patterns. The UK-based university’s School of Environmental Sciences started working on the project in January with the CSIR's Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulation (C-MMACS) in Bangalore.

Calcutta, April 24: The Bengal government has initiated a dialogue with the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to bring the public sector giant as a strategic investor into Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL). Strategic investors are those who infuse funds into a project for long-term gains and play a role in decision-making. Such investors usually hold a stake of at least 26 per cent in a company.