Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh today rejected 18,000 km of road projects under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) proposed by the West Bengal government. He made the announcement at a high-level meeting attended among others by West Bengal rural development secretary Saurav Das. The state government delegation had sought Central approval for the projects in different parts of the state. The roads connect at least 6,000 habitations and were declared as “connected by the erstwhile Left regime”.

Durgapur, April 12: Mamata Banerjee will tomorrow flag off production at a coal mine in Bankura where around 2,000 land-loser families have been protesting the delay in being given jobs at the project for the past seven years. The Left Front government had started acquiring 694 acres in Borjora for open-cast mining in 2005. But the villagers, led by some Trinamul workers, have been agitating over a charter of demands that includes jobs at the colliery and price hike for their land since then. Tomorrow, they plan to hand over a memorandum to Mamata with their demands.

BARJORA, 4 APRIL: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is set to flag off coal production next week at a mine that supporters of her Trinamul have been opposing since 2004. The Trinamul’s opposition to the Trans-Damodar Sector coal mine forced the erstwhile Left Front government to suspend operations there. And Trinamul activists are still protesting against the mine, which has been leased out to the West Bengal Mineral Development and Trading Corporation (WBMDTC).

KOLKATA, 14 MARCH: Even while choosing the collision course with his party boss Miss Mamata Banerjee over hiking of passenger fares, railway minister Dinesh Trivedi proposed some new projects and 20 new trains for West Bengal.

KOLKATA, 13 FEB: The state public health engineering (PHE) department has invited experts from across the world to tour the four districts affected by arsenic seeking suggestions for the use of modern technology to tackle the problem. Apart from visiting the four districts ~ North 24-Parganas, Nadia, Murshidabad and South 24-Parganas ~ experts will also visit the three districts partially-affected by arsenic ~ Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore.

MALDA/BANKURA, 3 FEB: Nine babies at Malda Medical College and Hospital, and 10 babies at Bankura Sammiloni Medical College and Hospital have died in the last 48 hours. In Malda, health officials said the deaths were caused by low birth weights and malnutrition, the same causes they gave for previous deaths. Minister of state for health Chandrima Bhattacharya plans to visit Malda Monday in connection with the recent child deaths, and also attend a government function.

The spectre of infant deaths continued to haunt government hospitals in West Bengal, with 19 cases reported in Malda and Bankura over the past two days. While nine infants died in the Malda Medical College and Hospital, 10 children were reported dead in the Bankura Sammilani Medical College and Hospital.

The babies who died in the Bankura hospital were “suffering from pneumonia and birth asphyxia, while some had low birth weight,” superintendent Panchanan Kundu said.

BANKURA/PURULIA, 24 JAN: Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh today granted Rs 2,000 crore for providing safe drinking water to the people of Bankura district. “The Centre has approved Rs 1,000 crore for the first phase implementation of the project,” the minister said here today. Mr Ramesh held a meeting with Bankura district administrative official today. He urged the officials to lay more stress on the flagship MGNREGA project to address the crisis in the Maoist-hit blocks.