Government of West Bengal is vested with most of the executive powers. Kolkata is the capital of West Bengal, and houses the Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly). The secretariat is located in Howrah, in the Nabanna building. The Calcutta High Court is located in Kolkata, which has jurisdiction over the whole of West Bengal and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The present Legislative Assembly of West Bengal is unicameral, consisting of 295 Member of the Legislative Assembly (M.L.A) including one nominated from the Anglo-Indian community. Its term is 5 years, unless sooner dissolved. On 18 January 1862, under the Indian Councils Act of 1861, a
Geography of West Bengal at places. West Bengal stands third in the country in terms of mineral production. The state contributes about one-fifth to the total production of minerals in the country. Coal constitutes 99% of the minerals extracted in West Bengal; fireclay, china clay, limestone, copper, iron, wolfram, manganese and dolomite are mined in small quantities. There are good possibilities of obtaining mineral oil and natural gas in the areas near the Bay of Bengal, in Purba Medinipur, Sundarbans, South 24 Parganas and North Bengal plains. Research is ongoing in various places to locate natural gas. West Bengal is the third largest state