Kidnapped collector Alex Paul Menon's wife Asha, in an exclusive first person account, gives glimpses of her husband's softer side, and requests the Maoists to release him.
Menon to officiate in his fourth T20WC, Padmanabhan to make his debut
Life may have returned to normal for the Sukma collector, but will the lives of the families of his two bodyguards who died during his abduction be the same again, asks Shobha Warrier.
Former bureaucrat Nirmala Buch, who had mediated on behalf of Chhattisgarh government with Maoists for the release of Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon, on Saturday said the Raman Singh government may free Naxalites in the coming days and has "no hidden agenda" in doing so.
A Ganesh Nadar visits Tirunelveli where there's unrest following Saturday's Maoist abduction of Alex Paul Menon, the collector of Sukma district in Chhattisgarh, who belongs to this district.
Meanwhile, Australian captain Pat Cummins also commented on the DRS controversy, noting that RTS appeared to be different from UltraEdge.
Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon, who was recently set free by Maoists after 12 days of captivity in Chhattisgarh, on Wednesday met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and thanked her for urging the Centre to take steps for his release.
Talks between Maoist-handpicked mediators and those of the Chhattisgarh government commenced on Thursday to end the hostage crisis involving Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon who was abducted on Saturday, official sources said.
India's only representative in the ICC Elite Panel of Umpires, Nitin Menon, has opted out of officiating in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan this month due to personal reasons.
Even as efforts are on to secure the release of kidnapped Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon, a page created on the 32-year-old officer by his family and friends, on social networking site Facebook has become a big hit.
'Menon's kidnappers are unlikely to behave like the radical Islamists who have a tendency to displease their own people and community. The Maoists are shrewd and will bargain hard, but not behave recklessly. Young Christians are their primary constituency and they bank heavily on them in the jungles.'
Kidnapped Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon's friend and collector of Bastar district in Chhattisgarh, Ponnusamy Anbalagan, speaks to A Ganesh Nadar
Kidnapped Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon's friend and collector of Bastar district in Chhattisgarh, Ponnusamy Anbalagan, speaks to A Ganesh Nadar
Kunjam, who rushed medicines to Menon on behalf of the Chhattisgarh government on Tuesday, told media persons in Ramaram village on way to Sukma that he was told that the collector's condition was stable.
Hours after the Chhattisgarh government offered to hold talks to secure the release Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon, Maoists on Monday night named three mediators, including lawyer Prashant Bhushan, for negotiations.
With the Maoists forwarding their demands in exchange for the release of Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has reportedly convened a high-level meeting to decide on the future course of action. The Chhattisgarh government has set up a cabinet sub-committee to deal with the situation arising out of Menon's abduction by the Maoists.
Mediators on Friday failed to achieve any breakthrough to secure the release of abducted Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon after the second round of talks even as Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh asserted that the demands of the Maoists would be considered only "within the legal framework".
Maoists on Saturday abducted the collector of Sukma district in Bastar area of Chhattisgarh after killing two of his bodyguards. The left-wing ultras intercepted the vehicle of Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon, an IAS officer, in Keralapal area of the district while he was returning from a programme, top police officials said.
On February 16 last year, while serving as the collector of Malkangiri district of Odisha, R Vineel Krishna was abducted by Naxals. He was released nine days later. The IAS officer recounts his experience
The first deadline set by Maoists for meeting their demands to set free abducted Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon passed Wednesday amid reports it has been extended till Friday to give talks between mediators of Chattisgarh government and Naxals a chance.
"I feel happy as a parrot that has just been let off from a cage," said Varadhas, father of Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon, who was released after being held in captivity by Maoists for 13 days.
The Maoists on Monday set a fresh deadline of May 2 for the Chhatisgarh government to release eight of their jailed associates in exchange for the freedom of Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon in their captivity since the last 10 days.
Chief Minister Raman Singh tells Devjyot Ghoshal that the pressure created by the state's security apparatus in the last few years has created a situation where the development agenda can now take centre stage. But the actual turnaround in the situation will only come in the next three-four years.
As the hostage crisis involving abducted Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon entered the eighth day on Saturday, mediators from the rebel side left for Tadmetla forests apparently to brief Maoists on talks they had with the Chhattisgarh government on their demands for releasing the IAS officer. N Baijendra Kumar, principal secretary to Chief Minister Raman Singh, told PTI that the mediators, who have held two rounds of talks with the government-appointed interlocutors.
Philosopher George Santayana's prediction that those who forget history are condemned to repeat it is coming eerily true in the jungles of east and central India, where state governments have encouraged Maoist terror by succumbing to serial hostage deals.
The Chhattisgarh government on Wednesday appealed to the Maoists for the extension of their deadline for the release of Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon, who was abducted last Saturday.
The Chhattisgarh government on Tuesday named two former chief secretaries as its nominees for talks with Naxals for release of abducted Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon even as activists -- Prashant Bhushan and Manish Kunjam -- declined to mediate on behalf of the Maoists.
The anti-Naxal operation in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region has been suspended in the wake of abduction of Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon.
In the wake of the 12-day hostage crises that ended after the release of Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Friday sought a national policy to deal with such situations. "There has to be a national policy to deal with hostage crises. I will ask Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in tomorrow's meeting to call all chief ministers to discuss it. There is a need to discuss it briefly," Singh told reporters.
Would the Maoists lose the support of the middle-class and urban intelligentsia by continuing to use kidnapping as a propaganda tool? Dr P V Ramana analyses
After 12 days in captivity, Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon was on Thursday released unharmed by Maoists bringing to an end the hostage crisis in Chattisgarh marked by some anxious moments just before he stepped out of the rebel stronghold.
A day after Maoists' mediators announced that abducted Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon will be released within 48 hours, the Chhattisgarh government said it was hopeful that the ten-day hostage crisis will come to an end today and the IAS officer would be freed by Wednesday. The breakthrough to ensure the safe return of the 32-year-old collector, who was abducted on April 21, came in the form of an agreement between the two mediators of the Chattisgarh government.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Monday said that there was some progress in the talks with Maoists for the release of abducted Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon, with both sides agreeing on some points.
Former chairperson of the National Commission of SC/ST, B D Sharma, told rediff.com that he has not been approached by the Chhattisgarh government to mediate in the release of the abducted Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon.
Maoists on Sunday demanded release of eight of their jailed leaders in Chattisgarh and a halt to "Operation Green Hunt" in exchange for freedom of Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon, who was safe, a day afer he was abducted. The Maoists also set an April 25 deadline.
India's Nitin Menon and Sri Lanka's Kumar Dharmasena will officiate the World Cup opener between England and New Zealand on October 5.
The English duo of Richard Kettleborough and Richard Illingworth will officiate the titanic Group 1 Super Eight clash between India and Australia in the ongoing T20 World Cup in Gros Islet, Saint Lucia on June 24
Encouraged by their initiatives which resulted in high voter turnout in Naxal-hit areas, officers in Chhattisgarh's Chief Electoral Office are hopeful of a similar trend in 72 constituencies going to polls on Tuesday.
Freed by Naxals after 12 days in captivity, Collector Alex Paul Menon on Friday reached his home in Sukma.
For the first time in its three decade-old history, the country's elite counter-terror force National Security Guard has begun training its commandos in undertaking precision hostage rescue missions in jungles keeping in view emerging Naxalite tactics aimed at capturing high-value targets.
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