Uncertainty prevailed over beginning of a joint operation against Naxalites in Orissa with the state government today accusing the Centre of not sending adequate paramilitary forces for the purpose.
After the snapping of ties between the BJD and BJP, the CPI on Monday expressed hope that BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik would play a key role in formation of a third alternative to NDA and UPA.
With a significant number of Opposition leaders present at the swearing-in ceremony of the Congress government in Karnataka, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday said Opposition unity requires much more than optics of this nature and stressed the need for meeting of minds, a common agenda and sacrificing partisan interests.
Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Minister of State for Information and Public Relations Debasish Nayak laid wreaths at the coffin of Swain, who hailed from Kendrapara district, at the Biju Patnaik airport.
Home Minister P Chidambaram is understood to have spoken to Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and urged him not not to set precedent by striking a deal with the Maoists that would pressure on other governments in future in any similar situation, sources said.
Demanding deployment of at least 2,000 personnel of paramilitary force in riot-hit Kandhamal till the end of the coming general elections, Orissa government on Tuesday said it was severely handicapped by lack of resources. Though Patnaik informed the conference that situation in Kandhamal was under control, he said complete normalcy could be restored only after all persons in the relief camp returned to their villages.
Noting that heavy deployment of security forces in neighbouring Chhattisgarh was driving Maoists to his state, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday demanded two additional Central Reserve Police Force battalions and a military chopper to "effectively" tackle the extremists.
What some of our political leaders were up to on Monday.
It was a simple 100-watt light bulb that provided much-needed heat to a newborn girl who was found stuck inside a cold borewell in Odisha, before she was rescued safely in an over five-hour-long operation on a winter night.
The company said it has no plans to shift the $12 billion steel project from Orissa.
The four rebels are -- Prasanna Patsani, Prabhat Samantray, Kumudini Patnaik, wife of former state Finance Minister Ramakrushna Patnaik, and Jagannath Mallick.
In a major blow to the National Democratic Alliance, the Biju Janata Dal announced on Saturday that it had split from the Bharatiya Janata Dal, over failure to reach a seat sharing deal for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls."The BJP-BJD will contest separately," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told reporters, adding that 'winnability' was the reason behind the break up in the decade-old alliance.
Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's office on Thursday received a fresh e-mail threat from suspected Maoists.According to the Orissa police, the e-mail threatened to carry out a Dantewada-type massacre in the state. This is the second e-mail threat received by the Orissa chief minister's office over the past fortnight. On March 27, the Orissa CMO received an e-mail threat, which warned about plans to blow up Patnaik's residence and important monuments in the state.
Even as spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar virtually offered to act as a mediator in the proposed talks with Naxalites, the Orissa government on Tuesday said it was not possible unless the ultras give up path of violence.
Chief Justice of India N V Ramana administered the oath of office of the President to her in the Central Hall of Parliament.
But Haramani Sarangi of Orissa won't be meeting the prime minister when he visits the state next week. She died.
Most chief ministers chose to miss a high-level conference, convened to thrash out challenging issues on public order and policing, with only seven state leaders attending it.
The Left on Sunday came out in support of the Naveen Patnaik government, which was reduced to a minority following snapping of ties with ally Bharatiya Janata Party, and even hinted at forging an alliance with the Biju Janata Dal for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Orissa.
Intensifying operations against the Naxals and chocking the flow of funds to them were the two key issues discussed at a high-level meeting chaired by Union home mAmit Shah and attended by six chief ministers and top officials of four other states here on Sunday, sources said.
As many as 11 newspersons have died of the infection in Odisha since the beginning of the pandemic, sources said.
Insiders say President Kovind has been told he will not be re-nominated, reveals R Rajagopalan.
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
Congress said another Mahabharat would be fought over proposed amendments in the land acquisition act.
The move comes a day after the government called a special session of Parliament between September 18 and 22, the agenda for which is under wraps.
Do you know that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's monthly salary is way higher that Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi? Rediff.com takes a look at the salaries of India's ruling elite
The Election Commission will start counting votes for Vidhan Sabha elections on May 23. The assembly elections were held in four states -- Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim -- simultaneously with the Lok Sabha Elections over April and May. The Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim Assemblies went to polls in the duration between 11 April and 19 May, and the Election Commission will declare the results for at least 534 assembly seats - which is almost as many as the Lok Sabha seats - on May 23.
The debate over Presidential candidate picked up further momentum with Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad pitching for Vice President Hamid Ansari while other parties kept the cards close to their chest.
With new added technologies, including the control system, the missile was test-fired from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) launch pad-III at Chandipur around 10.45 am, said a source at the Defence Research and Development Organisation.
Hinting that it was open to aligning with the Third Front after the Lok Sabha polls, the BJD has said that it will not support either a Congress-led or a Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre.
Unfazed by protests from various quarters, including a ruling BJD MP, the state government gave its nod to the Odisha Cricket Association to host the ICC women's World Cup matches involving players from Pakistan at Cuttack.
Though flood situation in Odisha's five northen districts triggered by Cyclone Phailin and resultant rains slightly improved on Wednesday, people of 647 villages continued to be marooned, while the death toll in the twin calamities stood at 28.
A day after Bajrang Dal asserted it was opposed to participation of Pakistani women cricketers in the World Cup, BJP student wing, ABVP, on Saturday, threatened to dig up pitches ahead of the team's matches at Cuttack next month.
South Korean steel major Posco will start construction of its 12 million tonne, Rs 51,000-crore mega steel project near Paradip in Orissa on April 1, 2008.
The breakaway faction is led by former Union minister Dilip Ray.
Erstwhile Team Anna will gherao the residences of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and BJP chief Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi on Sunday on the coal block allocation issue even as prominent member Kiran Bedi voiced her disagreement over targeting the main opposition party.
The ruling Biju Janata Dal in Odisha on Sunday announced that it would abstain from voting in the vice-presidential election scheduled to be held on August 7.
'Elections are fought to win.' 'In our party, the leadership takes the final decision, and our leaders are very clear about it.'
Has the country lost its secret weapon for competing with growing countries like China and Brazil? Mayank Mishra reports
Nobody should be surprised if the Congress-led alliance at the Centre now makes favourable policy overtures to Naveen Patnaik also, like it has done for Nitish Kumar and Mamata Banerjee, in the hope of strengthening its prospects after the next general elections, says AK Bhattacharya
Raja Shree Mohanty, son of former Odisha Law Minister Raghunath Mohanty, was arrested on Sunday, three days after his wife slapped a dowry torture case against his family members, a senior police official said.
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