The Orissa government on Tuesday rejected the demand to scrap Posco's steel project, saying the Rs 51,000-crore (Rs 510 billion) project could contribute 11.5 per cent to the state's gross domestic products in terms of value addition.
A new outfit calling itself M2 and claiming to support the Hindus and tribal people has surfaced in Orissa, raising doubts on whether the Maoist cadre in the state are divided. The outfit came out in support of the Hindus and tribal people after the Communist Party of India-Maoists claimed responsibility for the murder of religious leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in August.
Suspected Maoists have killed three persons, including a contractor, in Deogarh district, Director General of Police Amarananda Pattanayak said on Friday.
Using the 'Hot Balloon' technique, experts from the Indian Navy brought the launch to the surface on Sunday evening, exactly eight days after it had drowned in an attack by the rebels of the Communist Party of India-Maoist killing more than 30 Greyhound commandos and policemen.
The police on Saturday cracked down on agitators protesting against the Posco plant in Orissa, mostly women and children, at Balitutha, the entry point to the proposed plant site. The police fired teargas shells and rubber bullets to disperse the preotestors, injuring at least 20 people. The security personnel ordered nearly 1,000 agitators of the Communist Party of India-backed Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, who have been on dharna since January 26, to disperse immediately.
To govern effectively, to legislate successfully, Modi must reach out to the Opposition. As long as he does not and he is showing no signs that he accepts the reality, the drift his fans are anguishing over will remain, cautions Aakar Patel.
Justice Dash said he was "ready to go back to the organisation" if they call him for any assistance or for any work that he was capable of doing.
The leaders of Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Forward Bloc, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party along with their supporters held a rally on Mahatma Gandhi Road before marching towards the state Secretariat.
Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was directed by Governor M C Bhandare on Sunday to prove his majority on the floor of the Assembly on March 11 after his coalition government was reduced to a minority following Bharatiya Janata Party's withdrawal of support ending their 11-year-old alliance.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked various state governments to apprise it in six weeks on the action taken in incidents of mob lynching and cow vigilantism.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a plea filed by a women's organisation seeking directions to states to take immediate action in consonance with a 2018 verdict of the apex court to effectively deal with incidents of lynching and mob violence against Muslims by cow vigilantes.
Communist Party of India leader A B Bardhan said on Thursday that Third Front leaders are in touch with Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who severed ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party, to rope his party Biju Janata Dal into the coalition.
Maoists on Monday unleashed widespread violence claiming eight lives in West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa during their 24-hour Bharat bandh against United States President Barack Obama's India visit. While four persons fell to the bullets of Naxals in West Bengal, two each were gunned down in Bihar and Orissa.
The Andhra Pradesh police has sounded a high alert on its border along with Orissa after the latest attack by the rebels of Communist Party of India - Maoists in Malkangiri district of Orissa, in which 21 policemen were reportedly killed. A senior police official in Hyderabad said that all the sensitive police stations in the tribal and forest areas adjoining Orissa have been put on high alert and asked to maintain a tight vigil.
The blockade, which began at midnight, had no impact in West Bengal and Orissa. Maoists, however, partially damaged a BSNL tower at Balimela near Malkangiri in Orissa in a landmine attack.
If the Bajrang Dal comes to be viewed as a suspected terrorist organisation, the first to feel the pressure and adverse effect will be the supporters of the organisation in the Hindu diaspora abroad. It is in their interest to exercise pressure on the Bajrang Dal and drive some sense into it
The new political alignments in Orissa are not a sudden development. Low-key consultations between Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal chief Naveen Patnaik and Communist Party of India - Marxist politburo member Sitaram Yechury had been on even before March 5, though it was on that day the two leaders spoke to each other directly.However, the two leaders decided not to interact for the next few days fearing that their high-profile meetings would alert the BJP.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party losing Biju Janata Dal as an ally in Orissa, the Congress on Monday gloated over the plight of its principal challenger alleging National Democratic Alliance was "virtually non-existent" and there was "no serious challenge" to the United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha polls.
Feeling "tortured" by the Left parties' repeated "questioning" of his decisions, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Friday threatened to step down "here and now" as a protest against "insult" to the Chair. Chatterjee said a "new culture" had emerged in the House wherein the members "go on questioning" the Speaker's ruling.
PPSS leaders said they have been demanding stoppage of survey work, but the administration has ignored their pleas.
The government on Tuesday said terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Maoists had undertaken extensive reconnaissance of power plants in several states in a bid to attack Central Industrial Security Force armouries located there. Besides LeT, there are also reports of Communist Party of India - Maoist having undertaken extensive reconnaissance to target the CISF armouries located in some power plants," Minister of State for Home Affairs Mullappally Ramachandran said.
The Communist Party of India - Maoists on Monday warned the Jharkhand government to stop all search operations in Ghorabandha area for the abducted Block Development Officer from Monday night and fulfill their demands if it wants the safe release of the officer. Rakeshji, spokesman of CPI-Maoist- Bengal-Orissa-Jharkhand Border Regional Committee, said over the phone, "We will not take responsibility of the abducted BDO's safety if police action is not stopped."
The Supreme Court judgement on disbanding of Salwa Judum will impact on the anti-Naxal operations, says the Centre which is planning to call a meeting of chief ministers of Orissa and Jharkhand after Chhattisgarh's action on a new law on the issue.
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.
Maoists have called for a 24-hour bandh in six states on September 30 to show their "solidarity with the protesting Kashmiris." The Maoists demanded "an immediate end to massacres by the forces in Kashmir, a complete withdrawal of all military and paramilitary forces, a repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, a plebiscite for Kashmiris and the release of all political prisoners."
The CPM leader claimed that the recent incidents in Orissa have highlighted the use of violence by these outfits against Christians, including the use of weapons and inflammatory materials to burn houses and churches
A policeman was on Tuesday gunned down by Maoists in Jharkhand's Sareikela-Kharsawan district as their 48-hour shutdown entered the second day.
Maoists have threatened to extend indefinitely their bandh call in seven states if their arrested leader Azad is not produced before a court on Monday, a top Naxal leader said on Saturday. "Our 48-hour bandh call from March 22 in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and three districts of Maharashtra will be extended indefinitely if Azad is not produced before the court on Monday," said top Maoist leader Kishenji.
Rejecting Orissa government's formula of excluding 300 acres of private land from the proposed Posco site area near Paradip, the Communist Party of India (CPI) on Friday demanded that the entire site be shifted elsewhere and an official statement made about its overall impact on the state.
Upbeat over their two major successful attacks against the police on Andhra-Orissa border in less than one month, in which more than 50 policemen were killed, the Maoist rebels are now gearing up to target the police stations to loot the arms. This warning has been issued by the central intelligence agency -- the Intelligence Bureau -- in its report assessing the overall situation of the Naxalite problem in the country.
The labourers were released on Friday night at a forest adjoining the villages where the labour camps from where they were abducted were located.
Candidates of the Naveen Patnaik-led party have won in 105 assembly seats, while the Congress has won 16 seats (11 in the previous assembly), and the Bharatiya Janata party 10 seats.
Soon after Subba Rao's death, the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee alleged that the police had arrested Subba Rao and his wife Jaya at Vijayawada on Thursday night.
Changing a state's name requires constitutional amendment and it is done after taking into consideration all relevant factors, he said.
The Marxists are heading for their worst debacle in many elections. How will May 16, 2014 affect India's Communists? T V R Shenoy surveys the landscape.
'Mamata did not stand up for those who suffered owing to the chit fund scam, but only stood up for Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar because he has all the knowledge about the chit fund case.'
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