Over 100 Naxals on Wednesday ambushed a team of security forces in Chhattisgarh's tribal belt of Bastar on the eve of Lok Sabha polls, killing three commandos of CRPF's CoBRA battalion and injuring five others including two officers in twin attacks.
Supporters of Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda sect blocked rail and road traffic at various places in Punjab for the second day on Sunday, demanding that cinema halls screen sect leader Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh's film MSG-2.
BJP strategists know it may not repeat its 2014 performance in its traditionally strong bases in the north and the west. This is where the success in the north east and east is so important.
Roads are of great importance to win the war against the rebels in Sukma
Folk artist from Chhattisgarh Teejan Bai, Guelleh, Naik and theatre actor from Maharashtra Balwant Moreshwar Purandare will be honoured with Padma Vibushan.
Free 35 kg rice a month, free power supply to farmers, crop loans to peasants at zero per cent interest rate are among the sops promised by Congress in its manifesto for Chhattisgarh assembly elections scheduled this month.
Govt looks to take cooking gas to tiger reserves, Naxal-hit areas
'Under the guise of Maoism, the State is presently determined to clear out the whole Bastar area of its tribal population.'
It is the low cost of iron ore extracted from their adivasi homeland mines that enables steelmakers like Tata Steel and Essar, and miners like NMDC, not only to be among the most profitable companies in India, but also gives it the financial muscle to make huge overseas acquisitions. Ultimately, it is the poor adivasi who pays for it with his home and hearth and gets no credit for it! Either from the State, which connives in their exploitation, or the industry that lords over their resources, says Mohan Guruswamy.
Ahead of the all-party meet called by the government to discuss the naxal situation, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said it will serve no purpose unless a comprehensive strategy is devised to deal with the problem.
The government on Friday ruled out holding any talks with Naxalites but said a balanced approach will be adopted in close coordination with states to tackle the violence perpetrated by Maoists.
Here's a list of the full first-time ministers in the second term of the Narendra Modi government.
Creation of new state entails long drawn administrative process, could take as much as a decade
'Politicians have long appropriated the hero turned god as their totem, but never before with the ferocious intensity of the present regime,' notes Arundhuti Dasgupta.
The State must stand as a solid tower of confidence to provide a guarantee of safety to its citizens and instill fear in the hearts of offenders. But where is that State, asks Tarun Vijay
'Such a serious threat -- to assassinate the prime minister of India, no less -- was not handed over to the Maharashtra Anti Terrorist Squad for investigation, but to the Pune crime branch.' 'So much for seriousness in tackling such a grave issue,' says N Suresh.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying change cannot be brought by merely making promises and alleged that poor were being deprived of their rights in the name of development.
A divided house until recently, Congress is putting up a spirited campaign to checkmate BJP in its erstwhile stronghold of Naxal-dominated Bastar region of Chhattisgarh where the ruling party hopes to cash on its developmental agenda coupled with Chief Minister Raman Singh's clean image in the Assembly elections.
Ultimately, whether the UP ordinance is struck down by the courts or not, it will be the courage of young Hindu and Muslim women and men that will act as a foil to the UP police-cum-mobs who will be out to get them.
He targeted the prime minister over the controversy, saying "one Modi is standing by another Modi".
The Supreme Court on Friday directed judicial officers to release all such prisoners who have spent half of the maximum sentence for the offences they are charged with.
The roots of the problem lies in the alienation of the tribals. Extreme sensitivity is required to tackle the issues involved. Rough and ready methods of using force may prove counterproductive in the long run, says Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.
'The Maoists want the tribals to boycott the election while the police think the election is a farce and do not want to risk going deeper in the conflict zone.' 'Newton (played with sincerity and deep felt passion by Rajkummar Rao) wants to make sure that the locals cast their vote, a right given to them by the Constitution.'
The ordinance over the Polavaram irrigation project triggered the first protest in the 16th Lok Sabha with Telangana Rashtra Samiti members storming the Well against the measure.
A controversial bill which paves the way for the Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh by merging some villages and mandals of Telangana with Seemandhra was approved in the Lok Sabha on Friday, amid stiff opposition from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the Biju Janata Dal and some other parties.
Union Ministers Smriti Irani and D V Sadananda Gowda have been dropped from Inter-State Council, official sources said on Wednesday.
"I am sure that the attempts to stall development and throttle democracy at gunpoint will not be successful ever," the home minister said at the meeting, being held two weeks after 25 paramilitary personnel were killed by a band of Maoists in Chhattisgarh.
Rather than make it a BJP or anti-BJP battle, it is more important to have a dialogue with the protesting students and understand their psyche, feels Devanik Saha.
The survey will benefit a population of at least 35,000, mainly tribals, to get patta (title deed) for the land they were possessing.
The BJP chief had lunch at the house of a tribal family before interacting with party workers.
The local intelligence wing had suggested not to carry out large anti-Naxal operations in south Bastar forests, where the ultras recently killed 14 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, citing geographical complications and strong Maoist 'Jantana Sarkar' network, a senior police official said.
The bill rules out any provision for an anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs, notwithstanding any court order.
'Was he afraid that his answers during cross-examination would land him in trouble under the new ruling dispensation?'
'The whole idea is to intimidate lawyers like me and others who are helping the Adivasi women seek justice and file FIRs against the security personnel for raping them.'
'Will anything change for you after the election?' And the man said 'Kuch nahin badlega.' And he had a smile on his face. He knew nothing was going to change.
'He is in a wheelchair, his joints are swollen and he is in great pain.' A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com speaks to colleagues and students of the polio-afflicted Delhi University Professor G N Saibaba, who was arrested on May 9 for alleged Naxalite links.
'You've got to be a doer to be re-elected.' 'You don't have to be a great communicator or an orator any more because voters want to see action and development on the ground.' 'And they want a doer rather than just an orator.'
Complaints of electronic voting machine malfunctioning poured in from several booths on Tuesday during the third and largest phase of Lok Sabha polls which saw voters turning out in large numbers to cast their vote in 116 seats, including all constituencies of Gujarat and Kerala.
As cyclone Hudhud weakened and moved to Chhattisgarh, Odisha government on Monday braced for relief and rehabilitation in the affected southern districts where its damaged houses and uprooted trees even as heavy rainfall was expected to lash these areas.
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