An alert has been sounded in the anti-Naxal operations theatre of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand following a "spike" in IED blasts and recoveries, including that of a device rigged with beer bottles and a small antenna for remote control explosion. The uptick in improvised explosive device (IED) recovery and blasts has been noticed as multiple security forces move into core Naxal areas to meet the Union government's deadline of wiping off Left Wing Extremism (LWE) from the country by March 2026.
'As we read and assess what is going on around us in the India of 2025, it is instructive to do this through the lens of 75 years ago and the events that led to the formation of the BJP as we know it,' recalls Aakar Patel.
The Naxalites, 10 of whom are women, turned themselves in before senior officials of the state police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), he added.
With this incident, 154 Naxalites have been gunned down by the security forces in different encounters in Chhattisgarh so far this year, the police said.
'Who tried engine relight?' 'If the first officer was the one flying at takeoff, the captain may have taken control immediately post-thrust loss.' 'But the AAIB report doesn't clarify any of this.'
As many as 14 Maoists were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region on Friday, a senior police official said. However, ANI has put the toll at 30.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar during the first day of review of poll preparedness of the state asked the district election officers and municipal commissioners to explain the steps taken by them to deal with 'urban apathy'.
Can a culture survive as a way of life, even as the language and writing at its core, alter with time? Can we be rational and Malayalee or do we have to necessarily be religious and proudly cultural to be Malayalee? asks Shyam G Menon.
The final turnout in the Maharashtra assembly polls was 66.05 percent, up from 61.1 percent in 2019, according to the Election Commission. The polling percentage for the Nanded Lok Sabha bypoll was 67.81 percent. The increase, excluding postal ballots, highlighted the EC's efforts to engage a broader electorate, the statement added. Kolhapur led with 76.63 per cent, followed by 75.26 per cent in Gadchiroli, while the lowest was in Mumbai island city at 52.07 per cent and 55.95 per cent in the metropolis' suburban district. More than 68,000 citizens aged over 85 and 12,000 individuals with disabilities cast their votes through home voting.
Terming Naxals the biggest human rights violators, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said security forces have been carrying out 'offensive operations' instead of defensive against the insurgents and have achieved big successes in recent times.
Deposed Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has issued a strong warning against threats to ban her Awami League party, calling the demands "audacious" and accusing Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus of being a "fraud" and "corrupt" for his role in the current interim government. Hasina, who fled Bangladesh in August 2024 following a student-led uprising, claims Yunus assumed power through a "meticulous design" with funding from overseas and misled students and people. She asserts that her Awami League is the legitimate party, with a strong history of fighting for the people's rights, and accuses Yunus and his supporters of having no constitutional basis or people's mandate to rule the country.
The controversy followed after another Madhya Pradesh minister, Vijay Shah, came under fire for remarks about Col Sofiya Qureshi who conducted media briefings on Operation Sindoor along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.
Temples across Maharashtra are increasingly adopting dress codes for visitors, urging devotees to wear modest and traditional attire. While temple trusts argue that these codes maintain sanctity, visitors have mixed reactions. The trend, which started with the Shree Siddhivinayak Ganpati Temple in Mumbai, has spread to other temples, including those in Pune, Ratnagiri, and Ahilyanagar. The move has been welcomed by some, who believe it promotes respect and decorum within religious spaces. However, others argue that it is unnecessary and restrictive. Right-wing organizations are advocating for similar dress codes across all temples in Maharashtra, including prominent state-run temples like the Shirdi Sai Baba Temple.
'For the first time in this country, perhaps the first time anywhere, we are going to use backwardness index.' 'It is a fundamental shift in the discourse in the country's social justice.'
Eight District Reserve Guards (DRG) jawans and a civilian driver were killed in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district when Naxals detonated an improvised explosive device targeting their vehicle. The incident occurred near Ambeli village while the security personnel were returning from an anti-Naxalite operation. This is the biggest Naxal attack on security forces in the region in the past two years.
'There is no independently verified imagery or battlefield evidence to support Pakistan's claim.'
Counting of votes in the Maharashtra assembly elections will begin at 8 am on Saturday, with all eyes on the outcome of the battle between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti coalition and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, which is seeking to make a comeback.
Setting up new camps of security forces in these villages in the last seven months has been paving the way for development of the respective areas, they said.
"Religion should remain within the four walls of your home. A Hindu identifies as a Hindu only when Muslims take to the streets or during riots; otherwise, Hindus are divided by caste," he said.
The prolonged delay over electing J P Nadda's successor possibly stems from the RSS leadership wanting a person who is at least equidistant from the Sangh as well as the Modi/BJP edifice, observes BJP-RSS watcher Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale has voiced his opposition to the demand for demolition of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's grave in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, saying its removal will not serve any purpose. Athawale said that since Aurangzeb was buried there, his tomb should remain undisturbed. The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar administration has barred Hindutva leader Milind Ekbote from entering the district from March 16 to April 5 amid calls from some outfits to remove Aurangzeb's grave. Security has been heightened around the site and visitors are being checked thoroughly.
'Pakistan's only concern has been while they were on the FATF watch list was to distance their State institutions and organs from any direct connection with the actual execution of militancy inside Kashmir.'
According to the paper, Trump is known for his extreme germophobia. Trump has spoken openly about his phobia of germs in the past too.
'More than the shooting dabbas which we take with us, it's about what's going in their school dabbas.'
Chairing a meeting to review the security situation in LWE-affected states, Shah said the Modi government has adopted a policy of zero tolerance against left wing extremism since 2014.
The Battle of Lhagyala on November 23, 1962, fought by the 4 Rajput Regiment against the Chinese PLA, remains a forgotten chapter of heroism, with no survivors left to tell their story.
Senior RSS leader Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi's call to drop the Aurangzeb tomb controversy challenges decades of communal rhetoric in Maharashtra, igniting hopes for unity and a balanced historical narrative.
The sky outside was a perfect blue with fair winds on that hot day in July, but inside the Jaguar an emergency was unraveling with every passing second. Wing Commander Vernon Desmond Keane had two options: Eject and see his beloved aircraft crash -- which would come at a great cost to the nation and cause harm to civilian life and property on the ground. Or try the limits of his training; push the aircraft and his flying skills to the edge of technical and human endurance and save them both.
The US is currently Earth's most powerful country and a certain latitude of understanding -- a world view -- is popularly expected from its leadership. From a country identified with freedom, constitution, debate, democracy and the likes of Abraham Lincoln even as it had the most powerful military around, the US, following Trump's actions, seemed repositioned as militarily powerful with other qualities secondary, observes Shyam G Menon.
It had organised its 83rd anniversary event last year in Jammu after the government asked all paramilitary or CAPF to hold these events outside the national capital.
Forest's tally is the same number as Leicester City had accumulated by the same point of the 2015/16 campaign when they went on to become shock Premier League champions.
Amid widespread outrage over the brutal ragging incident at the Government Nursing College in Kottayam, the Kerala Nurses and Midwives Council (KNMC) on Saturday decided to bar all five accused students from continuing their studies.
Strongly objecting to Home Minister P Chidambaram's statement on right wing extremism, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said he should not compromise on the fight against terrorism just to save himself from his 'neck-deep' involvement in the 2G spectrum scam.
How have aspirations, ambitions and hopes broken down for these young men from the most advanced parts of India? asks Mihir S Sharma.
The patrol team first found 13 pressure IEDs and later recovered 149 such bombs, weighing about one kilogram each, from a nearby cave in the area.
Sukanya Verma celebrates the icon and his imagery in 23 super special Aamir Khan frames etched in her head.
According to the police, the bus was speeding and filled with passengers due to which the driver lost control and the vehicle rammed into the wing wall of the flyover.
Over 1,000 police personnel have been awarded with different categories of gallantry and service medals on the eve of the 75th Republic Day, a government statement said Thursday. This includes 277 gallantry medals.
People working at the company hate 'hated' Elon Musk's USD 44 billion bid to take control of the company.
The government on Monday announced service medals for 954 police personnel of various central and state forces on the eve of Independence Day.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances