With the work on the socio-economic development in the three Maoist-affected districts in West Bengal gathering pace, the State government said on Tuesday that it would complete by September the distribution of ration cards to poor tribals living there. Home Secretary Samar Ghosh told reporters that stress was on the distribution of ration cards, and the work progressed well. “This is part of the scheme formulated for the three districts within...

Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj of the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha and PUCL talks to Jyoti Punwani about Chhattisgarh, where the Centre has announced the start of its offensive against the Maoists: What news of the offensive? When Operation Green Hunt began in September, notice under Section 95 of the CrPC (which includes sedition) was served on newspapers for publishing the Maoists' press releases, which said that the only persons to have been...

India's federal home minister has said he is ready for "serious negotiations" with Maoist rebels. P Chidambaram said the rebels were not "terrorists" and had raised "serious issues" about the lack of development. Last month, the minister said security forces were getting ready to launch a massive offensive against the rebels. The rebels are fighting for communist rule in many Indian states. More than 6,000 people have died during the rebels'...

The philosophy of self-aggrandisement defies social logic. Seven leading banks in the United States of America had last year incurred an aggregate loss of $82 billion; the chief executive officers of these banks nonetheless claimed and collected annual bonus to the extent of $38 billion. The economy might lie in ruins; that did not distract sharks from zooming in on their prey. Our corporate sector has shaped itself in the...