By asking the State-appointed interlocutors here on Tuesday to continue talks with the Maoists, to broker peace in the Jangalmahal region, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may have indicated some flexibility in regard to the seven-day deadline she had given the extremists three days ago to lay down their arms and sit for negotiations. “The dialogue process is on and will be continuing,” Sujato Bhadra, one of the key interlocutors,...

Amid a deadline set by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to Maoists to disarm themselves and come for negotiations, there was an exchange of fire on Tuesday between security forces and left wing extremists at a village in the Bankisol-Aluberia area in Paschim Medinipur district. There were reports that Akash, secretary of the State committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), was among those who escaped. “We received a tip-off...

In a setback to the police, Ahmedabad sessions court today granted bail to jailed IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who was arrested on September 30, based on a complaint filed by a police constable. Bhatt was accused of forcing a police constable KD Pant to file a false affidavit supporting his claim that Bhatt had attended the meeting called by the chief minister after Godhra train carnage. He was also accused...

The Centre is likely to raise remuneration under its rural job guarantee scheme and align it with the notified minimum wages of states following a court order last month.  Millions of workers enrolled under the government’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) are entitled . 100 a day for a minimum of 100 days of work in a year. Despite the wage now being linked to the consumer price...

-The Shillong Times   Lack of awareness on the oral hygiene in the state coupled with excessive intake of tobacco has gave way to high dental-related diseases like oral cancer. People are less concerned about dental health and even those living in the urban areas lacked proper knowledge on this health related issue and this poor oral hygiene can result to cancer, heart disease and other ailments. “The scenario of oral hygiene in the...