Left Wing Extremism (LWE) is the foremost problem of Orissa and the most daunting challenge for CM Naveen Patnaik, whose 12-year tenure has witnessed a rapid rise in intensity and spread of Maoist Insurgency in the state.  Twentyfour of the 30 districts are now affected. Orissa has become a refuge for Maoist cadres who freely migrate to neighbouring regions.  In many of the troubled territories, especially in south-western parts of the state,...

The marginalisation of tribals in the last few decades has been enormous. Tribals have lost out in agriculture, and their forests also stand depleted, writes KD Singh In 2006, the Prime Minister described the Maoist threat as “the single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by the country” and suggested development in Insurgency-affected regions as the key remedy. In 2009, the Union Government announced a new nationwide initiative, the ‘Integrated Action...

-The Telegraph The Centre will next week send nine Maoist-affected states a list of dos and don’ts in a hostage situation as part of consultations for a uniform hostage policy. “I have asked officials to raise the matter with state governments,” P. Chidambaram told the Rajya Sabha today. The home minister was replying to a question by BJP’s Prakash Javadekar on Maoist abductions and how the government planned to negotiate with them. A...

-The Times of India The CBI must prosecute the Pathribal case The Supreme Court's ruling in the Pathribal case, giving military autho-rities eight weeks to court martial the army officials allegedly responsible for the extrajudicial killings of five Kashmiri civilians 12 years ago, is unfortunate. It would be all too easy for the matter to be quietly swept under the carpet if left in the hands of the military authorities, as has...

Faced with stark hint from Trinamool boss Mamata Banerjee that she might act independently of UPA in the presidential poll if her demand for financial relief for West Bengal was not conceded in a "few days", the Centre has scrambled to find ways to organize assistance for debt-stricken state. Officials handling the task now say they can rush relief to Bengal without having to seek a clearance from the Finance Commission....