In the first instance of Maoists targeting foreigners, two Italian tourists were abducted in the forests bordering Orissa's Kandhamal-Ganjam districts. The kidnapping came to light late on Saturday night after the Maoists released two men abducted along with the Italians, Bosusco Paolo and Claudio Colangelo.  The Maoists claim the four were kidnapped on March 14. This came to light only after the release of Sontosh Moharana and Kartik Parida with audio...

-The Hindu The Central Bureau of Investigation told the Supreme Court on Friday that the killings of Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad, spokesperson of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), and Journalist Hemchandra Pandey by the Andhra Pradesh police on the night of July 1, 2010 were not a fake encounter as alleged in the petitions filed in the court. The CBI made the submission in its final investigation report filed before a...

-The Times of India Tribals and dalits led by social activist Vijay Vinit have threatened to start hunger strike from March 16, 2012, if illegal mining operating is not stopped in Sonbhadra district. They have also demanded that all the officials, mafia, politicians, Journalists who have been named in the recent mining accident should also be arrested. Twelve labourers had died and scores injured in the mining accident on February 27....

-DNA Country’s first chief information commissioner (CIC), Wajahat Habibullah, told law and mass communication students about the true strength of the Right To Information (RTI) Act, 2005. He said RTI Act is not a weapon to be used against the government but to strengthen the system, exposing the weaknesses within its functioning. He was speaking at a daylong workshop on ‘RTI and media—Partners for priority’ organised by Symbiosis Institute of Media and...

-The Hindu Even as the Director-General of Foreign Trade issued a fresh notification lifting the ban on cotton exports, the government is set to launch a probe into the “self consignments,” mostly to China, and scrutinise the export receipt certificates (ERCs) to get to the root of the sudden spurt that caught it unawares. Though the government had registered 130 lakh bales for exports, it was only last week that the alarm...