-ANI Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has said India must chalk out a middle ground for the continuous development of the tribals for rooting out the Maoist menace that is gripping the country. Addressing a lecture, Ramesh pointed out the four Ds that form the base of the ultras operation and resulted violence from their actions. “India’s Maoist challenge, stripped of all its complexity is a challenge that we face in dealing with...

-The Hindu Business Line A leap backward, says Right to Food Campaign Food rights activists, including National Advisory Council member, Aruna Roy, have called upon all Members of Parliament and political parties to reject the Parliamentary Standing Committee’s recommendations on the National Food Security Bill. Tearing into the Standing Committee’s report, submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker on January 17, the Right to Food Campaign (RFC), an umbrella of civil society organisations, said...

-The Hindu IAF copter fired at as landing point was not sanitised; chopper and injured wireless operator abandoned There has hardly been a faux pas in anti-Naxal operations in recent months as discomfiting to the forces as Friday night’s tactless act in the Chintagufa area in south Chhattisgarh. Security officials unanimously agreed that there was a ‘serious lack of coordination’ among police, paramilitary and Indian Air Force personnel. On Friday afternoon, during a...

-The Hindu ‘In-patients will have to pay up if private agencies are allowed to use diagnostic centres to serve external customers’ The Chhattisgarh government’s move to outsource diagnostic services in public health facilities has evoked a sharp reaction from health activists, who fear that it will destroy laboratory services. The government has issued a request for proposals for private partnership in radiology and laboratory services in 379 public health facilities. Three categories of...

-Outlook Notwithstanding repeated attacks by Maoists, the Centre has decided to counter ultras through its development efforts in Naxal-affected areas as it believes such efforts will weaken the Red base. "We are making a special effort to bring development in the Naxal-affected areas. We are hoping that it will pay dividend," Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh told PTI. Ramesh's contention comes just days after Naxalites planted a bomb inside the stomach of a...