-The Indian Express Latehar: The villagers of Amwatikar, about 40 km from Latehar town, have alleged that security forces used their men, women and children as “human shields” and forced them to look for and recover the bodies of CRPF men killed in the encounter with Maoists last week. Four villagers were killed and a fifth was injured when they were trying to recover the body of a CRPF personnel which had...

-The Indian Express Learning from the success of Greyhounds, a special police unit in Andhra Pradesh, the Centre has approved funds to raise specialised forces in four Naxal-hit states of Bihar, jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. The special units will be trained in guerilla warfare and will be assisted by other Central forces during operations against the rebels. The four states will get funds to create and upgrade infrastructure, weaponry and equipment. The proposed...

-The Indian Express Twenty-two Naxal-affected districts will now be able to build critical public infrastructure even in forestland, the Ministry of Environment and Forests has decided. Following demands raised by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Planning Commission, the MoEF has decided to relax forest conservation rules to allow diversion of forestland for creation of essential infrastructure in 22 districts affected by Left Wing Extremism. Departments will be able to build...

-The Indian Express In jharkhand, a gap between politics of the tribal movement and electoral politics The recent dissolution of the jharkhand assembly has brought to the fore the political uncertainty that hounds the state, with no leader or party managing to emerge as a viable representative of the people of jharkhand. How does one interpret this feature, which many argue is unique to jharkhand? Why is it that jharkhand, particularly since...

-The Times of India JALANDHAR: Muslim community in Punjab will soon have its own Shariat panchayats. The first such panchayt would be inaugurated on March 3 in Malerkotla, a Muslim town in Sangrur district. It would settle three types of disputes - marriage, divorce and inheritance. "These panchayats would provide a forum for ensuring fast and inexpensive settlements of the disputes in Muslim community," Punjab Wakf Board chairman Mohd. Izhar Alam said...