The fight against Naxalites and development activity in rebel-affected areas are set to get a much-needed impetus over the next two years. Authorities in 11 rebel-affected districts of Jharkhand, which are among 33 across the country, have been told by the Planning Commission to prepare development plans to the tune of Rs 100 crore each for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 fiscals. Since the beginning of the month, deputy commissioners of...

While the Jagatsinghpur district administration is preparing to take up survey in Govindpur village, considered a bastion of anti-Posco plant agitation, around 50 people of the same village today extended their support to the $12 billion project. “Some villagers of Govindpur met me, expressed their support to the Posco project and requested me in writing to start survey in the village,” Jagatsinghpur district collector Narayan Chandra Jena told The Telegraph. They claimed...

A series of shots rang out in the night far beyond the barricaded perimeter of the Central Reserve Police Force camp here in Chhattisgarh?s Dantewada district. For a few minutes, the sentries on duty returned fire before their guns, and the ones that sounded in the distance, fell silent. By morning, the adivasi settlements around the camp had emptied, the villagers wary of being caught and questioned by the CRPF?s morning...

Two sisters live in a clearing in the forest about 10 km beyond the abandoned houses and empty yards of Mukram village in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district. A third young girl cowers in the courtyard of her aunt’s house in neighbouring Tokanpalli. Between 14 and 18 years of age, Kose, Rame and Hidme (names changed) say they fled their homes in Mukram after they were sexually assaulted by Special Police Officers...

Two events triggered widespread condemnation and protests  Satish Shetty, who was murdered, had targeted the land mafia Dattatray Patil's targets were the powers that be in Kolhapur While Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan is proud that the State has an impressive 98.69 per cent disposal rate of requests under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the murder of two campaigners who used the law to good effect is a blot. First, it was...