-The Indian Express   At least four villagers who were killed and one of those injured in the anti-Naxal operations last week in Chhattisgarh had police records of being involved in Naxal activities, security agencies claimed on Monday as they sought to counter the outrage over reports that many of those killed may have been innocent.   The agencies also said that some more among the victims were suspected of being Maoists but that...

An online petition has been started to help a soldier who has to fend for himself for treatment of paralysis caused by injuries while fighting terrorists during 26/11 Mumbai terror attack  NSG commando PV Maneesh, injured and paralysed in a grenade blast during the operation in Hotel Oberoi and subsequently awarded the Shaurya Chakra, has to foot the expenses of his Ayurvedic treatment on his own. The treatment will continue lifelong. He...

-The Telegraph Chhattisgarh police today admitted that the 18 victims of yesterday’s anti-Maoist operation included children and women but sparked fresh controversy by claiming they were all rebel cadres. The admission came after the bodies were laid out in front of a police station to facilitate identification — a routine procedure — and journalists took photographs. It was clear that several of the victims were children and at least one seemed a...

The army is bristling at a fresh move in the government to dilute or revoke the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. The AFSPA gives the army extraordinary powers in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast to enforce law and order in aid of the civilian authority. The army is particularly concerned about proposals floated from the Union home ministry to make it mandatory for soldiers to seek permission from a civilian authority...

-The Hindustan Times There is a widespread perception of policy paralysis in the corridors of power. The two remaining years of the UPA's term is still not too short to reverse the current drift, but time is rapidly running out. The damaged economy needs urgent fixing as does restoring the credibility of an executive racked by scandals and the absence of a sense of direction. The people of the country long...