-IANS RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh government has virtually called a halt to its anti-Maoist offensive till Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon is released from captivity, official sources said Monday. "The whole focus is now to secure the safe and early release of Alex Paul Menon. The anti-Maoist operation issue can follow later on," a senior official at the police headquarters here told. The Maoists have demanded freeze on Operation Green Hunt against them...

The Manipur government has taken a serious view of the recruitment of child soldiers by some underground organisations. Talking to Naharolgi Thoudang , a vernacular newspaper, G. Gaikhangam, Home Minister, said that since mature and educated persons would not like to join insurgent outfits, the frustrated groups were targeting children. He had directed Director-General of police Ratnakar Bralal to keep all police stations in the State on alert. He said it was...

-IANS Chhattisgarh police were on Sunday yet to find a clue about Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon, a day after he was abducted from a forested area at gun-point by Maoists while he was interacting with tribal farmers about their problems. police officials posted in Sukma district searched certain parts of the forest area adjoining Andhra Pradesh in the early hours of Sunday to rescue the abducted 32-year-old collector. "But he...

-The Times of India GUWAHATI: Hundreds of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) activists were prevented by police from staging a demonstration in the Golaghat district on Saturday. KMSS claimed that four of their members were injured when police used force to stop their procession, which was heading towards the sub-division office. The activists were also detained. "We were about 300 people in the procession. We planned the protest after the district administration...

The Central Government has ordered States to take all possible measures to combat a wave of child marriages which authorities fear will take place across the Hindu heartland on Tuesday, on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya. In a letter to the States, the Women and Child Welfare Ministry has warned governments that child marriage is illegal under the Prohibition of Child Marriages Act, 2006. The Ministry has suggested that all district magistrates...