Chief minister Mamata Banerjee tonight formally revived security operations against Maoists after the rebels refused to extend a ceasefire, spoke of war, criticised her peace envoys and appeared to escalate hostilities by killing two Trinamul supporters. Joint forces in pursuit were locked in a gunfight with the killers till late tonight at a Purulia village in the foothills of the Ayodhya hills. “I will take away the guns of the Maoists. The...

On November 11, 2011, a big campaign was launched to make citizens of India aware of the Right to Education Act. The campaign has the potential to engage citizens in demanding their rights. Hopefully, the effort will also push the government at different levels to prepare to provide the “rights” as envisaged by the law.   At the core of the law is a “guarantee” — a guarantee for quality, free and...

The contrast could not have been starker. On one side is an English teacher leading fishermen and villagers, using his unbridled oratory to spew propaganda against Kudankulam’s ready-to-start nuclear plant that will produce 1,000MW. Arraigned against him is a group of engineers who have devoted their lives to building nuclear power plants. Affable, soft-spoken and hurt that the world’s “safest” nuclear plant that they have built has not been allowed to...

82 children have died in Magadh division Bihar is in the grip of yet another lethal outbreak of viral encephalitis, which has claimed the lives of 82 children in the Magadh division so far. The latest death was reported on Sunday. The division's only government hospital, the Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College Hospital, has been swamped with 383 cases of encephalitis, with an average of six cases pouring in each day. This is...

In this Idea Exchange moderated by Senior Editor Archna Shukla, I&B minister Ambika Soni speaks about self-regulation by the media, empowering the Press Council of India and the Congress party’s stand on corruption Archna Shukla: There is a growing perception that the government is unhappy with media criticism. The editor of a leading English daily publicly claimed that government advertisements have been stopped to his publication. Is the government being vindictive? I have...