Prolonged captivity of hostages & perceived helplessness of government have adverse impact on psyche of society maoists may be patting themselves on their back for forcing the Chhattisgarh and Odisha governments to give into their demands in exchange for those abducted by them, but kidnap as a tool of revolutionary warfare could prove to be counter-productive to them. The prolonged captivity of hostages and the perceived helplessness of the government, which fears...

After 12 days in maoist captivity, Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon emerged from the forests around sunset on Thursday — accompanied by maoist interlocutors BD Sharma and G Hargopal. Earlier, just a few days into Menon’s abduction, intelligence agencies had assured the government that things were not exactly following the abductors’ script. Adverse public opinion had forced even maoist sympathisers to condemn the act. The interlocutors urged the maoists to close...

-Reuters KHAMMAM (India): It was a deal struck almost 40 years ago by a poor, illiterate Indian farmer, driven by desperation after a drought wiped out his crops and left his family close to starvation. The agreement: 10 acres of land, the size of four soccer pitches, for a mere 10 kg (22 lbs) of sorghum grains. "My father-in-law pawned the land for food," said Kowasalya Thati, lifting the hem of...

A Cabinet meeting convened by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh in Raipur on Tuesday approved the agreement prepared by the interlocutors nominated by both sides, thereby giving legal sanctity to the document. On Monday, it was examined and approved by a Cabinet sub-committee. “Now anyone need not nurture doubts over what was agreed upon,” a senior government official said over phone from Raipur. Informed sources said the interlocutors nominated by the...

Action plan proposed to improve rural connectivity for fighting extremism Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday said development and security were integral to each other, like strands in a single fabric. He was speaking in the context of the proposed Sarju Area Development Action Plan (SADAP), which is similar to the Saranda Action Plan (SAP) that was started six months ago in the Chibasa district of Jharkhand to combat the extremist...