-The Indian Express   Is the number 3 rank in the CPI (Maoist) hierarchy jinxed: Two top Naxal leaders – Kishenji and Azad – have been killed by the security forces while holding the same position. Kishenji, whose real name Molajula Koteswar Rao whose mother tongue is Telugu, the dreaded Maoist commander carrying Rs 19 lakh reward on his head, was the third-in-command in the Naxal top body – Politburo. Azad, whose real name is...

Bhukan Singh is a small, shy figure, with a nervous smile - he does not look like a hero. But standing in a field near his home, he recalls the day last March when his fight for transparency and justice in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand nearly resulted in his death. "In today's India speaking the truth is not easy," Mr Singh, 44, says wistfully, remembering how, on that March day...

Maoist movement in the country has suffered a massive blow with the killing of Mallojula Koteshwara Rao, popularly known as Kishenji, in West Bengal. The biggest credit for this 57-year-old Maoist leader is the building of Lalgarh movement in West Bengal, which is now billed as the second Naxalbari in India. One of the first generation founding leaders of erstwhile CPI-ML People's War (PW) in Andhra Pradesh, Kishenji left an indelible...

Words of wisdom from Swaminathan commission have fallen on deaf ears The Supreme Court has pulled up the State governments for their callous approach to acquisition of land from farmers and for issuing notifications in violation of the procedure under the Land Acquisition Act. Decrying mindless acquisitions, a Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and S.J. Mukhopadhaya said the consequent notifications were nullified by courts on the ground of violation of the mandatory...

-The Hindu   The Bharatiya Janata Party is unambiguous in opposing the government move to throw open the retail sector to Foreign Direct Investment. The party believes that allowing foreign investment in multi-brand retail would adversely impact the retail sector, which is growing, and put the country's entire food chain system into the hands of foreign firms. At a news conference here, leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha,...