Speaking to Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik that his party Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is unlikely to support Congress's candidate for the Presidential poll. ...
09:05 PM, May 04, 2012
Chintalnar: Sukma District collector Alex Paul Menon has been freed by Naxals after 12 days in captivity. But it is still not clear as to what deal was struck between the the Chhattisgarh government and the Naxals for his release. Menon looked tired as he spoke to the media, which had been waiting for hours at Chintalnar on Thursday. "I thank all the people, the government, my family and friends...
11:25 PM, May 03, 2012
Chintalnar: The District Collector of Sukma, Alex Paul Menon, was released after 12 days on Thursday evening amid confusion and fading light. Alex Paul Menon was accompanied by the Naxal-appointed mediator. BD Sharma. He was calm and composed as he walked up to speak to the media. The District Collector thanked everyone who stood by him, from the government to his family and the mediators. Crucially he also said that...
10:47 PM, May 03, 2012
New Delhi: Alex Paul Menon is a 2006 batch IAS officer. Menon, who was abducted on April 21 by the Maoists while attending a villagers' meet, was released on May 3. Menon is also a fan of superstar Rajinikanth. Menon is the first collector to have been abducted by the Maoists in Chhattisgarh. The 32-year-old is an active blogger and Twitter user. In his last tweet before abduction, Menon said,...
04:05 PM, May 03, 2012
Panama: A Panama-flagged merchant oil tanker, the BW Rhine, has been hijacked. Indian sailors are among the 21-member crew that has been taken hostage. The incident occurred off the east coast of Africa on April 28. The exact number of Indians on board is, however, not known as of now. Sources in the DG Shipping have called it a looting incident on the high seas. They are monitoring the situation....
09:56 AM, May 03, 2012
Sukma: Abducted Sukma collector and IAS officer Alex Paul Menon will be released on May 3, the Maoists told BBC on Tuesday. The Maoists said Menon will be released in front of the public in Tadhmetha. Menon has been in the custody of the Maoists for the past ten days. Reacting to the reports N Brajendra Kumar, Principal Secretary at the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister's Office, said, "We are happy to...
10:18 PM, May 01, 2012
New Delhi: Faced with frequent incidents of abduction, the Centre on Monday said if the controversial National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) comes into existence, it would help in the long run to deal with hostage situations in a better way. Home Minister P Chidambaram said he was not sure whether NCTC would come up or not and if it comes up, then the proposed anti-terror body should be allowed to...
05:44 PM, Apr 30, 2012
Raipur: The hostage crisis in Chhattisgarh entered its ninth day on Monday as Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon continued to remain in the captivity of the Naxals. Meanwhile, after days of drama over the name of the mediators, the two Naxal-appointed interlocutors on Sunday returned after holding the first round of talks with the Maoists. Following the talks, the mediators said that the abducted IAS officer, who is an...
08:01 AM, Apr 30, 2012
Bhubaneswar/Koraput: Three days after being freed by Maoists, Odisha MLA Jhina Hikaka on Sunday said the ultras are likely to release a fresh audio message which could clear the air over his possible resignation as a legislator. "A new audio tape is likely to be released by the Maoists shortly. It will remove all confusion relating to my resignation. Everything will be clear," the 37-year-old ruling BJD MLA from Laxmipur,...
04:04 AM, Apr 30, 2012
New Delhi: It's been eight days since Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon was taken hostage by the Naxals. Two Naxal-appointed interloctors reached the rebel hideout, deep inside the Bastar forests for another round of talks but failed to achieve any breakthrough to secure Menon's release. The Naxals want 17 jailed cadres to be freed in exchange for Menon. Chief Minister Raman Singh has said their demands will be considered only...
06:32 AM, Apr 29, 2012
New Delhi: Mediators former IAS officer and social activist BD Sharma and Professor Hargopal left for Chintalnar in Chhattisgarh on Saturday morning to meet the Maoist abductors of Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon. It has been a week since the Menon was abducted by the Naxals. The mediators have had several rounds of talks in two days but the deadlock continues. The Naxals have refused to extend the deadline...
08:59 AM, Apr 28, 2012
London: Police say they've arrested the suspect at the centre of a three-hour siege which shut down part a busy part of central London. The capital's Metropolitan Police say the 49-year-old man is now in police custody and that searches of the building are ongoing. One eyewitness claimed on Friday that the man burst into the office of a training company saying he was ready to blow himself up. Earlier,...
08:03 PM, Apr 27, 2012
Bhubaneswar: After more than a month in Naxal captivity, Odisha's BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka was finally set free at Balipeta in Koraput on Thursday. The BJD's Laxmipur MLA has apparently been released on the condition that he would resign from his seat after this. It was an emotional reunion for the MLA with his wife after a nerve-wrecking 33 days. Kaushaliya Majhi received her husband Jhina Hikaka after the Naxals...
09:08 PM, Apr 26, 2012
Home Minister P Chidambaram was reacting to Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik's allegations that the Centre did not help his government solve the hostage crisis. ...
03:51 PM, Apr 23, 2012
New Delhi: Faced with a hostage crisis in two Naxal-affected states, the Centre is planning a new unified policy to deal with such situations. The Union Home Ministry will write to the Chief Secretaries of nine Naxal affected states soon to finalise a plan to deal with hostage crisis. Naxals are holding two states, Odisha and Chhattisgarh, at gunpoint after abducting a sitting MLA and an IAS officer. The hostage...
11:59 AM, Apr 23, 2012
Bhubaneswar: There has been no resolution yet to the hostage crisis in Odisha. Naxals have released a fresh tape extending the deadline for the release of abducted BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka to April 25. Hikaka will be presented again in people's court on April 25. The Maoists have asked the government to free jailed cadres to secure Hikaka's release. The Odisha government had said it would withdraw cases against 13...
12:20 PM, Apr 20, 2012
New Delhi: The Supreme Court issued a notice to the Odisha government and asked for details of what is being done to resolve the hostage crisis involving BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka. The court was hearing a petition filed by a retired Army officer to restrain the release of jailed Naxals, arguing that this would affect the morale of the forces. Major General (Retd) Gangurdep Bakshi had pleaded with the apex...
11:28 AM, Apr 19, 2012
Ankara: Turkey has submitted a bid to UEFA to host the 2020 European Championships, the head of the country's football federation announced on Tuesday. Turkey is also bidding to stage the 2020 Olympics in Istanbul. UEFA president Michel Platini has previously said he would back the country to host Euro 2020 only if it loses the Olympic bid. The International Olympic Committee will vote on the 2020 Games in September...
11:18 PM, Apr 18, 2012
New Delhi: The deadline set by the Maoists to release 29 jailed cadres in exchange for Biju Janata Dal MLA Jhina Hikaka ends on Wednesday. The Maoists had demanded the release of 29 prisoners by 5:00 pm on April 18. The Maoists had reportedly promised to release the MLA in the presence of his wife and the prisoners' lawyer, Nihar Patnaik if all their demands were met. Hikaka was abducted...
07:01 AM, Apr 18, 2012
Catch the day's top stories on India at 9 with Rajdeep Sardesai. ...
11:56 PM, Apr 16, 2012
