There was a sigh of relief across the board, with the first phase of polling passing relatively peacefully, and, crucially, with more than a 72 per cent voter turnout.

"We can fire Agni missiles from Balasore, but can’t build a kilometre-long bridge." Even before Naveen Patnaik, his predecessor CM J.B. Patnaik had laid the foundation stone for the bridge.

The reality of the abduction of the Italians is that it is little more than an incident of opportunity— most likely a ‘one off’ event— for which the ‘victims’ are as responsible as the perpetrators.

Does Mamata Banerjee have the vision and the will to see the present confrontation through to its logical end, or would she relapse into the uncertainty and paralysis that has come to grip other political leaders confronted with the challenge of a su

Political duplicity, opportunism and sheer stupidity have contributed as much to the growth and consolidation of the Maoist movement in India, as have the strategic coherence, persistence and tactical ingenuity of the rebels themselves.

Despite two months of intense combing operations by more than 4,000 troops in Lalgarh and its adjacent areas, it is now evident that operations by the security forces are nowhere close to their objectives