Even as Congress and the Centre continued to rally behind Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, a section in the Congress on Wednesday felt that a more seasoned and mature leadership would have handled the situation better.

India was hoping Wednesday that the Maoists led by Prachanda would see reason and support a government led by the Nepali Congress party after Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal announced his resignation in a televised speech.

Prodding Pakistan to act against terror operatives in that country, home minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday downplayed the statement made by Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi that it was difficult for his country to rein in elements like LeT founder Hafiz Saeed.

Faulty deployment of the CRPF by the Chhattisgarh government may have resulted in the Maoist attack in Narayanpur district, killing 27 CRPF personnel. The Centre has asked the Chhattisgarh government and other Naxal-infested states to revisit the existing deployments of paramilitary forces, in view of the “operational and developmental objectives’’ outlined during the ongoing anti-Naxal offensive.

Former Haryana director-general of police (DGP) S.P.S. Rathore’s pension has been withheld completely on a permanent basis. Rathore, who is serving jail term after being convicted in the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case, had earlier been stripped off the police medal awarded to him. A home ministry statement on Wednesday said

The National Advisory Council, headed by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, will review the draft Food Security Bill on Thursday.
As part of the exercise, the NAC will look into the “deficiencies” of the draft, earlier approved by an EGoM headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, and suggest ways to address them.

The official residence of the ailing senior JD(U) leader and former defence minister George Fernandes witnessed his close aid Jaya Jaitly and two brothers, Michael and Richard, slugging it out with the police to get an entry into the premise but were denied. The three-hour long stand-off continued at 3, Krishna Menon Marg in the presence of a full strength media, with Ms Jaitly and the two brothers pleading that they had come to collect their belongings only.

Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia released the Shree Ramayana Mahanveshanam, the great quest of Ramayana authored by Union law and justice minister Dr M. Veerappa Moily on Wednesday.

For BJP chief Mr Nitin Gadkari, selection of state-incharge is proving to be tough task. More than three months after Mr Gadkari announced his team, filling the post of party’s state in-charge still remain an incomplete task.

Central leaders of the Congress are unlikely to be involved in the campaigning in the Naxal-influenced areas during the Bihar Assembly elections likely to be held in October this year.