2 lakh farm suicides since 1997

There were at least 16,196 farmers’ suicides in India in 2008, bringing the total since 1997 to 199,132, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The share of the Big 5 States or ‘suicide belt’ in 2008 — Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh — remained very high at 10,797, or 66.6 per cent of the total farm suicides in the country. This was marginally higher than it was in 2007 (66.2 per cent). Maharashtra remains the worst State in the nation for farm suicides with a total of 3802. (This is just 40 short of the combined total of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.) The all-India total of 16,196 represents a fall of 436 from 2007. But the broad trends of the past decade reflect no significant change. The national average for farm suicides since 2003 stays at roughly one every 30 minutes.

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Maoists may take advantage of turmoil in AP: DGP

Taking advantage of the prevailing volatile political situation in Andhra Pradesh, the Maoists may try to strengthen their base, police officials have warned.

The Left-wing extremists, who have reportedly supported the Telangana agitation, may utilise the current unrest to strengthen their base in the backward region, once a hotbed of Naxal activity, they said.

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Chhattisgarh to beef up security in Maoist-hit areas

Chhattisgarh will focus on strengthening security and building infrastructure in Maoist-hit areas to maintain law and order, Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan said Monday.

'The state government is making continuous efforts to increase security forces and develop necessary infrastructure, particularly in the Maoist-affected areas, to effectively maintain law and order,' he told the state assembly on the opening day of the budget session.