Page 15 - Chhattisgarh

Security forces faced rough terrain, dehydration as they battled Naxalites

Sweltering conditions, a rough terrain and unavailability of drinkable water were some of the challenges faced by the security personnel during their encounter with Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district, a police officer said on Wednesday. But their toil and struggle did not go to waste as 29 Naxalites were killed in the operation that took place near Binagunda village under Chhotebethiya police station limits, he said. Around 200 personnel of the state police's District Reserve Guard and the Border Security Force were involved in the operation that took place on Tuesday. Besides the weather, the terrain made the operation difficult, said Pakhanjur police Station House Officer (SHO) Laxman Kewat, one of the officers who led the forces during the encounter. Talking to PTI, Kewat said, "Hot weather conditions and dehydration posed a huge challenge. Climbing a hill carrying weapons and rucksacks in such a weather was a tough task, but the security personnel were very motivated.

29 Naxals killed, 3 security personnel injured in encounter in Chhattisgarh

The gunfight took place at around 2 pm in Hapatola forest between Binagunda and Koronar villages under Chhotebethiya police station limits

Chhattisgarh's NMDC iron production rises 11%, sales surge 16% in FY24

Compared to the previous year's 29.04 MT, the production at the Chhattisgarh units jumped 11.67 per cent. The Dolimalai mine produced 12.67 MT of iron ore, up 7.56 per cent Y-o-Y

FIRs against Cong's LS candidate for poll code violation in Chhattisgarh

Police have registered two cases against senior Congress leader and the party's Bastar Lok Sabha seat candidate Kawasi Lakhma in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district for allegedly violating the model code of conduct through his alleged objectionable remarks, officials said on Saturday. While an FIR was registered against him at Mirtur police station for allegedly making an objectionable remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, another case was registered at Kutru police station for his alleged statement against police and administration, a district official said. The cases were registered on Friday evening based on the complaints lodged by the district returning officer, he said. Lakhma, who represents the Konta assembly constituency in Sukma district and served as a minister in the previous Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government, has been fielded by the party in the Bastar Lok Sabha seat. Bijapur district falls in Bastar Lok Sabha constituency. As per the election official's ...

Bus ferrying workers in Chhattisgarh falls into soil mine pit, 15 killed

At least 15 people were killed and more than a dozen injured -- all employees of a private firm -- as the bus they were travelling in fell into a 'murum' soil mine pit in Chhattisgarh's Durg district on Tuesday night, police said. The accident took place around 8:30 pm near Khapri village under Kumhari police station limits when the victims, employees of a distillery company, were returning home after work, Durg Superintendent of Police Jitendra Shukla said. As per preliminary information, the bus with more than 30 people onboard skidded off the road and plunged into the 40 feet deep 'murum' mine, he said. "Initially 11 deaths were reported in the accident. Later four more persons died in the hospital," he added. Murum, a type of soil, is mostly used for construction. Soon after being alerted, a police team reached the spot and launched a rescue operation, City Superintendent of Police (Chhavni area) Harish Patil said. The injured persons were shifted to a nearby hospital, the ..

Chhattisgarh liquor scam: SC ruling exposed Centre and ED, claims Baghel

Senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel has claimed the Supreme Court's decision in connection with the alleged liquor scam in Chhattisgarh had exposed the Centre for using the Enforcement Directorate to target opposition parties. The apex court on Monday quashed the money laundering case against former IAS officer Anil Tuteja and his son Yash in the alleged Rs 2,000 crore liquor scam, saying there were no proceeds of the crime. In a post on X on Monday, former Chhattisgarh chief minister Baghel said the commitment of agencies like the ED should be towards the Constitution and not any political party. "Shameful political misuse of ED has been proved and the Modi government has been exposed. Today's decision of the Supreme Court has proved that at the behest of BJP, the ED has been conspiring to defame the opposition parties by making every case a case of money laundering," Baghel claimed in the post. The ED registered a case in the alleged liquor scam just before the 2023 assembly po

PM Modi 'failed' to protect rights of tribals in Chhattisgarh, says Cong

The Congress on Monday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had "failed" to protect the rights of tribal communities in Chhattisgarh and asked whether he will ever meaningfully commit himself to tribal welfare. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions to Prime Minister Modi ahead of his rally in Bastar. "The dealings of the BJP here (Bastar) have shown that their friendship with corporate cronies runs much deeper than their sense of duty to the people," he said. "We hope that the PM can shed some light on why he has failed to protect the rights of tribal communities in the state," Ramesh said. He claimed that the dense, biodiversity-rich Hasdeo Aranya forest, considered the "lungs of the state" are under threat from the BJP and their "favourite crony", Adani Enterprises. "When the Congress Party was in power, we had 40 coal blocks in this forest cancelled by the Union Coal Ministry to protect the sacred forest. Since the BJP has returned, they have reversed th

LS elections 2024: PM Modi to address rally in Chhattisgarh's Bastar today

The PM will address a rally in Aamabal village in Bhanpuri in Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, which will go to polls on April 19

Massive fire engulfs power distribution company in Raipur's Kota area

Police and firefighters are present on the spot and trying to douse the fire

Power demand hits new peak in Chhattisgarh as mercury marches north

The weather office predicted that the northward march of mercury would continue and was likely to cross 40 degrees Celsius in the first week of April

LS polls: Ex-CM Baghel files nomination from Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh

Congress candidate and former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday filed his nomination from Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha seat in Chhattisgarh and expressed confidence that voters in the constituency will make him emerge victorious. The seat is currently held by Bharatiya Janata Party's Santosh Pandey, who defeated Congress' Bholaram Sahu by a margin of 1,11, 966 votes in 2019. The BJP has renominated Pandey from the seat. Elections to the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh will be held in three phases on April 19, April 26 and May 7 and votes will be counted on June 4. Polling in Rajnandgaon will be held on April 26. Baghel, 62, posted his pictures of filing the nomination papers at the Rajnandgaon collectorate on his X handle and said, "Considering the trust of every citizen of Rajnandgaon Lok Sabha as a witness, I have filed my nomination today. #will_win_rajnandgaon." Talking to reporters, the former CM expressed his gratitude to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and senior

8 Naxalites killed in encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh

Four Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Tuesday, police said. The gun battle took place in a forest near Lendra village under Gangaloor police station area at around 6 am, when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P told PTI. Personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard, Special Task Force, Central Reserve Police Force and its elite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) were involved in the operation, he said. After the exchange of fire stopped, the bodies of four Naxalites along with a light machine gun and other weapons were recovered from the spot, the official said. Search operation was still underway in the area, he added. Bijapur is located more than 400 km away from state capital Raipur. With this incident, 37 naxalites have been killed in separate encounters with security forces in Bastar region, comprising s

LS polls: Cong eyes win in 6 seats in Chhattisgarh in which BJP never lost

Six out of the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh have been the Bharatiya Janata Party's bastions where it never lost the elections since the state's formation in 2000. While the Congress has expressed confidence of breaching the saffron citadels this time, the BJP is hopeful of retaining them and also pocketing the other Lok Sabha seats in the state. Of these six seats, Kanker, Surguja and Raigarh are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes, Janjgir-Champa for the Scheduled Castes, while Raipur and Bilaspur are for the general category candidates. In Rajnandagon Lok Sabha seat, the BJP never tasted defeat since 2000 but in a 2007 bypoll, the Congress emerged victorious. This time, the Congress has fielded former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel from Rajnandgaon. After Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh, the BJP fared well in both the assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the state. The saffron party ruled the state uninterrupted for 15 years from 2003 to 2018 and came to power fo

Paddy custom milling delay disrupts rice delivery in Chhattisgarh

After Punjab, Chhattisgarh is the largest rice contributor to the current season's central pool

Analysing economic progress of states through budgets & advance estimates

Several states have come out with the Budgets for 2024-25 and hence advance estimates. Let us use them to analyse the economic performance or outlook of some of those states

Chhattisgarh's SECL exceeds the overburden removal target for FY24

In FY24, SECL recorded 248 MCuM OBR in FY23 (till March 15, 2023). This year, the company has registered growth of 24.64 per cent (61.32 million cubic metre)

Highlights of the day: LS election counting on Jun 4 after 6 wks of voting

Catch all the latest news from around the world here

BPCL to set up two compressed biogas plants in Raipur and Bhilai

The construction of the plant would create direct and indirect employment of about 60,000 man-days per year in the Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh launches scheme to provide input assistance to farmers

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Tuesday launched 'Krishak Unnati Yojna' to provide input assistance to farmers and released Rs 13,320 crore to 24.72 lakh cultivators. The scheme was launched at a function at Saryu Prasad Agrawal stadium in Balod district. Speaking on the occasion, Sai said another guarantee of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been fulfilled with the launch of this scheme. Input assistance worth Rs 13,320 crore was transferred to the bank accounts of 24.75 lakh farmers under the Krishak Unnati Yojana, he said. Of these cultivators, 24.72 lakh sold paddy this year in the kharif marketing season 2023-24 at minimum support price, and they were paid the difference amount of Rs 13,289 crore, the chief minister said. Similarly, more than Rs 31 crore was paid to 2,829 farmers producing paddy seeds through the seed corporation, he said. "The state government fulfilled its promise to farmers, by disbursing pending paddy bonus of two years (2014-15 and 2015-16

CIL, Vedanta, Adani eye lithium mining rights in Chhattisgarh's Korba

In February 2023, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) discovered lithium in the Katghora tehsil of Korba district