On a bright sunny afternoon, a middle-aged farmer is lying on a hammock under the tree swaying in the breeze. A young city traveller walks up to him and starts a conversation. He learns that the farmer has large acres of fertile land with few crops growing on them. “Why don't you put it to better use? Grow sugarcane, vanilla and pepper — they sell for a higher price,” advises the youngster. 

About 25 heavily-armed and masked Maoists attacked the house of BJP national vice-president (V-P) and Sundergarh MP Jual Oram at Kendudhi village, about 450 km from here, on Sunday night. 

Oram, known for his anti-Maoist tirade, was not present in the house. The Maoists opened indiscriminate fire, but villagers mustered courage and forced them to flee to a nearby forest.

CRPF jawans and the special operations group are combing the jungle. Oram said his family was scared. "(However,) I will not be cowed down," he said, adding that his 78-year-old mother was mercilessly beaten up. "I reached home 10 minutes ago. All are in a shock," Oram said over phone. 

February 27 will be observed as Black Day across the country

Lawyers in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry went on an indefinite hunger strike outside the Madras high court on NSC Bose Road on Monday. They also decided to indefinitely boycott work in protest against the "assault on the judiciary" by Chennai Police on February 19. 

"We are staging the fast outside the high court premises after being requested to do so by some judges. A CBI team is expected to assess the situation, including damages caused by the police action. A panel of judges also proposes to evaluate the situation. Hence, the judges did not want any unpleasantness on the court premises," Madras High Court Advocates' Association president Paul Kanakaraj said. 

Washington, Feb 24: Nadya Suleman, the mother of the recently born octuplets, could be thrown out of her home in California within two weeks, say reports.

Sources close to Suleman have revealed that the Whittier property will be auctioned on March 5.

Suleman''s mother Angela, the actual owner of the house, is said to have not paid the bungalow''s mortgage for 10 months.

A source revealed that Angela owed over 23,000 dollars in back payments, Us magazine reported.

The source further said that Suleman and her brood of 14 kids had not decided on a new house as yet.

Meanwhile, the source said that Suleman actually made up the dad's name-David Solomon-on her children''s birth certificates.

An emaciated little Sachin, 2, trots along with half-clad Priyanka, 3, chattering in Tamil, while 10-year-olds Sanjay and Rahul, are busy sifting iron scraps from heaps of garbage dumped before one of the rows of shops dealing with waste materials in the Jolly Mohalla.

The settlement, dinghy shanties built with tin and bricks, does an economic service few privileged citizens know about-they collect a bulk of the city's throwaway wastes and help generate wealth.

"How many corners are there in a brick?" asks nine-year-old Kannan M to the elders around him. They stated the obvious, "Four." "No, there are 16 corners in a brick," he said, much to the surprise of teachers who were taking evening tuitions for him.

"Kannan is one among the many children who, though brought up in a slum, is smarter than children from financially stable families. We were surprised when he asked us that question and doubly amused when we were told our answer was wrong," said Aditya, an activist who works for the NGO Janastra. The organisation has been conducting spoken English classes for children from slums since November, 2006.