NEW DELHI: Suspected Maoist rebels killed five people, including four policemen, returning from election duty in the eastern Indian state of Bihar, police said Friday. The policemen and one election official had been guarding polling stations in the state when a landmine ripped through their jeep late Thursday night near the town of Muzaffarpur, 70km (43 miles) from the state capital Patna. Bihar, a hotbed of Maoist activity, was one of several parts of India to vote Thursday in the second stage of month-long general elections in which security forces have been on heightened alert for rebel attacks."Police have launched a combing operation in the area against the Maoists," said additional director general of police Neelmani, who goes by one name. Maoist attacks on polling stations during the first phase of voting last week claimed at least 19 lives, including 10 paramilitary troopers and five election workers. Polling in Bihar, which sends 40 members to India's 543-seat national parliament, has been staggered over four phases to ensure adequate deployment of security personnel. India's Maoists say they are fighting for the rights of neglected tribal people and landless farmers.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in
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