NEW DELHI // India's politicians displayed a rare show of unity in condemning an attack on Saturday by suspected Maoist guerrillas that killed 27 people travelling in a convoy carrying leaders and members of the Congress party.
The evening ambush on a rural road in the insurency-wracked state of Chhattisgarh, which targeted the group returning from a campaign event with the area's indigenous tribal community, appeared to be a warning to officials to stay away from the rebels' main base of support.
Among the dead were Mahendra Karma, a prominent tribal leader. Yesterday, security forces discovered the bodies of local Congress politician Nandkumar Patel and his son Dinesh, who had been abducted during the ambush. Another 32 people were injured.
"It is not the time to do politics … This is not an attack on Congress. This is an attack on democracy," said Rahul Gandhi, the vice-president of the Congress party, who yesterday arrived in Raipur, the state's capital.
Rajnath Singh, head of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said the country should unite in its fight against the insurgency by Maoists, also known as Naxalites after the West Bengal village of Naxalbari, where the guerrilla movement began in 1967.
" I want to appeal to all political parties that, whether it is Naxalism or terrorism, we need to rid the country of these issues, rising above party politics," he said in New Delhi.
Even Narendra Modi, the divisive, Congress-baiting BJP leader who is chief minister of Gujarat, said on his Twitter feed: "The need of the hour is to stand together as a nation and vow to fight this menace that threatens our democracy."
The Press Trust of India news agency said the attackers blocked the road by felling trees, forcing the convoy to halt. Police said the suspected rebels triggered a land mine that blew up one of the cars, then fired at the Congress party leaders and their supporters before fleeing.
"Our country will never bow down before Naxalism. Those who commit such dastardly crimes are working against the interests of peace and development in the area," the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, said in a statement.
Mr Singh announced government payments of 500,000 rupees (Dh33,000) for the families of each slain person as well as 50,000 rupees for each of the injured. The home ministry has also dispatched additional units of paramilitary forces to the state, to boost security.
Congress, the main opposition party in the state, has recently stepped up political activities, trying to win the support of tribals ahead of state elections scheduled to be held by December.
Saturday's attack is thought to have been engineered primarily to kill Mr Karma who, in 2005, helped to establish the Salwa Judum, an anti-Maoist militia of young tribals armed and trained by the government. The Salwa Judum has been accused of violating human rights, recruiting and arming minors, and killing or wounding civilians.
In 2011, the Supreme Court called the Salwa Judum unconstitutional, but Rahul Pandita, whose book Hello, Bastar: The Untold Story of India's Maoist Movement was published that year, said the organisation continues to work covertly.
"In the history of the Maoists, once you're a target, they don't leave you," Mr Pandita told The National.
Sudeep Chakravarti, an analyst of conflict situations and the author of Red Sun: Travels in Naxalite Country, published in 2008, said the Maoists had been trying to kill Mr Karma for many years. As recently as November, he escaped a land-mine explosion.
"I've been to his home village," Mr Chakravarti said. "I've seen his house. It's heavily guarded, and there's a police post nearby. And he gets very high security."
The creation of the Salwa Judum, Mr Chakravarti said, was one of the rare instances in which the Congress and the BJP saw eye to eye. The Salwa Judum was formed by the BJP government in Chhattisgarh with the tacit blessing of the Congress-led federal government.
The rebels, known as Naxalites, have been fighting the central government for more than four decades, demanding land and jobs for tenant farmers and the poor. They are now present in 20 of India's 28 states and have thousands of fighters, according to the home ministry.
The government has offered to begin peace talks, but without success. The Maoists demand that it first withdraw thousands of paramilitary soldiers deployed to fight the rebels.
Maoist rebels carried out two major attacks in Chhattisgarh in 2010. They ambushed a paramilitary patrol in April that year, killing 76 troops in their deadliest attack ever. A month later, they triggered a land mine under a bus carrying civilians and police, killing 31 people.
In a column he wrote in the Mint newspaper on Thursday, Mr Chakravarti pointed out the "deeply sulky tone" of recent Maoist statements. He quoted a statement released after the killing of 10 guerrillas in early April, which accused the "fascist" government of plotting "this gruesome mass killing".
"Not too long ago, such rant would quickly be followed by a major revenge hit," Mr Chakravarti wrote in the article, in which he also said the Maoists were now a weakened force.
But Saturday's attack "shows that the Maoists are still capable of unleashing and perpetrating a successful operation where they kill everyone", Mr Pandita said. Despite the advances made by Indian security forces into territory that had once been held by Maoists, he said, "they have not been eliminated completely".
Congress party president Sonia Gandhi yesterday visited some of the injured in hospital.
"We are devastated," said Ms Gandhi, who denounced what she called a "dastardly attack" on the country's democratic values.
ssubramanian@thenational.ae
sbhattacharya@thenational.ae
with additional reports from the Associated Press
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
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Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
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The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Founders: Tamara Hachem and Yazid Erman
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Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
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Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shanwari, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (captain), Corey Anderson, Mark Chapman, Lockie Ferguson, Colin de Grandhomme, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Seth Rance, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.
RESULT
West Brom 2 Liverpool 2
West Brom: Livermore (79'), Rondón (88' )
Liverpool: Ings (4'), Salah (72')
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Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.
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Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.
The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.
The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK
Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
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Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
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Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
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What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
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4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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6.20pm: West Acre
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