Patna/Ranchi, Mar 18 : The Bihar-Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh special area committee of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) has called for a boycott of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections on Wednesday.

The Maoists issued a press release, which said that the coming Lok Sabha elections would give an opportunity to the political parties to misrule the country for another five years.

Latehar/Chatra (Jharkhand), Mar 16 : Maoists in Jharkhand call for boycott of the general elections, which is scheduled to be held next month.

In Latehar and Chatra district of Jharkhand, the Maoists have painted the walls with writings, threatening villagers from casting votes and with dire consequences if they take part in the polls.

"We are living in constant fear. The Maoists threaten us not to cast vote. We really can''t say now whether we would be able to cast votes or not," said Anil Kumar, a resident.

Ranchi (Jharkhand), Mar 12 : Six-year-old Mehul got a new lease of life on Holi this year, when a team of doctors successfully operated upon him to remove a 6-feet long iron rod from his abdomen on Wednesday.

Mehul had fallen from the terrace of his house while playing and the rod that was protruding went though his chest and came out of the abdomen.

However, the boy miraculously survived as the doctors of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi conducted the four-hour-long surgery, whereupon they successfully removed the rod from Mehul''''''''s body .

Ranchi, Mar 11 : A raging forest fire in the Saranda forest of Jharkhand has become a cause of concern for locals as well as the authorities.

Locals say that frequent fires at Saranda, one of the largest Sal forests in Asia, are a result of the carelessness on part of the nomadic people who burn wood logs to cook food near the forest area.

People also carelessly throw away cigarette butts that have not been stubbed out.

Dhanbad (Jharkhand), Mar 7 : Jail authorities in Dhanbad Jail are imparting computer training to jail inmates to equip them with skills for the future.

Students of Indian School of Mines (ISM) have been roped to teach the computer skills to jail inmates.

Only 75 prisoners have expressed their interest in learning computers but more are expected to join soon.

"I have learnt some skills on computer. When I will go out. I can earn a livelihood," said Manoranjan, a jail inmate.