17 Bangladeshi fishermen were arrested near Orissa coast for illegally fishing in the Bay of Bengal.

The riot-hit Kandhamal district of Orissa is slowly returning to normalcy. District authorities have lifted the prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPc from entire district from today. But the night curfew in five worst affected police stations will continue. 

District collector of Kandhamal Dr. Krishan Kumar said, "The night curfew would be lifted at any time from these areas while reviewing the law and order situation. There is no news of any untoward incidents in last fortnight."

State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that state health department has already taken several steps to control population.

He said that the health department has accorded top priority to population control for 2009-10. There has already been a decline in the population growth rate of Assam, and the next survey will make this clear.

He added that that the Janani Suraksha Yojana, which provides financial incentive of Rs 1,400 to a mother in the event of a delivery in a government hospital, would now offer another Rs 1,000 if the family concerned opted for family planning.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader, Raj Thackeray, was let off on interim bail on Wednesday, after spending a night at the Manpada police station, Thane.

On Tuesday MNS workers were at their boisterous best, destroying property, indulging in arson and wreaking havoc all over the state of Maharashtra. Things calmed down a little on Wednesday when the proceedings shifted to the Kalyan court, where Mr. Thackeray was produced in relation with a case registered at the Kalyan railway police station on October 19. The allegation against him was setting off attacks on North Indian students appearing for a Railway Recruitment Board examination. The court accepted his anticipatory bail application.

The National Conference (NC) set the poll campaign rolling on Wednesday. It organized a rally at the sports stadium where around 3,000 people, mostly delegates, gathered to listen to Omar Abdullah who kicked off his party’s campaign.

“We realise that this time campaigning will not be easy. We have to tread a difficult path and we are ready for it. We deliberately chose the workers’ convention to kick-off our campaign. From tomorrow, we will have a full-fledged campaign in villages and other areas,” said the NC president. 

St Stephen’s College seems to have taken serious offense to Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s comment that during his year-long stay there, students who asked questions in class “were looked down upon”.

On Tuesday, while addressing students at a university in Srinagar, Rahul Gandhi said, “When I was studying at St Stephen’s College, asking a question was not (perceived to be) good in our class. You were looked down upon if you asked too many questions.”

This statement set off a chain reaction among the Stephanians.