Jammu and Kashmir: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah dismissed reports of a brewing “battle†between himself and Rahul Gandhi of the Congress party over the issue of providing security to sarpanches, the elected heads of village councils, Kashmir Live reported. A group of sarpanches from Kashmir met with Mr. Gandhi in New Delhi on Thursday to discuss security concerns after the killing of two village council heads in the Kashmir valley earlier this week.
Arunachal Pradesh: The state government on Thursday introduced a legislation to enhance protection of tigers, according to a report on Firstpost's Web site citing Press Trust of India. The move came after a Royal Bengal tigress was killed in a zoo in Itanagar, the state capital.
West Bengal: The state legislature passed a resolution Thursday opposing the central government's recent decision to allow foreign direct investment in retail, India Today reported. The resolution was introduced by the governing Trinamool Congress party, which walked out of the central governing coalition, the United Progressive Alliance, over the issue.
Jharkhand: Government employees on Friday protested the state's decision to privatize the distribution and maintenance of electricity in Ranchi, the state capital, and cities including Jamshedpur and Dhanbad, The Times of India reported.
Rajasthan: The state government has assigned an all-female task force to conduct sting operations in clinics suspected of conducting tests to determine the sex of a fetus, The Daily Bhaskar reported. Such tests are illegal in India, where female fetuses are often aborted because of a widespread preferen ce for boys.  Â
Maharashtra: The state faced a week of political turmoil, with the deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar handing in his resignation on Tuesday, Firstpost reported. Nineteen state ministers said they would follow suit, “in what was widely seen as a show of strength,†according to the report.
Andhra Pradesh: Six activists supporting the formation of a separate state of Telangana were arrested Wednesday after chanting slogans against Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy outside his office, The New Indian Express reported. The activists were protesting Mr. Kumar's statement that the fate of Telangana would be decided by the majority of people in Andhra Pradesh.
