'We have increased security for hydro and thermal power units. A few days ago we had discussed with home department how to beef up the security. We are ensuring the power plants remain secure,' an official of the state energy department said.

Last December, Maoists damaged a valve house of the Balimela Hydel Power in Malkangiri district, affecting power generation. Malkangiri is about 600 km from here.

Orissa has six hydro and two thermal power generation units.

The vociferous opponent of the constitutional amendment bill had the house smiling during the speech delivered in trademark Lalu style, scathing, sarcastic and satirical.

The former Bihar chief minister said the MPs, including Sharad Yadav of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party (SP), were not showing off by walking towards the speaker's podium.

'This is not a fashion to go near your seat and shout. But when somebody doesn't listen, we need to go closer to the person to make her listen to us. Don't take it otherwise, madam,' Lalu Prasad told the speaker. Many MPs thumped their desks and more laughed loudly.

'The more you listen to us, the less we will troop towards the podium,' he said in chaste Hindi, as Meira Kumar tried to tell him to keep his speech shorter.

The RJD chief attacked the government over its flagship bill that seeks to reserve one-third of legislative seats for women, calling it an onion that will 'bring tears to MPs once they peel it off'.

He lambasted the government, calling the bill anti-Muslim and anti-Dalit, and even Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee couldn't hide a smile.

Lalu Prasad said they were not opposing the reservation for women, but wanted amendments in the proposed bill to ensure that the rights of Muslim and Dalit women were not denied.

'The constitution is being amended and therefore everyone's opinion should be taken into account,' he said, demanding a debate over the bill before it is brought to the Lok Sabha. The bill has been cleared by the Rajya Sabha.

He said MPs of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who were supporting the bill inside parliament were, in fact, opposed to it.

'They are telling us to save them from being made to sign their death certificates. Sab satyanaas hoga (Everthing will be devastated if the bill is passed in present form),' he said amid a burst of laughter.

He said the three Yadavs -- Mulayam Singh, Sharad Yadav and himself -- were being criticised outside the house and said they were all 'supremos' of their parties. Communist Party of India-Marxist MP Basudeb Acharia interrupted but was silenced by Lalu Prasad's quick wit.

'We are supremos. You are gone. Thanks to Mamataji for taking a lead,' he said, in an apparent reference to the last Lok Sabha election in which Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress routed the CPI-M in West Bengal.

Sharmila, who earned the sobriquet Iron Lady of Manipur and is now in her 10th year of judicial custody, was arrested Wednesday night and was sent to a prison hospital and put on a nasal drip.

'She was released from judicial custody Monday after her term expired, but was re-arrested as she continued with her fast-unto-death agitation,' a senior police official told IANS Thursday.

Sharmila launched an indefinite hunger strike November 2, 2000 after she witnessed the killing of 10 people by army soldiers at a bus stop near her home in Malom, a village on the outskirts of capital Imphal.

Sharmila is campaigning for the repeal of the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) that provides unlimited powers to security forces to shoot at sight and arrest anybody without a warrant.

'I am not going to break my fast and am ready to die for a cause that I believe is just and right,' Sharmila said.

Giving support to Sharmila are several women's rights groups holding a relay hunger strike outside the J.N. Hospital in Imphal where she was lodged.

'We are here to express our solidarity with Sharmila,' said Anu Devi, a supporter.

Given her steely resolve, rights campaigners in the region are sure that Sharmila would continue with her fast-unto-death mission until the controversial anti-terror law is repealed.

'Sharmila is an icon and her crusade against the AFSPA will continue. It is no joke to continue fasting for nearly a decade,' Rakesh Mehoubam, a leading rights campaigner told IANS.

Sharmila, in her late 30s, looks frail and emaciated, but the resolve in her eyes and intent to continue with her campaign has become even stronger.

Last year, a Manipur court had set her free March 7, but she was arrested the very next day after she went on a hunger strike outside a local club in her hometown. She was sent back to jail.

This has been her saga during the past nine years. Year after year the court sets her free, but Sharmila once again resumes her campaign.

'I am fighting for justice,' Sharmila sounding confident, said in a feeble voice.

Rights activists say that AFSPA has become a tool of state abuse.

'The law grants the military wide powers to arrest without warrant, shoot-to-kill and destroy property in so-called disturbed areas. It also protects military personnel responsible for serious crimes from prosecution, creating a pervasive culture of impunity,' Human Rights Watch said in a report.

'The AFSPA was enacted by parliament to quell the Naga insurgency in 1958. But after that there have been so many insurgencies in the northeast. Despite the act, militancy is still thriving. In other words, the AFSPA has miserably failed,' said Babloo Loitongbam, a rights leader here.

The reports started late Wednesday and spread like wildfire, forcing many the residents in Khordha, Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur district to flee outdoors, a police official told IANS.

Hundreds of people, including women and children, came out of their apartments and highrise buildings in several places here and in adjoining Cuttack city and returned home early Thursday morning, he said.

'We were woken up from our sleep by our neighbours who said that an earthquake would hit. We came out of our house to find many people roaming around,' said Sujata Mahapatra, a resident here.

The meteorological centre, newspapers and television channels here began receiving calls from people who wanted to verify the reports.

Even though the meteorological department dismissed the reports, people preferred not to take a risk and spent the night with their children and family members on roads and in open fields.

'My desire to serve my village was the reason I fought the recent local elections,' said Chavvi, who was elected a month ago as sarpanch in Soda, a small village of Tonk district 60 km from state capital Jaipur.

'My grandfather Brigadier Raghubir Singh was elected sarpanch from Soda for a record three consecutive times and it was his wish that I follow in his footsteps,' Chavvi told IANS.

A former student of Rishi Valley, Bangalore and Delhi's Lady Shri Ram College, Chavvi has a business management degree from Pune. But she does not miss the fast life of the city.

'It is only a month since I became a sarpanch. But I am loving it. I do not have any complaints about being out of city or corporate life and devoting my time to my village,' said Chavvi.

'For me rural life is not new. I am quite used to it. I grew up playing with kids of farmers'.

Dressed in jeans and T-shirt, and fondly called 'baisa' - a term of respect in the local lingo - she spends hours daily with the villagers trying to sort out their problems.

'The villagers here have high hopes from me and I will not let them down,' she said.

'I want to see this village on a fast development track. I know water is a big problem here as it has got high fluoride content. I will try my best to solve this issue,' she added.

She said her other priorities are to provide electricity and get proper roads built in Soda.

'I want villagers to work for the development of the village and not to spend time looking for help from others. Villagers have got used to things not working - I have already told them about this. I have to change that. I go on surprise visits and I am very happy that now even women are taking active part in the activities,' said Chavvi.

'Besides spending time in village, I also help my family in running and managing a hotel we have in Jaipur,' she said.

Rajawat also runs E-quest, a riding academy in Jaipur.

A woman of Soda village said, 'Baisa spends time with us. She takes care of us and tries to sort out our problems. She helps us in taking right decisions.'

But Chavvi says this is how far she wants to go in politics.

'I do not want to get further involved, in any capacity in politics. I just wanted to help my villagers and I feel this is the best way to make a difference,' she said.

(Anil Sharma can be contacted at anil.s@ians.in)

According to a police source, Sangita Kumari, 12, and Neelu Kumari, 11, died of food poisoning after eating the mid-day meal Tuesday at Harsingh Middle School in Sitamarhi, about 170 km from here.

One student died Wednesday night and another Thursday morning. Six students were hospitalised after their condition deteriorated.

'All of them fell ill after eating mid-day meal in the school,' the source said.

The district administration has ordered a probe into the incident.

In Bihar, widespread corruption is reported in the mid-day meal scheme as government guidelines on food quality are ignored.

A few months ago, a lizard and a dead rat were found in the food cooked for the mid-day meal, angering students and parents.