India will pay 3.8 percent on all FMS deals with US
By Gulshan Luthra

Washington, Sep 2 (IANS) India would be paying 3.8 percent as an administrative fee for all military hardware and systems acquired from the United States under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme.

This fee is actually the same for every country for all FMS deals, effective from August 2006, and is charged to facilitate discussions with US arms manufacturers, weapon tests, securing all government clearances and to ensure that a customer gets exactly what ... Read More

Companies Bill to factor in apex court verdict on Bhopal tragedy
Kolkata, Sep 2 (IANS) Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid Thursday said the directive of the Supreme Court on a curative petition on the Bhopal gas tragedy will have to be "factored in" within the proposed Companies Bill .

"The curative petition filed by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) is before the Supreme Court, and whatever comes from the Supreme Court has to be factored in the Bill as on criminal liability of directors we need ... Read More

A matrimony site exclusively for armed forces personnel
New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Defence personnel seeking life partners will now be able to access a matrimony website designed exclusively for them.

The site defencematrimony.com, launched by internet firm Consim Info Pvt Ltd, is part of CommunityMatrimony.com. It will provide online matrimony service to all the three wings of the armed forces -- the Army, Air Force and Navy personnel.

Speaking at the launch of the website, Air Vice Marshal V.K. Dayalu said: “This is ... Read More

Rahul leaves Amethi to meet Sonia
Amethi (Uttar Pradesh), Sep 2 (IANS) Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi broke off his three-day trip here to travel to New Delhi to meet his mother and party president Sonia Gandhi who will file a nomination for another term in office as party chief. He will back here in the afternoon, a party spokesperson said.

Gandhi reached Amethi, his parliamentary constituency, Wednesday for a three-day trip.

"He decided to leave for New Delhi in view ... Read More

Congress MP asks Jairam Ramesh to probe Goa oil spill
Panaji, Sep 2 (IANS) As the state government tries to downplay the tar ball menace that has polluted several of Goa's famed beaches, an MP of the ruling Congress has asked union Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh to probe the matter.

Congress Rajya Sabha member Shantaram Naik has asked the minister to send a team of experts to "decipher the exact cause" of the oil spill.

The spill has left an ugly, ... Read More

Congress scraps plan to show black flags to Gadkari
Raipur, Sep 2 (IANS) The Congress party Thursday withdrew its decision to show black flags to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari who is scheduled to tour Chhattisgarh for two days from Friday.

"The decision to show black flagsto him was taken by the Congress in context of Gadkari's reported unwelcome and indecent statements in recent months against several Congress leaders. But the decision has been withdrawn," Ramesh Varlyani, state Congress general secretary and spokesperson, ... Read More

Paying for her crime by teaching behind bars
By Asit Srivastava

Naugarh (Uttar Pradesh), Sep 2 (IANS) Call it an act of atonement. A woman who is in jail in Uttar Pradesh for torturing her daughter-in-law has donned the role of a teacher for fellow prisoners and their children.

Famous as 'masterni', 45-year-old Urmila Devi is in a prison here in Siddharthnagar district, some 300 km from Lucknow, serving a sentence of three years. But she is spreading literacy behind the bars.

"Urmila is a ... Read More

Worried families of abducted policemen pray for release
Patna, Sep 2 (IANS) The families of four Bihar policemen abducted by Maoists are worried and helpless as the deadline for releasing eight jailed commanders expires 10 a.m Thursday, failing which they have threatened to kill those in captivity.

Maoists abducted the policemen during a six-hour-long gunfight in Lakhisarai district Sunday. The gun battle left seven policemen killed and 10 injured.

Maoists claimed that the gunfight was in retaliation to the staged shootout in which ... Read More

Now Haryana judge decides 148 cases on single day
Kaithal (Haryana), Sep 2 (IANS) A judge in this Haryana town created a record of sorts when he settled 148 cases in a single day, close on the heels of a peer in Andhra Pradesh hogging the headlines for deciding 111 cases in one day.

This time it was Additional District and Sessions Judge A.K. Shori's turn, who is known for speedy trials. He set the benchmark Wednesday in a development that comes in the backdrop ... Read More

Tharoor's third wife a Kashmiri beautician?
Tejinder Singh

NEW DELHI: Shashi Tharoor was back in news on Sunday, this time for his personal life, with reports that the minister of state for external affairs was intending to marry a Kashmiri beautician after divorcing his Canadian wife.

Sources close to the 54-year old Tharoor declined to comment on the reports, urging the media to respect his privacy. "He will announce whatever, when he has something to announce," the sources said.

Media reports said ... Read More

India's longest Expressway - Hyderabad
The 11.66 km expressway aims at cutting travel time and offering a seamless traffic movement between the city and the international airport at Shamshabad. ... Read More

Who gains from Budget 2010, who doesn’t Reuters
Finance Minister presents Union Budget 2010 February 26, 2010

Mumbai: The country needs to review public spending and improve its fiscal position, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday, kicking-off the presentation of his budget for the fiscal year that starts on April 1.

Following are the major sectors that are likely to gain or lose from the proposals of the budget: .

WINNERS: .

Construction and engineering companies such as Larsen & Toubro, GMR Infrastructure, Jaiprakash ... Read More

Nair to head international aerospace body
Panaji, Aug 31 (IANS) Indian Space Research Organisation chairman G. Madhavan Nair has been elected as the president of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), becoming the only Indian and the first non-American to head the renowned scientific body, an official said here Monday.

Nair, who is presently IAA's vice president for scientific activities, will take over from Edward Stone, during the International Astronautical Congress to be held in Korea later this year, IAA secretary general ... Read More

Jairam Ramesh against reducing buffer zones around Goa sanctuaries
Panaji, Aug 31 (IANS) The central government is not in favour of Goa's recommendation to reduce the buffer zones around the sanctuaries in the state, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said here.

The central government will not be "sympathetic to any move by the state government to reduce buffer zones in the state's wildlife sanctuaries to zero kilometres", Ramesh told IANS Sunday.

"While a uniform 10-km buffer zone may not ... Read More

Lawyers' association seeks inquiry against apex court judge
Kozhikode (Kerala), Aug 28 (IANS) The Kozhikode Bar Association Friday decided to request the Supreme Court to conduct a detailed inquiry against apex court judge Cyriac Joseph, who had allegedly viewed the CD of the narco-analysis of the suspects in the Sister Abhaya murder case and stated it to be genuine.

The decision was taken at an extraordinary general body meeting of the association, with 180 members voting in favour of the resolution and six opposing ... Read More

More economic focus needed on Africa, Latin America: Sharma
New Delhi, Aug 25 (IANS) India should focus more on its economic engagement with Africa and Latin America, Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma said here Tuesday.

“I feel that it is time we diversify our markets to buffer the impact of this slowdown and also to take us back on high growth trajectory. Africa and Latin America afford a huge opportunity and it shall be my endeavour to intensify our economic engagement with the ... Read More

Sibal launches physical education-sports programme
New Delhi, Aug 25 (IANS) Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Tuesday launched the Physical Education Cards (PEC) India programme, an initiative that will combine physical education and sports to empower youngsters.

The programme focuses on physical education and sports to engage school children and local communities.

The project is being piloted by the British Council, in collaboration with UK Sport and Unicef in the run-up to the 2010 London Olympics and Paralympic Games. It ... Read More

Madhya Pradesh chief minister praised for action against hoarders
Bhopal, Aug 24 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has received a pat on the back from Congress president Sonia Gandhi for his action against hoarders, official sources said.

Chouhan is emboldened by the Congress chief's praise for his measures against sugar hoarders and is now mulling the idea of starting a helpline for people to complain against hoarders and officials.

At a meeting of the Congress Working ... Read More

Antony leaves for Maldives, seeking enhanced defence ties
New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS) Seeking a greater foothold in the Indian Ocean Region, Defence Minister A.K. Antony Thursday left for a three-day visit to the Maldives during which a pact for greater defence cooperation is expected to be signed.

According to defence ministry sources, the island nation has sought greater defence cooperation from India in terms of coastal security and patrolling of the waters around it.

"Shortly after his arrival at the Maldivian capital ... Read More