India

Kalyan Ray, Jagdalpur (Bastar), Nov 11: A day before the first phase of polling in Chhattisgarh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is looking for an encore in the tribal-dominated, Maoist-infested Bastar that catapulted the party to power for two consecutive terms. A thick security blanket has enveloped Bastar, even as Maoists triggered a blast in south Rajnandgaon on Sunday. Meanwhile, the

New Delhi, Nov 10: Hardening its stance, Sri Lanka has refused to sign a decade old agreement to lease the Trincomalee strategic oil storages to a unit of Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and is blocking the Indian firm's plans to set up a bitumen plant in the island nation. Hardening its stance, Sri Lanka has refused to sign a decade old agreement to lease the Trincomalee strategic oil storages to a unit of

Rajahmundry (AP), Nov 10: The Seemandhra Lawyers Joint Action Committee has requested the Andhra Cricket Association to cancel the November 24 India-West Indies ODI scheduled at Visakhapatnam, as it will "hurt feelings of crore of Samaikyandhra agitators fighting for a united AP." A resolution to this effect was unanimously passed yesterday at a Joint Action Committee (JAC) meeting held in

New Delhi, Nov 10: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today wrote to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa regretting his inability to attend the CHOGM Summit from November 15. Singh has written a short letter to Rajapaksa informing him of his decision not to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit (CHOGM), sources said. The letter will be delivered to the Sri Lankan President by the Indian

Panaji, Nov 10: Union finance minister P Chidambaram on Sunday acknowledged that the Congress party considers BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi as a "challenger." "As a political party, we acknowledge that he (Modi) is a challenger. We cannot ignore him. He is a candidate fielded by the principal opposition party. We have to take note of him," he said during an interaction at

New Delhi, Nov 10: Days after BJP complained to the EC against Rahul Gandhi's controversial "ISI" remarks, Congress has approached the poll watchdog seeking stern action against Narendra Modi for his "khooni panja" barb against the party. In its communication to Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath, Congress accused BJP's prime ministerial candidate of making "intemperate, malicious and

New Delhi, Nov 9: External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will head the Indian delegation at the CHOGM Summit to be held in Sri Lanka next week with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh deciding against undertaking the visit in view of the opposition by parties in Tamil Nadu as well as a section in Congress. The decision on level of Indian representation and Singh skipping the meet will be communicated

New Delhi, Nov 9: The Centre will move the Supreme Court on Saturday to challenge the Gauhati high court's sensational judgment declaring that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was not set up legally and had no power to investigate an offence, arrest accused and file charge-sheet. Minister of state for personnel V Narayanaswamy met attorney general G E Vahanvati on Friday to fathom the

New Delhi, Nov 9: CBI has questioned Deputy National Security Advisor and former Intelligence Bureau Chief Nehchal Sandhu in connection with Sadiq Jamal encounter in 2003 by Gujarat crime branch. CBI sources said Sandhu was questioned here this week in connection with the encounter which allegedly occurred following a tip-off received from Intelligence Bureau officials here. The sources said their

Jalpaiguri, Nov 9: The closure of three gardens triggered back-to-back deaths due to starvation in the Dooars region. In last 20 days, at least 12 people have died. The latest victim, Tanu Singh Ghatowa, 55, died on Thursday night. It is learnt that three gardens at Surendranagar, Red Bank and Dharanipur - all under the Red Bank group - and were locked out on October 19, rendering more than 2,000