Yahoo! News India

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain launched fighter jets on Friday to escort a Pakistan International Airlines passenger plane arriving from Lahore in Pakistan to an airport near London after it was diverted from Manchester, the Defence Ministry said. Britain is on high alert after a soldier was hacked to death on a London street on Wednesday in what police are treating as a terrorist incident, but a security source said early indications were that the diverted plane was not the target of a terrorist attack. ...

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on Friday he would introduce a bill for a direct tax code (DTC) during the monsoon session of parliament. The code, which will replace the existing Indian Income Tax Act 1961, is intended among other things to rationalise tax rates to bring more people and companies under the tax net. The month-long monsoon session of parliament is expected to start in late July. Chidambaram's comments came at an event in Mumbai commemorating the 25th anniversary of the capital market regulator. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - A British security source said early indications suggested that a Pakistan International Airlines plane diverted from Manchester to Stansted Airport on Friday was not the subject of a terror attack. The Defence Ministry said earlier on Friday that it had scrambled fighter jets to escort the plane to Stansted, to the north east of London. A spokesman for Stansted Airport said the plane was being held in an isolated area and that the rest of the airport was operating as normal. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Brenda Goh, editing by Kate Holton)

By Sudipto Ganguly MUMBAI (Reuters) - The International Olympic Committee has set India a September 1 deadline for a new election to facilitate the country's return to the Olympic fold. The IOC banned the country in December after refusing to recognise the results of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) elections due to government interference, which led to a tainted official being named its secretary general. ...

By Erik Kirschbaum BERLIN (Reuters) - A new novel about a neo-Nazi plot to assassinate Germany's first Jewish candidate for Chancellor has shed a timely light on the right-wing extremist violence that has plagued the country since 1990 and was swept under the carpet for years. Political thriller "The Jewish Candidate" by British journalist David Crossland has been published just as Germany's September election campaign is heating up and at the start of a trial of a neo-Nazi cell blamed for a spate of racist murders that went undetected for more than a decade. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - British police said they were investigating an incident aboard a plane on Friday, after the Defence Ministry said it had scrambled fighter jets to escort a plane from Lahore. "Police and partners are responding," the spokeswoman for Essex police said. The plane is being diverted to Stansted Airport in Essex, to the east of London. (Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)

By Terril Yue Jones and Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) - A North Korean envoy told China's president on Friday that his reclusive country was willing to take "positive actions" to ensure peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, as China steps up diplomatic efforts to bring Pyongyang back to talks. But Choe Ryong-hae, a special envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, made no offer to abandon North Korea's nuclear programme. The United States insists North Korea takes meaningful steps on denuclearisation before there can be dialogue. ...

By Steve Slater and Matt Scuffham LONDON (Reuters) - HSBC's Chairman Douglas Flint called for an acceleration in the speed of reform within the industry as the bank was criticised by shareholders for compliance failings and accusations it aided tax avoidance. Flint told around 400 shareholders at the bank's annual meeting that the fallout from recent scandals had created a "once-in-a-generation" opportunity to reform banking and the broader financial industry. "As a first priority we need to speed up the reform process. ...

By Tomasz Janowski LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan's new leadership expects first results of its planned steps to shore up its finances and ease a power crisis in two or three months and only then should decide whether and on what terms to seek an IMF bailout, a senior policy adviser said on Friday. Most economists, lenders and rating agencies say that the nation's finances have reached such a critical stage that a deal with the International Monetary Fund will be necessary and the sooner it comes the better. ...

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The founder of real estate company Puravankara Projects Ltd got bids worth 1.7 billion rupees by selling shares to meet the market regulator's requirement of having at least 25 percent public shareholding. By 3.30 p.m. (1000 GMT), the single-day sale to investors had received bids for 20.6 million shares at an average price of 81.52 rupees each, provisional data from the Bombay Stock Exchange showed on Friday. Ravi Puravankara, the company's founder, was selling a 6.62 percent stake, or 14.1 million shares, in the company at a floor price of 81 rupees each. ...

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has made "tremendous progress" in reducing oil imports from Iran, a senior U.S. government official said on Friday, in a sign the South Asian nation is likely to get a third waiver from sanctions imposed by Washington against Tehran's nuclear programme. "All of the data is certainly pointing in a positive direction," U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman told reporters when asked about a possible waiver to India. U.S. ...

KABUL (Reuters) - Several large explosions rocked a busy area in the centre of the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Friday with Reuters witnesses describing shooting in the area. There were at least four blasts interspersed by heavy shooting, a Reuters witness said. The first blast was a suicide car bomb and occurred at about 4 p.m. (1130 GMT) near an intersection in the district of Borj-e Sharahah, said Hashmatullah Stanikzai, a spokesman for the Kabul police chief. A Reuters witness described seeing two wounded policemen, though there was no official word on casualties. ...

By Rhys Jones and Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) - A British Airways plane with 80 people on board made an emergency landing at London's Heathrow airport on Friday after the right engine burst into flames shortly after take-off and the casing ripped away from the left. The British carrier, part of IAG , said all 75 passengers and five crew members were safe after having been evacuated from the aircraft down emergency chutes on landing. Video footage taken on board the plane as it came into land revealed the silver internal components of the engine. ...

New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) In a report with recommendations for Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) and the Indian government, Human Rights Watch said the Mozambique government and foreign companies' work in resettling communities displaced by coal mining has "serious shortcomings".

Kolkata, May 24 (IANS) CCTV cameras prying all-around, strict vigil on movement around players' dressing rooms and heightened security -- the Eden Gardens stood fortified as it hosted the playoff match of the IPL Friday amid the raging spot fixing scam.

Shimla, May 24 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh Friday submitted a memorandum to visiting President Pranab Mukherjee, seeking additional central financial assistance to overcome a shortfall of Rs.10,725 crore.

New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) A Delhi court sent five spot fixing scam accused, including two former cricketers, to judicial custody till June 4.

Mumbai, May 24 (IANS) Undeveloped corporate debt market is a weakness in India's financial system and high fiscal deficit is further complicating the problem, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Friday.

New York, May 24 (IANS) Actress Amanda Bynes was arrested at her apartment here for possession of marijuana. She even threw the evidence out of the window, reports tmz.com.

Mumbai, May 24 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday called for increased efforts by the government and financial regulators to channelise domestic savings into financial assets.

Hull (England), May 24 (IANS) India's Dipika Pallikal fought hard before losing to local hope Laura Massaro in the pre-quarterfinals of the Allam British Open Squash Championships here.

New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) The first meeting of the BJP's reconstituted national executive next month will work out strategy for an effective campaign against the UPA government in its last year in office and discuss preparations for the forthcoming assembly polls, party vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said here Friday.

New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Friday asked the suspended Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to amends its constitution by July 15 and hold fresh elections no later than Sep 1 for getting back to the Olympic fold.

Kabul, May 24 (IANS) Suicide bombers and gunmen launched attacks on several targets, including a police station, in Afghanistan capital Kabul Friday evening, leaving casualties, a police source said. The serial bombings were not near the Indian embassy.

New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) FICCI Friday called for regulating sports betting in India in the wake of the cricketing spot fixing scandal.

New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) Tainted cricketer S. Sreesanth's interrogation led Delhi Police to another mobile phone which he had gifted to a female friend from the money he earned from spot fixing in this season's Indian Premier League (IPL) matches, said a police official Friday.