National News

Sri Lanka's top soldier, who quit the army last week sparking speculation he planned to run for president, petitioned the Supreme Court on Tuesday to order the government to provide him with massively increased security.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is in Washington for a state visit set to boost the burgeoning economic relationship between two countries, which had relatively marginal commercial dealings a decade ago.

Ford Motor Co will launch a new car model in India every 12-15 months over the next five years, with its new Figo small car is set to drive a tripling of sales in 2010, its India head said on Tuesday.

Indian openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag struck sparkling centuries as India amassed 417-2 to take a firm grip of the second test against Sri Lanka after the first day's play on Tuesday.

The government on Tuesday published a long awaited report, recently leaked, accusing Bhatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders of a role in the 1992 destruction of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya, dealing a blow to an already-weak opposition.

India's Reliance Industries has reopened 900 gas stations, which were shut down when state firms were selling heavily subsidised fuel, the head of the firm's refinery business, P. Raghavendran, said.

India is set to emerge as a major white sugar importer in calendar 2010, and is expected to buy some 3 million tonnes, Jonathan Kingsman, head of the Lausanne-based Kingsman SA consultancy, said on Tuesday.

An investigation against illegal mining is under way in Orissa and 128 mines of various minerals have been asked to suspend operations, Mines Minister B.K. Handique told the Rajya Sabha, a government press release stated on Tuesday.

India's openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag struck sparkling centuries as India amassed 417-2 to take a firm grip against Sri Lanka after the first day of the second test on Tuesday.

Micro-blogging site Twitter is interested in making more acquisitions as it continues to grow in popularity, co-founder Biz Stone said on Tuesday.

The government expects wheat supply and prices to remain manageable but the country may decide to import rice after the size of the harvest is known in two months, a top adviser of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday.

India can absorb nearly $100 billion of dollars in capital inflows, nearly double for what is on track this year, before it needs to take strong restrictive measures, one of the prime minister's top advisers said on Tuesday.

Openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag stroked centuries and produced a blistering opening stand of 233 to put India in command at tea on the first day of the second test against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

India and Pakistan should solve the Kashmir dispute between themselves, China said on Tuesday, after All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Kashmir's main separatist alliance, said Beijing had a role to play in the long-running territorial feud.

India were 307 for one at tea on the first day of the second test against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
Scores: India 307-1 (G. Gambhir 140 not out, V. Sehwag 131) v Sri Lanka

The Bombay Stock Exchange is preparing for a listing and hopes to cut over-reliance on revenues from cash equity trading in two years, Madhu Kannan, the chief executive of Asia's oldest bourse, said on Tuesday.

The Bombay Stock Exchange, whose data pipelines are burdened by the need to carry pricing of more stocks than any other bourse, will next week launch a feed that is several times faster than its existing offering, a top official said.

Subir Gokarn on Tuesday took over as the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, the RBI said in a statement.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh holds talks with U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday during the first state visit of the new administration -- a tribute, both sides say, to the close natural ties between the two giant democracies.

The Bombay Stock Exchange is preparing for a listing and hopes to cut over-reliance on revenues from cash equity trading in two years, Madhu Kannan, the chief executive of Asia's oldest bourse, said on Tuesday.