National News

Opposition parties will meet Farm Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday to sort out procedural differences on sugarcane pricing issue, a top opposition leader said.

Reliance Capital has been approached by three foreign insurance companies looking to take a stake in its life insurance business, its chief executive said on Monday.

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said on Sunday U.S. President Barack Obama was not soft on China and said he hoped he would discuss Tibet with the Indian prime minister in Washington this week.

Bollywood actress and Celebrity Big Brother star Shilpa Shetty married London-based businessman Raj Kundra in a "fairy-tale wedding" on Sunday, her spokeswoman said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Sunday it was not clear if Pakistan's president was in control of the army and said Pakistan's objectives in Afghanistan were not necessarily those of the United States.

Most people in France do not think their soccer team deserves to be in the 2010 World Cup and did not approve of Thierry Henry's handball that helped secure a finals place, according to an opinion poll published on Sunday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Sunday there was no substitute to the U.S. dollar for replacement as the global reserve currency.

Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) on Sunday denied having any link to two men arrested in Chicago on terrorism charges.

China has a stake in peace in South Asia, and Kashmir in particular, as part of the disputed region is under Beijing's control, Kashmir's main separatist alliance said.

At least six people were killed and 40 wounded in two bomb blasts in Assam on Sunday, police said.
Bombs hidden in bicycles exploded in front of a police station and a shopping complex in Nalbari town, about 70 km (43 miles) west of state capital Dispur, Jitmol Doley, a senior police officer told Reuters by telephone.

China has a stake in peace in South Asia, and Kashmir in particular, as part of the disputed region is under Beijing's control, Kashmir's main separatist alliance said.

Sri Lanka said on Saturday it will allow greater freedom of movement to refugees held in military-guarded camps from next month, after facing pressure to speed up resettlement of thousands of Tamils displaced by war.

Italian anti-terrorist police have arrested two Pakistanis suspected of helping to finance the Islamic militant group responsible for the attacks on Mumbai in November 2008, that killed 166 people.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India, the world's second biggest rice grower, plans to sell the grain in local markets from reserves to douse fears of shortage caused by the worst monsoon in three decades, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said on Saturday.

The government will change a new sugarcane pricing rule that provoked protests, putting the onus back on mills to pay the difference if state governments raise floor rates fixed by the central government.

Sugar mills in India's top producing state have accelerated cane crushing after last week's unseasonal rains and so far the state has produced higher quantity of the sweetener than last year, a government official said.

Hedge fund Galleon, which is winding down its funds after its founder was accused of heading an insider trading ring, has sold its holding in India's Edelweiss Capital, stock exchange data showed.

Mass protests by sugarcane farmers backed by political opposition parties forced the Indian parliament to adjourn for a second day on Friday, a major headache for the ruling Congress party.

The government on Friday said it would amend a new sugarcane pricing rule, bowing to protests held in the capital by farmers demanding higher prices for their produce.

Sri Lanka's top general, who quit amid speculation he could run for president, pledged on Friday to fight for democracy and human rights after the end of a 25-year separatist war, suggesting he would soon announce his candidacy.