National News

New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) After having been branded as the crime capital and rape capital of the country, Delhi has registered a decline in cases of cognisable offence during the first half of this year.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul4 (PTI) Kerala government has signed an agreement with managements of self-financing engineering colleges in the state on fee structure and admission criteria in the institutions run by them.

Srinagar, July 4 (PTI) In a new turn of events in the alleged rape and murder of two women in Shopian, Jammu and Kashmir High Court today directed that bodies of the victims be exhumed for carrying out a fresh postmortem subject to the family's consent, an order welcomed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

Singapore, July 4 (PTI) India drew a blank on the fifth day and failed to build on their medals tally in the inaugural Asian Youth Games, here today.

Patna, Jul 4 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said his government will construct earthquake-resistant panchayat buildings in each panchayat to facilitate the rural governance in the State.

New Delhi, July 4 (IANS) The Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) led by former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda appeared to be on the verge of a split as its national executive Saturday rejected Kerala unit president M.P. Veerendrakumar's demand and decided to continue the party's alliance with the ruling Left.

Bhubaneswar, July 4 (IANS) An Orissa legislator, missing for the last two weeks after resigning from the assembly, Saturday re-appeared and withdrew his resignation, saying that he had been forced to step down.

North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles on Saturday, South Korea's defence ministry said, in an act of defiance towards the United States that further stoked regional tensions already high due to its nuclear test in May.

New Delhi, July 4 (IANS) DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi has asked his party colleague and IT and Communication Minister A. Raja to respond to allegations that he pressurised a judge to give bail to two men accused in a criminal case.

Bhopal, July 4 (IANS) Expressing concern over the decline in polling percentage, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar Saturday called upon lawmakers to introspect why people were losing interest in the poll process.

The light here is special. Drenched by blood and frost So much has happened here. Bronze horseman, burning homes, Nine hundred days written into symphonies of emptied tear ducts. ...I think of how it must have been To beg for black bread on the banks of the slow, straining river.

I took this photograph in old Delhi while I was part of the Dilli 6 photography workshop. Though I have been pursuing my passion for photography for sometime now, but being guided by someone as experienced as Sephi Bergerson and Nagender Chhikara was an awesome experience.

Very few who watched the events of Eden Gardens that wonderful March of 2001 would have forgotten the emotional high of those days, when Rahul Dravid and V.V.S.Laxman made Australia look vulnerable, or, a few days later, when a young, testosterone-filled Harbhajan Singh stormed Chepauk.

Congress's Mahadeo Singh Khandela wept more than he spoke: "Maaf karna emosional (emotional) type hoon". Tough to say what he finds more difficult to handle: his reaching Parliament or his induction into the Union Cabinet. It is, as Khandela would like us to believe, two jackpots rolled in one.

Can you sing? Dance? Juggle? Breathe fire? Burp? Fart? If the answer is yes, kindly send in your applications to the two new talent hunt contests currently on air. Sony kickstarted its Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega some weeks ago - ordinary people come to the studio, do little acts of something or the other, win Rs 10,000 if they impress the judges, or leave empty-handed if they don't.

More than half a million fans from around the world applied for 17,500 free tickets to Michael Jackson's public memorial service next week, organizers said on Friday as a massive security operation got underway.

New Delhi, July 3 (ANI): The Uttar Pradesh Government on Friday has given permission to file chargesheet against BJP MP Varun Gandhi for his 'hate speech' in Pilibhit.

Mumbai, July 3 (ANI): Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court will start hearing the appeals filed by eight convicts of the Khairlanji Dalit killing case from August 24th.

Two elderly women were injured when robbers stabbed them at their residence in Ramprastha Colony of Ghaziabad early on Wednesday morning. The colony is on Delhi-Ghaziabad border. The armed robbers escaped with cash and jewellery worth lakhs and some antique watches from the house, police said.

Mumbai, July 2 (ANI): The judicial custody of Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja, who was arrested for allegedly raping his domestic maid, has been extended till July 16. he DNA test report of Ahuja confirmed that he sexually assaulted the victim. Earlier, medical reports had confirmed that Ahuja's maid was indeed raped.