India

New Delhi, Mar 15: India is downgrading its diplomatic ties with Italy and has asked its Ambassador- designate to that country Basant Kumar Gupta, who was scheduled to leave for Rome today, not to proceed to take up his posting. The government which is reviewing the entire gamut of bilateral ties has decided to with-hold posting of Gupta, who was expected to take charge by end of next week, after

New Delhi, Mar 15: Cricketer and Rajya Sabha MP Sachin Tendulkar may not be able to attend the first half of the Budget session of Parliament due to his engagements in the on-going India Australia cricket series. The Rajya Sabha on Friday granted him leave from February 21 to March 7. Tendulkar has not attended the House for a single day in the ongoing Budget session and only one week is left for

New Delhi, Mar 15: Airports across the country have been alerted to prevent Italian Ambassador Daniele Mancini from leaving the country. The decision was taken by the Union Home Ministry a day after the Supreme Court restrained the Italian Ambassador from leaving India without its permission, official sources said. The Apex court had taken exception to Italian government's refusal to send back two

Rome, Mar 15: The mayor of Taranto, home of one of the marines at the centre of a row with India over the killing of two fishermen, has invited their orphaned children to study in the port town. "Our whole city is ready to welcome the unfortunate children of the fishermen to study here," Taranto mayor Ippazio Stefano wrote in a letter to India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "I must express my

New Delhi, Mar 15: Sonia Gandhi completed 15 years as Congress president on Thursday and thanked partymen for helping her accomplish the tough responsibly. As leaders lined up to felicitate her at 10, Janpath, she told them, "The real credit belongs to millions of Congress workers whose toil ensured that the faith of the poor and the vulnerable in Congress did not sap even when we were not in

Rohtak, Mar 15: A panchayat in Haryana has banned dancing saying it leads to crime against women. An elected panchayat in Jind district on Wednesday banned girls from taking part in dance competitions and programmes. The Kinana village panchayat also warned schools against letting girl students participate in cultural activities which promote dancing. Panchayat leaders said, "Dancing results in

Jaipur, Mar 14: The government is working towards making the country self-sufficient for its petroleum needs by 2030, Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily said today. "We are working with a programme that by 2020, 50 per cent of import of petroleum should be stopped and 75 per cent imports should be stopped by 2025. By 2030, the country must become self sufficient in petroleum," he said after

New Delhi, Mar 14: Petrol price may be reduced by about Re 1 per litre while diesel price may be hiked by 40-50 paisa a litre from March 15/16. While petrol prices are being cut in step with falling international oil rates, diesel rate increase would be in line with the January decision to raise prices in small dozes every month till all of the Rs 11 per litre losses are eliminated. Sources said

New Delhi, Mar 14: The Supreme Court Thursday restrained Italian ambassador Daniele Mancini from leaving the country till March 18 without its permission. The apex court bench, headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, while restraining the Italian ambassador from leaving the country, issued notice to the Italian government, its ambassador, and the two marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen

Srinagar, Mar 14: Jammu and Kashmir government has asked state Director General of Police Ashok Prasad to conduct a detailed inquiry into the suicide attack on a CRPF camp and killing of a youth in alleged firing by security forces yesterday. "The DGP, who is camping in Srinagar, will be making a detailed inquiry into the happenings," an official spokesman said after a high-level meeting chaired