Paintings from the privatecollection of US singer Andy Williams, amassed over six decades, could fetch more than $30 million when they are sold atauction in May, Christie’s said on Friday.

A letter written by Mahatma Gandhi to the British authorities in 1943 arguing against wasteful expenditure of putting him under house arrest has made it to an UK auction.

Curfew was imposed in the entire Kashmir Valley today as authorities apprehended law and order problem in the wake of Afzal Guru’s execution, even as chief minister Omar Abdullah arrived here to personally monitor the situation.

The Congress today said the message of “zero tolerance” against terrorism has been sent through the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, close on the heels of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab’s hanging.

Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was hanged this morning at Tihar jail, was buried inside the prison complex soon after his execution.

The fresh remarks made by Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai against the UPA dispensation on Friday triggered a war of words, with the government attacking him and the Opposition throwing its weight behind him.
Slamming Mr Rai for criticising the government on foreign soil, information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari said constitutional authorities should circumscribe by “lakshman rekha propriety”.

New Delhi, Feb. 8: CAG Vinod Rai’s remarks during a Harvard lecture on Thursday, in which he suggested the government was trying to reduce the watchdog to a mere accountant, triggered a war of words Friday, with the government attacking him and the Opposition coming to his rescue.

Nasa plans to launch a new mission in 2016 to find potentially hazardous asteroids and predict their impact threat to Earth. Nasa’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission will arrive at RQ36 in 2018 and orbit the asteroid until 2021.

European Union, which has ended over a decade-old boycott of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, has been told by him that the 2002 riots in the state were unfortunate.

Dragged down by selling in last 30 minutes, the BSE benchmark Sensex today fell by nearly 96 points to close at the year’s lowest level of 19,484.77 on renewed worries over economic growth and tepid corporate earnings, extending the losing string to the seventh day.