New Delhi, March 2: NSCN(I-M) general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and home minister P. Chidambaram Tuesday to take the Naga peace process forward. Mr Muivah and four other Naga leaders are on a 10-day visit to India for peace talks with government interlocutor R.S. Pandey.

An explosion caused by an Indian Air Force Su-30 bombing run during the Vayu Shakti 2010 exercises in the Pokhran desert on Sunday.     PHOTO: PTI

Hockey player Shivendra Singh (right) celebrates a goal against Pakistan with teammates during the Hockey World Cup 2010 opening match at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday. India won 4-1. Sandeep Singh (35th minute, 57th), Shivendra Singh (27th) and Prabhjot Singh (37th) scored for India.  Report on Page 20    PHOTO: AFP

New Delhi ,Feb. 28: The Union home ministry is proposing to allow newly-recruited Indian Police Service officers to indicate their choice of a Central agency instead of a state cadre after being selected for the IPS. At present, all IPS officers are allotted a state cadre, from where they go to a Central agency only on deputation.

Riyadh ,Feb. 28: Saying he had said “interlocutor” and not “mediator”, minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor has moved swiftly to douse by far the most serious controversy he has set off since he joined the government, when he inadvertently revealed that New Delhi would like to see its newfound relationship with Saudi Arabia lead to the Gulf country using its not inconsiderable influence to bear down on Pakistan.

New Delhi ,Feb. 28: Amid demands even by two key UPA allies — Trinamul Congress and DMK — to withdraw the hike in petrol and diesel prices, Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee asserted on Sunday that there would be no rollback.
Mr Mukherjee, sticking to his guns, declared: “When we make some proposals, we make them for implementation, and not for a rollback.”

Chandigarh ,Feb. 28: Palpable tension continued on Sunday across southwestern Punjab and parts of Haryana where angry Dera Sacha Sauda supporters ran amok, damaging crores worth of public property to protest against the registration of a fresh murder case against their spiritual guru, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, on Saturday evening.
Evidently held back by the visible presence of khaki uniforms at all trouble spots, dera supporters refrained from any further violence through Sunday while paramilitary units were positioned to quell more trouble.

Pokhran, Rajasthan ,Feb. 28: The Indian Air Force put up a spectacular performance of bombing mock enemy targets, including mock terrorist camps, at the Vayu Shakti exercise in the deserts of Pokhran both before dusk and in the moonlight on Sunday. Defence minister A.K. Antony said the exercise was not aimed at Pakistan as such, but reiterated India’s main concern that Pakistan was yet to dismantle the terror camps operating on its soil.
He also noted that this had been conveyed to Pakistan foreign secretary Salman Bashir during last week’s talks in New Delhi, saying that India had not expected any “miracle” from these talks.

New Delhi ,Feb. 28: A 30-year-old call centre employee died after a crane toppled and fell on three cars in west Delhi in the early hours of Sunday morning at a site where Delhi Jal Board work was going on.
The police confirmed that the accident took place at around 3 am near the Rajouri Garden flyover. The victim has been identified as Abhinav Puri, who was returning to his Tilak Nagar residence from a Gurgaon-based call centre.

President Pratibha Patil places a wreath before the coffins of those killed in Friday’s Taliban suicide attack in Kabul at the Palam Air Force Station in New Delhi on Saturday. Afghan President Hamid Karzai called up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday to express regret over the deaths of the six Indians as an IAF aircraft was sent to bring back the bodies. PHOTO: AP