New Delhi, Feb 8 (IANS) The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Monday sought to play down party president and union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's meeting with Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, saying it was about the IPL and had "no political meaning".

New Delhi, Feb 8 (IANS) Special courts should be set up to fast-track terrorism cases involving youth from Azamgarh, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh has suggested after his "fact finding" visit to the Uttar Pradesh district.

Gandhinagar, Feb 8 (IANS) Utsav Sharma, who attacked former Haryana police chief S.P.S. Rathore, convicted for molestation, outside a Chandigarh court Monday, is a post-graduate diploma student of the prestigious National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, with an impressive academic track record.

Ranchi, Feb 9 (IANS) Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren fell ill and failed to go to Kolkata Tuesday to attend a meeting with central Home Minister P. Chidambaram to discuss the proposed offensive against Maoist rebels.

Los Angeles, Feb 9 (IANS) Michael Jackson's personal physician Conrad Murray has been charged with "unlawfully, and without malice", killing the pop star last summer.

San Francisco, Feb 9 (DPA) Online payments' service Paypal has halted personal payments to India following new government regulations that were designed to crack down on money laundering.

Guwahati, Feb 8 (IANS) The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Monday appeared to back the Shiv Sena by calling for a nationwide boycott of Shah Rukh Khan's "My Name is Khan" but took objection to the Sena's Mumbai-for-Marathis stand and said every inch of India belonged to all Indians.

Chandigarh, Feb 8 (IANS) Former Haryana police chief S.P.S. Rathore, convicted of molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra in 1990, was stabbed thrice in the face by a youth wielding a sharp-edged pocket knife outside the district court complex here Monday.

Srinagar, Feb 8 (IANS) At least six soldiers of the Indian Army were killed and 12 injured Monday when a massive avalanche struck a high altitude warfare training camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district.

New Delhi, Feb 8 (IANS) India Monday forecast its economic growth for this fiscal at 7.2 percent, as against 6.7 percent achieved in the previous fiscal, despite a 0.2 percent declined predicted in farm output.

New Delhi, Feb 8 (IANS) Stating that he acted "not only as a beast but also as a savage", the Delhi High Court Monday upheld life imprisonment for one in the 2002 gang rape of a Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) student. The other person held guilty by a lower court was set free.

New Delhi, Feb 7 (IANS) Indicating that it was premature to talk about resuming the composite dialogue at the present moment, India has made it clear to Pakistan that the proposed foreign secretary-level talks later this month are part of "a step-by-step incremental approach" and that Islamabad should "do more" to address New Delhi's concerns over cross-border terror.