Mumbai, March 14 (IANS) Two Mumbai residents were arrested Sunday as the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) foiled a major plot to blow up state-run Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) terminals, a mall and a market complex here, police said. The duo were trained in Pakistan, ATS officials said.

New Delhi, March 14 (IANS) Despite several hiccups that the women's reservation bill is facing in parliament, Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily Sunday night said the central government is confident to pass the bill in the current budget session.

Islamabad, March 15 (DPA) Pakistani fighter jets pounded several Taliban hideouts Sunday, killing 16 militants and injuring several more in north-western tribal region near Afghan border, security officials said.

Toronto, March 15 (IANS) A controversial cartoon in a Montreal newspaper at the weekend has further fuelled the niqab controversy and angered Muslims in Canada.

Toronto, March 15 (IANS) Canadian researchers have decoded opium poppy which will lead to cheaper and mass production of the current costly pain killers. Currently, the morphine is the most used painkiller around the world.

Washington, March 15 (IANS) India and the US hope to significantly expand bilateral cooperation in critical areas like defence/strategic trade, civil nuclear cooperation, biotechnology, nano-technology and civil aviation after two-day talks on high technology starting here Monday.

Washington, March 15 (IANS) The backlash from Taliban attacks on places from Kashmir to Karachi has led to greater Pakistani cooperation with the US in the Afghanistan war, says the US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Toronto, March 14 (IANS) Reacting sharply to reports from Colombo that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has given up its demand for a separatist demand, the Canadian Tamil Congress here said Saturday that the Tamils have not given up their demand for a separate homeland.

Kandahar, March 14 (DPA) Four suicide bombers attacked different parts of southern city of Kandahar Saturday, killing more than 30 people, and injured at least 40, officials said.

Jammu, March 13 (IANS) The Congress has decided to oppose a bill moved earlier this week in the upper house of the state legislature depriving women of their citizenship rights if they marry non-permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir.

New Delhi, March 14 (IANS) With industrial output picking up, the manufacturing sector will be a major contributor to new employment and is likely to generate 27.95 million jobs by 2015, but the share of agriculture is expected to decline, according to a study.

Jakarta, March 14 (DPA) An earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter scale struck the eastern Indonesian islands Sunday morning in North Maluku province, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, meteorologists said.