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New York: The United Nations has said that 100,000 Iraqi refugees have been referred for resettlement from the Middle East to third countries since 2007, a major milestone for one of the world's largest refugee populations.

New Delhi: The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Kapil Sibal has said that the Ministry is considering the merging of the CBSE conducted Common Pre Medical Test and the All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE) so that students are saved the bother of sitting for two separate exams. While Physics and Chemistry will be common for both, the medical student can answer only the Biology paper and the engineering students the Maths paper. He was speaking at the Meeting of the State Education Ministers here today.

New Delhi: The Government is mooting a Health Insurance cover and a group housing cover for the 60 lakh school teachers in the country. The Government is also proposing a group housing scheme for the teachers of the country. This was stated by Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Kapil Sibal while chairing the 28th Meeting of the National Foundation for Teachers Welfare, here today.

New Delhi: When INS Brahmaputra recently escorted MV Borzna across the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Navy had successfully escorted 1000 ships across the pirate infested waters of the Gulf of Aden. To date the Indian Navy has escorted 1037 ships including 134 Indian flagged ships and 903 foreign flagged ships. The IN's contribution to keeping the 'global commons' safe for merchant ships of as many as 50 countries who have availed the escort is significant. This, of course, is in addition to the EEZ and anti-piracy patrols the IN undertakes in other island countries of the region.

New Delhi: The Annual Plan for Jammu & Kashmir for the year 2010-11 was finalized here today at a meeting between Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chief Minister of J & K Mr. Omar Abdullah. The Annual Plan was finalized at Rs.6000 crores.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $72 million in further assistance to Nepal for an ongoing program aimed at helping poor and isolated rural communities access credit and financial services.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing Sri Lanka with financial assistance to rehabilitate roads in the conflict-affected northern region, which will help spur inclusive growth and new economic opportunities in one of the poorest regions in the country.

New Delhi: To review the impact of various initiatives taken for the development of the handlooms sector and the welfare of weavers as also various schemes being implemented for the preservation of their unique weaving skills, a two day meeting of the State Directors of Handlooms & Textiles concluded here yesterday.

A wrong has been righted. Thanks to the intervention and insistence of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, Burn Standard and Braithwaite & Co, part of a sick public sector holding company called Bharat Bhari Udyog Nigam Limited (BBUNL), have been brought under the Department of Railways, their largest single customer. Significantly, Mamata's proposal was cleared by the union cabinet barely a week after her party's sweeping victory in West Bengal municipal elections, including Calcutta Corporation, against both the rival Left Front and Congress. Expectedly, she had her way without any opposition to the proposal from cabinet colleagues.

KOLKATA: Within two months of initiation of Operation Green Hunt on June 18, 2009 - no matter whether the union minister of home affairs P Chidambaram gave it a different nomenclature- the union home secretary G K Pillai rechristened it as Lalgarh Laboratory. 'Lalgarh is the laboratory for us and this will be reflected in what we are going to do in other Naxal-infested areas like Chhattisgarh.