Moscow, Feb 22 (IANS/RIA Novosti) State awards will be given to people who distinguished themselves in responding to the recent meteorite strike in Russia's Chelyabinsk region, a minister has said.

Moscow, Feb 22 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) has submitted a bill imposing fines of up to 50,000 rubles (about $1,700) on officials for using American and British "loan-words" that have Russian equivalents.

Moscow, Feb 22 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The Russian Navy's Udaloy I class anti-submarine destroyer Severomorsk will take part in a NATO anti-piracy exercise in the Gulf of Aden, a navy spokesman said.

Hyderabad, Feb 21 (IANS) The serial blasts that rocked Hyderabad Thursday killing 12 people and injuring 80 others is one of the worst terror attacks in the city in recent years.

Hyderabad/New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) Twin bomb blasts rocked Hyderabad Thursday evening, killing at least 12 people and injuring over 50 others, the union home ministry said. The Andhra Pradesh chief minister however put the toll at 11 while eyewitnesses reported 18 deaths.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) India were lucky to escape with a 3-2 win over Ireland and continued their winning streak in the men's Hero Hockey World League Round 2 at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here Thursday.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) The central government Thursday approved the allotment of an apartment free of cost to the family of the Delhi gang-rape victim.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) International Hockey Federation (FIH) president Leandro Negre admitted that International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision to leave out wrestling from core sports for the 2020 Games was a rude shock but it has served as a wake cup call for hockey bosses.

Chennai, Feb 21 (IANS) Bollywood music composer-singer Bappi Lahiri said Thursday that he has so many memorable experiences in Chennai and considers the city very lucky for him.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) Delhi's sixth economic census began Thursday with enumerators visiting the official residence of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for collecting information about her household.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) A 32-year-old women strangulated her three-year-old daughter and then hanged herself at her house here Thursday, police said.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) The government had received intelligence warning of blasts taking place in the country but no specific target, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said Thursday in the wake of the twin blasts in Hyderabad.

New Delhi, Febru Feb 21 (IANS) Actor-activist Shabana Azmi Thursday accused the government of "diluting the potency" of Justice Verma Committee report on sexual crimes by "cherry-picking" its recommendations.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) The Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) Thursday told the Supreme Court that if beliefs and faiths were allowed to weigh on the statutory and environmental clearances for big ticket projects, then there would be no development.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) The Congress Thursday said Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's regret over his saffron terror remark was not a u-turn, and was meant only to assuage the hurt feelings of a political party and ensure smooth functioning of parliament.

Mumbai, Feb 21 (IANS) Raveena Tandon will be seen swaying to the tunes of a Sufi song in her new film "Shobhana 7 Nights". The actress says the song is for commercial release of the film.

Srinagar, Feb 21 (IANS) Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the moderate Hurriyat group, was placed under house arrest here Thursday immediately after his return from Delhi, his aide said.

Film: Silver Linings Playbook; Directed by: David O. Russell; Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Anupam Kher, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Julia Stiles, Brea Bee; Rating: ***1/2

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) Fiji men and Kazakhstan women scored their first goals in the Hero Hockey World League Round 2 at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here Thursday.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) Filmmaker Sajid Khan is set to don the garb of a disc jockey (DJ) at the launch of the disco number of his upcoming film "Himmatwala".

London, Feb 21 (IANS) A gigantic asteroid that slammed into Australia more than 300 million years ago changed the face of the Earth forever, says a British media report.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) A batsman who made a name for himself while playing in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, V.V.S. Laxman will be now seen in a new role of a commentator for the upcoming India vs Australia series.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) The final day of a two-day all-India industrial strike crippled industrial and financial sectors here and hit hard public transport Thursday, inconveniencing tens of thousands.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) Actress Bipasha Basu has been busy dubbing for horror film "Aatma", but she strongly feels that the process takes the real emotions away from scenes.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) Outlining the major steps taken to improve fuel availability for power generation, President Pranab Mukherjee Thursday said the government is in the process of allocating 17 coal blocks to state-run companies.

Noida, Feb 21 (IANS) A day after violence rocked this suburb of the national capital, 400 of the 1,200 industrial units resumed work Thursday on the second day of a nationwide strike called by major trade unions to check inflation, ensure jobs and enforce labour laws, an official said.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) The BJP Thursday termed President Pranab Mukherjee's speech on the opening day of parliament's budget session as a mere "glossary" of government plans that failed to address crucial issues.

Gurgaon, Feb 21 (IANS) More than one lakh workers joined the all-India industrial strike in the sprawling industrial belt here Thursday, with all four Maruti Suzuki plants closing down.

Shimla, Feb 21 (IANS) The Himachal Pradesh government Thursday said there was no ban on the entry of yoga guru Baba Ramdev in the state.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) A woman here is battling for life after her live-in partner poured petrol on her and set her on fire, police said Thursday.

Mumbai, Feb 21 (IANS) A benchmark index for Indian equities markets fell more than 300 points or 1.62 percent Thursday, ahead of the union budget and a day after data showed decline in loan growth and on weakness in global bourses. Bank, metal, capital goods, automobile and oil and gas stocks were the hardest hit.

Damascus, Feb 21 (IANS) At least 16 people were killed and 208 wounded Thursday when a suicide bomber blew up a car packed with explosives at a busy intersection close to the ruling al-Baath Party headquarters in capital Damascus, the state media reported.

Chennai, Feb 21 (IANS) Actress Neetu Chandra says that more than her enthusiasm to work with Tamil filmmaker Ameer Sultan, it was a challenge to learn the language that persuaded her to be part of forthcoming Tamil action film "Aadhi Bhagavan".

Jammu, Feb 21 (IANS) The process of registering pilgrims for this year's Amarnath pilgrimage will commence from March 18 for both the Baltal and Pahalgam routes through over 400 designated bank branches, said a shrine board spokesman Thursday. A health certificate will be mandatory.

London, Feb 21 (IANS) The obesity epidemic in the United Kingdom has overtaken two-thirds of the male population, leaving less than a third in the ideal weight category, considering that there might also be those with less than normal weight, according to a new finding.

Los Angeles, Feb 21 (IANS) With their owner Jerry Buss passing away Monday, the Los Angeles Lakers posted an emotional win over the Boston Celtics in NBA league.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party Thursday said President Pranab Mukherjee's speech on the opening day of the budget session of parliament was a mere "glossary" of government programmes, failing to address crucial concerns.

Moscow, Feb 21 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Massive spending on transport infrastructure combined with measures to lure more foreign direct investment and improve the business climate could help boost Russia's flagging economic growth, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said Thursday.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) The Supreme Court Thursday set up a six-member team to scan the transcripts of former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia's telephone intercepts to determine if there was any conversation that violated the law and warranted prosecution and asked it to submit its report in four months.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) The government will come out with a new policy on the capital goods manufacturing sector, heavy industry secretary M.F. Farooqui said Thursday.

Washington, Feb 21 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The US military is bracing for a looming wave of across-the-board budget cuts known as the "sequestration" that Pentagon officials say would dangerously erode the United States' defences.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) Condemning the violence in Noida, Assocham secretary general D.S. Rawat Thursday pressed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to immediately tighten security in the city.

Bangalore, Feb 21 (IANS) Two ministers quit the Karnataka government Thursday and were set to resign from the assembly and the ruling BJP too amid speculation that more would follow ahead of the assembly polls due in May.

New Delhi, Feb 21 (IANS) London Olympics quarterfinalist Parupalli Kashyap dropped out of the top 10 of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) men's singles rankings released Thursday to be placed at No.11.

Chennai, Feb 21 (IANS) The Border-Gavaskar Trophy will get a new meaning Friday as India take on Australia here with many of the big names, who dominated the sport in the last decade, having retired in the last couple of years.

Washington, Feb 21 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Two American companies have been "Twitter-jacked" this week, taken over by hackers posting crass messages to corporate Twitter pages and replacing corporate logos with those of competitors, further illustrating the often daunting tasks companies face as they strive to manage their social media feeds.

Shillong, Feb 21 (IANS) Political stability is the chosen slogan for all parties in Meghalaya as the hill state braces for assembly elections Saturday.

Chandigarh, Feb 21 (IANS) The Haryana government Thursday announced a compensation of Rs.10 lakh to the family of a Haryana Roadways driver and union leader, killed in a freak accident in Ambala city on Day One of the nationwide strike.

Mumbai, Feb 21 (IANS) Veteran actor Anupam Kher, who has been part of more than 450 films in a three-decade career, says he approached his Hollywood film "Silver Linings Playbook" as a newcomer.

Mumbai, Feb 21 (IANS) Actor Saif Ali Khan says although his character in new film "Bullet Raja" wears nasty clothes, he will still try to make him look cool in them.