Authorities in the state of Haryana have agreed to release more raw water to Delhi from Tajewala cutting the share of of Uttar Pradesh in the Yamuna.

The move would help the national capital increase water levels at its Sonia Vihar and Bhagirathi water treatment plants where the treatment was halted due to low raw water supply from the Ganga Canal. The government will lift the water from Haryana from Wazirabad and supply it to Sonia Vihar and Bhagairathi water treatment plants.

Thiruvananthapuram, May 18 : Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Saturday praised Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and asked the CPI-M to introspect and rethink its ideology.

Gandhi was addressing the valedictory function of a yatra by state Congress chief Ramesh Chennithala, who travelled across Lerala's 140 assembly constituencies.

New Delhi, 18 May 18 : Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar Saturday left for Belarus leading an Indian parliamentary delegation to the east European country.

According to an official release, the delegation will call on Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich and chairman of the house of representatives of the national assembly Vladimir Andreichenko.

Meira Kumar will address the faculty and students of the academy of public administration in Belarus.

Lucknow, May 18 : Voted to power with a promise to weed out corruption and send the guilty behind bars, the Akhilesh Yadav government has, a year-and-a-half later, not been able to take much action in cases involving high-ranking figures of the Mayawati regime despite damning evidence emerging out of the Lokayukta's investigations.

Mumbai, May 18 : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend the silver jubilee celebrations of market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) here Friday, an official said here.

Singapore Deputy Prime Minister T. Shanmugaratnam, who also holds the finance portfolio, will be the guest of honour. He is scheduled to deliver the keynote address on 'Asian Capital Markets - Future Engine of the Global Economy' on the occasion.

Thiruvananthapuram, May 18 :  Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy is all set to reshuffle his cabinet, two years after assuming office this day.

"I am under tremendous pressure to join the cabinet. In the coming days, the top leadership of our party is going to sit down to discuss all possibilities," state Congress president Ramesh Chennithala told IANS.

The Obama administration on Friday gave a conditional nod for exporting of domestically generated liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries which don't have Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the U. S.

The US' decision to export LNG to non-FTA countries from Freeport Terminal on Quintana Island in Texas has major implications for India because will now be able to import much needed gas from the US.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on finance, headed by BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, has advocated closure of all chit fund firms across the country.

The panel on Friday grilled Finance Secretary R S Gujral as well as Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose on the increasing menace of chit fund frauds.

Both Gujral and Bose admitted that regulators failed to exchange information, which made any action against such frauds difficult. Both officials also stressed that there was a need to revamp the whole system to check such frauds.

Bhubaneswar, May 18 : The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has summoned the Odisha chief secretary for failing to submit a report on the problems faced by patients and Ayush doctors in the state, a petitioner said Saturday.

"Such doctors are being forced to prescribe allopathic medicines although they are not trained for that," India Media Centre managing trustee and human rights activist Akhanda, who filed the complaint, told IANS.

Ayurvedic and Unani medical practitioners are called Ayush doctors.

New Delhi, May 18 : Elections have become the biggest source of corruption in India, former chief election commissioner (CEC) S. Y. Quraishi has said, while stressing for the need for poll reforms.

"Elections have become the biggest source of corruption in the country," Quraishi said Friday while delivering a lecture at the British Council here.

"Political power is strong and competition bitter. Involvement of criminals and booth capturing are the challenges," he said.

New Delhi, May 17 : India has told Sri Lanka not to dilute the autonomous powers granted to its Tamil-majority northern province ahead of provincial elections, official sources said Friday.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid also sought the early release of 31 Indian fishermen detained in Sri Lanka.

Khurshid made the observations during a telephonic discussion with his Sri Lankan counterpart G. L. Peiris.

According to the sources, the Indian minister demanded freedom for the 26 Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan prisons.

Chennai, May 17 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Friday urged the prime minister to order the implementation of the final award of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday, Jayalalithaa said: "I exhort you to order the Ministry of Water Resources to constitute the Cauvery Management Board and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee without any further delay."

New Delhi, May 17 : Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde Friday lauded Border Security Force (BSF) personnel for guarding areas prone to infiltration and said more facilities would be provided to the troopers deputed on the border-posts.

"The government is aware about the difficult conditions in which BSF personnel work. Their task becomes more difficult in adverse climatic conditions. The government is taking every possible step to enhance the service conditions of the BSF," Shinde said at 11th investiture ceremony of the BSF here.

New Delhi, May 17 : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday said his government was willing to engage constructively with trade unions to address issues like curbing inflation, generating employment and strictly implementing labour laws.

Bill Gates has once against claimed the title of the richest person in the world, according to the latest data released by Bloomberg.

Gates managed to surpass telecom sector billionaire, Carlos Slim of Mexico to become the richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index that was released on Friday. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world's 100 wealthiest individuals, showed that Mexican telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim ceded the first position to the American entrepreneur.

New Delhi, May 16 : The government Thursday tasked the Planning Commission with formulating a draft bill on dispute resolution in public contracts in consultation with all ministrieS.

According to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), with rapid expansion of public private partnerships (PPP) which have attracted crores of worth of investment in different sectors, dispute resolution in large public contracts has become a growing concern.

Acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, Steven T. Miller has submitted his resignation to President Obama on Wednesday following controversies relating to targeting conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.

Jaipur, May 16 : Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi met party workers and office bearers here Thursday while continuing his task of collecting feedback over the party's prospects in the upcoming assembly and Lok Sabha elections, party sources said.

Gandhi arrived in Rajasthan's Bikaner district Wednesday to hold "feedback meetings" with the party's workers. He left for Jaipur in the evening.

Assembly polls are scheduled in Congress-ruled Rajasthan at the year-end.

Washington, May 16 : A US gun rights activist is invoking Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of non-violence, in asking 1,000 supporters to march into the American capital on its July 4 Independence Day carrying loaded rifles.

Activist Adam Kokesh, 31, who according to media reports, "has a history of rabble-rousing and self-promotion", has vowed to respond "with satyagraha," if the capital police block the protesters against "tyranny" from crossing into Washington.

New Delhi, May 16 : The Delhi High Court Thursday ordered constitution of a medical board to examine the health of former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, who has been jailed for 10 years for irregularities in appointment of teachers in 2000.

Justice Siddharth Mridul asked the director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here to set up a medical board and submit to the court a report on Chautala's health condition within two days.