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New Delhi, July 11: India and the United States have begun talks here on the price and onboard equipment for the 10 Boeing C- 17 military transport aircraft that the Indian Air Force (IAF) wants.

According to reliable sources quoted by India Strategic defence magazine (www.indiastrategic.in), the validation trials of the aircraft were complete and that one United States Air Force (USAF) C-17 which had come to India in this regard last month had met the IAF specifications. The aircraft was tested in short and high altitude runways.

Srinagar, July 11 : Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti stood her ground Sunday and turned down Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's request to her to attend the all-party meeting called Monday by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah over the violence in Jammu and Kashmir.

"It was very kind of the prime minister to call me. I have deep regard for the PM. He advised us to attend the meeting. But it was painful to convey my inability to attend the meeting," Mehbooba told reporters, a day after Manmohan Singh called her urging her to reconsider her refusal to attend the meeting.

New Delhi, July 11 : This year's total solar eclipse on Sunday will be missed by sky gazers in India as the celestial phenomenon will not be visible in Asia.

The eclipse will be visible from parts of the South Pacific Ocean area and South American countries like Argentina and Chile. A total solar eclipse occurs every 18 months.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the earth, and the moon fully or partially covers the sun as viewed from the earth.

New Delhi, July 11 :  The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Sunday asked the government to speed up the terror cases linked with "Hindutva terror groups" and RSS functionaries.

"The interrogation of some responsible RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) functionaries in Uttar Pradesh on their links with Hindutva terror groups is a serious development," the CPI-M politburo said in a statement here.

It said "Hindutva terror groups" were suspected to be behind the bomb blasts targeting the minority community in at least three incidents in Malegaon, Ajmer Sharif and Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad in which innocent people were killed.

New Delhi, July 11 : Tariff wars ate into the revenues of telecom operators in 2009-10, with the industry logging only a modest 2.5 percent growth, having grown even in the year of the financial crisis at 20 percent, according to a survey.

"Intense tariff war caused the steep fall and overall slowdown in the performance in all segments, including cellular services that over the past several years have been leading the growth in earnings for the telecom services sector," said a report by industry journal Voice & Data.

Dharamsala, July 11 : Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao Sunday flew back to Delhi after holding talks with the Dalai Lama here, an official said. There was no indication of the nature of the talks or its timing.

"Rao and the official (Gautam Bambawale, joint secretary, East Asia, in the external affairs ministry) accompanying her went back to Delhi," Superintendent of Police Atul Fulzele told IANS.

Rao met the Dalai Lama as well as other high-ranking officials of the Tibetan government-in-exile, including prime minister Samdhong Rinpoche, here Saturday afternoon.