Palamu (Bihar), Oct. 21 : District administration in Palamu in Jharkhand has recently started a novel postcard scheme to attend to the problems of local residents, especially those living in far off villages of the district.

The main objective of the postcard scheme is to establish direct contact with the public and address their problems. Both the administration and public are enthusiastic about this scheme. It is being made successful with mutual cooperation.

Copenhagen - A Danish district court on Tuesday convicted two men of planning a terror attack and manufacturing explosives.

The two, aged 22 and 21, were arrested in September 2007 in Copenhagen.

During the proceedings it emerged that the Danish security intelligence service (PET) had kept them under surveillance for several months.

The PET had been tipped off that the older suspect had visited an alleged al-Qaeda camp in Pakistan and installed a secret camera in his flat. The men's phone conversations were also tapped.

Police also seized a hand-written manual that bomb experts said described how to make explosives.

The men allegedly tried to make the explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP).

Guwahati, Oct 21 : President Pratibha Patil today said that there is an urgent need for augmenting medical institutions in the country.

Laying the foundation stone of the Tezpur Medical College in Sonitpur district of Assam, Patil said the country has at present 271 medical colleges out of which about 31,000 medical graduates pass out every year.

London, October 21 : An Oregon hiker rescued from a mountain, where he survived for five days with a broken ankle, has revealed that he ate centipedes, ants and even a poisonous wolf spider to survive.

Derek Mamoyac, 27, fell badly while descending 12,300-ft Mount Adams in Washington state on October 12.

It was supposed to be a one-day trip, and he had not informed his family about it.

When he failed to turn up for work the following morning, his family reported him missing.

Mamoyac tried descending the mountain by crawling on his knees, but he had to stop when it became too painful.

He revealed that he drank water from creeks.

Karachi, Oct 21 : Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Chief Altaf Hussain has hailed President Asif Ali Zardari’s recent visit to China, saying he deserves “great appreciation” for his efforts to bring the country out of economic crisis.

According to a MQM statement, Hussain felicitated the President in an hour-long telephone conversation (with him) on his recent successful visit to China.

New Delhi, Oct 21 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that if a Parliamentry Review Committee gives the finding that the offence against the accused cannot be tried under Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), then trial under the anti-terror law cannot proceed.

However, the state can always file an appeal against POTA review committee, said the bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan pronouncing the verdict.