Chennai, Jan 7 : As a prelude to the 7th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Chennai, an exhibition portraying the might of the industrial and service sectors in India was inaugurated today by Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Planning, V. Narayanasamy.

Union Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi was also present on the occasion.

Buenos Aires - A French motorcyclist competing in the Dakar Rally has been found dead during the race in Argentina, it was reported Wednesday.

La Nacion newspaper quoted rally organizers as saying the body of 49-year-old Pascal Terry was found about 15 metres from the route used during Sunday's second stage.

The Yamaha rider had gone missing during the stage between Santa Rosa and Puerto Madryn in the province of Chubut.

Police are investigating the death, the report said.

Brussels - The European Union must put all hopes of building a closer relationship with Israel on hold until the fighting in the Gaza Strip ends, a group of leading aid agencies said Wednesday.

It would be "inconceivable" for the EU to work for closer ties with Israel at a time when the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has been "pushed to crisis point" by Israel's assault on the salient, the statement by groups including Oxfam and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said.

Islamabad - Pakistan said Wednesday that information received from India about the Mumbai terrorist attacks was being "seriously examined."

"Pakistan remains fully determined in its investigations to uncover full facts pertaining to the Mumbai incident and is cognizant of the need for establishing legally tenable evidence," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq.

Ten gunmen killed more than 170 people in India's financial hub Mumbai in three days of mayhem beginning November 26, escalating tensions between the South Asian nuclear-armed neighbours.

Madrid - In what was taken as an indirect swipe at Israel's actions in the Gaza, Spanish Defence Minister Carme Chacon has announced a military ethical code of conduct to prevent the Spanish army from misusing force, press reports said Wednesday.

Chacon announced the reform in a speech in which she was seen as indirectly criticizing Israel, during an annual military ceremony on Tuesday.

The code of conduct based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international humanitarian law was seen as trying to prevent action such as that by the United States in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and by Israel in Gaza.

Ankara - Around 40 people were taken into custody Wednesday in the latest wave of arrests connected to a shadowy nationalist gang that prosecutors claim was conspiring to overthrow Turkey's moderate Islamic government, Turkish media reported.

Those taken into custody on Wednesday included retired generals, former police officers, academics and journalists who are suspected of being connected to the so-called Ergenekon gang which allegedly had links to various murders in the past.