Dun & Bradstreet, the world’s leading provider of global business information, knowledge and insight, released the fourth version  of its publication, “India’s Top ITeS and BPO Companies 2008” on Monday.

The study highlights the key achievements of the sector and its major growth drivers. It also covers the dynamics of the ITeS and BPO industry in India and its future direction.

Bangkok - Thai protestors on Tuesday blocked the main road access road to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport in an effort to prevent the return of Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, who was scheduled to return Wednesday.

Police set up a blockade to prevent about 1,000 protestors, members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), from entering the airport and creating problems for passengers.

"At the moment it's just causing an inconvenience, but some people may miss their flights if this continues," said a spokesperson at Suvarnabhumi Airport's public relations department.

Five crew members including Prabhat Goyal, the captain of the Japanese cargo vessel Stolt Valor, reached home after spending almost two months as hostages in a Somalian port.

The crew members arrived from Muscat around 5am at Mumbai international airport and were greeted by their relatives.

The vessel, which had 18 Indians on board, was hijacked in September off the Somalia coast.

After their release the crew members have been returning in batches.

Moscow/St Petersburg - A car exploded near a metro station in the Russian city of St Petersburg on Tuesday, killing three people, including a 3-year-old child.

Russian news agencies quoted law enforcement officials as saying the blast was caused by a grenade.

But St Petersburg police chief Vladislav Piotrovsky ruled out terrorism on Tuesday.

"There was no act of terrorism - the grenade just went off by accident. It is not clear yet why the man had a grenade," Piotrovsky was quoted by Interfax as saying.

"We will have a clearer picture by the end the end of day," he said.

The explosion occurred near the Udelnaya station at 8:55 am, an Emergency Situation Ministry spokesman said.

Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh indicated that he is going to join BJP-led NDA very shortly.

"We are discussing with many parties, but there are only two alliances-one is NDA another is UPA," he said to reporters. But when asked about his talks with BJP, he indicated an alliance.

"There are many crossings in the way," he added.

Earlier BJP chief Rajnath Singh said that, the decision on the alliance with RLD will be announced soon. Sources in the RLD said the party wants to contest at least 10 seats in western Uttar Pradesh.

Brussels - An internal European Union report on the state of Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Syria raises the pressure on the bloc to take in more of them ahead of a key ministerial meeting Thursday.

The report, seen by Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, concludes that "there is a clear need for resettlement" of Iraqi refugees from the two countries, and that an "increased engagement on the part of the EU countries on resettlement could send a positive signal to the governments of the hosting countries."