Nov 4 : At least

New Delhi, Nov 4 : Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil will hold a meeting with top police officials from the North Eastern here on November 5 to review the emerging security threat in that region.

According to police sources, Patil is expected to chalk out a fresh security strategy to deal with the terror threat from across the border and within the states.

The meeting will review the overall security scenario in the region vis--vis the recent serial blasts in Assam, Tripura and Manipur.

New York, Nov. 4 : Republican presidential candidate John McCain has managed to narrow the electoral gap with Democratic rival Barack Obama in key battleground states, according to the latest Fox News/Rasmussen Reports poll.

But the overall results still leave Obama in a better position on the eve of the election.

Obama now leads in two of the battleground states while the candidates are tied or within a point of each other in four.

The Alaska Personnel Board report on Monday cleared the Alaska Governor and Republican vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, of wrongdoing in an abuse-of-power investigation into the firing of the state’s public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan.

This report ran contrary to findings from a legislative inquiry that concluded in October that Palin had abused the power of her office by pressuring subordinates to fire a state trooper, her former brother-in-law Michael Wooten, involved in a feud with her family.

London, Nov 4: Scientists have come up with a practical solution for shielding astronauts from deadly solar storms, which may bring plans for a manned mission to Mars one step closer to reality.

Though putting a man on the Red Planet has been the dream of scientists ever since space travel was first envisaged, the greatest challenge facing them has been how to protect astronauts and their space ships from solar storms.

Solar storms are radioactive clouds of particles that shred human DNA and destroy electronic instruments.

Now, according to a report in the Telegraph, British researchers believe they have come up with a practical solution by mimicking the Earth''s own protection - a mini magnetic field that deflects the fatal particles.

New Delhi, Nov 4 : Finance Minister P Chidambaram met top executives of PSU banks today to review the liquidity situation and performance of lenders.

The meeting comes a day after the captains of Indian industry met Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and demanded steps for enhancing liquidity and steps to create environment conducive for lowering of interest rates.