Palatana (Tripura), Nov. 3 : Union Minister of State for Power and Commerce Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said that he would take up with the Bangladesh government the grant of transit permission for consignments for the 726.6 MW gas-based power project, from Haldia port in Kolkata to the project site here via Ashuganj in Bangladesh and Akhura Land Custom Station on the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura.

Ramesh, however, told The Hindu at the project site that he was not hopeful of Bangladesh giving consent. He said Dhaka said ‘no’ to an earlier proposal.

New Delhi, Nov 3 : Polish Defence Minister Bogdan Klich arrives here on Tuesday on a three-day visit to India to explore possibilities of tie-ups with Public Sector Undertakings for joint production as New Delhi looks for partners in the realm of military hardware.

Besides a delegation level meeting with Defence Minister AK Antony, Klich will hold talks with the chairmen of top Defence Public Sector Undertakings including HAL, BEL, BEML and Ordnance Factories Board (OFB).

London, Nov 3 : A council-owned charity in Oxford came up with a plan to ban the word “Christmas” from this year’s festive celebrations, and it has earned itself the ire of religious leaders.

The Oxford city council provoked outrage among shoppers, when they confirmed the events in the city would be renamed ‘Winter Light Festival’ to make them more inclusive.

The name change, which came from the charity Oxford Inspires, a cultural development agency for the county, which runs the celebrations, has caused outrage among the people who want a traditional Christmas.

Lausanne, Switzerland - The inaugural Winter Youth Olympics in 2012 will take place in Innsbruck or Kuopio, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Monday.

The IOC said in a press release that the Austrian town of Innsbruck and Finland's Kuopio were picked by the IOC executive board after an evaluation committee report. Lillehammer (Norway) and Harbin (China) were dropped.

The host city will be elected by the IOC members in a postal vote and named by IOC boss Jacques Rogge on December 12.

The Winter Youth Olympics will bring together around 1,000 athletes aged 14-18 to compete in Olympic disciplines. The first summer edition is 2010 in Singapore.

Agartala, Nov. 3 : Young children in Tripura capital Agartala have adopted a unique way of protesting against militancy, especially the bomb blasts – through a painting exhibition.

The children, aged between 10 and 15 years, see their imaginative creations as an effective way to challenge the subversive activities of the militants and send out a message of peace and unity among the people.

While one painter said that without peace there could no development, another said people should unite against the evil and work for development.

London, Nov 3 : The Queen has ordered steps to be taken to prevent Baroness Thatcher disrupting her schedule on Remembrance Sunday. The order follows a row over protocol at last year’s Cenotaph commemorations.

Sources in Whitehall have revealed that the Queen was furious at being kept waiting by Lady Thatcher, when the former Prime Minister was centre of attention on the 25th anniversary of the Falklands conflict, the Daily Express reported.