External Affairs Minister

India today set free 66 Pakistani prisoners which included 28 women and four children, as a New Year gift despite the tensions escalating between the two countries after the Mumbai terror attacks.

Of the 66, 51 were from the Rajasthan and Gujarat jails, 14 from Amritsar Central Jail and one from Tihar Jail, Delhi. High Commission official accompanied the prisoners to Pakistan.

The B S Yeddyurappa Government, on Tuesday got a comfortable majority in the Karnataka Assembly as it won five of the eight seat in the by elections held on December 27. The remaining three seats were won by the JD(S), while Congress did not get a single seat.

The BJP clarified on the reports regarding the theft of a huge sum of money from its headquarters in the capital and said that these were “exaggerated” and was “not a fact”.

Around Rs2 crore was reportedly missing from a safe, kept in the accounts room, next to BJP President Rajnath Singh’s office. The ‘theft’ was reportedly detected on December 26 by the Deputy Accounts Officer Nalin.

The party sources have set up an internal inquiry and have engaged the services of a private detective agency. However no complaint has been lodged with the police.

The Andhra Pradesh government is keeping a close watch on the developments in the Satyam group as the fate of the Rs 12,200 crore Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) Project has become doubtful due to the turmoil in the group. The anxiety in the government is obvious as set back to the project at this stage would blot Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s administration.

The government, however, says that "the project is well on track."  

The world's fifth largest wind turbine maker, Suzlon Energy has increased its share in its German subsidiary REpower Systems. The company currently holds 73.71 percent stake in REpower and paid around Rs 447 crore to Portugal's Martifer SGPS for acquisition. Martifer holds 22.4 per cent stake in the German company. Suzlon Energy had to acquire these stakes to complete the deal before May 2009 as per agreement with Martifer.