Mumbai, Oct. 16 : Around 55,000 taxis and 150,000 auto-rickshaws remained off Mumbai roads on Thursday to protest against a Maharashtra Government move to phase out vehicles and auto-rickshaws that were 25 years or more old.

"The strike has received complete support across the city and approximately 55,000 taxis and 1.5 lakh rickshaws stayed off the roads today," said Sharad Rao, the leader of Mumbai Autorickshaw-Taximen''s Union.

New Delhi, Oct 16 : The US Chief of Army Staff, General George W Casey, who is on a three-day visit to India, received a ceremonial welcome here today.

Casey was received by Chief of Army Staff, General Deepak Kapoor and is scheduled to visit the Siachen Glacier base camp near Leh.

That apart, the defence establishment will hold a lengthy discussion with General Casey on the emerging security scenario in South Asia, particularly in the wake of heightened tension along the Pak-Afghan border.

General Casey is expected to hold talks with the top brass of the Indian defence forces on ways to further enhance bilateral military relations between New Delhi and Washington.

Mumbai, Oct 16: Jet Airways decided to lay off 1,100 additional employees in the next few days on Wednesday, according to a top official.

Earlier in the day, Jet said it has retrenched 800 flight attendants and suspended its expansion programme, adding that it will also cut flights because of a slowdown in demand.

The additional job cuts would be across all categories and departments, Executive Director Saroj Datta told reporters in a televised press conference.

Wolfgang Prock Schauer, Chief Executive Officer, Jet Airways, during a news conference in Mumbai, said the suspension of employees had nothing to do with the planned alliance with Kingfisher Airlines.

Commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath is confident that despite the current global financial crises, the exports for the month of October would continue to grow by 30 per cent.

Speaking at the sideslines of the IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) Business Summit, Nath said, “Because of the liquidity crunch globally, some investments in the future may be affected.”