New Delhi - India's opposition parties on Tuesday strongly criticized the government's decision to strike off Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, allegedly involved in the Bofors guns payoff case, from a list of wanted persons. Quattrocchi is the lone surviving suspect in the arms scandal case from the mid-1980s when the Rajiv Gandhi government finalised a 1.3-billion-dollar deal with Sweden's AB Bofors company to supply the Indian army with 400 Howitzer Field 155 MM guns.

Ahmedabad, Apr 28 : Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Tuesday attacked the Congress party for being the leading force behind the Central Bureau of Investigation''s decision to remove the name of the lone surviving suspect in the Bofors payoff case Ottavio Quattrocchi from the Interpol''s list of most wanted persons.

Accusing the Congress for being desperate at a time when its five-year term at the Centre is almost over, Advani told a news conference here, "They are not going to come to power. Else, they would have waited for elections to get over and then take this step."

Hindus have asked European Union and countries of Europe to urgently take steps to end apartheid of their Roma people, terming it as immoral and a dark stain on the face of Europe.

Acclaimed Hindu statesman, Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that it was moral obligation of Europe to take care of its largest minority Roma population and stop human rights violations reportedly regularly suffered by them, who numbered around ten million and were the most disadvantaged.

Mumbai, Apr. 28 : India will get the lion’s share of the 2011 World Cup matches, given the unstable and precarious security and political situation in the three other host countries – Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Addressing a press conference here, International Cricket Council (ICC) CEO Haroon Lorgat said that India will host 29 matches in eight venues, Sri Lanka would host 12 matches in three venues and Bnagladesh would host eight matches in two venues, adding that in all, 49 matches would be played at 13 venues in three countries.

New Delhi, Apr 28 : A 39-year-old Chinese woman is said to be attending primary school with her 10-year-old son.

The migrant worker in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region never learned to read and write, and she now shows up at the primary school with her son every day, reports China Daily.

Dong Xiaoju of Sichuan province said that as she had been born into a poor farmer's family she never got the chance to attend school when she was young.

Dong decided to go to school as a first-grade student after working for several years.

Washington, April 28 : In a new study, scientists have determined that solar energy has the potential to improve the living conditions of poor rural households in India as well as contribute to the country''s future energy security.

The study was done bv Professor Govindasamy Agoramoorthy from Tajen University, who is Tata-Sadguru Visiting Chair, and Dr. Minna Hsu from the National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan.