With the motive to help New Delhi face any nuclear threats from Pakistan and other "volatile" countries in the region, the US and India are engaged in talks over sale of missile shield systems which is also a part of their overall strategic partnership.

The media reports which quoted unnamed US diplomats said, "The preliminary talks took place mainly at a scientific and technical level and American defense officials had conducted computer simulations with their Indian counterparts."

New Delhi - Ramalinga Raju, founder and chairman of Indian information technology firm Satyam Computer, was scheduled to appear in court Saturday, a day after his arrest for a 1.4-billion-dollar accounting fraud.

The police Criminal Investigation Department in the southern city of Hyderabad arrested Raju and his brother, Satyam managing director B Rama Raju, late on Friday.

Ramalinga Raju resigned on Wednesday after revealing in a letter to Satyam's board that he had falsified company balance sheets with fictitious assets and nonexistent cash to the tune of 78 billion rupees (1.43 billion dollars).

New Delhi, Jan 10 : Vice President M. Hamid Ansari will inaugurate the 14th National Youth Festival on Monday at Amritisar.

It is for the first time that National Youth Festival would be held in Punjab from January 12-16. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will be presiding over the function.

New Delhi, Jan. 10 : The founder and chairman of the Observer Research Foundation, R. K. Mishra, died in Bangalore on Friday night.

Mishra had made his mark on the national scene as an intrepid journalist. An editor of high standing, he was a dynamic and visionary thinker. he was also a parliamentarian of acclaimed integrity and a forceful proponent of social and economic reform.

On an another plane, in the several books that he authored, he explored realms of philosophy, religious thought and belief and the mysteries of man''s inner life. Above all, he was a most warm-hearted human being.

The Association of Scientific and Technical Officers (AOSTO) of ONGC, a major part of the oil sector officers unions, has declared that they have suspended their protest for 30 days.

Mr. Rajan Pillai, AOSTO President, said that a letter in this regard is being submitted to the administration.

Mr. Pillai also that the association is sticking to its demand to revise the pay structure.

The Government has said the ministries concerned will analyze the whole matter regarding pay revision in the oil segment, and submit a complete report within next 30 days.

A new offer is in the offing from the world’s largest PC maker, Acer!

On its complete range of netbooks, Acer has announced its new limited period special offer from January 9 to January 20, 2009.

After this declaration, the world’s most-demanding netbook, Acer Aspire One will be available at just Rs 14,499.

For its Aspire One netbook Linux edition, the company has also announced a special price of just Rs 14,499, while the Windows XP Home version will be priced at Rs 16,499. Both these prices are excluding taxes.