Solang (HP), Nov 26 : A major fire engulfed Solang village near Manali in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday.

The fire which started due to a faulty electric wiring, soon spread and gutted around 25 houses which being old and made of wood burnt rapidly.

Many people were rendered homeless in the fire.

The residents tried to control the fire themselves by dousing it with water before the administration could come to their aid.

Bhubaneshwar, Nov 26 : The winter session of Orissa Assembly begins on Wednesday.

The first supplementary statement of expenditure for the year 2008-09 will be presented during the session.

The Orissa Municipal Corporation Amendment bill, Orissa Contingency Fund bill, the Orissa Reservation of Vacancies of Posts and Services Amendment bill and the Orissa Doctors and Health Service workers Protection bill are among eight bills to be introduced during the session.

Mumbai, Nov 26 : Mumbai police officials have taken to Yoga to beat the stress of their hectic schedules.

Around 5,000 officers of the Mumbai Police Force are participating in a weeklong yoga camp to fight the stress caused by their overstretched duties.

The yoga camp has been organised after the city''s police department sought help from a 90-year-old yoga institute to distress its personnel. The institute readily obliged free of cost.

Indian banking franchise of Citi bank has taken a sense of relief, following bail out package announced by the US government. It would help the bank to come out of credit crisis and help to recover its strong market position. The bank’s local workforce is still living under threats of lay-offs but now it can expect some thing better in future.

Bangkok - Thailand has sought a clarification from the Indian Navy on its rules of engagement in sinking an alleged pirate ship last week off the coast of Somalia after evidence has emerged that the ship was a Thai vessel, officials said Wednesday.

"We have asked the Indian authorities to help us verify the ownership of the vessel and then clarify their rules of engagement," said Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat.

New Delhi, Nov 25 : Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora has said that India welcomes participation of companies from CIS regions for investing in the Oil and Gas sector in India.

Speaking at the inaugural session of India-CIS roundtable in New Delhi today, Deora said that the possible areas for investments include Greenfield refineries and petro-chemical projects, exploration and production through New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP).