New Delhi, Nov 20 : External Affairs Ministry on Thursday justified naval action against Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

The Indian Navy Warship, INS Tabar, armed with supersonic BrahMos (PJ-10) anti-ship cruise missiles, sank a pirate vessel off the Somali coast after an exchange of fire with the pirates on Tuesday.

This is second successful operation of the naval ship against the pirates in Gulf of Aden, recently.

New Delhi, Nov. 20 : A senior officer of the Indian Navy on Thursday said that the Indian Government is seriously considering a proposal to increase the number of warships in the Gulf of Aden to counter piracy in the area.

Speaking off the record, the naval officer said: "Yes, we are considering a proposal to increase the number of warships in Gulf of Aden to fight the pirates and to protect merchant ships flying the Indian flag."

New Delhi, Nov 20 : A Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement was signed between India and Tajikistan on Thursday.

The agreement was signed between the countries, by Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairman Narendra Bahadur Singh, and by Deputy Minister of Finance of the Republic of Tajikistan Norinov Jamshed Nurmahmadovich.

The agreement will cover in the case of India, income tax including any surcharge thereon and in the case of Tajikistan, the taxes on income of legal persons and taxes on income of individuals.

Kanpur, Nov. 20 : India made heavy work of an under-par England total in the first evenly-contested match between the two sides at Kanpur''s Green Park Stadium on Thursday during the third one-day international.

But the hosts edged ahead thanks to a superior run rate under the Duckworth-Lewis method when bad light curtailed their chase after 40 overs.

India were asked to chase a victory target of 241 runs, and ended up scoring 198/5 in 40 overs when play was called off due to bad light. According to the D/L method, India needed to be 183/5 after 40 overs.

New Delhi, Nov 20 :Global economic crisis has evoked mixed response from the Indian companies.

Though the slump is felt in India and the heat has impacted various sectors, still many entrepreneurs have expressed optimism about overcoming the current recession.

According to reports the Indian economy is likely to expand by 7.4-7.8 per cent during 2008-09 fiscal year, slower than nine per cent of last year, as credit crunch and global downturn trims growth.

New Delhi, Nov 20 : The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCAE) on Thursday gave its approval to the implementation of the Comprehensive Powerloom Cluster Development Scheme at Bhiwandi (Maharashtra) and Erode (Tamil Nadu) as a Central Sector Plan Scheme.