New Delhi, Oct 24 : Defence Minister A. K. Antony today said that the private sector participation in defence production has been allowed and foreign direct investment is allowed upto 26 per cent.

Addressing the National Seminar on defence offsets being organised by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) here, Antony said that private sector will henceforth require industrial licence only if it is stipulated under the requirement for defence industry.

New Delhi, Oct 24 : Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)''s policy review was on expected lines to manage India''s financial stability.

He described the RBI statement an important announcement that the central bank would employ both conventional and unconventional methods to ensure financial stability.

Chennai, Oct 24 : The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Friday staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha demanding arrest of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi over his alleged support to the separatist LTTE in Sri Lanka.

As soon the proceedings began, AIADMK members raised slogans demanding dismissal of the Tamil Nadu Government and arrest of Karunanidhi.

Chairman Hamid Ansari, however, disallowed their move and said that the Question Hour should be taken up.

With Ansari disallowing their move, AIADMK members staged a walkout from the House.

Srinagar, Kashmir - Life in India-administered Kashmir came to a halt on Friday in response to a call by the separatist Hurriyat Conference to mark United Nations Day with a strike, police said.

Hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who issued the call for the strike, said the protest was to remind the world body of its "indifference" to Kashmir and that the Kashmir dispute remained unresolved for more than six decades.

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Beijing, Oct 24 : Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who is in Beijing to attend the seventh Asia Europe Summit (ASEM), had a bilateral meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

Later in the day, Dr. Singh will also hold bilateral discussions with Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Bulgaria President Georgi Parvanov and China President Hu Jintao in the next two days.

The two-day summit will take place in the Great Hall of the People.