Thrissur, Oct. 30 : Believe it or not, a temple devoted to Lord Shiva in Mazhuvanchery Village near Kechery in Kerala''s Thrissur District, has a unique convention to dispense knowledge.

At the Mahadeva temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, even the offerings to the deity are educational aids. It is done as a ritual here.

Visiting devotees are distributed textbooks, writing material and informative brochures as Prasad or, holy offering here.

World’s largest mobile handset maker Nokia has come up with its latest ‘N’ series model, N79 in the Indian market.

Touted to be a multimedia phone, the Nokia N79 comes with a 5MP camera with dual-LED based flash. It has swappable back-covers that change the look to match the clothes or other fashion of the owner. It has 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS features and 24-hour music playback battery life.

New Delhi, Oct 30 : Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath will inaugurate the Plenary Meeting of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) here on November 3.

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is an international certification scheme that regulates trade in rough diamonds. It aims to prevent the flow of conflict diamonds, while helping to protect legitimate trade in rough diamonds.

New Delhi, Oct 30 : President Pratibha Patil will visit Aurangabad on November 2 to attend the concluding ceremony of the golden jubilee of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University.

Maharashtra Governor and Chancellor of the University S C Jamir, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, deputy Chief Minister R R Patil, Guardian Minister Patangrao Kadam, Higher and Technical Education Minister Dilip Valse Patil will also attend the function.

New Delhi, Oct 29 : The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has sought a ban on Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) for their alleged involvement in communal riots in Indore in July this year.

The Commission also demanded a judicial enquiry into the violence and de-recognition of political parties inciting communal riots.

In its report submitted to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh the Commission emphasized the need for devising a national policy to discourage communal polarization.

The NCM, while terming the VHP''s shutdown call on the Amaranth issue as the root cause of the violence, called for fixing the responsibility on politicians, officials and other key persons behind organizing the shutdown.

New Delhi, Oct 29 : Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday held a meeting at his North Block office with key regulators and policy makers, including Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, on the current financial situation and to discuss further measures to tackle it.

The meeting was attended by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D. Subbarao, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman C. B. Bhave, RBI Deputy Governor Rakesh Mohan and former RBI Governor C. Rangarajan among others.

The meeting assumes significance in the backdrop of a slew of measures taken by RBI and government to inject liquidity into the cash-starved system.