Muscat, Oct 7: The members of the Indian community in Oman have been urged upon by the Indian envoy here Anil Wadhwa to donate a day's salary to help the flood-stricken people of India, particularly in the states of Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh, reported the Gulf News.

The Indian envoy made the appeal while addressing members of the Indian community at an open house held at the mission’s premises to celebrate Eid al Fitr.

Meanwhile, the Indian Social Club (ISC), under the aegis of the Indian Embassy, has begun a charity drive to raise funds for the flood victims in Bihar and will hold a fund-raising dinner on the Embassy premises on October 11, added the paper.

Air France would expand its network by starting new services to major Indian cities. The air line has also decided to take care of Indian flavours in its flights. It would provide vegetarian food and Indian newspapers and films on board. 

Air France intends to become a top class air service provider by developing strategic zones to get more passengers. The company had started its services from Bangalore in 2005 and from Chennai in 2006. It is now interested to start services from Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Pune.

Los Angeles - Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks Studio announced the details of its split from Paramount Pictures Monday, an amicable divorce that allows the most successful US director to start a new studio with 1.5 billion dollars in funding from Indian entertainment conglomerate Reliance ADA Group.

Under the exit agreement, DreamWorks will take the lead on 15 to 20 development projects, with Paramount having the option to co- finance and co-distribute, the studios said in a joint statement.

New Delhi, Oct 6 : India on Monday expressed “grave concern and unhappiness” at the growing casualties of unarmed Tamil civilians in the military offensive in Sri Lanka, and asked the government in the island nation to act with greater restraint.

National Security Adviser M K Narayanan today summoned Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner G G A D Palithaganegoda to convey India’s concerns to him.

Bangalore, Oct 6 : Chandrayaan-1, India’s first unmanned mission to moon is scheduled to be launched from the spaceport of Sriharikota at 6.20 a. m. on October 22, Indian Space Research Organisation sources have said.

The satellite was transported from here to Sriharikota in a special vehicle last week and has reached the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR).

The spacecraft is expected to be mated with ISRO''s workhorse rocket, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) later this week, the sources told media.