New Delhi, Sept 19: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will convene a meeting of all members of the Planning Commission on Saturday to discuss the integrated energy policy and take stock of the country''s nuclear energy programme.

The meeting comes ahead of Dr. Singh’s U. S. visit, to which he will leave on Monday to attend the meeting of the 63rd session of UN General Assembly in New York.

New Delhi - At least two suspected Islamic militants were killed Friday in a gunbattle with police in New Delhi, days after bombings in the city claimed 24 lives, media reports said.

The exchange of fire came as the militants were holed up inside a flat in the Jamia Nagar area in southern New Delhi.

The NDTV network reported that the slain militants belonged to the Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI).

Three other rebels and two police officers were also believed to be injured in the shootout near the Khalilullah mosque in the congested neighbourhood.

New Delhi - India's benchmark Sensex stock index gained 3.69 per cent in early trading Friday on US government plans for a mammoth bailout to contain its financial crisis.

The 30-share-sensitive index, which had been losing ground for most of the week because of the US crisis, gained 491 points soon after the markets opened. It was quoted at 13,787.11 at 11:30 local time (0600 GMT).

Similarly, the broader National Stock Exchange's Nifty index rose 2.9 per cent to 4,155.15 at the same time as all industrial sectors, led by blue-chip stocks, recorded handsome gains.

New Delhi  - At least three villagers were killed and nearly 1 million people were affected or displaced by floods in India's eastern coastal state of Orissa, news reports said Thursday.

Orissa relief official Benudhar Das told the IANS news agency that three people died in house collapses in the Bhadrak and Jajpur districts.

Local media, however, put the death toll across the state at 10.

Washington, Sep 18 : Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Vayalar Ravi has assured Christian leaders here that the government is keeping a close vigil on the recent spate of violence against the community in some parts of the country.

“The Government of India is in touch with the state government and has advised it to take strong measures to protect minority groups... and to suppress these brutal attacks,” said Ravi said while assuring the leaders.

“The Government of India is monitoring every day with the State Government so that there is no repeat of the incident,” he said.