New Delhi, Apr 20: Former Union Minister Jagdish Tytler on Monday asked for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the incident of shoe-throwing by a journalist on Home Minister P Chidambaram, which had brought Tytler''s role in the 1984 Sikh riots to the centerstage.

On April 7, Jarnail Singh, a journalist of the Dainik Jagran newspaper, had thrown a shoe at Chidambaram during a press conference at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi.

New Delhi, Apr 20 : India will remove a 60 per cent import duty on up to one million tons of white sugar for the next four months, a top government official said.

The government also decided to drop a requirement that raw sugar only be imported for re-export.

Three state-run trading firms and a farmers'' cooperative -- the State Trading Corp of India Ltd, the MMTC, the PEC and the National Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) -- would be allowed to import up to one million tons of white sugar tax-free.

New Delhi - At least five separatist rebels were killed in an encounter with government troops in India's north-eastern state of Assam Monday, a news report said.

The combat between rebels belonging two separatist militant outfits, the National Democratic Front of Bodoland and Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam and the army took place in central Sonitpur district, the PTI news agency reported quoting defence sources.

New Delhi - India placed an Israeli-built spy satellite into orbit Monday to enhance its defence capabilities and help security agencies monitor its borders in the aftermath of the November Mumbai terrorist attacks, news reports and officials said.

The locally built PSLV-C12 rocket carrying the 300-kilogramme radar-imaging satellite and a 40-kilogramme education satellite, lifted off from the Satish Dhawan spaceport in Sriharikota city, 90 kilometres north of southern Chennai city early Monday morning.

Aurangabad/ New Delhi, Apr 20 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Rajnath Singh vowed to stop a controversial Sethusamudram shipping canal project, if voted to power.

Religious groups say the project will destroy a mythical bridge of sand made by Hindu god, Lord Ram.

New Delhi, April 20 : Nowadays, keyboards made of bamboo are a rage in China, as they provide a more environment-friendly alternative to the usual keyboard made of plastic.

As hi-tech brings conveniences and also pollution to the modern world, people who have a keen awareness of ecological protection are looking for green ways of living to offset the negative impact of advanced technologies.

Although bamboo keyboard is still a new thing to most computer users, it is nevertheless gaining popularity.