New Delhi, April 13 : Mischa Barton has admitted that she felt ‘empowered’ following her recent break-up.

The 23-year-old star, who recently parted ways with Kooks frontman Luke Prichard after a brief relationship, said that being single has made her confident and mature, reports the China Daily.

"I''m still working on it but I''ve grown so much in the past six months. I''ve grown immensely and it''s because I''ve been single. After I broke up with a boyfriend last year, I felt empowered,” she told Britain''s Cosmopolitan magazine

New Delhi - Eleven security personnel and four Maoist rebels were killed in a 10-hour gunbattle after the rebels laid siege to India's largest bauxite mine in the eastern state of Orissa, police said Monday. A group of 100 armed Maoist rebels laid siege to the state-run National Aluminium Company's bauxite mine at Panchpatmali in Koraput district, some 370 kilometres south-west of Orissa's capital Bhubaneshwar late Sunday.

New Delhi, Apr 12 : Congress leader and Minister of State for External Affaires, Anand Sharma, on Sunday slammed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani for repeatedly criticizing Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

He further said Advani's own record as Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister had been a disaster.

New Delhi, Apr. 12 (ANI): A distant relative of former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is also in the electoral fray from the Lucknow Parliamentary constituency.

President of the 75 year old women organization Bazm-e-Khawateen, Shehnaz Sidrat has filed her nomination from Lucknow, the political citadel of the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Sidrat claims she belongs to the family of a famous Congress leader late Hayatullah Ansari.

According to her, Ansari's wife Sultana Hayat was a cousin of Musharraf's father Syed Musharrafuddin.

New Delhi, Apr 12: Easter is being celebrated in different parts of the country today.

In New Delhi, churches held sunrise service early morning on the occasion. Special services and masses have also been arranged for the day.

In Goa, Easter Sunday is being celebrated with great joy and enthusiasm. Mass and prayers have been organised to mark the day.

Goa Governor Dr. Shivinder Singh Sidhu, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat and Archbishop of Goa and Daman Rev. Filipe Neri Ferrao have greeted the people on the occasion.

New Delhi, Apr 11 : The Uttar Pradesh government and the Pilibhit District Magistrate on Saturday responded to the Supreme Court''s notice seeking to know the basis for invoking the National Security Act (NSA) against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Varun Gandhi.

The state government, in its 35-page response to the apex court has denied Varun Gandhi''s charge that he was booked under the NSA due to a political conspiracy.