New Delhi - Army troops killed at least five separatist rebels during a raid on their hideouts in the north-eastern state of Manipur, a media report said Tuesday.

The soldiers targeted rebels of the People's Revolutionary Army of Kangleipak (PREPAK) in the Loktak lake area, about 50 kilometres south of state capital Imphal on Monday night, the NDTV network reported.

The group's top cadres were killed in the clash, representing a major blow to the oldest militant group in the state, the report said.

The army also captured arms and ammunition including assault rifles and grenade launchers.

It was the first major operation inside the lake area which is full of small floating islands made of moss, weeds and soil.

New Delhi, Sep 9: Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Anbumani Ramadoss will inaugurate a National Advocacy Workshop on Tobacco Control Laws and related issues in India here today.

The two-day workshop aims to build awareness about tobacco control issues including the existing legislation and to improve enforcement capacity of the provisions of the Indian Tobacco Control Act, 2003.

New Delhi, Sept 8 : Tibetans-in-exile took to streets in New Delhi to show their annoyance against visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi who arrived in the national capital today.

The Tibetan protestors carrying Tibetan flags and shouting slogans condemned the alleged Chinese atrocities against the Tibetans in their homeland and demanded that Beijing should set Tibet free.

New Delhi, Sept 8 : Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jeichi, who is on a three-day visit to India, met Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh soon after his arrival in New Delhi on Monday.

Jeichi who began his India visit with an overnight stay in Kolkata met West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and expressed Beijing''s keen interest in making investments in various fields in India including infrastructure building.

The Chinese Foreign Minister is scheduled to meet his Indian counterpart later in the day.

New Delhi, Sept 8 : President Pratibha Devisingh Patil today distributed Satyen Maitra Literacy Award on the occasion of International Literacy Day at Vigyan Bahwan.

The award is given to selected districts implementing Total Literacy Campaign (TLC), Post Literacy Programme (PLP) and Continuing Education Programme (CEP).

The TLC award was given to Bishnupur (Manipur); PLP to Garwha (Jharkhand); CEP to Jhansi (Uttat Pradesh), Sarguja (Chattisgarh), Udayapur (Rajasthan), Medak
(Andhra Pradesh) and Begusarai (Bihar)