New Delhi, August 8 : Secretary, Urban Development Dr. M. Ramachandran said on Friday that by 2051, half the population of the country would reside in urban settlements and the number of million plus cities would be 75.

He said this while signing the joint statement of cooperation between the Ministry of Urban Development and GTZ in New Delhi today.

Bischoff, the Director, represented the GTZ, Germany.

New Delhi, Aug 8 : The

New Delhi, August 8 : A high-level security review meeting called here today by the Home Ministry was skipped by many top bureaucrats and police officials.

They included Delhi Police Commissioner Y. S. Dadwal, Gujarat Chief Secretary Manjula Subramaniam, Gujarat Police Chief PC Pande and Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Atul Kumar Gupta are not attending the meeting.

The day long meeting, called in the wake of the recent terror attacks, was organised to discuss ways of strengthening intelligence network and also review the investigations done into the Bangalore and Ahmedabad blasts.

New Delhi, August 8 : The Punjab and Sind Bank can now go for an Initial Public Offer at a reasonable premium for raising additional capital from the market.

The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for re-structuring the equity capital of the Punjab and Sind Bank by converting an amount of Rs. 160 crore into ‘Innovative Perpetual Debt Instrument’ (under Tier-I), Rs. 200 crore into Perpetual Non-cumulative Preference Shares (under Tier II Capital), while retaining Rs. 183.06 crore as the equity capital of the bank.

New Delhi, Aug 8 : The national capital, Delhi woke up to waterlogged roads and traffic jams on Friday.

Incessant rains have brought the entire city to a near standstill with many major crossroads being waterlogged. .

Traffic is still moving at a snail''s pace.

"I have been stuck here since past 45 minutes. I started at around 8:15 a. m. from my place and could manage to cover only five kilometers in one hour," said Vivek.

New Delhi, Aug 8 : In the aftermath of a hoax call early in the morning to blow up a public school in West Delhi, the Capital’s Education Director Chandra Bhushan Kumar hurriedly posted a circular on his department’s website, cautioning all heads of schools coming under his jurisdiction not to allow any unknown person enter the school premises.

Apprehending terror attacks on Delhi Government schools, he directed principals of all government schools to have a thorough check of school premises every morning, including all rooms, toilets, water tanks, and playgrounds, under the direct supervision of the respective head of the school.