New Delhi, Jan 29, : Rising prices of essential food articles, jet fuel, and alcohol has pushed up inflation for the second consecutive week, to 5.64 percent.

Inflation for the week ending January 17 inched up by 0.04 percent from 5.6 percent a week ago.

Food items like, maize, bajra, jowar, rice, sugar and gur became expensive during the Eight-day truckers strike, which ended on January 12.

The truckers strike restricted the movement of goods, leading to shortages and pricing.

New Delhi  - Hundreds of Indian Muslims held protests Thursday against what they called the harassment and torture of their community by police and security forces.

The demonstrators arrived on a train they called the "Ulema Express," which set off from Azamgarh in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh Wednesday and picked up hundreds of Muslims on its 700-kilometre journey to New Delhi.

New Delhi, Jan 29 : A meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision making body of Congress, began at 10:30 a. m. at the residence of party Chief Sonia Gandhi.

The committee will discuss strengthening of alliances, finalisation of the manifesto and preparing a strategy to succeed in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not participate in the meeting for the first time in the recent past, as he is on rest following the coronary by-pass surgery.

New Delhi, Jan 29 : In view of the continuously slumping sales to half of quarterly profits of the Indian operations of Tata Steel, top officials said that a recovery was only expected in the second half of 2009.

Steelmakers have struggled to keep up the sales, as a global credit crisis has hit the demand of major steel-consuming industries producing automotives, consumer goods and construction material.

Global steel production has tumbled by 24 percent in the last quarter of 2008.

Chief Minister Sheila Dixit is all set to add another feather to her cap. With the view to make the NCR smoke-free before the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the Delhi cabinet has started an ambitious project in association with a prominent US institution for public health.

New Delhi, Jan 29 : Over 40 flights departing from New Delhi were delayed this morning by over two hours due to a thick fog which covered the Indira Gandhi International Airport, reducing the visibility to a mere 50 metres.
The situation was totally unexpected as the fog started settling down suddenly at 7 a. m. after a clear morning.
The flights, which were scheduled to take off at 7:30 a. m., were the worst affected as the passengers had boarded and the doors were closed when the fog descended.