New Delhi, Dec. 31 : Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday said that several decisions have been taken and measures incorporated to counter the challenge of terrorism.

Addressing his first press conference here after taking over as Union Home Minister, Chidambaram said three Bills -- The National Investigation Agency Bill, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill and the Criminal Procedure Code Amendment Bill had been passed in Parliament during its winter session, which concluded recently, as the issue of terrorism was one occupying the minds of all citizens.

New Delhi - Indian cricket team skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has received extortion threats from a local criminal that his family would be harmed if a demand of five million rupees (102,902 dollars) was not met, officials said Wednesday.

Mohammad Taslim, claiming to be a henchman of mob boss Dawood Ibrahim, allegedly sent two letters threatening to blow up Dhoni's house in Ranchi, state capital of eastern Jharkhand, if the payment was not made.

The letters also warned the cricketer not to take the threats lightly and not to inform the police about the letters.

New Delhi, Dec 31 : A dexterous Indian driver won the First International Excavator Skills championships in China, after he drove his excavator 25m along two wires four meters above the ground.

The aerial excavator covered the dangerous course in 10 minutes 57 seconds.

The inaugural international competition was held in Liuzhou city, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

A large number of competitors from China, Britain, Australia, Iran, North America and India took part in the contest.

New Delhi,

New Delhi, Dec. 30 : Various theatre lovers in Delhi had a special treat from north-east India, recently as they attended a Manipuri play here.

The play "When we dead awaken" was staged by Ratan Thiyam, the noted Manipuri playwright and theatre director during the Delhi Ibsen Festival organized by Royal Norwegian Embassy in collaboration with Dramatic Art and Design academy.

In 1899, Henrik Ibsen wrote a play "When we dead awaken", which is about the celebrated sculptor Arnold Rubek and his wife Maia. The play reflected an intense desire for life.

New Delhi, Dec. 30 : Responding to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi''''s statement of the need for deescalating tensions between India and Pakistan, External Minister Pranab Mukherjee said war hysteria is being created by Pakistan itself.

"My point is we did not escalate the thing at all, we have not done anything which can escalate the tension between India and Pakistan," Mukherjee said at a press conference here today.