In the backdrop of the horrific gangrape in the heart of the island city, MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Friday condemned the incident and asked all the women to present their bangles to home minister R.R. Patil. He also demanded the home minister’s resignation over the incident.

Lee Chong Wei’s title hopes at the World Badminton Championship earlier this month evaporated in the heat at the stadium in Guangzhou. The world no.1 pulled out midway through the final due to cramps. A faulty air conditioner was blamed for his condition.

Despite the controversy generated over frequent Chinese transgressions into Indian territory in Ladakh and Arunachal, India and China have resolved to conduct the third edition of their joint military exercises in Chengdu in China from November 4 to 14.

Actress Madhuri Dixit and actress-turned politician Jaya Bachchan will be the recipients of the prestigious Lachchhu Maharaj award. Shakun-tala Neeruj Sansthan director Kumkum Adarsh said that while Ms Bachchan would be given the award for 2012, Madhuri Dixit will be given the honour for 2013.

The ignominy of missing out on a World Cup berth looming large, under-pressure India will look to open their campaign in the 9th Asia Cup men’s hockey tournament with a morale-boosting win over minnows Oman in Pool B here on Saturday.

The rupee registered its biggest single-day gain in a year, surging 2.1 per cent against the dollar, as some positive comments from Union finance minister P. Chidambaram and an assurance from the Reserve Bank about sufficient foreign exchange reserves calmed invest-ors’ nerves on Friday.

India’s quest for energy security has got a major fillip with the inking of a pact with Iraq that will enable it to work in tandem with the oil-rich country in the fields of oil exploration, petrochemical complexes and natural gas.

The men’s squash team settled for a silver after losing in the final against Malaysia as India rounded off their campaign in the 2nd Asian Youth Games with a 10th-place finish here on Friday.

The UK government denied Friday that British patients would be sent to India for treatment as former Labour health secretary Patricia Hewitt revealed that several National Health Service trusts are keen to do business with India.

President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said that India is looking forward to further strengthening its relations with Iraq as an “equity” partner in oil exploration and petrochemicals.