Maintaining that Pakistan is “pursuing strategic restraint and confidence building through dialogue” in south Asia (read India), Pakistan has made a strong pitch yet again for access to nuclear technology for peaceful uses on a non-discriminatory basis.

The militant outfits are suspected to have been using women and anti-social elements to carry out extortion and kidnappings by outsourcing responsibility of picking up the target and serving the demand notes in Assam.

The talks between the three government secretaries led by home secretary Upendra Nath Behera and Maoist interlocutors B.D. Sharma and Dandapani Mohanty to free Basusco Paulo, the second Italian being held hostage in the forests of Kandhamal, and BJD MLA began in the morning and again continued in post-noon session.

Agents and brokers were banned under the Indian Defence Procurement Procedure in 2006 whereas the contract negotiations for helicopters had been going on since 2001.

The license-permit raj in India might be a thing of the past but its still not all hunky-dory for foreign companies wanting to do business in India.

India has told Norway that it will “attempt to find a fair solution” to the issue of the cancellation of 122 telecom licences by the Supreme Court. It has also assured the Norwegian government that it will accord “fair treatment” to all the telecom companies.

Maintaining that Pakistan is “pursuing strategic restraint and confidence building through dialogue” in south Asia (read India), Pakistan has made a strong pitch yet again for access to nuclear technology for peaceful uses on a non-discriminatory basis.

After putting into rest the controversy over his Bangladesh honour for contributions to the liberation war, the chief minister Manik Sarkar left for Dhaka on Monday.

In a bid to perhaps assuage any hurt or anger that Sri Lanka might feel following India’s vote against it at the UN Human Rights Council, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has written to President Mahinda Rajapakse hoping ties between the two nations will “continue to grow from strength”. Dr Singh has also affirmed to the Sri Lankan leader that New Delhi had introduced “an element of balance in the language of the resolution”.

As negotiations continued between the Orissa government and the Maoists for the release of two abducted Italian tourists, the rebels struck again early Saturday, kidnapping a tribal BJD MLA from Laxmipur, Jhina Ekaka, from Tayaput in Koraput district. The abduction was by Maoists who belong to the Srikakulam-Koraput divisional committee.