Russia has handed over the nuclear-powered attack submarine Nerpa to India following more than two years of delays, a senior naval official was quoted as saying Friday.

Japan’s move to lift decades-old ban on arms exports and its efforts to strengthen defence ties with India are a cause of concern to China, the state-run media here said.
Japan’s decision, which would allow its companies to take part in arms development projects with countries other than the US, was followed by a $15 billion currency swap deal between Japan and India, China Daily reported.

The Mamata Banerjee government on Friday raised the maximum age limit for candidates applying for state government jobs to 40 years. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee who attended the meeting, later described the decision as a “bold” and “revolutionary” step. She said that the previous Left Front government had increased the age-limit by five years from 32 years to 37 years.

Former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Friday made a passionate appeal to the people to return to the CPI(M) fold.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed will arrive here on January 11 for a two-day visit that is being seen as a compliment for the state’s contributions to the freedom struggle of the neighbouring country four decades ago.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed the Opposition for having stalled the passage of the Lokpal bill in Parliament. He also said that the Congress would “not rest till a strong law is passed”.

It’s over to Delhi for Punjab Congress, as all leaders of the state Congress are busy with intense lobbying for party tickets. The fact that the Assembly elections in the state are exactly a month away but Congress leaders are absent from their constituencies has created a political lull for the Congress in the state.

An alleged “fake” encounter of a dalit youth in Bihar by the Special Task Force on suspicion of his being an active Maoist sympathiser has led the Opposition parties to seek a CBI probe and adequate compensations to the slain 20-year-old’s poor family.

Coastal districts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh were on Thursday put on high alert ahead of a very severe cyclonic storm “Thane” that is expected to hit the Bay of Bengal coast in the two states by Friday morning.

The TDP on Thursday attacked the government for bringing a “weak” Lokpal and Lokayuktas bill and putting in all its efforts to get it passed in Parliament.