India on Thursday made it clear that it couldn’t be expected to open its markets beyond its obligation in the WTO negotiations without reciprocal gains.
“No market access above the level of what is there can be given for free. If countries agree to give, they have to be paid for it. This is the language of WTO,” said India’s chief negotiator at the World Trade Organisation D. K. Mittal at a Ficci conference.

An empowered group of ministers (EGoM), headed by finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, will meet on June 7 to consider slashing fuel subsidy by freeing petrol and diesel prices from government control.

Force India driver Adrian Sutil reckons a pit stop fumble cost him a couple of places in Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix but for which it was a perfect race in Istanbul.
The Force India pit crew did a shoddy job when Sutil came to pit and even though the German went on to finish ninth, it could surely have been better.
“The pit stop slowed us down and I lost two positions,” Sutil said, recalling the race.
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In view of the suspected pilot error that led to the Mangalore air crash, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday issued fresh directives telling airlines and pilots that “landings should be judged not by how soft the landing has been, but if it has been made at the correct speed and touchdown zone of the runway”. The

Israel was extricating itself Wednesday from a situation of its own making after its deputy prime minister, Avigdor Lieberman, triggered a potential diplomatic row with India.

The Centre on Wednesday ordered a CBI probe into the Gyaneswari Express derailment last Friday following another request by railway minister Mamata Banerjee, whose Trinamul Congress demolished the Left in the West Bengal civic elections the same day. The train attack had been blamed on the Maoists.

Soon, it may be time to go “on location” of films shot by legendary filmmaker late Satyajit Ray. The tourism ministry, in association with the West Bengal government, has decided to take up “Satyajit Ray Trail” as a mega project on a priority basis. It entails identifying and developing the exact spots where the Oscar-winning filmmaker shot the scenes for his films celebrated and discussed across the world.

In a bid to contain heavy influx of Bangladeshi migrants, the home ministry has decided to update the National Register of Citizens, 1951, in Assam as part of a pilot project to examine the feasibility of conducting the exercise in the entire state. It has been decided that 1971 will be the cut-off year for citizenship registration, which will take 1951 NRC or 1971 electoral rolls as a reference to update the NRC.

Concerned over the rise of Left-wing extremism, which occurred due to the widening chasm between the locals and the government, the Centre has asked the nine Naxal-affected states to immediately address poor implementation of the Panchayat (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA).

From this academic year onwards, law graduates will need to pass an all-India examination conducted by the Bar Council of India (BCI) to practice law in the country. The examination will be conducted in December this year for the students passing out in 2009-10.