The Vatican has spoken out against an American pastor's plan to burn copies of the Quran to commemorate the Sep 11, 2001, terror attack, calling it "an outrageous and grave gesture". "These deplorable acts of violence, in fact, cannot be counter-acted by an outrageous and grave gesture against a book considered sacred by a religious community," the Vatican said in a statement. "Each religion, with its respective sacred books, places of worship and symbols, has the right to respect and protection," it said. Terry Jones, pastor at the Dove World Outreach Center

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday evening amidst indications that the government will announce an Eid package to restore peace in the troubled valley. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) will, meanwhile, meet Thursday to review the situation in the violence-hit state. "The PM had a one-on-one discussion with Omar Abdullah on the situation in the (Kashmir) valley," an official in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) told IANS. The Manmohan Singh-Abdullah meeting, held at 7 Race Course Road -- the official residence of

Declaring that "a new American moment" had arrived, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday said that President Barack will use his November visit to India to take its relationship with an "indispensable" partner to the next level. "The emerging powers represent a spectrum of interests and values," Clinton said in a wide-ranging speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, outlining the Obama administration's foreign policy approach. "India, for instance, is the world's largest democracy, a country with which the United States shares fundamental values and a broad range of

Tamil film actor Murali died here Wednesday following a heart attack.Son of famous Kannada film producer Siddhalingaiyah, Murali complained of chest pain Wednesday morning and was rushed to a private hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. Murali, who had acted in over 100 films, is survived by his wife and two sons. One of his sons, Atharva recently made his debut as a hero in Tamil movie "Baana Kathadi". Forty-six-year-old Murali started his career as an assistant director and later turned out to be a successful hero in the Tamil movie industry. Murali made his debut in Tamil film "Poovilangu" and shot to fame in "Pagal Nilavu", directed by Mani Ratnam. In 2001 he won the best actor award for acting in "Kadal Pookal", directed

Notwithstanding the chill in ties over the visa row, China and India are looking to forge new ties in the field of education with Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal heading for China on a five-day visit.Sibal will represent India at the World Economic Forum meet to be held in Tianjin in China Sep 13-15. The HRD minister will, however, leave Sep 11, two days before the summit begins. According to a HRD ministry official, during his visit Sibal will meet the Chinese education minister as well as other ministers and discuss prospects of exchange programmes in the fields of education