Japan Loan for Buddhist Circuit
Japan and Singapore have offered the Bihar State Government loan of Rs. 5.8 billion (USD 126 million) to develop the cultural Buddhist circuit Nalanda-Bodhgaya-Rajgir as an international tourist destination.<More>

ASI to Reconstruct 843 Year Old Temple
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is planning to start reconstruction of a 1000 pillared hall of a Kakatiya temple dedicated to Shiva build in 1163 A.D. by King Rudra Deva as its foundation was sinking.<More>

Tobacco Companies Targeting Children
Surrogate advertising is a euphemism for alcohol and tobacco companies advertising using innocuous products sharing the brand name of alcohol and tobacco products, but it looks like they are now using unconventional advertising methods to target children.<More>

Fund to Acquire Clean Tech
An Indian MP proposed that the United Nations create a “Clean Technology Acquisition Fund” so poorer countries will be able to access crucial technologies that will be clean and “significantly impact the realization of sustainable development goals.” <More>

Tax Breaks for Bio-Diesel
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has floated a draft National Policy on Biofuels suggesting that India offer several fiscal incentives and a National Biofuel Development Board to promote adoption of blended petrol and diesel. <More>

PM Panel Faults RTE Bill
The Knowledge Commission appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that model Right to Educational Bill (RTE) “is flawed for a number of reasons” and ruled that the measures “must be enforced by the central government.”<More>

Ground Water Management
The 12th National Symposium on Hydrology focusing on “Groundwater Governance: Ownership of Groundwater and its Pricing” organized by the Central Ground Water Board and National Institute of Hydrology at Roorkee presented many recommendations.<More>

UNDP Natural Resource Projects
A 5-year United Nations Development Program (UNDP) initiative called “Social Mobilization around Natural Resource Management for Poverty Alleviation” is being implemented in 11 districts of Orissa, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand.<More>

Italy Woos Indian Students
Moving in to cash in shortage of education institutions in the US and UK, Italy is trying to promote itself “as an ideal education institution” and “put together Italian companies with the best human resources in India through the university system.”<More>

New Polio Program Needed
A new study found underlying assumptions of India’s Polio program faulty and has recommended that the nation revamp its immunization program especially in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where suspicion, illiteracy, and weak-implementation persist.<More>

Small Success Against Naxals
Targeting senior terrorists of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) group, the Andhra Pradesh police have managed to make tactical gains on Naxalism seizing sophisticated weapons and cash from the encounter.<More>

Terror Attack from Sea
Home Minister Shivraj Patil revealed that “in view of the recent Indo-US agreement of civil nuclear energy cooperation, our atomic power plants have become highly vulnerable” apart from “multi-purpose projects and shipyards” to terrorist attacks.<More>

Indo-Swiss S&T Cooperation
Visiting Federal Minister for Science & Technology Kapil Sibal and Switzerland Home Minister Pascal Couchepin signed an Executive Program of Cooperation (POC) within the ambit of the framework umbrella agreement on cooperation signed November 2003.<More>

US Upset with UK Taliban Truce
The US seems to have expressed “unease” with the reported truce negotiated by the British military in Afghanistan with tribal elders representing the Taliban followed by a withdrawal of British troops at Musa Qala and restoration of the captured to local militia.<More>

Navy’s New Capabilities
The Indian Navy has invested in several new equipment and capabilities including stealth, new aircraft carriers, ship lift system, and refueling capabilities and says that most of these projects are on target.<More>

UAE Detains Dawood Aides
Acting on a tip-off from India, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) cracked down on Dawood Ibrahim’s gang and detained one of its top members including a brother-in-law of Ibrahim’s chief hit-man Chhota Shakeel.<More>

Success in Cryogenic Stage
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced it has successfully tested a full-fledged cryogenic stage in rocketry for 50 seconds with a thrust of 7.5 tons making it the 6th nation in the world to have achieved this feat.<More>

India Reiterates Afghan Support
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “reiterated India’s commitment as a neighbour and friend to continue assisting Afghanistan despite the challenges posed by the security situation” and continue its rehabilitation work but declined to deploy regular troops.<More>

Bush Wants WMD Deals Stopped
Fearing further North Korean (NK) proliferation missiles and nuclear weapons, like the Nodong missile to Pakistan (now being paraded as Ghauri) in return for nuclear weapons technology, the US said that it considered these transfers “a grave threat.”<More>

The Last Big Push
Accused of being “in a state of denial,” US President George Bush rejected calls for a phased withdrawal of American troops from Iraq and instead has come up with a plan that will give it one “last big push” recognizing “the conditions on the ground.”<More>