WASHINGTON: Cricket might sound and look like Greek to the Americans, but they are in full support of the cricket diplomacy between arch rivals India and Pakistan."We're for cricket. We don't understand it, but we like it," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said replying to a query on resumption of cricket ties between India and Pakistan.The United States shares...

NEW DELHI: Pranab Mukherjee will be sworn in as the country's 13th President on Wednesday at a special ceremony in the Central Hall of Parliament.Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia will administer the oath to Mukherjee at 11:30 a.m. in the presence of Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, UPA chairperson...

KANPUR: Captain Lakshmi Sehgal, who was part of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's Indian National Army, died here today following a brief illness.Sehgal (97) breathed her last at a private hospital at 11.20 AM, her daughter and noted CPI (M) leader Subhashini Ali said.Sehgal was admitted to the hospital on July 19 after she suffered a heart attack at her...

NEW DELHI: Agatha Sangma, who had campaigned for her father P A Sangma in the Presidential polls, today offered to quit as Minister of State for Rural Development.NCP sources said that Agatha met party Chief Sharad Pawar ahead of a meeting of the party leaders and expressed her readiness to quit the Government.The talk in party circles was that...

BANGALORE: Rubbing salt into the wounds of BJP, smarting from cross-voting by some of its MLAs in the Presidential poll, party strongman B S Yeddyurappa today said Pranab Mukherjee should have been elected unanimously and consensus eluded due to lack of foresight and divergent views.His statement in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly as members congratulated Mukherjee created a flutter in...

NEW DELHI: For music maestro , who has conducted symphony orchestras in strife-torn areas across the world, playing in Jammu and Kashmir remains a cherished dream that remains unfulfilled yet."I wish one day I could play in Kashmir. I will cancel every appointment to come and do that," said Mehta who was here to receive the Commander's Cross of...

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today reduced the government's discretionary quota seats for Haj pilgrims to 300 from the 5,050 seats, proposed by it.A bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana Prakash Desai limited the number of seats to be allocated under the discretionary quota by the President to 100, Vice President to 75, Prime Minister to 75 and...

WASHINGTON: In the latest jab at Pakistan, the US House of Representatives has unanimously voted to cut military aid to it by a whopping USD 650 million, with a top Republican lawmaker calling the country "Benedict Arnold", the most well-known traitor in American history.The amendment to cut the aid, which was proposed by Republican Congressman Ted Poe, passed on...

NEW DELHI: Reaching out to sulking NCP Chief Sharad Pawar, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today hailed him as a "very valued colleague" and said his knowledge, wisdom and experience are a "great asset" to his government.Singh spoke to Pawar last night after he, along with party colleague Praful Patel, skipped the Cabinet meeting, apparently unhappy over denial of number...

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission today rejected Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav's vote in the Presidential poll and directed the Returning Officer (RO) not to count it as the secrecy of the ballot had been violated."The issue of second ballot paper to Mulayam Singh Yadav was not warranted under rule 15 of the Presidential and Vice- Presidential Elections...