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New Delhi: Vice President Hamid Ansari will visit China next week to attend events marking the 60th anniversary of Panchsheel treaty signed between the two countries in 1954 in Beijing.

Ansari is visiting China from June 26 to 30 at the invitation of the Vice President of China Li Yuanchao.

He will hold bilateral discussions with Li Yuanchao and call on President Xi Jinping in Beijing on June 30.

He will also visit Xian and meet the leadership of Shaanxi province.

New Delhi: Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday favoured downsizing of the Planning Commission amid reports that Narendra Modi government is likely to dismantle or at least drastically reduce the over-arching role of the plan body.

"My personal view is that the Planning Commission should be a much more limited body tasked with drawing up prospective plans. At the moment it is too big, flabby and unwieldy," Chidambaram, who is also senior spokesperson of Congress, said at the AICC briefing.

He made the remarks while responding to a question about the new government's plan to prune the Planning Commission.

Kochi: The BJP-led NDA government will follow the Constitution on change of state Governors, but Governors and other political appointees should 'follow their conscience,'Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting (Independent charge), Prakash Javadekar said here today.

"I expect that government will follow the Constitution and Governors and other appointees should follow their conscience," he said, responding to media reports over the Centre seeking the resignation of some state governors appointed by the previous Congress led UPA governemnt.

London: India became home to 1.56 lakh millionaires with 3,000 more joining the elite club in 2013, making the country 16th most populous in terms of population of super-rich people worldwide, says a report.

According to the World Wealth Report 2014, released by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management, there were 1,56,000 high net worth individuals in India in 2013, while in 2012 the figure stood at 1,53,000.

New Delhi: Gold prices on Friday surged by Rs 605 to hit one-month high of Rs 28,625 per ten gram in the national capital, recording the biggest single-day gain this year, after the precious metal posted its steepest rise in nine months in the global markets.

Silver also spurted by Rs 1,800 to Rs 44,900 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers.

Sentiment bolstered after gold rose the most since September 2013 in global markets as the dollar weakened, amidst expectations that borrowing costs in the US will remain low.

The worsening crisis in Iraq also fuelled demand for bullion as an alternative investment.

Investors are