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Mumbai, Jan 12 : India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves decreased by $1.58 million to $294.99 billion for the week ended Jan 4, data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed.

The reserves had increased by $39.6 million to $296.57 billion for the week ended Dec 28, 2012.

The foreign currency assets (FCA) - the biggest component of the forex reserves - went down by $951.7 million at $261.06 billion, according to the weekly statistical supplement released by the RBI.

The FCA went up by $63.9 million at $262.01 billion in the previous week.

New Delhi, Jan 12 : The killing and beheading of two Indian Army soldiers by Pakistani troops was against the Geneva Convention and the rules of engagement and government, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tiwari said here Saturday.

Describing the killing and beheading of two Indian soldiers in Poonch district in Kashmir Jan 8 as an "inhuman act", Tiwari said that both the Defence Minister A. K. Antony and External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid have assured that every action would be taken, including diplomatic steps, to take the matter to its "decisive conclusion".

Kolkata,

Vadodara/Bhopal/New Delhi, Jan 12 : On the 150th birthday of Hindu philosopher Swami Vivekananda on Saturday, children in Vadodara, Gujarat, set a new world record by forming the largest human torch.

Over 1500 students came together and created a new Guinness World Record.

The Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda, had planned a series of programmes to commemorate the occasion, including a number of cultural programmes, essay writing competitions for college students will make presentations on Swami Vivekananda''s message to the youth.

Infrastructure developers in the UK have claimed that the legal attempt by the National Trust to block the development of golf resort near the Giant's Causeway can be interpreted as a trade war.

Lawyers representing the developers told the High Court in Belfast that the bid to block the £100 million golf resort project is based on the National Trust's own commercial interest in the area. The project involves development of golf course, five-star, 120-bedroom hotel and 75 villas at Runkerry near Bushmills.

The government in the UK might be planning to introduce a flat-rate pension in th country by the year 2017 and the amount will be equivalent to about £144 per week at current terms.

It is believed that the self employed people and woman are expected to benefit from the changes in the pension scheme. On the other hand, some workers will be required to pay hundreds of pounds more in order to make the changes possible.