Sydney  - The amazing run of technical problems at Qantas Airways Ltd continued Tuesday with a clanger in the hangar at its Melbourne maintenance base.

Qantas engineering general manager David Cox said two Boeing 747s had "come into contact with each other during towing this morning" and that "both aircraft did sustain some damage and the extent of this is being assessed."

One of the bashed jumbos was in for extensive repairs after an emergency landing in the Philippines capital Manila July 25. An oxygen cylinder exploded, punching a

Kathmandu - The Nepalese government has intensified its efforts to bring some 21 armed rebel groups in southern Nepal together for talks aimed at ending two years of violence in the region, media reports said Tuesday.

Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Janardan Sharma met leaders of five armed rebel groups in Saptari district, about 400 kilometres east of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, on Monday, as part of efforts to bring them to formal negotiations, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.

The meeting was the second round of informal talks by a minister in the Maoist-led government with armed groups since the beginning of November.

Managua, Nicaragua - Nicaragua's capital was bracing for large demonstrations Tuesday by the ruling Sandinista party and the opposition after supporters of President Daniel Ortega blocked an important highway through Managua, forcing opposition leaders to seek refuge in a church.

The supporters of the Sandinista National Liberation Front cut off the Pan-American Highway and important streets in the capital Monday to block the movements of Eduardo Montealegre, who ran for mayor of Managua in November 9 elections and is now charging electoral fraud.

The member of the Liberal Constitutionalist Party and other opposition leaders then had to hole up in the church.

Alcatel-Lucent has chalked out a plan to expand its business in highly potential Indian market. The company is a leading global communication solution provider, which has already significant presence in the market. It has 5,000 employees in India and would start a recruitment drive to satisfy its manpower needs.

Alcatel-Lucent CEO, Ben Verwaayen said that the company sees a huge potential in India due to availability of resources, talent and big market. The country would grow despite uneven global financial condition and economic slowdown.

Private sector insurer MetLife India has decided to expand its network in coming times. It would recruit about 2,000 managers and 30,000 advisors in line with its growth strategy. Its board of directors has already approved to infuse Rs 100 crore of additional equity capital into the company.

Besides, it would also open new branches across major towns to ensure the success of existing and new products of the company. Interestingly, leading companies are adopting large scale lay-offs following the global financial crisis.

Beverages and snack foods major, PepsiCo, would continue its expansion in India, irrespective of global financial crisis and slowdown in industry. The company has recently decided to invest $500 million in India in next three years.

PepsiCo India Chairman, Sanjeev Chadha ruled out slowdown in FMCG sector and said that only banking and insurance sector is widely hit by financial crisis. He was speaking to the reporters in the side lines of function of World Economic Forum (WEF). He was recently elected as head of beverages and food industry of Indian region.