New Delhi  - Mumbai police are seeking the death penalty for the lone gunman captured alive in terrorist attacks on the city in November last year, news reports said Saturday.

Jayant Patil, home minister of Maharashtra state, said police demanded the death penalty for Ajmal Amir Kasab, the PTI news agency reported.

Kasab, allegedly of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group, will face trial for murder and "waging war against India."

In a significant move, the Government of India on Friday announced Air Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik, the vice-chief of the Air Staff, as the next IAF chief.

"Air Marshal Naik will take over after the present chief retires from service on May 31,” said a government official.

Naik would be succeeding Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major, who retires on May 31.

As per the rules and regulations, the Government makes the appointment for the top job two months before it falls free.

Born on July 22, 1949, Naik joined the Air Force on June 21, 1969 as a fighter pilot. He has taken part in the 1971 War against Pakistan and has flown the MiG 21 and MiG 23.

Addressing a blow to Indian professionals looking for employment in the US, the Obama Administration declared supplementary measures for employing foreign experts under the H-1B visa work program making it harder for the companies getting federal bailout to appoint overseas workers.

These measures come about 10 days before the US citizenship and immigration services (USCIS) starts accepting petitions for new H-1B visas for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2009, reports agency sources.

Nagpur, Mar 21 : A three-day conclave of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has begun here and will chalk out strategy for the upcoming general elections.

The RSS said that it would support the front where it is respected.

"If you look at the national political fronts, RSS is welcomed in one of them, but we want that every front should do that, where there is respect for Hindutva. RSS has its presence in large numbers where it is respected. We request the people to vote and with what viewpoint they should do this. This will also be discussed," said Manmohan Vaide, publicity head of the RSS.

Washington, Mar 21 : You can make a person laugh only in eight ways, says a leading evolutionary theorist who claims to have found the reason to why jokes are funny.

According to Alastair Clarke - who has published details of eight patterns he claims to be the basis of all the humour that has ever been imagined or expressed, regardless of civilization, culture or personal taste - he has identified the precise nature of the patterns involved, addressing the deceptively simple unit and context relationships at their foundation.

London - British police face an "unprecedented challenge" from protest groups planning to disrupt the summit of Group of 20 (G20) leaders in London early next month, the officer in charge said Friday.

Commander Bob Broadhurst said 2,500 officers would be deployed to stop environmental and anarchist protestors from bringing the centre of London to a "standstill," as they had vowed to do.

The police operation was expected to cost up to 10 million pounds (14.4 million dollars), he predicted.