New Delhi, Sep 1 : A delegation of Christians met President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Monday to apprise her of the situation in Orissa in the wake of religious violence sparked by the killing of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader.

The violence was sparked in communally sensitive area when on Saturday about 30 heavily armed men raided a Hindu religious home housing mostly orphans in the rural Kandhamal district and killed five people, including a religious leader Swami Lakshmananda linked to VHP and opposed to conversion of tribals to Christianity.

New Delhi, Sep 1 : Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today directed telecom operators to waive off the processing charge on the top-up cards of recharges, resulting in full talk time.

Prepaid mobile subscribers will henceforth, have to pay just an administrative fee not exceeding Rs. two per recharge and other applicable taxes, TRAI said.

TRAI said that it has come to its notice that telecoms are deducting a fixed amount even for recharges exclusively meant for providing talk time to subscribers who already have validity.

New Delhi, Sep 1 : Dr. Duvuri Subbarao has been appointed as the next Governor of Reserve Bank of India.

He will take charge of the new post after the present RBI Governor, Dr. Y. V. Reddy demits his office on September 5. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram made this announcement today.

Dr. Subbarao is presently holding the post of Finance Secretary in the Ministry of Finance. Prior to this, he was Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance. He belongs to the 1972 batch of the IAS (Andhra Pradesh cadre).

New Delhi, Sep 1 : The Armed forces have donated two days of their rations for distribution to the people affected by devastating floods in Bihar.

The Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, today made this announcement whilst expressing solidarity with the grief stricken populace.

The Army today intensified its ongoing rescue work in flood hit areas of Bihar, and rushed 16 additional columns of men to join relief efforts.

Central Army Commander Lt General H S Panag, who is supervising the operations, said: “Another 16 columns of men have been sent to areas affected by the floods in River Kosi.”

New Delhi, Sep 1 : The Union Government today ruled out an immediate reduction in petrol and diesel prices as state-run firms are still running into daily loss of over Rs 400 crore despite softening in international oil prices.

“Where is the scope for reducing prices? Oil companies are still making losses,” Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told reporters.

The drop in international oil prices has resulted in revenue loss of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum dip to Rs 400 crore per day from Rs 450 crore a fortnight back.

New Delhi, Sep 1 : Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today assured a delegation led by former Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy that the Central government has taken very serious notice of the happenings in Orissa.

Dr. Singh said that he has personally spoken to the Orissa’s Chief Minister Navin Patnaik to ensure communal harmony and bring to book the culprits behind the violent incidents.

The Prime Minister mentioned that the Orissa Chief Minister has assured firm action in the matter.