New Delhi, Oct 27: President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh greeted the nation on the joyous occasion of Diwali.

In her message, the President said, "On the occasion of Diwali, I convey my warm greetings and good wishes to my fellow citizens.

"May this year''s festival bring peace, prosperity and communal harmony amongst the people, as well as remove ignorance and light the lamp of knowledge amongst us all," Patil added.

New Delhi, Oct 27 : Vice President Hamid Ansari today greeted the nation on the joyous occasion of Diwali.

In his message, the Vice President said that this festival usher in peace, prosperity and happiness in the lives of all citizens.

"Diwali, the festival of lights, is celebrated all over the country in a mood of festivity and gaiety. The festival signifies the victory of good over evil and strengthens our resolve to follow the high ideals in life," he added.

He said Diwali has always been a great unifying force in our society as it draws people out in a joyful celebration. Let us celebrate this unique festival in its true spirit. 

New Delhi, Oct 25: Australian team’s opening batsman Matthew Hayden on Sunday said that they would fight back in the third Test Match at Ferozeshah Kotla ground in New Delhi.

New Delhi - Indian investigative agencies have found the money trail in a multimillion-dollar kidney transplant racket leading to Hong Kong and Australia, and will ask authorities in those to help in the probe, news reports said Sunday.

The alleged kingpin of the racket, Amit Kumar, and his associates are accused of performing more than 500 kidney transplant surgeries over a decade by procuring organs for paltry sums of money from poor people and transplanting them on wealthy recipients.

New Delhi  - Five separatist rebels were killed in a gun battle with security forces in India's north-eastern Assam state, news reports said Sunday.

The clash took place late Saturday in a forest area of Nalbari district, about 90 kilometres west of Assam's main city Guwahati, IANS news agency reported quoting police officials.

"A joint team of police, paramilitary and Indian Army soldiers raided the forest reserve following specific intelligence inputs about the presence of a group of militants," army spokesman R Kalia said.

New Delhi, Oct 26 : Sri Lanka today assured India that it will ensure the safety and security of ethnic Tamils in the Island nation and that it would allow Indian medical aid to the affected people in the country''s embattled north.

Basil Rajapaksa, Special Advsior of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday to discuss the issue of ethnic Tamils in the island nation.