New Delhi - At least eight people, including six children, drowned when a ferry capsized in a river in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh, police said Thursday.

New Delhi, Aug 7 : Union Minister of Urban Development S. Jaipal Reddy has assured Sikkim Chief Minister Dr. Pawan Chamling to provide all necessary help and assistance for the development of urban amenities and urban infrastructure in the State.

Dr. Chamling thanked him for expeditious consideration of important proposals of Sikkim that have contributed to the accelerated development of the State in field of urban development.

Dr. Chamling urged Reddy to allot a suitable plot of land for construction of an additional Sikkim House facility at Delhi for the benefit of visiting officials or people from Sikkim to Delhi.

New Delhi, Aug 7 : Congress president and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi along with her son and the party’s General Secretary Rahul Gandhi left for Beijing early this morning to attend the inaugural ceremony of the Olympics 2008 on Friday.

The Congress and the Communist Party of China (CPC) are set to institutionalise their relationship during her three-day visit to Beijing from today. Priyanka Gandhi, her husband Robert Vadra and Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma have also accompanied the Congress chief to Beijing.

New Delhi, Aug 6 : Congress General Secretary and Lok Sabha MP, Rahul Gandhi will today teach his party spokespersons the finer points of energy security and the basics of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.

In the run up to this year’s state polls and General Elections (in March 2009), the Congress is planning to propagate the benefits of the Nuke deal to the people by educating the party functionaries.

New Delhi, Aug 6: The all-party meet called by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on the Amarnath land transfer row will be held in the Capital today, where the PM is expected to brief political leaders about the steps being taken by the Centre to maintain communal harmony across the country, especially in Jammu which has been witnessing violent protests over the past two weeks.

Leaders of national and regional political parties, including the PDP and the National Conference, have been invited for the meeting.

The meeting is expected to be attended by top leaders of all political parties, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief Rajnath Singh and Left leaders.

New Delhi  - India's state-run NTPC on Tuesday signed an agreement with four foreign firms to form a joint venture for renewable energy generation, a company statement said.

The joint venture company will focus on wind power and hydro-electric power.

NTPC would hold 40 per cent stake in the joint venture with the rest of the equity shared equally by Asian Development Bank (ADB), GE Energy Financial Services, Japan-based Kysushu Electric Power Company and Brookfield Renewable Power of the United States.