New Delhi, Feb 11: The National Productivity Council, under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, will organise "National Productivity Week" from February 12 to 18.

The main theme of the productivity week for this year would be "Prosperity through Productivity".

An overarching objective of prosperity through productivity is to examine the notion of competitiveness from the perspective of a country, a region, a business and an individual.

The roles of individual initiative, business strategy and economic development policies in maximizing productivity and ultimately prosperity calls for recasting to fully tap the dormant potentials for productivity improvement

New Delhi, Feb 11 : Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath will inaugurate the 14th India Carpet Expo here tomorrow.

Shankersinh Vaghela, Union Minister for Textiles; G. K. Pillai, Commerce Secretary and Rita Menon, Textiles Secretary will also attend the function.

The four-day expo is being organised by the Carpet Export Promotion Council.

The expo is world acclaimed established fair on handmade carpets and other floor coverings in South East Asia, envisaging unique business oriented platform to the importers and exporters.

New Delhi, Feb. 11: The Indian Premier League (IPL) has barred Pakistani speedster Muhammad Asif for a year after he tested positive in a drug scandal during the league's inaugural season last year.

A statement issued by the IPL drug tribunal said the ban imposed on Asif will be from September 22, 2008 to September 22, 2009, which means he will miss the Twenty20 extravaganza's second season starting from April 20, 2009.

New Delhi, Feb 11: The condition of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is undergoing treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), is improving, doctors said.

Superintendent of AIIMS D K Sharma said: "His condition has improved. He is stable now."

Doctors attending on him said that his dependence on ventilator support has reduced. They found that the condition of his lungs has improved and the oxygenation level has gone up.

New Delhi, Feb 11 : The Budget Session of Parliament will begin on February 12.

The session will be divided into ten sittings during which a vote on account on railway and general budgets will be held.

The Interim railway budget will be presented on February 13, while the interim general budget will be presented on February 16.

The regular budget will be presented by the new government after the elections, expected to end by May.

During this last session, the BJP is likely raise the issue of the sacking of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla over charges of partisanship.

New Delhi, Feb. 10 : Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari on Tuesday inaugurated the `Map World Forum' in Hyderabad.

He noted that the instruments for accessing geo-spatial information have become much simpler.

"It is indeed a privilege for me to inaugurate the Map World Forum today. Let me acknowledge that I was impressed with the vision of the Forum of aiming "beyond speeches and discussions to find practical ways to improve people's lives," Ansari said.