New Delhi, Feb 26 : Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar today said that the North Eastern Region (NER) Vision 2020 document outlines the goals, identifies the challenges and suggests implementation strategies for various sectors for peace and prosperity of the NER.

In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Aiyar said, "The Vision document suggests regional and sectoral implementation strategies for promoting the socio-economic prosperity of the region, with a view to growth rates in the NER catching up with the overall national growth rates."

New Delhi, Feb 26 : Terming the ongoing mutiny by paramilitary forces in Bangladesh as an "internal matter" of that country, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash on Thursday expressed confidence that the Bangladesh Government would resolve the issue amicably.

Commenting on the situation on the Indo-Bangla border, the spokesman said, "The area is safe and secure."

Meanwhile, Home Minister P Chidambaram has also assured that there are no threats emancipating along the 4,095-km long India-Bangladesh border.

New Delhi, Feb 26 : Inspired by Alaskan art, fashion Designer Ashima Singh holds preview of her Autumn Winter collection here today.

The collection titled 'Ashii' was enthused by the designer's trip to Alaska last year.

"This collection is very close to my heart, I was traveling to Alaska last year and I was completely inspired by Alaskan art," said Ashima Singh.

The designer has paid attention to detailing in her collection by bringing out the rich diversity of Alaskan art.

There has been an underlying opulence of decorative silhouette and patterns. The garments have been beautifully crafted with focus on pleating and feminine trims.

New Delhi - Indian auto major Tata Motors announced Thursday that it would be launching the Nano, said to be the world's cheapest car, in Mumbai on March 23 and order books would be open from April.

A prototype of the car, which is expected to be priced around 100,000 rupees (about 1,983 dollars), was unveiled at an auto exposition in the Indian capital in January
2008 and was earlier scheduled to roll out by October 2008.

But protests by farmers whose land was acquired for the main plant in the eastern West Bengal state delayed the commercial launch.

New Delhi - Municipal authorities in the Indian capital plan to amend a law to allow the city's residents to keep cattle at home as long as they obtain a licence, news reports said Thursday.

Under the new policy a resident will be allowed to keep one "milking" animal at home after getting a licence but would face strict penalties if the animal was allowed to stray, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported.

New Delhi - The stars of Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire returned to India Thursday to a rapturous welcome.

There were huge crowds waiting at the airports in Chennai and Mumbai as music composer AR Rahman, sound engineer Resul Pookutty, actor Irfan Khan and the child stars of of the film touched down, PTI and IANS news agency reported.

The crowds were largest in Chennai, AR Rahman's hometown. Well-known drummer Shivamani and his troupe and groups of dancers and musicians performed outside the airport.