New Delhi, Sept 23 : Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Meira Kumar on Tuesday inaugurated “Shilpotsav-2008” exhibition organized by the Ministry.

“The Government has always given importance to the economic empowerment of poorest of poor among Dalits, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (ST),” said Meira Kumar, and added, “Toeing the line, the Ministry has started many programmes through the State Governments for their economic upliftment.”

New Delhi, Sept 23 : Union Minister for Rural Development Dr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has asked the States to ensure peoples representatives active involvement in Rural Development programmes.

Addressing the 19th meeting of State Nodal Officers to review the performance of Centrally sponsored Rural Development Programmes here today, he laid emphasis on the convening of vigilance and monitoring committee meetings on a regular basis.

New Delhi - Indian equities fell by 3 per cent in trading Tuesday on weakness in global bourses and rising crude oil prices.

The benchmark 30-share sensitive Sensex index closed at 13,570.31 points, down 424.65 points, a loss of 3.03 per cent from its previous close Monday.

The broader National Stock Exchange's Nifty index also ended in the red at 4,126.90, down 96.15 or 2.28 percent from the previous close at 4,223.05.

Technology stocks were the hardest hit as Infosys, Satyam Computers and Tata Consultancies suffered the most.

New Delhi, Sept 23: Vice President Hamid Ansari on Tuesday said tackling non-biological contaminants required awareness and interventions across the food-chain with a focus on the management of food safety and quality.

Ansari inaugurated here today the national seminar on non-biological contaminants in food, feed and their safety standards.

Ansari in his inaugural address said that this was an age of contamination -- of environment, food, water and of most other ingredients essential to human existence.

New Delhi, Sept 23 : Five comprehensive diving teams with all technical support elements from the Eastern Naval Command have been pressed into action for rescue and relief operations in the flood affected areas along the Mahanadi River in Orissa.

The diving teams along with inflatable rubberized boats with out board motors, rescue equipment and medical supplies left for Bhubaneswar on Monday.

They will join two teams of INS Chilka which is already deployed in the affected areas, in assisting the special relief commissioner.

New Delhi, Sept 23 : Following fresh attacks on churches in Karnataka, a two-member Union Home Ministry team will visit the state on Tuesday to review the steps taken to control the violence.

According to sources, Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Monday held a meeting with senior police officers of different states in the Capital, and asked the Special Secretary of Internal Security ML Kumawat to visit Bangalore to assess the situation.

The high-level team will hold meetings with the State Chief Secretary and other senior state government officials. The team will also visit Udupi and Mangalore, where several churches and prayer halls were attacked on September 14.