New Delhi, Feb. 21 : Cabinet Secretary K. M. Chandrashekhar on Saturday said that the global meltdown has not had as much of an adverse impact on India as it has had on other countries.

Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of a function at the Constitution Club here, Chandrashekhar said: "I don''t think there is any irrational pessimism, because there has been some amount of global concern all over. Lots of things are happening all over the world. But, I think India is in a better position compared to the other countries in the world."

New Delhi, Feb 21 : The Vice Chief of the Army Staff, Lieutenant General Noble Thamburaj on Saturday said the Army is fully prepared to meet any threat from low-intensity conflicts to high-level operations by organizations like the Taliban.

"Taliban''s influence is mainly confined to West Pakistan and Afghanistan, and there is no direct threat to India. If any eventuality arises in future, the Indian Army will give a befitting reply," Lt. Gen. Thamburaj told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

New Delhi - Riot squads took up positions in cities across India's southern Tamil Nadu state on Saturday as shoot-at-sight orders were issued to quell mobs pelting stones and committing arson to protest Sri Lanka's war against Tamil rebels, news reports said.

Protesting lawyers had burnt vehicles and damaged property after clashing with the police outside the high court in Tamil Nadu capital Chennai on Thursday, IANS news agency reported.

The clashes followed the arrest of lawyers who had thrown rotten eggs at a politician, Janata Dal party leader Subramanian Swamy, on Tuesday.

The internal enquiry committee of Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which investigated the alleged irregularities in its housing plan, has submitted its report on Friday.

For further action, the report will be sent to the Urban Development Minister, Jaipal Reddy.

Neemo Dhar, DDA spokesperson, stated, “The committee submitted the report to vice-chairman A K Nigam today. Now, we will send it to the minister who had set up the probe committee.”

New Delhi, Feb 21 : The United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) says that most rural Indians are victims of malnutrition, despite the introduction of several government schemes to end the problem.

A UNWFP with MS Swaminathan Research Foundation report released here said that 40 per cent of children under the age of three are underweight and a third of all men and women suffer from chronic energy deficiency.

It also stressed nutritional outcomes and the associated factors which influence them.

The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Union Health Minister A. Ramadoss over the closure of three public sector undertakings (PSUs) manufacturing vaccines like DPT, measles, polio and BCG.

The three PSUs are Central Research Institute of Himachal Pradesh, Coonoors Pasteur Institute of India and BCG Vaccine Lab in Chennai.