New Delhi, Aug. 28 : Links between Central Asia and South Asia stand a chance of improving only if the historical linkages of the past are given their due importance and applied in the modern context, a strategic affairs expert has said.

New Delhi, Aug 28 : India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Thursday successfully concluded six years of negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) at Singapore.

The formal FTA covering trade in goods will be signed by leaders at the ASEAN-India Summit scheduled for December in Bangkok.

During a joint press conference of India-ASEAN economic ministers, Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said, "It took six years for India to understand the sensitivities of ASEAN, and for the ASEAN to understand the sensitivities of India."

New Delhi, Aug. 28 : The recently concluded two-day Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) saw Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev significantly dwelling on several points, the sum objective of which was to promote greater unity and association in the Asian region to ward off traditional and non-traditional security challenges.

Nazarbayev described the international community as passing through and uneasy time, which made all the more necessary for countries in the seven continents - Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America – to avoid “confrontation, resorting to heavy-handed methods and using radical rhetoric”.

New Delhi, Aug 28 : Defence Minister AK Antony will lay the foundation stone of a Sainik School in Rewari district of Haryana on Friday.

Minister of State for Defence Production Rao Inderjit Singh and Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju will also be present on the occasion.

Rao Inderjit Singh, who has worked painstakingly towards realizing this goal, said the Sainik School being set up at Tappa Gothra Khori village would be the second Sainik School in the state. The Government of Haryana had recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Defence in this regard.

New Delhi, Aug 28 : The 9th Home Secretary level talks between India and Bangladesh will be held at Dhaka on August 30-31.

The meeting is expected to discuss various security related issues, border management issues as well as ways of enhancing cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of both sides.

The Indian delegation will be led by the Union Home Secretary, Madhukar Gupta and the Bangladesh delegation by their Secretary, Ministry of Home Affair, Mohammad Abdul Karim.

The last meeting was held at Delhi on August 2-3, 2007.

New Delhi - More than 50 people were killed and an estimated 1.1 million people were marooned in India's eastern state of Bihar after the Kosi river flooded and changed its course following heavy monsoon rains, officials said Thursday.

"Over fifty people have died in the worst-hit districts of Supaul, Madhepura, Araria and Saharsa since Tuesday evening as the death-toll during the monsoons in the state nears 100," said Anil Kumar, an official in the state's disaster management department.