New Delhi, Aug. 15: The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Friday said during the course of his address to the nation on the occasion of the 62nd Independence Day that his government has gone beyond the recommendations made by the Sixth Pay Commission in increasing emoluments of government employees.

"While doing this we have taken special care of the interests and welfare of our armed forces and paramilitary forces, and government employees working at lower levels in our civil services. This is one more step in making Government more efficient," Dr. Singh while making a formal announcement on the commission''s recommendations, which were approved by the Union cabinet on Thursday.

New Delhi, Aug. 15 :Yoga guru Ram Dev on Thursday jumped into the thick of a raging shrine row in Jammu and Kashmir, by demanding that forest land taken away from the Amarnath Shrine Board be restored to it.

Demanding the repeal of a state government order, Ram Dev also called for the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits in the region.

"The federal government should not only give the land back to the Amarnath Shrine Board, but it should also allot land for the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits, who are forced to live a life of refugees in their own country, which is very pathetic. I have visited Kashmir (and I know) there is a lot of land there which can be allotted for this purpose," Ram Dev told a news conference here.

New Delhi, Aug. 15 : Delivering his fifth consecutive Independence Day speech on the occasion of India’s 62nd Independence Day on Friday, the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh said that fighting terrorism was a major challenge before the country, but added that the best way to combat and counter it, was through dialogue.

New Delhi, Aug. 15: The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Friday described the signing of the US-India civil nuclear cooperation as a step to end India’s nuclear isolation internationally.

Candidly admitting that the country was facing a grave shortage of energy, Dr. Singh said that his government was now moving forward on the deal, in spite of facing major difficulties from various quarters.

New Delhi, Aug 15: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Friday warned that his government''s response would be hard if the violence continued in Jammu and Kashmir.

New Delhi, Aug 15: Following is the final part of the text of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's address from the Red Fort on the occasion of the nation's 62nd Independence Day:

Brothers and Sisters,