New Delhi, Sep 10 : The armed forces have now taken the battle over the Sixth Pay Commission right to Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Prithviraj Chavan, seeking their direct intervention in restoring their parity with their civilian and paramilitary counterparts.

The armed forces wanted the cabinet, rather than the anomalies committee of the Finance Ministry, to consider the matter. The cabinet following the assurance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is likely to take up the core issues of the armed forces at its meeting on Thursday.

New Delhi, Sept 10 : Union Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal today said that the new partnership would boost the biomedical research in India.

While launching the Government of India''s Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Wellcome Trust India Fellowships here, Sibal said that the £80 million scheme jointly funded by the DBT and the Wellcome Trust over five years - aims to strengthen the research base of Indian biomedical science by providing fellowship programmes to support researchers from newly-qualified senior researchers

New Delhi, Sept 10 : Former President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam inaugurated Organ Transplant and the Continuing Nursing Education at Ayurvigyan Auditorium of Army Hospital Research and Referral (R & R) here today.

New Delhi, Sept 10 : Arcelor Mittal is facing cost overruns for its projects in India because of delays in securing regulatory approvals, and is looking to expand in other emerging markets, said its chairman, Lakshmi Mittal, today.

Arcelor Mittal, the world''s top steelmaker, had said it would invest 20 billion dollars over the next 10 years to build two steel plants in Jharkhand and Orissa to produce about 25 million tonnes of steel in total.

Addressing reporters here, Mittal said the costs could rise by about 50 percent because of delays in getting the necessary approvals and mine allocations,

New Delhi, Sept 9 : President Pratibha Devisingh Patil has congratulated Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on his assumption of office today.

In her message, the President said, “Your election is a milestone in Pakistan''s history. It symbolizes the durability and strength of democratic forces in Pakistan. The resurgence of these forces is in the interests of Pakistan as also our entire region. You face immense challenges and we are committed to working closely with you to further develop bilateral relations between our two countries for the mutual benefit of our peoples and our region.”