New Delhi, July 24: Bharatiya Janata Party activists today attacked the residence of expelled party MP Chandrabhan Singh who voted in favour of the Government.

About 100 people stormed into the North Avenue residence of the Lok Sabha member from Damoh (Madhya Pradesh) around 11 am when Singh was present in his house.

Shouting slogans praising BJP Chief Rajnath Singh and Senior Leader L K Advani, the activists broke window panes and flower pots, besides barging into the drawing room of the MP''s official residence.

New Delhi, July 24: The Union Cabinet today gave its approval to converting the National Plant Protection Training Institute (NPPTI) in Hyderabad into an autonomous agency, namely the National Institute of Plant Health Management (NIPM), by registering it under the Registration of Societies Act, 1860.

It also approved the funding of the full recurring and non-recurring costs of the Institute for ten years, by which time the institute will be self-sufficient and provide plan assistance to the tune of Rs. 29.40 crore during the 11th Five Year Plan.

The registration of the NIPM as a Society will enable its autonomous functioning and effective capacity building in the sector.

New Delhi, July 24: The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the signing of an agreement on the establishment of the South Asia Regional Standards Organisation (SARSO) during the forthcoming 15th SAARC Summit to be held in Colombo on August 2-3.

This agreement is expected to enhance the level of our economic engagements with the SAARC countries by envisaging regional cooperation on standards, quality control and legal metrology amongst SAARC countries.

New Delhi, July 24 : The Union Cabinet today approved the development of the Kuttanad Wetland E

New Delhi, July 24 : President Pratibha Devisingh Patil hosted a lunch for a group of more than 100 children, all of them from the underprivileged sections of society and some of them orphans in the Banquet Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday.

The children were from Bal Vikas Vidyalaya, Bachchon Ka Ghar, Arya Orphanage, Nehru Bal Samiti and Literacy India.

New Delhi, July 24: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said that India would push for a convention on mutual legal assistance among the SAARC nations over criminal matters.

Speaking at a regional conference on ''Deepening South Asian Economic Integration'' here, Pranab said that in the backdrop of the recent Kabul attack on the Indian embassy, it has become necessary to tackle crimes with regional cooperation.