Mumbai, Sept. 08 (IANS):

While one man was arrested in Nashik, the other was nabbed in Pune. Both were arrested Tuesday.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, which cracked the case seven months after the blast, has sent a team to Udgir in Latur district to probe the conspiracy further.

Srinagar, Sept. 08 (IANS):

Geelani, who heads the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference, was taken into preventive custody from his Hyderpora residence, a police officer said. He has been shifted to the Humhama police station in central Badgam district.

"Curfew continues in Srinagar city while restrictions have been placed in south Kashmir’s Anantnag and Bijbehara towns. Restrictions have also been imposed in north Kashmir’s Kangan town," a police official here said.

New Delhi, Sept. 08 (IANS):

The expert committee in its report told the court that the prospective parents, Craig Allen Coates and Cynthia Ann Coates, were financially and emotionally sound and the child would be extremely comfortable with them.

New Delhi, Sept. 08 (IANS):

Patil begins the first leg of her tour Thursday with a state visit to Laos. This will be the first visit by Patil to Laos and only the first by an Indian president to that country in more than five decades.

New Delhi/Kolkata/Mumbai, Sep.t 07 (IANS):

Millions stayed away from work and many flights were cancelled in the protest against the economic policies of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government. Among the strike-backers was the Congress-affiliated Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC).

The strike was virtually complete in the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) ruled states of West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala, while it evoked a mixed response in states like Tamil Nadu and Assam and a tepid reaction in Karnataka.

The financial capital Mumbai and the national capital New Delhi were relatively unaffected except for commuters who were hit with autorickshaws joining the protest.

According to INTUC president G. Sanjeeva Reddy, around 100 million (10 crore) workers from sectors including banks, insurance, power, telecom, coal, defence, port and dock, road transport and petroleum and unorganised sectors such as construction took part in the showdown.

The Rajya Sabha MP and convener of the Coordination Committee of the Central Trade Unions, which called the strike, told IANS from Hyderabad that the strike was "99 percent" successful.

The strike, he said, was held to "reassert" the bargaining power of the trade unions.

According to him, government leaders, including Manmohan Singh, wanted to discuss the workers’ demands.

The unions that called the strike were, besides INTUC, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India United Trade Union Centre (AITUC), Trade Union Coordination Centre (TUCC), All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), United Trade Union Congress (UTUC) and Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS).

The workers want a check on price rise of essential commodities, pro-active measures to protect employment in recession-hit sectors, strict enforcement of all basic labour laws, Rs.50,000 crore for an unorganised workers’ social security fund, and a halt to privatization of central public sector enterprises.