By IANS

New Delhi : The defence ministry Monday brought the curtain down on a raging debate on introducing compulsory military service to address a severe shortage of over 14,000 officers in the armed forces.

"The government does not propose to make military service compulsory in the country," Defence Minister A.K. Antony said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

By IANS

Mumbai : Inspired by the recent budgetary sops to farmers, Sudhakar Nilkant Telange, who won Rs.60.4 million ($1.49 million) in an online lottery in Maharashtra, plans to buy a farm with the prize money.

Telange, an accountant in Nagpur, appeared Monday at the Mumbai headquarters of the Playwin Super Lotto Online Lottery to collect the prize.

By IANS

New Delhi : The flight test programme of the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) "is progressing as per schedule" and it has flown 829 missions since it first took to the skies eight years ago, parliament was informed Monday.

By IANS

Kozhikode : Six kilograms of opium worth about Rs.10 million has been seized from a person at a beach here, the police here said Monday.

Abdul Khader, 50, of Pandikkad in Malappuram district was arrested at the Kozhikode south beach Sunday evening and six kg of opium was recovered from him, a police official said.

By IANS

New Delhi : To encourage women in computing and technology, Google India Monday announced awards for women studying computer science and related subjects.

By IANS

Kolkata : Despite improving economic ties between Italy and India, Italian foreign direct investment (FDI) to India is not so encouraging, Ambassador of Italy to India Antonio Armellini said.

By Sahil Makkar, IANS

New Delhi : After the latest trespass involving a teenage boy who was found strolling below a parked aircraft, the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here is making its security hi-tech following a series of incidents in recent months set alarm bell ringing.

By IANS

Ranchi : The Jharkhand assembly speaker has said a house committee will be set up to investigate alleged irregularities in the award of liquor contracts that resulted in huge revenue loss to the state.

"An assembly committee will be constituted to probe the matter. The committee will submit its report in a month," said Speaker Aalamgir Aalam.

By IANS

Jammu : Jammu and Kashmir Rural Development Minister Javed Mustafa Mir's pistol accidentally went off at the airport here Monday when he was asked to deposit the weapon by the security personnel, police sources said Monday.

By IANS

New Delhi : Sri Lanka's army chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka Monday visited Jammu and Kashmir at the start of a weeklong visit to India during which he will interact with Defence Minister A.K. Antony and top officials.