New Delhi

US Senator John Kerry will meet Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh here today.

Kerry, who arrived here on Sunday, is expected to hold discussions on the situation arising out of the Mumbai terror strikes.

During his visit, Kerry is also scheduled to meet External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and other leaders.

Kerry''s visit to India comes a couple of days after the trip by US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte who reiterated Washington''s message to Islamabad to "act forcefully" and to bring perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to book.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and Deputy CM Chhagan Bhujbal met Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh here today and reportedly discussed the security scenario in Maharashtra.

Talking to reporters, Chavan said that they briefed Dr Singh about the measures taken to strengthen security in the state in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks.

They also sought more central assistance for police reforms in the state, he added.

This was Chavan first visit to New Delhi after becoming Chief Minister on December 8.

The President of India, Pratibha Devisingh Patil will open a nature trail in the President’s estate tomorrow.

The nature trail is a result of Patil’s keen interest to protect the ecological heritage of Rashtrapati Bhavan and to bring people closer to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

It is a part of the Roshini Project which is an effort taken on the directions of the President of India to ecologically make the President’s Estate a green, energy efficient and a zero waste model township.

India and China will hold their second Annual Defence Dialogue (ADD) in New Delhi on Monday.

The Indian side will be led by the Defence Secretary Vijay Singh and Lt. General Ma Xiaotian, Deputy Chief of General Staff, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will lead the Chinese side.

The Chinese delegation is currently in India from December 10-16.

The ADD is an important mechanism for holding bilateral talks on defence cooperation between India and China.

It is also a forum for exchange of views on regional and security issues between the two countries.

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the India Telecom 2008, in New Delhi tomorrow.

Jointly organized by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the FICCI, the two-day event marks India''s leading international conference and exhibition for the entire telecom system. The theme of India Telecom 2008 is "Connecting Rural India".

Dr. Singh will also launch the country''s first 3G services on the occasion. The Service will enable transfer of high-speed data, video streaming on mobile phones.

The second part of the winter session of Parliament will begin from December 10.The session perhaps would be the last one before general elections, which are slated for April-May next year.

The Congress led UPA is on a high after its stupendous performance in the recent state assembly polls.

The Congress is set to form government in three states out of five which went to polls.

However, the main opposition Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) would be looking to counter the Government on issues such as terror and inflation.

The Election Commission of India has ordered repolling in three constituencies of Delhi Assembly which went to polls on November 29.

The repolling will take place on Tuesday.

Following the Election Commision (EC) order, repolling will be held at six booths in Malviya Nagar, two booths in Burari and in one booth in the Matiala assembly seats.

"The Election Commission was not satisfied with the polling in these booths," Deputy Chief Electoral officer of Delhi J K Sharma said.

Sriprakash Jaiswal, Minister of State for Home Affairs, has asked security forces to be prepared for bigger challenges in the future.

Addresssing BSF personnels in New Delhi, Jaiswal described the present condition in the country as challenging for security forces.

He was speaking on the occasion of 43rd Raising Day celebrations of the Border Security Force (BSF) in New Delhi on Monday.

Referring to the sixty- hour- long Mumbai terror seige, Jaiswal assured the troops that his government would do the needful to address all concerns of the security forces.

President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Wednesday released a special commemorative postage stamp on GAIL to mark the Silver Jubilee Year of the company.

Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora, Minister of Communications and IT A. Raja, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dinsha Patel, Petroleum Secretary R.S. Pandey and CMD GAIL U.D. Choubey were present on the occasion along with other senior officers of the Petroleum Ministry and GAIL.

Bollywood producer and director Subhash Ghai has dismissed any similarity between his latest flick ''Yuvraaj'' with his earlier film ''Taal'' despite both being musical journeys.

Ghai, best known for his films like Karz, Hero, Meri Jung and Karma, was emphatic at a news conference in New Delhi on Tuesday that there were no similarities between the two films.