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Rahul steps in to support retail FDI
For the first time, Cong gen secy says govt move would help farmers
Farukhabad, December 16
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi chose this “highest potato growing district in the country” to break his silence on the contentious Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the retail sector.

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi addresses a public meeting in Farukhabad on Friday. — PTI

No hike in interest rates for now: RBI
Mumbai, December 16
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today kept key interest rates unchanged after as many as 13 successive hikes since March 2010. The central bank sounded a persistent note of warning on soaring inflation during its mid-quarter policy review.

Business page: India Inc hails move to hold key rates
Sensex tumbles to 2-yr low despite rate hike pause

Kudankulam Unit 1 to be operational soon: PM
Moscow, December 16
Clearing the uncertainty, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today announced that the first unit of the Kudankulam nuclear power project will be operationalised in a "couple of weeks" but India and Russia did not sign any agreement on construction of the third and fourth units.

PM Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at a meeting in Moscow on Friday. — PTI

Double murder shocks Chandigarh
Teenaged siblings found stabbed
Chandigarh, December 16
Two teenaged siblings — a 17-year-old girl and her 15-year-old brother — were found stabbed to death at their Sector 41 home here this afternoon.

Govt ‘unprepared’, common MBBS entrance test in limbo
New Delhi, December 16
The future of the proposed common MBBS entrance test to be held on May 13, 2012 looks uncertain after the Supreme Court today pulled up the government for expressing unpreparedness to conduct it despite committing to do so.
(Details on Nation page)

Special to the tribune
Britain gets its second Punjabi MP 
Britain has a second Punjabi-origin MP following Seema Malhotra’s victory on behalf of the Labour Party in the Feltham and Heston bypoll. Malhotra told The Tribune that she is a product of multi-cultural Britain, was born in the UK to an Indian-origin father and a mother who is a retired teacher.
(Details on World page)