VAISHALI - Residents of Vaishali in Bihar have decided to boycott the ongoing Bihar state assembly elections, citing poor development as their reason for doing so.

WASHINGTON - The annual cost of U.S. intelligence has gone public for the first time. According to figures released by the government Thursday, it is just over 80 billion dollars for 2010.

CHENNAI - Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) founder-president V Gopalswamy, popularly known as Vaiko, and his followers staged a demonstration here on Thursday to demand the lifting of a ban imposed on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

KOLKATA - A major fire broke out early on Friday at the newly formed Presidency University, which is housed at the erstwhile Presidency College.

NEW DELHI - India has sought the close cooperation of African countries in combating the problem of piracy in the Indian Ocean.