NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Top telecoms firm Bharti Airtel said it had tied up the entire financing requirement of $8.3 billion for its planned buy of Kuwaiti telecom Zain’s African assets, in a sign of progress as the deadline for the firms’ talks expire next week.

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India (Reuters) – Explosive material was found in a package on a passenger plane after it landed in Thiruvananthapuram, but it was not attached to a detonator and could not have exploded, officials said on Sunday.

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NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Milkha Singh, one of India’s greatest track athletes, has sold his life story to a film maker for a cut price one rupee (two cents) in the hope that the biopic might inspire the youth of his country to excel in the sport. Nicknamed “the Flying Sikh”, Milkha Singh was twice Asian Games champion in the 400 metres, Commonwealth champion in 1958 and narrowly missed out on a medal at his second Olympics in Tokyo in 1960.

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MUMBAI (Reuters) – The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday unexpectedly raised interest rates from record-low levels for the first time since it began cutting in 2008, citing intensifying inflationary pressures and a steady economic recovery.

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NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian investigators will get access to David Headley, who pleaded guilty to helping plan the 2008 Mumbai attacks, but he will not be extradited to India on current charges, a U.S. official said on Saturday.

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NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The board of Bharti Airtel on Saturday approved a $9 billion offer for Kuwaiti telecom Zain’s African assets, Bloomberg reported, citing two people with knowledge of the negotiations.

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KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Former Nepali Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, a leading figure in Nepal’s transition from monarchy to republic, died on Saturday in what the Maoists called a loss for the fragile peace process.

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VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Benedict apologised on Saturday to victims of child sex abuse by clergy in Ireland and ordered an official inquiry there to try to stem a scandal gripping the Catholic Church which has swept across Europe.

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NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Nine telecoms firms have applied to bid for third-generation (3G) mobile spectrum in India in an April auction, the government said after the end of the deadline for submitting interest on Friday.

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MUMBAI (Reuters) – The chairman of India’s top lender, State Bank of India, said on Saturday the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may tighten monetary policy further at its April 20 review.

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