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UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council renewed for six months on Thursday a peacekeeping mission in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights monitoring a decades-old truce between Israel and Syria that has been shaken by a spillover of violence from Syria's civil war. The unanimously agreed resolution stresses the need for the peacekeepers, who currently just carry handguns, to boost their protection. Diplomats said troops would likely now get equipment such as flak jackets, armored vehicles and machine guns. …

New Delhi, June 27 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Thursday backed Rahul Gandhi as the party’s prime ministerial candidate in 2014, saying that he will have to be convinced to occupy the post.

By Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese officials have lifted a ban on Tibetan monks displaying photographs of the Dalai Lama at a prominent monastery, a rights group said on Thursday, an unexpected policy shift which could ease tensions in the restive region. The decision concerning the Gaden monastery in the Tibetan capital Lhasa – one of the most historically important religious establishments in Tibet – reversed a ban introduced in 1996, the Britain-based Free Tibet group told Reuters, citing sources with direct knowledge of the situation. …

Hyderabad, June 27 (IANS) Leading Pakistani brand Lala Textiles will participate in the Surat Dreams exhibition to be held here June 29-30.

Paris, June 27 (IANS) India’s Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath Thursday urged French companies to seriously explore the “exciting opportunities” his country’s booming urban development sector presented, saying India’s growth still remained “very attractive”.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India has raised the base price it will pay farmers for common rice to 1,310 rupees per 100 kilograms from 1,250 rupees last year, Food Minister K.V. Thomas told reporters on Thursday. The government sets a minimum support price (MSP) for key crops to give farmers an incentive to produce supplies needed for welfare programmes that give cheap food to half a billion poor. The MSP also protects farmers from excessive price falls. …

New Delhi, June 27 (IANS) As the search and rescue operations come to a close in most parts of flood-hit Uttarakhand, ActionAid said Thursday that the fatalities in the disaster may be closer to 5,000

MUMBAI (Reuters) – The Reserve Bank of India squeezed gold buyers further on Thursday, ruling out any credit transactions for imports unless they were intended to make jewellery for export, as it looks to rein in a record current account deficit. The RBI said the restrictions would also apply to imports of gold which do not have a fixed price. "In other words (authorised dealers and banks) are required to ensure that credit in any form or name is not enabled for import of any form of gold," the bank said. …

India, June 28 — The case of alleged sexual harassment of two female shooters during the ISSF shotgun World Cup in Acapulco (Mexico) had come to the notice of the chief coach M Padmanabhan and coach Amar Jung, but since the ‘aggrieved’ party was not willing to give a written complaint, it did not find mention in the report submitted by the coaches to the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI).Two double-trap marksmen had allegedly entered the girls’ room in Acapulco event in March and had insisted on sleeping there. …

India, June 28 — Eyebrows have been raised at the Centre’s single-window system to intercept phone calls and internet exchanges – the desi version of the US’s surveillance programme, PRISM – that is expected to roll out this year-end.The Rs. 400-crore project – tentatively called the Central Monitoring System (CMS) – will not only allow the government to listen to a target’s phone conversation but also track down a caller’s precise location, match his voice against known suspects’ before the call is completed and see what people have been up to on the internet. …