London, May 19 (DPA) Sri Lanka has an “historic opportunity” to build a lasting peace after defeating the rebel Tamil Tigers but first it must tackle a grave humanitarian crisis, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Tuesday.

He called for aid agencies to be allowed full access to camps for civilians displaced by the conflict and said Sri Lanka’s government had to be “magnanimous in victory”.

London, May 19 (IANS) Hollywood funnyman Ben Stiller is hanging his head in shame after touring the White House with English comedian Ricky Gervais, who showed up in extremely casual threads.

The actors, who co-star in upcoming film “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”, paid a recent visit to Washington to premiere the new movie, reports contactmusic.com.

Greater Noida, May 19 (IANS) A businessman was robbed of Rs.14.50 lakh cash in the Tilapta area of Greater Noida Tuesday morning, police said.

According to the police, Kesh Ram, 44 and his son Sunil Kumar, 23 were returning to their home in Sakipur area after withdrawing the cash from the Punjab National Bank (PNB) at Railway Road near Dadri, when four men on two motorcycles intercepted them.

Kemerovo (Russia), May 19 (RIA Novosti) Officials here seized three five-month-old calves from the owner who had failed to repay his mounting debts.

Many Russians who took credit during the economic boom in the country are struggling to repay their loans amid rising unemployment, as the financial crisis continues.

Kolkata, May 19 (IANS) Texmaco Ltd, a KK Birla group company, has formed a joint venture with United Group of Australia to manufacture hi-tech wagon and locomotive bogie frames, it was announced here Tuesday.

“A joint venture company with United Group, one of Asia’s leading end-to-end rail technology solutions provider, has been incorporated, and steps are being discussed to set up a modern facility to make hi-tech wagon and locomotive bogie frames for Indian Railways, the private industry and exports,” Texmaco said in a statement.

Geneva, May 19 (DPA) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday slammed the world’s progress on lowering the maternal mortality rate, calling it an “outrage”.

Speaking at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Ban said half a million women still die each year during pregnancy and childbirth.

New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday said the priority of the new Congress-led government was the revival of economic growth and creating new employment opportunities that had been slowed down by the global recession.

Addressing the newly-elected party MPs after being named the prime minister by the Congress Parliamentary Party, Manmohan Singh said: “There is some slowing down of investment and employment generation. We have to reverse this.”

Mumbai, May 19 (IANS) A day after Indian equities markets were caught in a frenzy that saw key indices shoot up over 17 percent, Tuesday saw traders lapping up stocks leading to volumes touching record highs.

About 1,57,000 shares were traded with more than 100,000 being in the futures and options space. Over 40,000 scrips changed hands on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), while the number of shares traded on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) crossed 11,760.