Colombo, May 19 (IANS) The victory “achieved by defeating the LTTE” is the victory of the country, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa said while addressing parliament here Tuesday, adding the Tamil Tigers had killed statesmen like former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

“Our aim was to protect the Tamils from the clutch of LTTE. In order to protect the innocent Tamilian civilians our soldiers sacrificed their lives,” said Rajapaksa.

Mumbai, May 19 (IANS) The frenzied rise of the Indian equities markets seemed to have come to an end abruptly minutes after Tuesday’s opening bell as a key index plummeted 289 points after opening 475 points higher.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened 475 points higher at 14,757.82 points, soon dived 373 points or 2.62 percent to 13,910.5 points.

Colombo, May 19 (IANS) The victory “achieved by defeating the LTTE” is the victory of the country, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa said while addressing parliament Tuesday.

“Our aim was to protect the Tamils from the clutch of LTTE. In order to protect the innocent Tamilian civilians our soldiers sacrificed their lives,” said Rajapaksa.

Bangalore, May 19 (IANS) Buoyed by its good showing in Karnataka - winning 19 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats from the state - the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has warned the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government against discriminating against Karnataka on development issues.

“Though the Congress fared badly in the elections in Karnataka, winning only six of the 28 Lok Sabha seats, we hope its new UPA government will not discriminate against us on developmental issues again. We don’t want to do politics on the development of the state,” state BJP unit president D.V. Sadananada Gowda told IANS here in an interview.

Washington, May 19 (IANS) A top US official added fuel to the row over reports that Pakistan may be using US military assistance to expand its nuclear arsenal by saying Washington does not know the location of all of Pakistan’s atomic weapons.

New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) The economic slowdown has hit home sales and sent prices plummeting. The flip side: home rents have shot up.

Chandigarh, May 19 (IANS) Green warrior Sunderlal Bahuguna, who has spent his life working for sustainable development, especially in the Himalayas, and pioneered the Chipko movement in the 1970s to save trees, thinks a third world war over water will be inevitable if governments do not wake up now.

Washington, May 19 (DPA) US President Barack Obama is expected to tighten fuel efficiency rules for vehicles Tuesday and order carmakers to increase fuel economy to 35 miles per gallon (14.7 km per litre) by 2016, according to media reports Monday.

The 2016 target would be four years earlier than that set by Congress in a 2007 energy law.