RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, called Bal Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray "infiltrators" as they are originally from Bihar. He stated "They should leave Maharashtra as soon as possible".

He accused the Thackerays of indulging in a campaign against north Indians, mostly Biharis. He said in fact Biharis are contributing to building Maharashtra by working hard and are neither harming its interests nor creating trouble, so they have the right to stay there. He went on to say Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has failed to counter the Thackerays, but is subservient to them.

The comments relate to the Congress general secretary's quote from a book written by Raj Thackeray's grandfather that showed the Thackeray family had its origins in Magadh, Bihar.

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Marking the 100th space mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), its' Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C21) put two foreign satellites into orbit, one the French SPOT - 6 and the other the Japanese Prioteres.

Scientists cheered as the mission was pronounced a success, and PM Manmohan Singh who watched the take off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota congratulated them saying India is justly proud of its space scientists who have overcome many odds to develop their technology for space missions.

This was the PSLV's 21st consecutively successful flight. India has thus far put in orbit 62 Indian satellites.

Isro's commercial wing Antrix Corporation has received several requests from foreign countries, to launch their satellites for a price.

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According to data released by various United Nations agencies on the occasion of International Literacy Day, India has the highest number of illiterate adults in the world at 287 million.

Indian agencies often prefer to concentrate on the positives, as in the case of the recently released Census 2011, that showed India's literacy count has been steadily increasing, with 32 million less illiterates above the age of seven in 2011 than a decade ago. Also more females are joining the educated, indicating a narrower gender gap than earlier.

However mere statistics are often a poor reflection of realities, such as one of the most common critiques levelled against the definition of literacy. In India literacy is measured as anyone who can read and write above seven years of age. A questionable definition as literacy cannot be celebrated as a sign of progress if it fails to empower an individual or make him or her employable.

National literacy figures also mask regional inequalities between the best off state of Kerala and worst off states of MP, Chhattisgarh and Orissa.

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Air India finally took delivery of its first 787-800 Dreamliner, ending a four-year wait because of production problems at Boeing.

The 256-seater was received by leading Air India officials in South Carolina, USA, and will arrive in Delhi shortly.

The Dreamliner marks a significant phase for the loss-making airline, as they will now replace some older, fuel guzzling aircraft, and will enable Air India to fly to more foreign destinations to catch up with other international airlines route capabilities.

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Activist and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has announced a new action plan, that includes appealing people to vote for the'right' candidates. He will now not form a political party as was earlier announced, instead he has appealed to the youth to ensure a 90-plus percent voting turnout to vote in the elections.

In his announcement Hazare said "there is no need to form a party or contest elections, but to provide an alternative to people, as only they have the power to transform, so he and his Team will undertake the work of awakening them.

Some 4000 activists have come forward for the task, as Hazare feels strongly that if the anti-corruption agitation continues some will get justice.

He proposed action on - voting for'clean candidates; to press for the right to reject; to seek more powers from gram sabha, citizen charters; removing delays in official work and bringing police under the control of the lokpal/lokayukta.

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