JAMMU - The long-pending issue of delimitation of parliamentary and assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir has come to the fore with the government-appointed interlocutors promising the state's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders that they will take up the matter with the Election Commission.

DHAKA - The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is set to get its first woman secretary general - a 36-year-old Maldivian lawyer.

WASHINGTON - Ahead of a crucial vote in Congress, a new Gallup poll suggests that Americans are not clear who should have more influence over the nation's direction in the next year - President Barack Obama or the Republicans.

NEW YORK - Negotiations among governments to reform the UN Security Council may enter a new phase this year with serious talks to meet demands to enlarge the body to include countries like India, Germany and Japan as permanent members, the UN said Monday.