Security forces in Indian Kashmir fired tear gas and pellet guns at hundreds of rock-throwing protesters Friday who took to the streets after prayers for Eid, police and witnesses said.

Police and paramilitary forces clashed with the protesters in several locations in the region's main city of Srinagar including at a major prayer ground, injuring at least 30 people.

India Thursday directly accused Pakistan's army of involvement in a deadly ambush against its troops in Kashmir, as Pakistan's prime minister tried to ease tensions over the attack.

Indian Defense Minister A. K. Antony also hinted at stronger military action along the Line of Control (LoC) where the ambush overnight Monday saw five Indian soldiers killed, amid opposition claims the government was going soft on Islamabad.

Families of some of the more than 50 sailors and fishermen held hostage by Somali pirates begged for their release Thursday, with some imprisoned now for more than two years.

"We are in desperate condition living with little hope to see our beloved soon," said the message from families of the crew of the MV Albedo, a Malaysian-flagged container ship with 15 sailors still held, from countries including Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.

Indian and Pakistani commanders spoke by hotline Wednesday, a day after Delhi accused Islamabad of involvement in an ambush that killed five Indian troops, a Pakistani military official said.

Pakistan denied any part in the incident, but India lodged an official protest with Islamabad for what was the deadliest loss of life for the Indian army since a 2003 truce agreement.

India Tuesday accused Pakistan's military of involvement in an ambush on an army post in disputed Kashmir which killed five soldiers and punctured hopes of a resumption in peace talks.

While Pakistan denied any involvement, India's defense minister said New Delhi had lodged an official protest with Islamabad for what was the deadliest loss of life for the Indian army since a 2003 truce agreement.

India has revoked a local patent granted to Britain's GlaxoSmithKline for a breast cancer drug in the latest blow to global companies seeking a bigger presence in the country's $13 billion medicine market.

Tykerb, one of the most widely prescribed breast cancer treatments in India used to treat advanced forms of the disease, is a newer version of GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) original anti-breast cancer drug lapatinib.

The Indian army said Friday it had killed 12 suspected militants in Kashmir in a forested area along the de facto border that divides the territory between India and Pakistan.

Five rebels were killed during a fierce gun battle with the army on Thursday in Hafrada forests, 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Srinagar, the main city of Indian Kashmir.

About a dozen children in eastern India fell ill and were taken to hospital on Thursday after drinking suspected contaminated water at their school, a hospital official said.

The children became sick after drinking water from a hand pump in the dirt-poor state of Bihar, in the same district where 23 children died last month after eating a poisoned lunch provided by their school.

Mother-of-three Lilavati Devi stands perfectly still in the hot sun in Old Delhi as a practitioner and his assistants check the veins in her hands.

Then, armed with razor blades, the practitioner slices neatly into her skin and lets the "impure blood" drain out.

India's ruling Congress party approved a resolution Tuesday to create a new state in the southeast amid fears the decision could spark violence in the region which includes IT hub Hyderabad.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other senior party leaders agreed to grant longstanding demands for the state of Telangana to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh state.