Raymond Ronamai

Millions of Indians went to the polls on Monday in Punjab and Uttarakhand where the country's ruling Congress party hopes to regain momentum after a year when its reputation was battered by corruption scandals and a slowing economy.

Asian shares and the euro rose on Tuesday after Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos raised hopes that a deal would be reached this week to avoid a potentially chaotic debt default, but worries over Portugal's refinancing ability capped gains.

The BSE Sensex rose more than 1 percent on Tuesday morning, led by gains in index heavyweights Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) and ICICI Bank (ICBK.NS), and were poised for their best month in at least ten.

Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek upset Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6 6-2 to win the Australian Open doubles title on Saturday and foil the American twins' bid for a record 12th grand slam crown.

Apple's Steve Jobs directly asked former Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt to stop trying to recruit an Apple engineer, a transgression that threatened one junior Google employee's job, according to a court filing.

Victoria Azarenka became the first Belarusian to win a grand slam singles title when she claimed the Australian Open title with a crushing 6-3 6-0 victory over Russia's Maria Sharapova on Saturday.

Resurgent Australia ruthlessly ripped through the last flagging remnants of Indian resistance in less than an hour at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday to record a fourth crushing test win and sweep the series.

State Bank of India, the country's biggest lender, said it could revive international fundraising plans in 3-4 months, in a sign it believed the eurozone crisis might be easing.

Facebook plans to file documents as early as Wednesday for a highly anticipated IPO that will value the world's largest social network at between $75 billion and $100 billion, the Wall Street Journal cited unidentified sources as saying on Friday.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may intervene in the forward foreign exchange market, in addition to the spot market, to help manage liquidity in the banking system, a central bank source said on Friday.

The broad asset rally which the U.S. Federal Reserve inspired by pledging to keep rates low decelerated on Friday as investors awaited the outcome of Greek debt talks and U.S. gross domestic product data. Asian stocks paused.

The rupee touched a two-and-a-half month high on Friday, aided by firm local shares, as demand for riskier assets was spurred by hopes Greece will soon reach an agreement on restructuring its debt.

The BSE Sensex rose 0.7 percent on Friday and was on track to post its fourth weekly gain in a row, on expectations improving global risk appetite will draw in more portfolio investments.

Investors in Apple Inc. have a one-word answer for those who wonder whether this corporate juggernaut can maintain its phenomenal momentum in the years ahead: Asia.

Spot gold finished slightly lower on Thursday as investors locked in profits after bullion jumped past key resistance in early trade.

Twitter announced Thursday that it would begin censoring Tweets in certain countries, marking a policy shift for the social media platform that helped propel the popular uprisings.

Samsung Electronics Co posted a record 4.7 billion dollar quarterly operating profit, driven by booming smartphone sales.

Rafa Nadal fought back to topple great rival Roger Federer in an enthralling Australian Open semi-final. Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova will meet in the women's singles.

Vodafone chief executive said the company's victory in a $2.2 billion legal battle against tax authorities in India would help pave the way for a listing of shares in its business in the country.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has a problem, a $98 billion problem. Just 18 months ago, Apple's $46 billion mountain of cash, while huge by most standards, attracted only muted complaints from investors, who did call for a dividend or share buyback, but were mostly happy with the meteoric rise in the stock price.

Meredith Alexander, a member of the body that oversees the sustainability of the London Olympics has resigned in protest at a sponsorship deal with Dow Chemical because of the American company's ties to the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster that killed thousands in Madhya Pradesh.

By her own standards, Dalit queen Kumari Mayawati's birthday celebrations were low-key this year because of the assembly elections. The huge crowds of gaping admirers were missing this year.

When Apple Inc set up its customer service plan for the iPhone, it seems to have had the best intentions of humanity in mind - any phone under warranty can get serviced because it's the phone that's tied to the warranty, not the owner.

Equities, commodities and the euro extended gains Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would keep interest rates low for a much longer-than-expected period, providing ample liquidity to help spur growth.

Virat Kohli upstaged his more esteemed team mates with India's first century of the series but the tourists were still bowled out for 272 after tea on the third day of the fourth test against Australia on Thursday.

The rupee was little changed in narrow-band trade on Wednesday as month-end dollar demand from oil importers offset positive local shares.

Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke both hit masterful double centuries to drive Australia to 604 for seven declared before their bowlers reduced India to 61 for two at the end of second day of the fourth test on Wednesday.

Asian shares rose on Wednesday, underpinned by strong earnings from U.S. technology giant Apple, stabilizing European money markets and falling eurozone debt yields, with investors shifting their focus from Europe to the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Apple Inc's quarterly results blew past Wall Street's expectations after U.S. consumers snapped up near-unprecedented numbers of iPhones and iPads, sending its shares up 8 percent into record territory.