Sreeja VN

UK-based Diageo Plc confirmed Tuesday that it was in talks to buy a stake in India’s United Spirits. In a joint London Stock Exchange filing, both the companies confirmed that the talks were on but added that there was no certainty about the deal.

The United Nations has selected Bollywood actress and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as the international goodwill ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

A controversial advertisement by an extreme right wing American group hit New York subway stations Monday. The pro-Israel ad that equates "jihad" with "savagery" made more news on Twitter than in the busy subway where people rushed past the ads unconcerned.

The top after-market Nasdaq gainers Monday were Synacor Inc, TFS Financial Corporation, Logitech International S.A., NII Holdings Inc and Aruba Networks Inc. The top after-market Nasdaq losers were Forward Air Corporation, Gevo Inc, Career Education Corporation, PennantPark Investment Corporation and Citrix Systems.

At least 33 people have been killed and over a million people displaced in landslides and floods caused by the incessant rains in India’s north-eastern states of Sikkim and Assam.

Global rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Monday cut the economic growth forecast for the Asia Pacific countries, including China and India, citing the slowdown in China, euro zone troubles and a slower-than-expected recovery in the U.S.

Tropical depression Miriam has become a category one hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale but poses no threat to land, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The protest against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu, South India, intensified on Saturday as the fishermen blocked the Tuticorin port in the state. Anti-nuclear activists and the local villagers have been opposing the construction of the nuclear plant in the Idinthakarai district since several months.

Protests against the recent incidents of insult to the Prophet Mohammad turned violent in Pakistan killing at least 25 and injuring hundreds on Friday. In other parts of the world, the protest demonstrations were largely peaceful.

The U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart is expected to launch its first store in India within 12 to 18 months following an economic reforms drive by the Indian government last week that allowed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the multi-brand retail sector.

Moody’s has cautioned the Indian government against a roll back of diesel price hike under pressure. The rating agency’s warning came in the background of speculations that the Congress-led government may partially roll back the recent hike in diesel prices and increase the cap on subsidized cooking gas cylinders to quell the public’s opposition to the reform measures it had announced recently.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has retained his number one position in the Forbes’ annual list of the “richest people in America” for the 19th consecutive year.

Early in-person voting for the presidential elections will begin in Idaho and South Dakota Friday, even as the Democrats and Republicans are engaged in court battle on the issue of limiting such early voting before the actual date of the elections.

The top after-market Nasdaq gainers Wednesday were Apogee Enterprises Inc, Targacept Inc, Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc, Ancestry.com Inc and Align Technology Inc. The top after-market Nasdaq losers were Horizon Pharma Inc, Herman Miller Inc, Gevo Inc, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc and Citrix Systems.

The Congress leaders claimed that the party and government had made several attempts to contact Banerjee but she had not responded to the messages so far. “We have tried to speak to her. The Prime Minister tried to speak. We left a message, but we have not heard anything,” Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters in Delhi.

The top after-market Nasdaq gainers Tuesday were Cynosure Inc, NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc, Biosante Pharmaceuticals Inc, Infinera Corporation and Ctrip.com International Ltd. The top after-market Nasdaq losers were Silver Standard Resources Inc, Endo Health Solutions Inc, Flamel Technologies S.A., OraSure Technologies Inc and Corinthian Colleges Inc.

India's retail inflation rate increased to 10.03 percent in August from 9.86 percent recorded in July, mainly driven by higher food prices, according to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation.

An Ohio convict, sentenced to death by lethal injection early next year, has requested that his execution be delayed, arguing that he is to obese to be executed.

The top after-market Nasdaq gainers Monday were Brightcove Inc, Body Central Corp, Renewable Energy Group, 3SBio Inc and AngioDynamics Inc.The top after-market Nasdaq losers were Kraft Foods Group, Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc, TriQuint Semiconductor, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc and Tree.com.

President Barack Obama will launch a trade suit against China alleging unfair trade practices by the Chinese government to benefit its auto industry, an U.S administration official said on Monday.

In a surprise move, the Reserve Bank of India Monday cut the cash reserve ratio by 25 basis points while keeping the other key rates unchanged in its Mid-Quarter Monetary Policy Review 2012.

The Yemen wing of al Qaeda has asked Muslims to kill more U.S. diplomats in Islamic countries, terming the anti-Islam film made in the U.S. as a another chapter in the "crusader wars" against Islam, stated a Reuters report citing a posting on an al Qaeda website.

Google Friday refused to comply with the White House request to reconsider its decision to not remove an anti-Islam film from YouTube, Reuters reported.

The top after-market Nasdaq gainers Friday were MIPS Technologies, Star Scientific Inc, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc and Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Limited. The top after-market Nasdaq losers were Nanosphere Inc, Orexigen Therapeutics Inc, Fulton Financial Corporation and Acme Packet Inc.

India's wholesale price index (WPI) rose to a higher-than-expected 7.55 percent in July on annual basis, driven mainly by higher non-food prices, dashing hopes for rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India.

U.S. officials have acknowledged that they did not issue a high alert to the diplomatic missions about the security threat after an Arabic talk show Saturday telecast parts of an anti-Muslim film made in the United States, which the agencies believe triggered the violent protests against the country's missions in Libya, Egypt and Yemen.

Scientists have identified a new species of African monkey with distinct coloring that differentiates it from other species. The new primate species now scientifically named Cercopithecus lomamiensis was first found by a research team during their field surveys in a remote area of the middle Lomami Basin between the Tshuapa, Lomami and Lualaba Rivers in central Democratic Republic of Congo.

The top after-market Nasdaq gainers Thursday were Analogic Corporation, Tessera Technologies Inc, Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation, MannKind Corporation and Skullcandy. The top after-market Nasdaq losers were Werner Enterprises Inc, Green Plains Renewable Energy Inc, Royal Gold Inc, Affymetrix Inc and Susser Holdings Corporation.