INDIA

Twelve soldiers of the Indian Army were killed after being trapped in avalanches that hit two army camps in Kashmir, an army official told media Thursday.

The BSE Sensex was headed for a second day of decline on Thursday as investors booked profits from recent rallies as concerns mounted over the state of the global economy, including rising oil prices.

The home ministry has opposed the decriminalization of gay sex at a Supreme Court hearing, television reports said on Thursday.

Tibet's prime-minister-in-exile, Lobsang Sangay, urged Tibetans to not celebrate Losar, the Tibetan New Year, amidst a rash of self-immolating monks and rising tensions with the Chinese government. However, traditional and spiritual rituals continued as planned.

Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd resigned on Wednesday after a row with fellow party member Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

A $35 computer launched last year in India as the world's cheapest tablet has run into problems and companies will be invited to bid again to make the device after complaints of poor performance and hiccups rolling out a pilot model.

In the past few weeks, a lot of leaks relating to iPad 3 components and expected release date made their way into the Internet and there's no way of verifying what is true and what is not, as Apple has not made any official announcement yet about its upcoming tablet. The latest leak – a photo of affront glass panel (allegedly of iPad 3) – is the clearest photo leaked yet but it has little new to reveal.

After an extensive fieldwork for over five years, a team of biologists discovered a new type of limbless amphibians in the rain-soaked habitats in the less explored states of northeast India.

Lenders to Kingfisher Airlines (KING.NS) have not agreed to extend further loans to the debt-crippled carrier, three banking sources said on Wednesday after reports that State Bank of India (SBI) was close to offering a bailout loan package.

Aakash, the $35 tablet computer released in October for Indian schoolchildren has a successor, dubbed the UbiSlate 7+, a slightly more expensive tablet for impoverished students in Latin America, Egypt, Thailand and Brazil. Due to huge demand for inexpensive Internet access in third world countries, DataWind, the company that made the Aakash, has been overwhelmed with interest in the device.

A top executive of Japan's scandal-ridden Olympus Corp was found hanged outside his apartment in suburban Delhi in a likely suicide, police said on Tuesday.

Thousands of young Portuguese have migrated to Mozambique in recent years – reportedly as many as 120,000 in 2011 alone.

Western investors in Japan's disgraced Olympus have accused its banks of trying to take control of the boardroom by stealth, amid growing signs that the firm's major creditors are considering installing their own appointees in the top jobs.

India once again wilted against quality pace bowling as Sri Lanka defeated them by 51 runs in the eighth match of the one-day Tri-series at the Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday.

Two expert committees appointed by the Indian Supreme Court began documenting the wealth of the famed Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple complex in Thiruvananthapuram.

Dow Chemical Co hoped an Olympic sponsorship would boost its global cache, but the company's link to a Bhopal gas leak tragedy 28 years ago threatens to curb some of the benefits from the $100 million advertising deal.

Ricky Ponting, Australia's most successful one-day cricketer, accepted that his limited overs international career was over on Tuesday but said he wanted to continue in test cricket and hoped to play in the 2013 Ashes. It's a bit hard to say I've retired given I've been dropped but I don't expect to play one-day international cricket anymore, he said.

Thousands of Hindu devotees from across India and Pakistan on Monday celebrated the festival of Mahashivratri with traditional religious fervor as chants of “bam bam bole” and “har har mahadev” reverberated in the air.

Kingfisher Airlines Ltd plans to return some aircraft voluntarily to leasers after defaulting on payments and has seen a fresh exodus of pilots, local media reported. Kingfisher shares plunged as much as nearly 20 percent on Tuesday.

Operations of India's Kingfisher Airlines continued to be disrupted with at least 30 flights cancelled Tuesday morning.

A top executive of Japan's scandal-ridden Olympus Corp has been found dead in a park outside New Delhi, an apparent suicide, The Times of India said Tuesday, quoting police.