INDIA

Asian stock markets advanced Tuesday, helped by expectations that the major central banks will announce further stimulus measures when they hold policy meetings later this week.

Vietnam is an odd country to considering legalizing gay marriage since it has a poor record on human rights.

There are estimated to be at least 30,000 wild peacocks in the Thai desert, but their numbers have been steadily declining in recent years.

Grid failure left more than 300 million people without power in New Delhi and much of northern India for hours on Monday in the worst blackout for more than a decade, highlighting chronic infrastructure woes holding back Asia's third-largest economy.

“The country is facing a huge supply shortfall this summer."

The Indian activist Anna Hazare began his fifth hunger strike in 16 months on Sunday to pressurize the government to set up an anti-graft agency and tougher laws to abate the unbridled corruption in India.

In a bid to further clarify the confusions related to Indian taxation policies Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has setup a review committee to examine taxation of Development Centres and the IT Sector.

Asian stock markets advanced Monday on renewed hopes that policy makers in U.S. and Europe will announce further stimulus measures to spur economic growth when they hold policy meetings later this week.

A major power outage caused a blackout in Northern India, the worst since 2001, and severely hit normal life in eight states since late Sunday night, following the collapse of the the northern power grid.

Asian markets are expected to begin the week on upswing gains on the speculation of further stimulus measures from the central banks around the world to boost the fragile global economy. Most Asian markets ended last week on a negative note as investor confidence was weighed down by the mounting concerns over the euro zone debt crisis.

Out of the estimated 4 billion worldwide viewers who tuned in for Danny Boyle's sulfur-spewing smokestacks, giant "Harry Potter" puppets and peppy Britpop medleys, many spectators may still be wholly unaware of the humble beginnings from which the man behind the Olympic curtain sprang.

BrewDog's new, limited-edition India pale ale, "Never Mind the Anabolics," is laced with tons of ingredients that are sure to get professional athletes banned from the Olympics. BrewGod listed them as "creatine, guarana, lycii berries, kola nut, Gingko, matcha tea, maca powder, and steroids."

Conservationists have warned that the global wild tiger population, which totaled some 100,000 in 1900, has since shrunk to about 3,000. The animal could be extinct in the wild within two decades, they add.

The premature baby needed the incubator in order to survive and died shortly after being taken away from the life-saving machine.

Rationing was so severe, that British athletes were forced to consume whale meat for sustenance.

Ethnic violence in India's northeastern state of Assam, which has left 58 dead and 200,000 displaced so far, was a tragedy waiting to happen, affected by the influx of immigrants who mostly came from the former East Pakistan before it became Bangladesh in 1971.

ICICI Bank(ICBK.NS), India's top private lender, posted on Friday a 36.3 percent jump in quarterly profit, its strongest growth in more than a year, helped by robust loan growth, high fee income and better asset quality.

This time around, Oprah Winfrey is being criticized for her alleged ignorance and insensitivity to the Indian culture and her biased portrayal of the country in a segment for her new show -- Oprah's Next Chapter which is a part of the OWN Network. This show was aired in India this weekend and was a part of the two part TV serious about her trip to India in January.

Pakistani militants have vowed revenge for the Burmese attacks on Muslims.

India's much-awaited "second wave" of reforms is likely to be delayed due to the dilly-dallying monsoon. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who doubles as the finance minister, is expected to hold the crucial policy decisions on allowing the FDI in retail sector and hike in diesel prices until at least the second week of September, Reuters has reported quoting official sources.

Maruti Suzuki, India's largest car maker faces supply woes as the stocks of its two most popular car brands Swift and DZire have dried out, following the shutdown at its Manesar plant in the state of Haryana.