INDIA

The U.S. stock index futures point to a lower open Thursday ahead of the Labor Department's weekly jobless claims data, Institute of Supply Management’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index data and Automatic Data Processing’s National Employment Report.

India’s manufacturing sector growth improved 0.1 percent in October from the 10-month low in September, aided by an increase in new orders, a survey by HSBC showed.

Cyclone Nilam spared India’s southern city of Chennai, making a landfall 50-km south at Mamallapuram along the Tamil Nadu coast Wednesday evening.

Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday after the official data showed that Chinese manufacturing activity expanded for the first time in three months.

A comment made by Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of the north western Indian state of Gujarat, about the wife of a minister has stirred a debate on a range of issues starting from honoring the modesty of women to the public display of affection (PDA), heating up the media and social networking sites.

Even as the U.S. east coast was recovering from the damage inflicted by Superstorm Sandy, the deep depression which had formed over the Bay of Bengal has intensified into a cyclone and is expected to cross between coasts of south eastern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh late Wednesday evening.

Asian stock markets mostly advanced Wednesday as better news in Europe both on the earnings and the fiscal front along with South Korean industrial production data improved risk appetite.

United Spirits shares plummeted over 17 percent to 990.00 rupees Monday at Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex after its promoter Vijay Mallya hinted that a proposed deal with UK beverage major Diageo may be a "no deal."

Bhola is widely regarded as the deadliest tropical cyclone in recorded history.

Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram unveiled a fiscal consolidation road map Monday, intending to cut the country’s fiscal deficit to 3 percent of GDP by 2017 from the current 5.8 percent, hoping that the Central Bank of India will support the government initiative with rate cuts.

Australia has unveiled a major pivot to Asia policy plan describing Asia’s return to global leadership as “unstoppable.”

The U.S. employment situation summary Friday will carry the most weight, because it will be the last jobs report before Election Day.

More than 22,000 people — majority from Muslim communities — have been rendered homeless in western Myanmar, the U.N. said Sunday even as President Thein Sein admitted that an unprecedented wave of sectarian violence has targeted the nation’s Rohingya Muslims destroying several villages and townships.

Four years ago, Indians were fired up about Barack Obama. This time, they don't care as much who wins -- but that's a good thing.

Asian stock markets ended on a negative note last week as the disappointing corporate earnings from the major companies in the U.S. and Asia weighed on the sentiment and suggested that the global economic growth momentum continued to falter.

Indian companies have created 50,000 jobs in the U.S. while the Indian investment in the country grew 20 fold in 10 years to $27 billion in 2010, making the economic relationship between both the countries “very much a two-way street,” says Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns.

Asian markets fell in the week with investor sentiment turning negative following the disappointing corporate earnings in the U.S. indicating that the global economic growth momentum continues to falter.

Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna has stepped down, indicating an outflow of aging officials from India's cabinet.

Missing baby, Saanvi Venna, was found dead on Friday.

Vijay Mallya , the self-proclaimed “King of Good Times,” lost his billionaire ranking in Forbes India rich list as his net worth eroded 27 percent to $800 million this year from $1.1 billion last year.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is likely to publish in its bulletin the story about a one-month-old Indian baby girl whose rickshaw-puller father was forced to carry her around in a shoulder sling while at work following his wife’s death, local media reported Friday.