Raymond Ronamai

India's headline inflation slowed sharply in December to a two-year low as food price pressure eased dramatically, but the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is still expected to leave interest rates on hold next week as manufacturing inflation remained elevated.

The government plans to launch a $1 billion fund by June-July, with an initial capital of 5 billion rupees, to invest in ideas that will generate services and products to uplift the poor, a top government official told reporters on Monday.

Australia, fired by David Warner's 180, are closing on victory after reducing India to 88 for four in their second innings after two days of the third test on Saturday.

The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh is likely to tone down 56th birthday celebrations on Sunday because of the forthcoming assembly elections. She is expected to celebrate by cutting a cake and announcing a list of 403 candidates.

Australia crumbled after opener David Warner was dismissed for 180 as India's pace attack finally stood up in the third test and bowled the hosts out for 369 to bring up tea on the second day on Saturday.

A group of Indian hackers has offered support to an American man who filed a lawsuit against Symantec Corp (SYMC.O) by publishing source code from a 2006 version of Norton Utilities, a software program at the heart of the legal dispute.

The Reserve Bank of India has set guidelines for compensation of senior bank executives, imposing restrictions on guaranteed bonus, severance pay as well as a cap on variable pay, in line with global moves to rationalise pay structures and curb risktaking.

Goldman Sachs said it expected upside in prices of oil, gold and copper this year, citing greater supply risks and stronger fundamentals.

Internet giants including Google and Facebook are embroiled in a growing battle in India over offensive content with a High Court judge warning websites.

David Warner smashed the fastest test century by an opening batsman as Australia battered India on the first day of the third test on Friday.

Asif Ali Zardari returned to Pakistan on Friday from a trip to Dubai, his spokesman said.

India is about to hit a milestone in its battle to eradicate the polio virus with no new cases reported in the past year.

Enraged Chinese shoppers pelted Apple Inc's flagship Beijing store with eggs and shoving matches with police broke out when customers were told the store would not begin sales of the popular iPhone 4S as scheduled.

A stronger rupee boosted gold purchases from India just before the wedding season resumes in India, the world's largest gold consumer, while physical flow into China was lukewarm ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has rejected suggestions of in-fighting in his team on the tour of Australia, saying the claims were possibly the result of a beer-induced fantasy.

Asif Ali Zardari, under threat from a memo seeking U.S. help in preventing a coup by Pakistan's powerful generals, has never managed to dispel the notion he is an accidental president.

Shares in Thomas Cook India rose more than 2 percent on Thursday after a report said its UK parent has decided to sell the Indian arm to raise money to help the travel firm's troubled global operations.

Infosys Ltd cut its full-year revenue outlook because of the debt crisis in Europe, sending down the shares of the No.2 Indian software services exporter by as much as 7.7 percent to their lowest in more than a month.

Samsung Electronics is not interested in Olympus Corp's camera business, but the South Korean company may consider an alliance with the Japanese firm in other areas, a Samsung source told Reuters.

The Reserve Bank of India has cautioned some large foreign banks for encouraging local companies to participate in speculative trades in the foreign exchange market, the Business Standard reported on Thursday.

Twitter lashed out at changes Google Inc unveiled for its search engine on Tuesday, describing the changes as bad for consumers and for Web publishers.

The union government has told refiners to reduce Iranian oil imports and find alternatives as New Delhi may not seek a waiver that would protect buyers of Tehran's oil from a fresh round of U.S. sanctions, two industry sources said on Wednesday.

Indian lenders may have to downgrade their loans to loss-making state-run Air India after they deferred a long-pending debt restructuring proposal, seeking a revision and making it tougher for the carrier to raise funds, three sources said.

Gold hit a four-week high and broke above a key resistance on Wednesday, defying a stronger dollar, as the festering euro zone debt crisis lured investors to its safety and signs of strong demand from the world's top two consumers also supported.

Oil rose to around $113 a barrel on Tuesday as tension over Iran's nuclear program and unrest in Nigeria outweighed persistent concerns about the strength of Europe's economy.

U.S. authorities are investigating allegations that an Indian government spy unit hacked into emails of an official U.S. commission that monitors economic and security relations between the United States and China, including cyber-security issues.

Samsung Electronics Co, the world's biggest technology firm by revenue and the world's No.2 handset maker, is confident of its handset shipments overtaking that of Nokia this year, its chief executive said on Monday.

Hewlett-Packard Co on Monday unveiled a new glass-encased laptop computer as the largest computer maker stepped up its efforts to chip away at rival Apple Inc's stronghold in high-end PC market.

Mercedes-Benz USA is bringing Facebook to its cars, with a special version of the service that is built-in to a new in-vehicle telematics system that will be unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.