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New Delhi: India is likely to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, Syria and the evolving ASEAN-centric geopolitical archetecture on the visit of the US Secretary of State John F Kerry.

The third time prime minister of Pakistan Mian Mohammed Nawaz Sharif takes on the yearning with a grit for a new Pakistan, which is very different from the dazzling-but-vacuous concept of ‘Naya Pakistan’ of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf chief Imran Khan. The very choice of National Party leader, Abdul Malik Baloch as the chief minister of Baluchistan - a much-respected leader, for whom over 120 NGOs appealed to the new PM for leading the troubled Pakhtun province - deserves praise.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The confrontationist clouds scudding across Kerala’s political sky have thickened further with both the United Democratic Front (UDF) Government and the Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) refusing to relent from their positions on the unfolding solar scam.

It seems cheating is endemic to modern advertising and marketing, especially when it comes to multinational corporations operating in host countries with weak regulatory frameworks. They would go to any extent to mislead consumers, the public and the government with atrocious claims. The latest example of one such claim is a spate of TV ads by increasing number of India outfits of some of the giant multinational FMCG companies rather shamelessly asking consumers to buy brands – from soaps and detergents to health food and baby care products - to support their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes. Aren’t such CSR-linked consumer ads unethical and misleading, if not totally illegal?

New Delhi: India has said that negotiations for peace with the Talibans by the Afghan government should not seek to create equivalence between an internationally recognised government and insurgent groups.

The US Federal Reserve will continue for the present its purchase of US securities (QE) at the rate of 85 billion dollars a month to support stronger economic recovery and ensure that inflation edges up to its longer-run target of 2 per cent but it may begin a gradual scaling down of this stimulus (quantitative easing) later in the year, depending on incoming data on economy and labour market as well as the level of inflation.

The Congress party is getting ready to face the 2014 Lok Sabha polls with the much-expected organisational changes and cabinet reshuffle that happened this week. The bigger thing was the changes in the party, while the cabinet rejig is only secondary. In essence, the government is now in the party mode.

New Delhi: The tragedy of Kedarnath pilgrim yatra has compelled the government to wake up to the need to ensure the safety and security of the pilgrims. Nature’s fury has created havoc in the hill state, Uttarakhand where torrential rains, landslides and floods have taken a massive toll. As per official figures so far death toll has mounted to 150. But with 70,000 reported missing, death toll may mount in thousands as per unofficial estimates.

New Delhi: Ahead of his maiden visit to India, the US Secretary of State John Kerry has lauded New Delhi as “a rising power” and favoured its inclusion as a permanent member in the proposed expansion of the UN Security Council.

The medical entrance scene in India has changed with the introduction of the undergraduate National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). Meant to be a single window test, the NEET has, in one go, replaced most of the state medical entrance tests. By qualifying in the NEET, students would be able to compete for a percentage of seats in most medical colleges, throughout the Indian union, by their ‘national’ rank. Their ‘state rank’ would help them compete for medical college seats within the states where they fulfill domicile requirements.