When Amit Jatia, vice-chairman of Westlife Development (WLDL), which operates fast-food chain McDonald's in West and South India, wanted to become the American fast-food giant's local partner in 1995, he had to first convince his family he would remain a staunch vegetarian. As McDonald's - home of the iconic Big Mac - completes 25 years in India, being one of the largest operators in the quick-service restaurant (QSR) segment in the country with over 300 outlets, Jatia has held on to the promise he made to his family. Not one to sit back and watch anyone flip the Big Mac, he gets straight to the meat of the matter when he says McDonald's success menu will see the QSR expand its ever-hungry 'foodprint' by doubling the number of joints and increasing its average unit volume by 35-40 per cent in five years.
Reining in Pakistan's expanding nuclear weapons programme should be an international priority, according to an editorial in the New York Times which said that the country being home to many extremist groups adds to the dangers it presents for South Asia and the entire world.
Both statesmen possess a cultivated pugnacious style which they keep in reserve and can at will bring into play, and despite the mutual distrust in Russian-American relations, they are proponents of detente, quintessentially, who take their mission deadly seriously, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The White House press secretary said LeT is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians in terrorist attacks, including a number of American citizens.
The global agency said there are "serious deficiencies" on the part of the country in checking terror-financing and it lacks an effective system to deal with it.
An alert government in Delhi should have begun government-to-government discussions with Moscow the moment it came to know that Russians were developing a vaccine. That is to say, almost an year's time has been lost, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The richness of Buddhism makes it possible for us to create these stories and to interpret them.'
Five-time world player of the year Lionel Messi of Argentina, Chile's Alexis Sanchez and Brazilian Dani Alves were among the big names in the final rosters announced on Monday for next month's Copa America Centenario.
'There is gradual rise in the number of nations viewing Pakistan as the nursery of global terror.'
Jamaat-Ul Mujahideen Bangladesh activist Mohammed Masiuddin alias Abu Musa has been questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Kolkata to probe a possible conspiracy being hatched by his Syria-based handler Sultan Abdul Kadir Armar to target American assets and nationals.
Imran said the previous Pakistani governments "should not have pledged what they could not deliver."
'Many said his visit was very risky. But mercifully, Air Force One has taken off from Delhi without Mr Trump stepping on anybody's toes,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'I believe FFI has made a mistake,' notes Aseem Chhabra.
James Ivory discusses the rigors of completing the latest Merchant Ivory film with Aseem Chhabra.
'The attack killed 166 innocents, including six Americans. We will never let terrorists win, or even come close to winning!' he said.
The reduction of tension on the Chinese border may have reduced the urgency of a Biden-Modi meeting, but the sooner Modi starts a bromance with Biden the better as he had done with Obama and Trump, suggests Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Taco Bell operates through over 500 restaurants in 30 countries outside the US. In the US, it has around 7,000 restaurants.
'There are millions of Americans who are doing their best to undo the damage that he (Trump) is doing to the world,' Michael Moore tells Indira Kannan in Toronto.
A plant-rich diet high on fruits and veggies with less meat and sugar can help reduce diabetes, according to a study.
Novak Djokovic announced his resignation as head of the ATP's Player Council and intends to form a new breakaway body to represent athletes -- but his plans have immediately met with stiff resistance from within tennis.
'It will be a fine day when we can claim to have institutions in civil society as influential and as popular as ACLU, which is a strong body only because millions of Americans support its values.' 'When Indians take offence at how other Indians are treated, when we take injustice to others personally, we will begin to make India great,' says Aakar Patel.
Irrespective of demonetisation and GST blues, IIM Lucknow has been able to successfully place their batch of 459 students.
'China's action towards India really gives you a good insight into how the Communist Party of China is thinking these days'
It took Gujrathi 40 moves to outwit Benjamin and now he shares the lead with six others. The fourth Indian to cross the 2700 ELO rating barrier, Gujrathi will face American Grandmaster Aleksandr Lenderman in the fifth round.
Describing India as one of the most important partners of the United States in the Indo-Pacific region, the Biden Administration on Tuesday said that it welcomes India's emergence as a leading global power and its role as a net security provider in the region.
After a report mentioned that Facebook overlooked its hate speech policies in cases of BJP MLA T Raja Singh and 3 others, Shashi Tharoor, chairperson of Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT, said the committee 'would certainly wish to hear from Facebook'.
The world's largest coffee chain, Seattle-based Starbucks, is close to hiring its India head. Tata Starbucks Limited, the $10.7-billion American group's joint venture with Tata Global Beverages, has zeroed in on Virag Joshi as managing director for India operations, according to market sources.
Pak can only access the money if it does more to crack down on internal terror networks launching attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan.
All things taken into consideration, the Taliban statement on Kashmir portends trouble ahead. The Taliban is notorious for doublespeak and when it says there is no link between the Kashmir issue and the Afghan settlement, the opposite must be taken into account as well, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Taliban have been known for using violence to force the people to accept their agenda and views, he added.
Schumer and Menendez said the months-long demonstrations have been met with orders from the central government and local authorities to shut off internet access in protest areas, cut off water and electricity supplies for the tens of thousands living in protest camps, and impede the work of journalists reporting on the protests.
Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence had brought in Haqqani network's chief Sirajuddin Haqqani as the deputy leader of the Taliban last year to protect him from the Americans, a media report said on Sunday.
Indian-American management expert Anjan Mukherjee has been roped in by US President-elect Barack Obama into his transition team, the fourth person from the community to be part of the 15-member high-profile group.
Injured Lionel Messi will miss Argentina's 2018 World Cup qualifier away to Venezuela on Tuesday with a groin problem.
The goal gave Argentina all three points and condemned their neighbors to a losing start to their Copa campaign.
"I just said to them they were unbelievable. Congratulations. They made history. Enjoy it. This is unbelievable."
The envoys travelling on Thursday will meet civil society members and receive a briefing on the security situation from various agencies
The perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack, who shot dead 166 people, had confessed to details that should have been enough to hang him, but Pakistan enjoyed his anti-India rhetoric and let him spread his tentacles. A revealing excerpt from Khaled Ahmed's Pakistan's Terror Conundrum.
Online play is a priority now -- so far unthinkable in a business that's all about a meaningful interface with kirana stores.
In a letter signed by 16 of 17 committee members including two Indian-Americans Jhumpa Lahiri and Kal Penn, they said reproach and censure are necessary following Trump's "support of the hate groups and terrorists who killed and injured fellow Americans in Charlottesville."
