Pakistan and China are disagreeing over whether Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has given the Chinese a gift, an entire naval base at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.
'It was the Mughals who first established standard units of measurement and maintained offices of meticulous record keepers and auditors, departing from the more haphazard methods of earlier regimes.' 'By the end of the 16th century, their revenue and judicial administrations exhibited an obsessive preoccupation with order, the efficient management of time, and a spirit of rational self-control -- all of them characteristics of early modernity,' point out Sheldon Pollock and Benjamin Ellman.
The Obama administration is moving ahead with a 'range of steps short of war' that it hopes will forestall an Israeli attack on Iran, while forcing Tehran to take more seriously negotiations that are all but stalemated, a media report on Monday said.
Amid heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf, Britain on Sunday said it would not be "wise" for Israel to launch pre-emptive military strikes on Iran's atomic installations as it would have "enormous downsides."
As tensions mounted in the Persian Gulf, Pakistan on Thursday assured Iran that it will not provide any assistance to American forces in the event of a United States attack on Tehran.
Thirteen Iranians were rescued by a US Navy destroyer on Thursday, more than 40 days after their boat was commandeered by suspected Somali pirates in the northern Arabian Sea.
After drastically cutting imports from Iran, India is hoping to win waiver from US financial sanctions on its oil trade with Iran so as to continue to getting supplies from the Persian Gulf nation.
Resisting US pressure to further scale down oil imports from sanction-hit Iran, India on Monday made it clear that it has to look at the issue involved beyond the energy trade as it has "vital" security stakes in the Gulf region.
Clearing the way for oil refiners to pay Iran in Indian rupee, the Union Budget has exempted the payments made for crude oil purchased from the Persian Gulf nation, from any local tax.
We bring you a collection of some of the best photographs taken this week by ace photographers.
A total of 40 stickers suspected to be part of an alleged terror plot by a group of Iranians have been found pasted along a route running close to a luxury hotel in downtown Bangkok, nearly a week after the triple explosions rocked the Thai capital.
India plans to further cut imports from Iran by 13 per cent next fiscal even though easing of US and western sanctions has made buying crude oil from the Persian Gulf nation easier.
The United States is set to bolster its military presence in the Persian Gulf by posting combat forces in Kuwait to respond to a collapse of security in Iraq or a military confrontation with Iran.
More than six months after a Reserve Bank of India order threw out a mechanism to pay for Iranian oil, Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy on Tuesday said India is trying to ensure uninterrupted supplies of crude from the Persian Gulf nation.
Tipu Sultan is a controversial figure in Kodagu district as Kodavas (Coorgis), a martial race, believe thousands of their men and women were seized and held captive during his occupation and subjected to torture, death and forcible conversion to Islam.
All laws have been modified to omit the domicile clause for property rights in the valley. This effectively means that anyone with enough money to spend can now technically buy property there, writes Sai Manish.
Private sector lender ICICI Bank on Monday launched I-Express, an instant cross-border money transfer option for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs).
In a repeat of the M V Wisdom episode, a much-smaller cargo vessel ran aground near the Juhu beach in north-west Mumbai on Sunday, officials said.
There is a vocal constituency of educated, well-to-do, articulate Indian elites who would rather go with the idea that too much democracy is a liability. That India needs a spell of benevolent dictatorship. Of course, they have never lived under one, points out Shekhar Gupta.
K K Mohammad, who took the US First Couple around Humayun's Tomb while explaining its history, tells Sheela Bhatt that the tour was a crash course in architecture and history for the Obamas.
'The return of India to its own civilisational values can never endanger freedoms as pluralism is the bedrock of our culture,' assert Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd) and Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The deployment seems to be more than what is needed.
"We have been importing 3 million barrels of crude oil per month from Iran. There is no change in that status... there has been no disruption in supplies... We continue to import same volumes (this month)," Essar Oil Managing Director and CEO Naresh Nayyar said.
Invoking India's "civilisational ties" with Iran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew in to Tehran on Sunday on a two-day visit, saying his talks with the Iranian leadership would provide him an opportunity to advance the "strategic partnership" between the two countries.
The name 'Laila' which means dark-haired beauty or night in Persian was suggested by Pakistan to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) which is tasked by the World Meteorological Organisation to track and name cyclones in the northern Indian Ocean, an IMD official said.
The Mughal Garden will be in full bloom with over 10,000 Tulip bulbs, 138 types of roses and 70 different kinds of about 5,000 seasonal flowers.
"We are exploring if Indian oil firms can open accounts in banks like Dubai-based Noor Islamic Bank so they can undertake a direct transfer of money for oil they buy from Iran," a senior government official said.
The United States says its expects India to enforce United Nations sanctions against Iran but left it to that country to decide on steps to "convince" the Persian Gulf state to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
State-own oil explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and the Hinduja group have been offered 40 per cent stake in the development of phase-XII of the giant South Pars gas field of Iran.
Reader Sameer Shaikh sent us this photograph from Mumbai.
These photographs will make you fall in love with them.
Designer Harangad Singh's line on the second day of Fashion Week, 'Khumor', was inspired by the ecstasy of divine passion. Take a look.
Ghulam Rasool Khan alias Khan Mirza, the Afghanistani national who was recently arrested in Purnia district in Bihar for his alleged links with the Taliban, holds a Pakistani passport.According to sources, police have recovered a Pakistani passport, issued in 2005, and a diary from Khan. Acting on a tip-off by the IB, the police arrested Khan in Purnia on January 13, and he was brought to Patna for further interrogation.
Rediff reader Rajiv Aggarwal shared this list of books he wants everyone to read
Contrary to reports, the defence ministry has not opened any other deal for investigation besides the AgustaWestland chopper contract, defence sources said on Friday.
Rajasthani designer Swati Vijaivargie's inspiration for her Mauj collection showcased at Lakme Fashion Week was 'a distinctive artistry of flat weaving called Kilim and Dhurrie.'
Here's a glimpse of Rohit Bal's Persian-inspired 'Khakastri' collection, showcased on Day Three of HDIL India Couture Week.
Maulana Azad National Urdu University (A central university established by an Act of Parliament in the year 1998) invites applications.
'Modi has visited all these three countries (the UAE more than once, inexplicably) but has left out Kuwait and Oman, the two Gulf countries that are closest to India in their political, cultural and civilisational ethos,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Shipping Corporation of India's oil tanker, MT Desh Shanti, which was detained in Iran for 26 days, arrived at Visakhapatnam port in the early hours on Wednesday, sources said.
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