India

Manmohan Singh on Thursday announced 1,000 crore relief for the state of Uttarakhand which has been ravaged by incessant rains and floods.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has underscored the spunk in Sri Lanka's Champions Trophy campaign, and marked their spirit a vital asset as they attempt to topple India, who have been the form team of the competition

SAD may ask Badal for NDA convener: Dhindsa

Faces of people snorkeling in the Red Sea in the Ras Muhammad national park in Egypt People snorkeling in the Red Sea, in the protected marine park called Ras Muhammad, close to the Egyptian town of Sharm el Sheikh. The town is famous for being a tourist location, where a number of tourists come there in the winter to enjoy the weather, and to indulge in water pursuits such as snorkeling and scuba diving. This photo is located close to the coral reefs, where a number of men, women and children have come to enjoy snorkeling. This photo was taken using a waterproof camera. This was the first time that such a water-proof camera was being used (here is such a camera - Olympus TG-320 Water Proof camera), and it was incredible to be able to take such photos at and under the water level. I took a number of such photos. 4 people gathered around a rubber tube and looking into the water surface while snorkeling A wide open expanse of water with 4 people close together. From what I remember, this was the scene where there were these 3 tourists around a rubber tube, with a guide also with them. All of them are clutching a rubber tube to provide them the required floating support, and the guide is showing something in the water below, most likely some colorful fish (could be a coral reef though, located several feet below the water surface). The 4th person seems to be the guide, with the 3 tourists wearing life vests and the 4th person wearing a wet suit. Flippers worn by the guide who was helping us do snorkeling in the Red Sea in the Ras Muhammad national park We had a couple of guide for all the tourists who were doing snorkeling in the Red Sea. The guides were dressed a bit different from the tourists, wearing wet suits unlike the rest of us. Some tourists were wearing life vests, while others who were more confident of their swimming prowess were not wearing these life vests. I was doing some further testing of the water proof camera (here is such a camera - Olympus TG-320 Water Proof camera) and ducked a bit below water to take a photo below the surface of the water, and caught a photo of the guide wearing his flippers.4 people clutching onto the rubber tube when doing snorkeling in the Red Sea Another sight of people clutching onto the rubber tube in the Red Sea. This is in the Ras Muhammad protected national park, close to the tourist town of Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt, on the Sinai peninsula. They had some rubber tubes for the tourists (us) and these were used to full effect. For example, even though I knew how to swim, I was also clutching onto the tube since it provided a lot of moral support when in waters that were much deeper than us (the water would have been around 10-15 feet deep).

Indiscriminate development in the hill towns, with guest houses, hotels and all manners of illegal encroachment taking place along the rivers, it was a disaster waiting to happen. Since 2002 there has...Related StoriesUttarakhand rescue operations are among army's largest ever5,000 Indian expats in Saudi Arabia get new jobsKedarnath: one of India's most revered shrinesUttarakhand rains: Harbhajan Singh rescued by Indian Air ForceGujarat farmers protest Narendra Modi government's proposal for special investment regions

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down slightly as the market eagerly awaits the 2 p.m. EDT release of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee's statement, followed by the 2:30 p.m. EDT press conference with Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. As of 1:15 p.m. EDT the Dow is down 21 points, or 0.13%, to 15,298. The S&P 500 is down 0.14% to 1,649. There were no U.S. economic releases today, so the market is focused solely on the Fed's statement. To review, as part of its quantitative-easing program, the Federal Reserve is purchasing $85 billion worth of long-term assets each month -- $45 billion in long-term Treasuries and $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities. This is an effort to keep rates down and the economy chugging along. Investors have begun to worry about when and how the Fed will wind down its quantitative-easing program. Bernanke has made a big effort to communicate the Fed's thinking so as to not to surprise investors. In its previous statements, the Federal Reserve has said it will keep the purchases going until unemployment falls to 6.5%, inflation rises past the Fed's target range of 2% to 2.5%, or long-term inflation expectations take off. Right now we're not close to any of the Fed's targets, with unemployment at 7.6%, inflation below 2%, and long-term inflation expectations at 2% (as per the TIPS Spread -- the difference between the yields on Treasury Inflation Protection Securities and the nominal U.S. Treasury bond yield). Still, investors are worried. While the Dow has not really reflected it, the bond markets have fallen since May: 10-year Treasury yields have risen from 1.6% to roughly 2.2% now. 10 Year Treasury Rate data by YCharts. So what will the Fed say, and how will the markets react? I don't know, and anyone who claims to know is lying. You can make educated guesses, but they're just that -- guesses. While thousands of people closely monitor the Fed and all its members, surprises are bound to happen. However, as the Fed has been clear on its stance so far, your investment strategy should not be predicated upon small changes in the Fed's statements. If it is, your outlook is too short-term for successful investing. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming Fed statement, some Dow stocks are making decent gains. Among today's leading Dow stocks is Hewlett-Packard , up 0.9%. Earlier today, HP hit a new 52-week high of $25.87. The company has been on a tear this year, up 81% year to date as it continues its slow turnaround under the guidance of CEO Meg Whitman. Signs of this were seen yesterday when HP announced that it would replace the head of its printing and PC business with Dion Weisler, who was hired last year from Lenovo. The PC business has been struggling this year; in the first quarter, worldwide PC sales saw their worst drop in history, down 14%. The massive wave of mobile computing has done much to unseat the major players in the PC market, including venerable technology names like Hewlett-Packard. However, HP is rapidly shifting its strategy under Whitman's leadership. But does this make HP one of the least-appreciated turnaround stories on the market, or is this a minor detour on its road to irrelevance? The Motley Fool's technology analyst details exactly what investors need to know about HP in our new premium research report. Just click here now to get your copy today. And leading the Dow this afternoon is Coca-Cola , up 1%. This morning Credit Suisse analysts initiated coverage on Coca-Cola, saying the company has "the potential to generate returns in excess of the peer group over the next two to three years." The ratings agency continued, "We see upside to 2013/14 EPS estimates based on optionality in key markets in Asia and the U.S., and we also expect margins and ROIC to improve." Speaking of Asia, today Coca-Cola announced a reshuffling of its management for its Pacific operations. The current chief executive for India and Southwes

Worst one night stand ever. NEW DELHI – It is a bit of a cliche to say that Indian society is in the throes of change these days. But it appears that the more things change, the more they remain the same. A court verdict in the southern state of Tamil Nadu on Monday seems to conclude that adult couples who have slept together should be considered legally akin to married. The judge directed a man to pay alimony to a woman who claimed she had lived with him for five years as his wife and gave birth to two children. The man, however, said they were not legally married. Justice C. S. Karnan said in his order, “If any couple choose to consummate their sexual cravings, then that act becomes a total commitment with adherence to all consequences that may follow, except on certain exceptional considerations.” The judge added that the rituals of marriage, such as going around the ceremonial fire, garlands and rings, were only for the satisfaction of society. He said that “both the petitioner and the respondent lived together as spouses and begot two children.” Bang a bitch and you’re automatically married. What a fucking nightmare. Thank God this shit is only in India. Nothing that India does matters at all. The rules and laws on fucking Mars matter more than the rules and laws in India. But can you imagine if this shit became universal? Could be the end of mankind as we know it. Would flip the entire human race upside down. You’d have conniving chicks straight up throwing the pussy at you in an effort to become legally married. Dudes ordinarily on the prowl for as much vagina as they can possibly handle would be hiding their dicks inside chastity belts. If every one night stand slip up meant you were immediately wifed up men and women’s roles would be 100% reversed. Dudes would be swatting girls’ hands away every time they started to take your pants off. We’d be telling chicks to just give us hand jobs because we’re not comfortable going any further. Girls would be offering blow jobs and anal and would never say no because they’d know it was the quickest way to land a husband. It would be pure anarchy. Straight sexual chaos if you upset the balance of power like this. India better watch the fuck out. Just when you think shit couldn’t possibly get any weirder over there, they might end sex as we know it.

Before 2014, Gujarat's utterly butterly brand Amul will also make its presence in the Hindi heartland.

Facing a CBI probe in the chopper scam, former IAF Chief S P Tyagi has resigned from a government think tank headed by Defence Minister A K Antony.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday virtually admitted to the change of guard in the party with the elevation of Narendra Modi as chairman of the election campaign committee.