More mobile phones than toilets in Indian householdsALMOST HALF of India’s 1.2 billion people do not have toilets at home but more people own a mobile phone.Thu Mar 15 2012 - 00:00
Major trade mission heads to Iran despite sanctionsIndia yesterday further challenged the US and European Union by dispatching a 70-member trade delegation to Iran to explore commercial…Sat Mar 10 2012 - 00:00
Rushdie misses literary festivalNEW DELHI – Salman Rushdie has cancelled plans to appear at an Indian literary festival in Jaipur following protests from Muslim…Sat Jan 21 2012 - 00:00
Leap second survives for at least three yearsGENEVA – The leap second survives – for at least three more yearsSat Jan 21 2012 - 00:00
Harvesting coconuts in Kerala with steady hand and studied flairLETTER FROM INDIA: The fruit of the palm tree is vital. Roll up and join a six-day harvesting technique courseWed Nov 23 2011 - 00:00
A quick return to business as usual in city inured to horrorMUMBAI RESIDENTS travelled to work as normal yesterday, resigned but frustrated and angry over the serial bombings that tore …Fri Jul 15 2011 - 01:00
Hunger strikers have little political clout in land of Gandhi todayDELHI LETTER: The death of an environmentalist failed even to attract the attention of corrupt provincial and federal authorities…Fri Jul 1 2011 - 01:00
Concerns India will lose face over Commonwealth GamesDELHI LETTER: The games were meant to showcase a rising India; instead, they may end up being a major embarrassmentWed Jun 2 2010 - 01:00
The 'hardships' endured by Delhi's pampered diplomatic corpsLETTER FROM INDIA: It’s tough being a diplomat in the far outposts of empire, but most manage it very well indeedMon Oct 19 2009 - 01:00
After latest election, power in India remains with family elitesDELHI LETTER: The Nehru-Gandhi Congress Party tops the political dynasty chart by a long wayMon Jun 1 2009 - 01:00
Volcano of enmity threatens to erupt amid an idyllic landscapePUNJAB LETTER: MY REMOTE village of Dera Baba Nanak (DBN) on the Pakistani border is fearful once again that rising tension …Thu Feb 5 2009 - 00:00
'Deadly fighters, disciplined and motivated'A NATIONAL security guard (NSG) commando who led one of the three five-man teams against three terrorists besieging Mumbai's …Mon Dec 1 2008 - 00:00
Sri Lankan suicide bombing kills 27SRI LANKA: A SUSPECTED Tamil Tiger suicide bomber killed 27 people including a highly decorated former army general and seriously…Tue Oct 7 2008 - 01:00
Rains hinder flood rescue effortsINDIA: INCESSANT MONSOON rain disrupted relief and rescue operations in eastern India's flood-ravaged Bihar province yesterday…Sat Aug 30 2008 - 01:00
Ragged princelings queue for pennnies and remember glory daysLETTER FROM INDIA: FOR THE scions of the nawabs or noblemen of the old kingdom of Oudh in India's northern Uttar Pradesh province…Thu Jun 26 2008 - 01:00
In modernising India insecure politicians still look to the starsLETTER FROM INDIA: INDIAN "GODMEN" and astrologers are dusting their cosmic calendars and honing their star-reading skills to…Mon Jun 2 2008 - 01:00
Sixty killed as bomb blasts rip through Jaipur market placeINDIA: A SERIES of bomb blasts ripped through crowded markets and a packed Hindu temple in India's western tourist city of Jaipur…Wed May 14 2008 - 01:00
It's not cricket, say objectors to gyrating cheerleadersLETTER FROM INDIA: Millions are titillated by the uninhibited gyrations while others want them banned, finding them a licentious…Tue May 6 2008 - 01:00
Racial undertones accompany global rise of 'brown sahibs'DELHI LETTER : A NEW breed of Indian sahibs is emerging on the Western industrial and business scene, quietly but resolutely…Fri Mar 28 2008 - 00:00
India's opulent weddings have its central bank worriedLETTER FROM INDIA : INDIA'S LAVISH and often outlandish weddings have the country's central bank concerned.Mon Mar 17 2008 - 00:00
India strives to save its dwindling Parsee populationINDIA: India wants its dwindling 3,500-year-old Zoroastrian community, better known as Parsees, to have more babies, even as…Mon Jan 7 2008 - 00:00
Sikh clergy crack down on lavish weddings to curb female infanticideNew Delhi Letter: Sikh religious leaders have issued an edict to end lavish weddings among their community that involve days…Thu Aug 9 2007 - 01:00
Indian village bans cricket after national team's dismal World CupIndia: India's dismal performance at the cricket World Cup has resulted in a village in northern Haryana state doing the unthinkable…Thu Apr 5 2007 - 01:00
Laziness and vanity behind decline of symbolic turbanLetter from New Delhi: The turban, Sikhism's most distinguishing symbol, is imperilled with increasing numbers of young adherents…Tue Apr 3 2007 - 01:00
Sari's future in doubt as Indian middle class taste changesIndia Letter : The sari, once the favoured garment of most Indian women, is in peril in urban areas, steadily relegated to being…Mon Feb 5 2007 - 00:00
India's Bangalore renamed in nod to nationalistsINDIA: India's hi-tech capital Bangalore became Bengaluru yesterday, evoking mixed reactions to the state government's fiat …Thu Nov 2 2006 - 00:00
Tamil suicide bombers kill sailor in resortSRI LANKA: Tamil suicide bombers posing as fishermen ambushed a naval base yesterday, killing at least one sailorThu Oct 19 2006 - 01:00
Gay prince dispossessed of legacy as Indian society remains in denialLetter from India: A 40-year old prince from one of western India's prominent royal families has been disowned and dispossessed…Wed Jun 28 2006 - 01:00
Judges call for action as monkeys wreak havoc in corridors of powerNew Delhi Letter: Judges at one of India's busiest courthouses in New Delhi have ordered the capital's municipal authorities…Thu Jan 19 2006 - 00:00
Bhutan's king sets date for democracyBHUTAN: The king of Bhutan has said he will step down as ruler in 2008 when the tiny Himalayan kingdom holds its first national…Mon Dec 19 2005 - 00:00
The awesome aura from a hairy upper lipLetter from India : Policemen in central India are being given a special allowance to grow moustaches, as senior officers believe…Fri Jan 21 2005 - 00:00
Park animals surviveSri Lankan wildlife officials are amazed that despite the cost in human life caused by last weekend's tsunami, no dead animals…Thu Dec 30 2004 - 00:00
Island of 1,500 inhabitants now has 500Indian islands: A senior coastguard official yesterday reported uncovering at least 1,000 more dead on the remote Chowra island…Wed Dec 29 2004 - 00:00
India's ageing MPs get heart machinesINDIA: India's parliament has installed defibrillators in the event of proceedings proving too stressful for MPs who have heart…Thu Dec 2 2004 - 00:00
US seeks return of WW2 pilots' remainsINDIA: Nearly six decades after the second World War, the US has asked for India's help in recovering the remains of 416 American…Mon Nov 29 2004 - 00:00
Family plans action to recover fortune bequeathed to accountantINDIA: One of India's wealthiest and close knit business families is planning legal action to recover the vast fortune one of…Thu Jul 15 2004 - 01:00
Congress faces difficult testsINDIA: India's newly elected Congress party-led administration faces immediate challenging security, foreign policy and counter…Fri May 14 2004 - 01:00
Gurkhas in disgrace over faked heroicsINDIA: The Indian army has ordered disciplinary and administrative action against three officers, including the battalion commander…Thu May 13 2004 - 01:00
India warmly embraces electronic votingINDIA: After decades of voting by stamping ballot cards, millions of Indians are now merely pressing a button on electronic …Tue May 4 2004 - 01:00
Pakistan test-fires 'deterrent' nuclear missilePAKISTAN: Pakistan test-fired an intermediate-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile yesterday which it claims can hit targets…Wed Mar 10 2004 - 00:00
India to resume talks with PakistanINDIA/PAKISTAN : India and Pakistan will resume peace talks after the Indian elections in the summer, Pakistan's President Pervez…Thu Feb 19 2004 - 00:00
12,000 bridal processions bring happy chaos to cityINDIA: Police enforced special laws banning crowds, imposing traffic restrictions and deploying additional personnel across …Fri Nov 28 2003 - 00:00
Bitter times for beleaguered DarjeelingThe tea plantations of Darjeeling are in danger of going bust. Rahul Bedi reports from north-east IndiaWed Oct 22 2003 - 01:00
Irishmen charged with murder in IndiaTwo Irishmen could face up to 14 years in prison if found guilty of the murder of a British backpacker in northern India.Mon Oct 13 2003 - 01:00
13 men guilty of burning church familyINDIA: Thirteen men were convicted in eastern India yesterday for the burning to death of Australian Christian missionary Graham…Tue Sep 16 2003 - 01:00
Sharon's India visit fosters 'anti-terrorist' linksINDIA: India and Israel yesterday agreed jointly to fight terrorism during Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon's New Delhi…Wed Sep 10 2003 - 01:00
Gurkhas used against Kashmir militantsINDIA: A junior commissioned army officer and two others died in rebel violence in northern India's disputed Jammu and Kashmir…Mon Sep 8 2003 - 01:00
India rules out talks with Pakistan after hotel attackINDIA: India's Prime Minister Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee yesterday ruled out talks with nuclear rival Pakistan until it ended terrorist…Sat Aug 30 2003 - 01:00
39 die in stampede at religious festivalINDIA: At least 39 people, including 26 women, were trampled to death and another 150 were injured yesterday following a stampede…Thu Aug 28 2003 - 01:00
Thousands march in protest over bombingsINDIA: Thousands of hardline Hindu activists marched in silent protest yesterday across India's financial capital, Bombay, where…Thu Aug 28 2003 - 01:00