German luxury-car maker Mercedes-Benz India on Thursday launched its highest selling product E 350 CDI in Pune on Thursday. The car is priced at Rs 57.42 lakh (ex-show room, Pune). This is an addition to the existing E-Class lineup that comprises of the E 200 petrol and the E 250 diesel. The car will be manufactured from its Chakan plant.

The central government has informally asked investment bankers brought in to manage share sales to abstain from taking big private-sector mandates in the coming months.

This is to avoid a glut of new paper at a time when the government wants to dilute its holding in select state-run enterprises. The Centre is aiming to raise about Rs 40,000 crore by divesting holdings in public-sector undertakings. On the list are Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Coal India Ltd and NHPC.

Czech car maker Skoda, on Wednesday, launched its new face-lifted sports utility vehicles (SUV), the Yeti, at a price of Rs.18.63 lakh for the 4X2 variant while its 4X4 variant is priced at Rs.20.14 lakh (prices ex-showroom, Maharashtra).

Both variants are powered by a 2.0 TDI diesel engine.

It looked like there was light at the end of the tunnel in the long-running battle between the EU and Google over online searches. The two sides were closing in on a settlement. But now the EU says it wants more concessions from Google in the light of new information.

Saudi Arabia has agreed for moderate Syrian rebels as part of President Barack Obama's broad strategy to combat Islamic State militants who have taken over parts of Syria and Iraq, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

The agreement, outlined by Mr. Obama's aides on the night of his speech to the American people laying out his expanded campaign against the Islamist group, appeared to reflect the depth of Saudi concern about Islamic State's threat to the region.

Flashback to 1999, and the Kargil war. The military is forced to abort missions due to heavy casualties. Then it decides to deploy the controversial Bofors gun to destroy Pakistani outposts from various vantage points. The strategy pays off, but the military realises it will soon run out of ammunition to feed the howitzers.

At the urging of army commanders, the defence ministry turns to Baba Kalyani and his company Bharat ForgeBSE 1.02 % to make shells for its Bofors 155mm howitzers. Kalyani, chairman of the Bharat Forge Group, recalls how the company got the "emergency order" to make 1 lakh shells. That's how the company's ability to turn out high-quality products at short notice, which helped burnish its global reputation in the auto parts industry, came to play a role in history.

Apple just introduced its new pair of smartphones: the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Both phones come with a larger display, a thinner design, and upgraded internal components compared to the iPhone 5S'.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi ON Wednesday directed officials to provide total support to the Jammu and Kashmir government to enable it ramp-up rescue and relief operations following massive floods in the state and he stressed on the need to quickly reach essential commodities to the affected people.

Chairing a high-level emergency meeting to review relief operations in the state late this evening, Modi emphasised that immediate attention be given to providing basic necessities like food and water to people severely affected by the calamity.

Just days before China was set to deliver its edict on electoral reform in Hong Kong, Beijing's most senior official in the city held a rare meeting with several local lawmakers whose determined push for full democracy had incensed Beijing's Communist leaders.

The setting at the Aug. 19 meeting was calm: A room with plush cream carpets, Chinese ink brush landscape paintings and a vase of purple orchids. The political mood outside, however, was fraught. Democratic protesters were threatening to shut down the global financial hub with an "Occupy Central" sit-in if Beijing refused to allow the city to freely elect its next leader.

The RSS on Wednesday said it will not act as a guiding or controlling force for the Narendra Modi dispensation and had campaigned during the Lok Sabha polls to ensure a "nationalistic" government at the Centre.

"The RSS would not act as a guiding or controlling force for the Narendra Modi government," said Manmohan Vaidya, .

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