Strongly backing the stalled civilian nuclear deal with India, Republican presidential candidate John McCain has said it would strengthen the US ties with the world's largest democracy and further involve New Delhi in non-proliferation efforts. McCain, 71, who has sealed the Republican nomination for the November Presidential elections, said the US should engage actively with both India and Pakistan to improve the security of nuclear stockpiles and weapons materials.

The dollar touched a new all-time low vis-a-vis the euro and sank to 71.50. Europe's inflation rate touched 2.9% as crude oil prices also rose. Gold prices were pushed skywards in the fourth quarter of 2007. Silver gained 4 cents to $18.21, while platinum rose $10 to $2036 per ounce. In such a scenario Jon Nadler, senior analyst, Kitco Bullion Dealers Montreal, advises investors to watch oil, listen to Trichet and Bernanke, and follow the dollar.

Fine arts auction house Christie's on Thursday sold artist MF Husain's paintings, including one for a hammer price of $ 1.4 million. Outside the Christie's building in New York, up to 30 supporters of the Indian American Intellectual Forum staged a two-hour protest chanting 'Shame, shame, MF Husain' and 'Boycott Christie's!'. At least 12 of Husain's paintings were auctioned, where the theme was South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art.

Trading across global markets remained volatile on Thursday, and the nerves of investors were tested by dollar weakness and continued worries about the deteriorating health of the financial system.

"We should not underestimate the Taliban and Al-Qaeda nor fight terrorism with any less military and political determination than in the immediate post-2001 days after terrorist attacks on the United States," India's UN Ambassador Nirupam Sen told the Security Council on Wednesday.

Raj Soin sold his business, in a transaction valued at $450 million, and decided to build a non-profit hospital in rural Haryana in the memory of his father. Soin, who co-heads the Soin Foundation with wife Indu, funded the 55-bed, multi-specialty hospital in Banchari.

Evan Zimmermann has a passion for old sports watches--and it's a lucrative one.

Education consultant Karan Gupta hosted a chat with rediff.com readers on study abroad issues. The transcript.

Shailee Mehta, an ex-student of the University of Southern California, shares some useful tips for students who want to study abroad.

By 2026, India will add 220 million to its urban population. That is, about 30 Bangalores!

In a telephone interview with rediff.com's Shifra Menezes, this go-getter shares her success story and a few words of advice for budding businessmen and women.

"Pakistan today is the most dangerous place in the world. Pakistan faces the threat of both Talibanisation and Balkanisation, which are gaining in strength," she wrote in her 328-page book.

Dr Pallavi Patel's selection marks the first time an Indian-American woman has been extended such an honour in Florida, and perhaps anywhere in the United States.

Star One, a general entertainment channel that attained popularity with its reality shows, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge and Nach Baliye, was identified as one channel that had significantly lost its past glory.

All decent people must stand by Gujaratis, because unprincipled rogues are attacking them willy-nilly.

The endless quest by fundamentalists and technicians alike to discover the secret of calling market turns is driven by a knowledge of the incredible returns a completely successful timing strategy would yield.

A tribute to James W Michaels, the long time Forbes editor who broke the story of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination.

Some of the strongest labor market demand is for workers in skilled trades.

'Pakistan's Islamic dream has gone sour miserably.'

'As soon as we give up our Indian citizenship and take on a foreign passport, we magically transform into individuals that are a potential threat to the country's security.'

The Pakistan government is supporting Islamist groups close to the Taliban in its attempt to suppress tribal insurgency in Balochistan, a leading international think tank has alleged. In its report Pakistan: The Forgotten Conflict in Balochistan, the International Crisis Group said that the Musharraf regime relies on divide-and-rule policies. It supports Pashtun Islamist parties like the JUI-F, a key patron of the Afghan Taliban, in a bid to counter secular Baloch forces.

The award to the Dalai Lama is good 'for the conscience of the US,' but it does not help the Tibetans in their aspiration for freedom.

The lawmaker, who was among the authors of the enabling legislation -- called the Hyde Act -- to facilitate the nuclear agreement, said: "The ball is back in your (India's) court. To those who would try to bully from a minority position, to tell the majority of people what is in their national interests and that if they do not do as that group says, that they are being bullied, are themselves the bullies."

A day after a blast at Ajmer dargah claimed three lives, India asked the international community to send a clear signal to terrorists and their sponsors that their action will not be tolerated irrespective of the motivation and the underlying cause. Addressing the United Nations General Assembly's legal committee, Indian Ambassador Nirupam Sen asked the nations to devise a global response to deal with terrorism, saying nothing can justify the senseless killing of innocents

The initiative is spearheaded by the UK based Conran Shop, which has picked up the 14 designers, including five who specialize in textiles, to travel to Conran Shops in London, Paris, New York and Tokyo.

The top M.B.A. programs in the U.S. and around the world.

Karan Gupta gives criteria for earning an internship in a foreign country. As a rule of thumb, he says, you should study in the country in which you wish to work.

According to the new rule, the cost of installing the GPS system -- about $8,000 -- will have to be borne by the drives themselves.

The sentencing was announced by US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Michael J Garcia on Wednesday.

Forget sack races and Slip 'n Slide. These days select companies are adding luxe touches to their annual employee outings.

An alternative to oil? Check. Completely green? Check. Economical? Check. So why has the entrepreneur been sued, pilloried, and lampooned?

Kanchana Suggu, former US student, describes life in America. She talks about the academic differences, living expenses and finding employment.

The US consulate in Mumbai seems to have lodged itself into a tight spot courtesy its blind rejection of visa applications submitted by 12 delegates of the 8th World Hindi Conference scheduled for next month in New York.

Immigration reform is bogged down in controversy, but there's compelling new evidence that the U.S. should let in the most educated.

Karan Gupta answers questions about immigration, visas and adjusting to life abroad.

Go inside the tech company that lavishes its interns with limo rides, free hotel stays, Broadway shows, and the opportunity to do serious, creative work. So why does it do it?

Older people are finding out that they have to push a little harder to get jobs in the corporate world. But they are proving a point or two in the bargain

'Encounter killings' are a product of a warped society wherein the media and the political class practice double standards.

'Having spent a lifetime in public service, that I should do something that I've never done before, that would stretch me a little bit.'

Asia and Middle East cities are in the grip of serious tower mania, and are transforming 21st century architectural design in the process.