Malaysia’s leader has called the Malaysia Airlines plane crash in eastern Ukraine “deeply shocking”. Describing the disaster as a “tragic day” in a “tragic year” for Malaysia, Najib Razak said the investigation “must not be hindered in any way”. The plane, carrying 298 people, crashed in rebel-held territory near the Russian border. Both sides in Ukraine’s civil conflict have accused the other of shooting it down with a missile. The Boeing 777, with the call sign MH17, was flying from Amste...

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has found the United States violated global trade rules when it imposed tariffs on products from China and India. In response to a 2012 complaint, the WTO said the US improperly imposed tariffs on Chinese steel and solar panels, reports BBC. [caption id="attachment_8021" align="alignleft" width="300"] Workers in China holding solar panels The WTO said the US violated global trade rules when it imposed tariffs on products like solar panels[/caption] In a separate ruling, it said the US must change...

AkzoNobel opened a new production facility in Thane, Maharashtra, to manufacture coatings for the metal packaging and flexible packaging industries on July 11, 2014. Built at an investment of Euro 1.8 million (about Rs 14.5 crore), the primary markets the production facility site will serve are India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia. This production facility, called Project ‘Taj’, has a capacity of 5000 tonnes a year and is set to produce a broad range of products including specialised coatings for food and beer cans, internal and e...

India's new Hindu nationalist government has asked a U.N. body overseeing military activity in the troubled Kashmir region to vacate a government bungalow in the middle of the capital that is has been using rent-free for 40 years. India claims Kashmir in its entirety and discourages any intervention or criticism in its dispute with Pakistan over the region. It has fought two wars with Pakistan over Kashmir, part of which is under Islamabad's control. A UN official confirmed Friday that the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan has been aske...

Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe met with his Australian counterpart on Tuesday to sign agreements bolstering defense and trade ties between the countries. The defense deal, which involves the transfer of military equipment and technology, comes a week after Japan's government ushered in a new era for the country's defense force by reinterpreting its pacifist constitution to allow greater use of its military to defend allies. Abe wants Japan to have a larger role in global security amid China's growing military might. The defens...

A cabinet minister in holiday state of India draws outrage from women’s activists after suggesting bikinis should be banned because they ‘attract’ sexual harassment. Sudhin Dhavalikar has said that bikinis should be banned from public beaches in Goa Female visitors to the beaches of Goa should not wear bikinis for their own safety, the minister has insisted, warning that scantily clad women “attract” sexual harassment. In comments that have outraged Indian women’s activists, Goa’s public works minister, Su...