Yahoo! News India

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India plans to allow exporters and importers to rebook and cancel up to 50 percent of their total hedged exposure from the present cap of 25 percent, Executive Director G. Padmanabhan said a in speech in Singapore on Friday. Padmanabhan did not explain why the RBI was contemplating taking this measure. In July RBI had allowed only exporters to cancel and rebook forward contracts up to 25 percent of hedged exposure. ...

BEIJING (Reuters) - China hopes that this week's visit by a senior North Korean envoy can ease tension in the region and help spur efforts to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Friday. Choe Ryong-hae, a special envoy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, met Chinese officials in the highest-ranking visit by an official from Pyongyang in about six months. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Manchester City have set their next manager the daunting task of winning five trophies in the next five years. City sacked manager Roberto Mancini earlier this month, saying the club had failed to achieve any of its stated targets for the season except qualification for the Champions League and are expected to appoint Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini. "If we look at the next five years, I would say I want to win five trophies," City chief executive Ferran Soriano was quoted as saying by British newspapers on Friday. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - London's Heathrow Airport closed both its runways on Friday following an incident with a British Airways plane, the airport operator said. British Airways said it was investigating the issue and operator Heathrow Limited said all the passengers had been evacuated. (Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Stephen Addison)

By William Mallard TOKYO (Reuters) - This week's turbulence in Tokyo markets exposes a key risk of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's all-in strategy to revive Japan's economy - if investor confidence falters, the government and the Bank of Japan may be left with few options to turn the tide. On Friday, the Nikkei share average had another tumultuous session, traversing a 7.1 percent range between positive and negative territory before ending up 0.9 percent. The violent moves kept investors on edge after a 7. ...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's oldest human rights group went to court on Friday to try to stop state prosecutors forcing it to register as a "foreign agent" under a law it says is intended by President Vladimir Putin to silence dissent. Memorial, which has fought political repression since Soviet times, refuses to comply with the law which critics describe as a crude attempt to reassert Putin's authority after tens of thousands called for him to quit during protests last year. ...

By Ian Chua SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian stocks fell to one-month lows on Friday and the yen rebounded broadly as extreme volatility in the Nikkei kept investors on edge. The Nikkei has soared nearly 70 percent since November, off the back of aggressive fiscal and monetary policies to revive the economy, leaving the market susceptible to profit taking. It fell more than 7 percent on Thursday after Chinese data raised doubts about the health of the global economy, but it found support on Friday from investors looking for bargains. ...

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Shares in Wockhardt Ltd plummeted as much as 19.3 percent on Friday to their lowest since August 2012, continuing to reel for the second day, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration imposed an "import alert" on a plant operated by the generic drugmaker. Wockhardt shares had already slumped by their daily limit of 20 percent on Thursday on the U.S. FDA action. An "import alert", effectively a ban, results in detention without physical examination of drugs from firms that have not met so-called good manufacturing practices, according to the FDA website. ...

Reuters Market Eye - The BSE Sensex gains 0.19 percent and the broader Nifty is up 0.27 percent, in a volatile session after four days of declines. Tata Steel Ltd shares rise 4 percent after its January-March quarterly operating profit beat analysts' estimates. Larsen & Toubro Ltd climbs 3 percent as sell-off in the previous two sessions were seen as overdone. L&T shares slipped 12 percent in the last two sessions on lingering disappointment over its January-March profit and outlook. ...

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Shareholders in Jet Airways approved an agreed sale of a 24 percent stake in the airline to Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways, a senior executive at the Indian carrier said on Friday. Jet Airways, however, deferred seeking shareholder approval for a new set of "Articles of Association" as it awaits regulatory clarity, Company Secretary Arun Kanakal told Reuters after a shareholders' meeting. Etihad, in April, agreed to acquire a 24 percent stake in Jet for $370 million, giving it a bigger foothold in the fast-growing Indian market. ...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck off Russia's eastern coast on Friday, briefly prompting a tsunami scare but causing no casualties or substantial damage, Russian emergency authorities said. The epicentre of the quake was located at a depth of 385 miles (620 km) in the Sea of Okhotsk, 244 miles (390 km) west of the nearest city, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the U.S. Geological Survey said. ...

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Tata Steel Ltd shares rose as much as 6.65 percent on Friday after its January-March quarterly operating profit beat analyst estimates. Brokerage IDFC estimated Tata Steel posted an adjusted standalone operating profit of 33 billion rupees in the previous quarter, compared to its forecast of 27.6 billion rupees. Tata Steel shares gained even as it posted a bigger-than-expected net loss, following a writedown. Shares at the steel maker were up 4.14 percent as of 12:23 p.m. (Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi; Editing by Rafael Nam)

Reuters Market Eye - Dollar sales from foreign banks in the morning are sparking talk of inflows related to Unilever's open offer for its India unit. Unilever Plc plans to pay up to $5.4 billion to raise its stake in its Indian subsidiary Hindustan Unilever Ltd . The open offer opens June 21 and closes July 4. HSBC is the manager to the open offer. The rupee is currently trading at 55.65/66 from its Thursday close of 55.57/58 as the USD/INR pair was supported by dollar buying by a private refiner. (Reporting by Subhadip Sircar)

New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Rajeev Shukla, BCCI disciplinary committee head Arun Jaitley and Law Minister Kapil Sibal met here Friday to discuss a new law to check fixing in sporting events.

Havana, May 24 (IANS) Five female and two male Cuban judokas will participate in the 2013 World Judo Masters tournament, to be held in Russia's Tuymen city.

Moscow, May 24 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Zenit St. Petersburg midfielder Roman Shirokov has been given a two-game suspension for making an obscene gesture after scoring the third goal in his side's 3-1 win over FC Volga over the weekend.

Moscow, May 24 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Sochi Olympics organisers have said 2,500 doping tests would be conducted at the Winter Games next February, surpassing the total at the Vancouver Games four years ago.

Moscow, May 24 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Lokomotiv Moscow forward Felipe Caicedo has said that he tries to block out racist chants at Russian football stadiums.

Los Angeles, May 24 (IANS) Actress and designer Nicole Richie, who has seen and worn it all, doesn't like to waste money on clothes.

Ramallah, May 24 (IANS) The Indian women's football team's dream of qualifying for the AFC Cup fell by the wayside as they went down fighting 1-2 to Chinese Taipei, who notched their second consecutive win, in a group D encounter at the Faisal Al Huseni Stadium here.

London, May 24 (IANS) Actress Alice Eve says she believes aliens are real and astronauts have seen them.

New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, co-owner of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), will appear on "Extraaa Innings T20" during the cricket extravaganza's final face-off to promote his forthcoming film "Chennai Express".

Los Angeles, May 24 (IANS) Pop star Justin Bieber distrusts people so much that he reportedly wants guests to sign a confidentiality agreement before attending his parties.

Mumbai, May 24 (IANS) If some are "heartbroken", others are disappointed with the sport getting tainted -- Bollywood celebrities are candidly expressing their discontent over spot-fixing that has cast a shadow over the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).

Mumbai, May 24 (IANS) The hoopla over Indian celebrities and films at Cannes overshadows the harsh reality that it has been 19 years since any Indian film has made it to the Palme d'Or or the Golden Palm section of the prestigious film fest.

Bangalore, May 24 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seems to have raised hopes of better times for this capital as he has kept with himself the Bangalore and IT departments, apart from his pet subject - finance.