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REUTERS - State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, posted its first quarterly net profit drop in two years, missing market estimates after being dragged down by lower interest income and higher provisions for loan losses. The state-run bank posted a net profit of 32.99 billion rupees in the quarter ended March, compared with 40.50 billion rupees a year ago. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, fell 4.4 percent to 110.8 billion rupees. Analysts, on average, had expected a net profit of 37. ...

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Nifty futures fell more than 2 percent in trade on Thursday as the prospect of an end to the U.S. stimulus programme and a weak China manufacturing survey has sparked concerns about foreign investor selling. Nifty was below 6,000. Domestic falls tracked lower Asian shares, with a more than 7 percent fall in Japan's Nikkei share average and a more than 2 percent decline in the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index. NSE index May 2013 futures were down 1.9 percent as of 1:04 p.m. The Nifty was down 1.6 percent, while the BSE Sensex was down 1.44 percent. ...

By Aileen Wang and Koh Gui Qing BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory activity shrank for the first time in seven months in May as new orders fell, a preliminary manufacturing survey showed, entrenching fears that its economic recovery has stalled and that a sharper cooldown may be imminent. The flash HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for May fell to 49.6, slipping under the 50-point level demarcating expansion from contraction for the first since October and sending Asian financial markets sharply lower. The final HSBC PMI stood at 50.4 in April. ...

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee slid to its lowest in over 8-1/2 months on Thursday, heading for a fifth consecutive session of falls, as worries about a potential pullback in the U.S. monetary stimulus programme sparked a shift sway from riskier currencies. Any pullback on U.S. quantitative easing has the potential to hit Indian markets hard. Foreign investors have bought more than $5 billion of debt and stocks this month, marking a surge in inflows from previous months. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was not seen intervening to bolster the rupee, traders said. ...

REUTERS - The government said on Thursday it had set guidelines for pharmaceutical makers to comply with a European Union directive on standards for import of bulk drugs into the EU that takes effect on July 2. Under the new rules, India must certify that bulk drugs, or active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), meet European quality standards. The current regulation requires that the certification be done by the country to which the APIs are being exported. ...

TOKYO (Reuters) - The sharp fall in Tokyo stock prices is unlikely to hamper Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo's economic policies and their positive effects on the economy, the government's top spokesman said on Thursday. "Japan's economy is expected to gradually head for a recovery, and we hope to closely watch market developments," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a regular news conference. The Nikkei share average plunged 7. ...

By Pedro da Costa and Alister Bull WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus is helping the U.S. economy recover but the central bank needs to see further signs of traction before taking its foot off the gas pedal, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday. A decision to scale back the $85 billion in bonds the Fed is buying each month could come at one of the central bank's "next few meetings" if the economy looked set to maintain momentum, Bernanke told Congress. ...

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government will be comfortable with a stable rupee exchange rate and there was no reason for the currency to be unstable, C. Rangarajan, chief economic adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said on Thursday. The rupee fell to its lowest in over 8-1/2 months on Thursday, heading for a fifth consecutive session of falls, as the dollar rallied at the prospect the Federal Reserve might scale back its stimulus programme this year. NSE index futures also fell as much as 2.2 percent amid U.S. stimulus worries and a weak China manufacturing survey. ...

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Nikkei share average plunged 7.3 percent on Thursday, its biggest one-day percentage drop in two years after weak Chinese factory data rattled investors, prompting them to take profits from a recent rally buoyed by massive Bank of Japan stimulus measures. The Nikkei ended 1,143.28 points lower at 14,483.98, a two-week low. It was the 11th-largest point drop on record. The Osaka Securities Exchange briefly suspending trade in Nikkei futures in the afternoon due to steep declines. Trading was volatile. The benchmark had climbed to a 5-1/2-year high earlier in the session. ...

By Maria Golovnina and Guy Faulconbridge LONDON (Reuters) - A British soldier was hacked to death by two men shouting Islamic slogans in a south London street, in what Prime Minister David Cameron said appeared to be a terrorist attack. A dramatic clip filmed by an onlooker just minutes after the killing showed a man with hands covered in blood, brandishing a bloodied meat cleaver and a knife. "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you. ...

PARIS (Reuters) - France is ready to support a British initiative to put the armed wing of Hezbollah on the European Union's list of terrorist organisations, an official said on Thursday, confirming comments by Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. Paris has traditionally been cautious about backing steps to sanction Hezbollah, fearing it could destabilise Lebanon and potentially put U.N. peacekeepers at risk, but in recent weeks it has said it would consider all options. ...

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A roadside bomb killed 11 security personnel and two civilians on Thursday in southwestern Pakistan where separatist rebels have for decades been battling to control the region's natural gas and other resources. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bomb in the city of Quetta. It was planted in a three-wheeled auto-rickshaw and blew up as a truck carrying the security men passed by. Sixteen people were wounded and the death toll could rise, said police in the city, which is capital of Baluchistan province. ...

By Mark Lamport-Stokes REUTERS - The royal and ancient game of golf, renowned for its etiquette and self-imposed penalties, has undergone many changes to the rules over its 600-year history but few issues have triggered as much debate as the proposal to outlaw the anchoring of putters. In a genteel sport where an inadvertent cough on a downswing can create controversy, the announcement by golf's rule-makers on Tuesday that anchoring would be banned from 2016 has sparked fiery, impassioned division. ...

London, May 23 (IANS) The first edition of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone" has reportedly been sold for 150,000 pounds (over $200,000) at an auction held at Sotheby's.

Vancouver, May 23 (IANS) US Olympic swimming star Ryan Lochte says he has no doubt superstar Michael Phelps will end his retirement and return to the pool for another shot at Olympic glory at the 2016 Rio Games.

Film: "Ishkq In Paris"; Cast: Preity Zinta, Rhehan Malliek, and Isabelle Adjani; Director: Prem Raj; Rating: ****

Nairobi, May 23 (IANS) Kenya's Vivian Cheruiyot will not be able to defend her 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres titles at this year's Moscow World championships as she is expecting her first child.

The 32-year-old star has been dating model River Viiperi, 21, for eight months now and she thinks they will tie the knot in the near future, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Madrid, May 23 (IANS) Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed he will leave the Spanish football club at the end of the current season.

Chennai, May 23 (IANS) Tamil actor Dhanush, who is awaiting the release of debut Hindi movie "Raanjhanaa" and Tamil romantic-drama "Mariyaan", has signed on the dotted line to work in a yet-to-be-titled Tamil film with cinematographer-turned-director K.V. Anand.

Los Angeles, May 23 (IANS) Brad Pitt says he was wasting his life on drugs before he met Angelina Jolie. The actor admits he now lives for his partner and their six children.

Los Angeles, May 23 (IANS) Singer Jennifer Lopez has teamed up with Verizon Wireless for the launch of Viva Móvil, a shopping tool designed with Latino consumers in mind.

Ambala (Haryana), May 23 (IANS) Four people, including a woman, were charred to death when their car caught fire following an accident near this Haryana town, police said Thursday.

Rio de Janeiro, May 23 (IANS) Mention Botafogo to most young Brazilian football fans and the likelihood is the word will conjure images of a battling club with a small, if passionate, supporter base and a sparse trophy cabinet.

Washington, May 23 (IANS) Twelve-year-old Indian-origin boy Sathwik Karnik won the 2013 National Geographic Bee by correctly naming Chimborazo, a peak in Ecuador, as the farthest point on earth from the Equator.

Under unrelenting attack on more than one count, one would expect Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to be wilting. No way! On the night he released his government's report card, nine years after he came to head the world's largest democracy, Manmohan Singh was visibly cool.