Employee numbers will be cut sharply in many Western nations as companies pare costs to survive the global financial crisis, according to an international recruitment company boss.

A 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the Indian Ocean`s Nicobar Islands on Wednesday, seismologists said.

The quake hit at 10:24 pm (1714 GMT) 79 kilometres (50 miles) north-northeast of the town of Misha in the Indian-controlled territory, the US Geological Survey said.

It was registered at a depth of 37 kilometres.

No tsunami warning was immediately issued.

Global financial firm Barclays on Wednesday forecast India will have over 400,000 dollar-millionaires by 2017, making it a leading world wealth market.

The forecast came as it launched its wealth management business in India to provide client advisory and investment services to `high net worth` individuals.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to embark on a five-day official visit to India Thursday, his office said.

Erdogan will meet his counterpart Manmohan Singh, President Pratibha Patil and other senior officials in New Delhi in an effort to `secure concrete results from the momentum and openings` achieved in bilateral ties recently, a statement said.

An Indian warship has destroyed a pirate `mother vessel` after a battle off the coast of Somalia, officials said Wednesday.

Navy spokesman Nirad Sinha said a stealth frigate, the INS Tabar, open fire on the ship in the Gulf of Aden late Tuesday after coming under attack from gunmen on board the vessel.

An Indian warship has destroyed a pirate `mother vessel` after a battle off the coast of Somalia, officials said Wednesday.

Navy spokesman Nirad Sinha said a stealth frigate, the INS Tabar, open fire on the ship in the Gulf of Aden late Tuesday after coming under attack from gunmen on board the vessel.

Rahul Gandhi, the scion of India`s ruling dynasty, has sought to heal a rift with the Sikh community over the bloody events surrounding the assassination of his grandmother Indira Gandhi.

During a visit Tuesday to Amritsar, Gandhi, who is a general secretary of the ruling Congress Party, acknowledged the `tragedy` of the 1984 army assault on Sikhdom`s holiest shrine in the city.

Rahul Gandhi, the scion of India`s ruling dynasty, has sought to heal a rift with the Sikh community over the bloody events surrounding the assassination of his grandmother Indira Gandhi.

During a visit Tuesday to Amritsar, Gandhi, who is a general secretary of the ruling Congress Party, acknowledged the `tragedy` of the 1984 army assault on Sikhdom`s holiest shrine in the city.

An Indian warship has attacked a pirate boat off the Somali coast, a naval spokesman told AFP Wednesday, resulting in explosions on what he described as a pirate `mother vessel.`

Spokesman Nirad Sinha said Indian stealth frigate INS Tabar, deployed in the Gulf of Aden on an anti-piracy mission, attacked the ship late Tuesday after coming under fire from gunmen on board the vessel.

An Indian warship has attacked a pirate boat off the Somali coast, a naval spokesman told AFP Wednesday, resulting in explosions on what he described as a pirate `mother vessel.`

Spokesman Nirad Sinha said Indian stealth frigate INS Tabar, deployed in the Gulf of Aden on an anti-piracy mission, attacked the ship late Tuesday after coming under fire from gunmen on board the vessel.

Leading Tibetan exiles were set to meet in India on Monday for a week of discussions that could usher in a more radical approach to their long struggle against Chinese rule in Tibet.

The Dalai Lama, Tibet`s spiritual leader, called the meeting after admitting that his attempts to secure greater autonomy for the region through negotiation with the Chinese government had failed.

A moderate 5.7-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of India`s Andaman islands in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, the US Geological Survey said.

The USGS said the epicentre of the quake, which hit at 1250 GMT, was 143 kilometres (89 miles) southwest of Port Blair.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, the Press Trust of India agency reported.

India`s top business body insisted Sunday the economy was in strong shape to ride out the global financial storm but conceded corporate confidence was a big problem.

The feeling for companies is `like they have suddenly fallen off a cliff,` K.V. Kamath, president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), said at the opening of the annual India World Economic Forum in New Delhi.

India rejoiced Saturday over the landing of a lunar probe on the moon`s surface that vaulted the country into the league of space-faring nations like the United States, Russia and Japan.

Indian newspapers Saturday were euphoric about the landing of an Indian probe on the moon, marking a milestone for the country`s 45-year-old space programme.

`The tricolour has landed,` trumpeted the Hindustan Times daily in a banner headline, referring to India`s green, orange and white flag.

`India touches the moon,` said the Indian Express newspaper.

An Indian doctor has sworn a legal undertaking that she will improve her handwriting after judges complained that they could not read her spidery scrawl, media here said Saturday.

The radiologist from Thane, in the greater Mumbai area, had been asked to file a report in the case of a man who claimed that his underage daughter had been forced into marriage by a neighbour.

World leaders at a financial crisis summit in Washington may agree to coordinated moves to boost spending to spur global growth, a senior Indian official said Friday.

India will be putting on a brave face as it hosts an international economic forum starting Sunday, with its domestic growth stumbling and the international economy in crisis.

A United Nations body on Friday condemned Canada for expelling an Indian who was tied during his flight home and allegedly beaten on his return.

An Indian probe landed on the moon on Friday, the Indian Space Research Organisation announced, in a milestone for the country`s 45-year-old space programme.

The probe touched down on the moon at 8:34pm (1504 GMT), 25 minutes after it was ejected from an unmanned spacecraft orbiting the moon, spokesman S. Satish said.

An Indian probe landed on the moon on Friday, the Indian Space Research Organisation announced, in a milestone for the country`s 45-year-old space programme.

The probe touched down on the moon at 8:34pm (1504 GMT), 25 minutes after it was ejected from an unmanned spacecraft orbitting the moon, a spokesman said.

Indian troops battled Maoist rebels in the east of the country Friday as violence marred the start of a string of key state elections seen as a popularity test for the ruling party.

A part of India`s Maoist rebel-hit east voted in state elections Friday, the first of a string of elections seen as a mini-referendum on the ruling Congress Party ahead of national polls next year.

Security was tight in impoverished Chhattisgarh state, the base of ultra-leftist rebels described by the government as the biggest threat to India`s internal security.

India`s Maoist rebel-hit east was voting in state elections Friday, the first of a string of votes seen as a mini-referendum on the ruling Congress Party ahead of national polls next year.

India`s Maoist rebel-hit east was voting in state elections Friday, the first of a string of votes seen as a mini-referendum on the ruling Congress Party ahead of national polls next year.

While some of the world`s biggest banks are lurching from one crisis to another amid the global financial turmoil, Indian officials are feeling just a little bit smug.

For years Indian banks chafed at the cautious regulatory hand of the central bank as they watched their foreign counterparts make massive profits from high-risk lending and ambitious derivative plays.

While some of the world`s biggest banks are lurching from one crisis to another amid the global financial turmoil, Indian officials are feeling just a little bit smug.

For years Indian banks chafed at the cautious regulatory hand of the central bank as they watched their foreign counterparts make massive profits from high-risk lending and ambitious derivative plays.

An Indian-born fashion designer was on Thursday found guilty of sexually abusing a string of teenage girls and women, following a trial in Los Angeles.

Anand Jon Alexander, 34, whose clothes had reportedly been worn by celebrities including Paris Hilton, Mary J. Blige and Norah Jones, was convicted of 16 sex offences, including forcible rape and sexual battery.

India`s premier left for Washington on Thursday to attend the G20 summit, saying he would press for developing countries to have more say at the meeting with leading industrialised nations.

India`s inflation, which had ratcheted up to 13-year highs, fell unexpectedly to single digits, opening the door to more aggressive rate cuts to spur a flagging economy, analysts said Thursday.

India`s inflation, which had ratcheted up to 13-year highs, fell unexpectedly to single digits, opening the door to more aggressive rate cuts to spur a flagging economy, analysts said Thursday.

China said Thursday a meeting of Tibetan exiles in India next week would `get nowhere` if it sought independence for the Himalayan region and urged Delhi not to allow separatist activities.

`The Chinese government is solemnly against any activities aimed at dividing China,` foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters.

India kicks off a round of crucial state polls on Friday, seen as a mini-referendum on the ruling Congress Party ahead of a general election expected in early 2009.

Six states will vote before the end of the year against a backdrop of rising food prices and growing concerns over the impact of the global financial crisis on India`s economy.

India kicks off a round of crucial state polls on Friday, seen as a mini-referendum on the ruling Congress Party ahead of a general election expected in early 2009.

Six states will vote before the end of the year against a backdrop of rising food prices and growing concerns over the impact of the global financial crisis on India`s economy.

The head of a Hindu monastery has been arrested over suspected links with a bombing that killed six people and injured scores of others in western India in September, police said Thursday.

Business outsourcing may not be the most glamorous industry in the world but it is one of the few bright lights amid the doom and gloom of the global financial crisis.

The two countries which have benefited the most from outsourcing, India and the Philippines, expect to see some initial pain from the financial turmoil but the industry is confident it will ride out the storm.

India needs a complete overhaul in the way it handles rape allegations, human rights campaigners say, after a German woman dropped a sex attack claim citing pressure and intimidation.

The woman alleged that her 14-year-old daughter was raped by the son of a prominent minister in the resort state of Goa but withdrew the complaint on Monday, saying she was made to feel like a criminal.

More than 500 leading Tibetan exiles will gather in India next week for a rare meeting that could radically alter the course of their decades-old struggle with Chinese rule in Tibet.

An Indian court on Wednesday handed down life terms to two Marxists found guilty of murdering a woman involved in a campaign to stop the building of a car factory on farmland in the east of the country.