Apple iPhone 5 makes India debut

Apple's latest iPhone -- thinner, lighter and with a 4-inch screen -- went on sale in India on Friday with a starting price of 45,500 rupees.

The 16 GB model of the new iPhone will sell for 45,500 rupees, with the 32 GB version priced at 52,500 rupees and the 64 GB model available for 59,500 rupees.

President Vladimir Putin's new limo better than Obama's 'submarine'

President Barack Obama can have his Cadillac, a “scary looking submarine,” because Russian President Vladimir Putin will soon be riding in style.

So says carmaker ZiL, the manufacturer of a new Russian-built limousine soon to transport bigwigs in that country.

Remember, this man is talking about RUSSIAN-made limos, those funny looking things you see in black-and-white images of the Soviet Motherland or old spy movies.

“We tried to preserve the generic feature of the ZiL: the recognizable style, the lighting, the mirrors,” ZiL’s Mikhail Sattarov said.

“We wanted it to be clear that this is a ZiL, not a soapbox, not a Mercedes. If you look, it’s dark blue. If you look at what Obama drives around in, it’s a scary submarine, no kind of aesthetic; it’s awful to look at.”It took ZiL six years to complete the design, and earlier this year Putin suggested Russians opt for "Made in Russia" over foreign competitors.The six-door car weighs 3.5 tons thanks mostly to a 7.7-liter engine that gets 8.57 mpg. No word if that’s city or highway.

"Producing limousines was necessary during the time of the Iron Curtain in the Soviet Union. Why do this? It will break down and malfunction like before," Oleg Datskiv of auto-dealer.ru told Russia Today.

Asia markets fear Romney presidency

While investment strategists in the US view a Republican victory as positive for the stock market given their presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s pro-business policies, market players in Asia believe a win for the former Massachusetts Governor would in fact be negative for equities on their side of the world.

At a time of heightened uncertainty, with the ongoing European debt crisis and the upcoming leadership transition in China, a new president in the world’s largest economy will cause additional nervousness among Asian investors.“Asian traders don’t like change in leadership. You would see weakness in the markets if Romney won, because people would question how well he would deal with the impending doom of the ‘fiscal cliff.’ Obama would be a safer bet, as investors would enjoy continuity at a time of a lot of uncertainty,” said Justin Harper, market strategist, at IG Markets.“Because of his four years in power, Obama is better positioned to deal with Congress at trying to negotiate programs to give the economy time to find its feet,” he added.

Besides, Romney’s stance on China is particularly worrying feels Harper. The presidential hopeful has said he will name China a “currency manipulator,” which could lead to more tensions with the mainland, including on the trade front.Mitul Kotecha, head of global foreign exchange strategy for Credit Agricole, added that if Romney were to take a tougher stance on the Chinese currency, and put pressure on the government to let the yuan appreciate further, it would force other Asian currencies higher and could hurt the competiveness of economies in the region that depend on exports.

Correlations between Asian currencies and the yuan are stronger than between them and the US dollar, Kotecha said.

On top of Romney’s stance on China, Mohammed Apabhai, head of Asia trading strategy at Citigroup, said his leadership may be negative for Asian markets in the longer-term because of his reluctant to provide more stimulus — which is now a critical driver of risk appetite in the markets.

“The statements coming out from Romney range from the replacement of Ben Bernanke (as the chairman of the Federal Reserve) to anti-QE (quantitative easing) statements — it’s a very different rhetoric that could tie the hands of the Fed,” Apabhai said.Romney has indicated he will not reappoint Bernanke when his term expires in January 2014 and this would likely see a less dovish Fed Chairman appointed, said analysts.

India: Singh calls for $1 trillion in infrastructure investments "at any cost"

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told his newly inducted cabinet that the government's target of $1 trillion investments in infrastructure over the next five years “must be met at any cost" -- implying that neither concerns about corruption or the environment should be allowed to slow the Indian juggernaut any longer.“Infrastructure is at the top of our agenda and will require particular attention and effort at multiple levels across the government,” Singh said in opening remarks before the first meeting of his entire council of ministers since the United Progressive Alliance coalition returned to power in the 2009 elections.The prime minister listed fuel supply arrangements, security and environmental clearances and financing difficulties among the constraints slowing India's infrastructure investments, the paper said. Meanwhile, the growing gap between demand and supply of energy has emerged as a major roadblock to development.

“As a result, our growth has decelerated, our exports have fallen and our fiscal deficits are expanding,” Singh said.

'Gadkari should answer party if charges are proved'

In the first reaction by a BJP leader that is different from other leaders in the party, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday said that Nitin Gadkari should "answer the party" if allegations of financial wrongdoings in his company are proved."If allegations are proven to be true and there are some manipulations by some persons whether it is Gadkari or (Robert) Vadra or whether it is the Prime Minister, the person has to answer his party and his people who elect him," he told a news channel.Ever since media reports emerged about the alleged dubious funding of Purti Sugar and Power Ltd run by Gadkari, there have been attacks from other parties who have demanded probe into the affairs of the company.

Modi will be defeated says Gujarat Congress leader

As the election campaign in Gujarat heats up, the state Congress, which has been out of power since 1995 when it lost to the BJP, is confident of ousting the three-term Narendra Modi government in the December polls."The people of Gujarat are fed up with the Modi government. Modi claims Gujarat is vibrant and he has well-oiled machinery to propagate his lies. Modi will be defeated," said a confident Leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil of the Gujarat Congress."We are exposing Modi's lies. 'Vibrant Gujarat' is a myth. Modi's Gujarat is vibrant only for his five pet industrialists, not for the 'aam aadmi'. Over 16 farmers have committed suicide due to debt or poverty. Crimes against women have increased. Over 16,000 children have gone missing during the Modi regime. Modi moves around with 300-plus commandos, but there is no safety net for the people. Farmers and small and medium entrepreneurs are all tired and feel betrayed. The  aam aadmi will vote for the Congress irrespective of his or her caste and class. And Muslims in Gujarat are not carried away by Modi's 'Sadbhavana' (goodwill) farce.""Farmers will get uninterrupted power supply. Right now, that is not the case. Also competitive prices for their products. Right now, farmers are the most hassled section in the Modi regime. Their land is being snatched away by mafias. All this will be checked through a special farmer's policy," Gohil said.

Elections to the 182-member Gujarat assembly will be held Dec 13 and 17 and votes will be counted Dec 20.

The BJP has 117 seats in the outgoing assembly and the Congress 59. The Nationalist Congress Party has three seats and the Janata Dal-United one, while there are two independents.