On a visit to India, Bouthaini Shabaan, political adviser to Syrian President Bashar-al-Assad said Syria wants India to take a lead role at the forthcoming BRICS summit and support Russia and China who have vetoed the UN Security Council resolution against the Syrian regime. She also spoke of the proliferation of Indian jihadi fighters who have been found fighting alongside the rebels in the raging civil war in Syria.

Shabaan said many of the Indian origin fighters in Syria are from the UK, and that the war in Syria is actually being fueled by Turkey and Qatar, with some help from Saudi Arabia. She also said she had told foreign minister Salman Khurshid that India should be wary of countries funding mosques in India as Damascus is living with the consequences of such action.

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According to a study by Boston Consulting Group, for European telecom major Telenor, the number of children in India expected to come online by 2017 is likely to triple to 134 million, or in other words, the majority of new children coming online will be in India.

Telenor commissioned the study in an effort to increase transparency about risks to youth that result from increased access, while analysing the best ways to deal with this from a telecom perspective.

Over 14 million children in 12 markets may potentially be exposed to harmful online content and some 35 million in 12 markets may have already experienced some form of cyber bullying.

The Global Leader of BCG's Strategy Practice said the study defined resilience as a child's ability to be exposed to risk without harm and to cope and recover if harm occurs, and that factors such as education levels, online experience and a country's institutional strength in protecting its citizens, all contribute to the resilience of an individual. A country's legal framework is an important starting point.

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According to the International Narcotics Control Board, (INCB) which is the United Nation's drug watchdog , India continues to be the main source for smuggling of narcotic-laden pharmaceuticals into South Asian countries.

In its annual report the INCB said pharmaceutical preparations containing narcotic drugs are still diverted from India and smuggled into other South Asian countries. It is also an important source for smuggling to other regions in the world.

As an example it stated that combination tablets codeine/diazepam are smuggled from India and Bangladesh.

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Television in India is getting bigger and better because producers are now pumping more money into daily soaps, grander sets, better special effects and skilled directors and writers.

As producer of the mythological serials like Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev Nikhil Sinha said the graphic department comprised of 90 people, and an average TV soap costs upto Rs.5 lakhs per episode. Savitri producer Shabbir Ahluwalia pegged the cost at Rs.9 lakhs per episode.

This apart, actors, directors and writers are being paid premium prices for their services, as content is the mainstay of a serial.

Producers are investing more because their popular serials are being grabbed by advertisers who air their commercials during the breaks. Like everything else when a serial is a hit, every product wants to jump on the band wagon as do FMCGs who also have bigger budgets.

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Sadanand Dhume a columnist and member of a conservative think tank was invited to speak at the Wharton School conference on India as was Narendra Modi, Gujarat CM.

Now Dhume has pulled out of the conference saying the school's withdrawal of Narendra Modi's invitation to speak through a video link accounts to little more than ritual humiliation and naked partisanship by the conference organisers.

Dhume confirmed he is not a supporter of the Gujarat chief minister and that Modi remains a divisive influence in India. Dhume is the third speaker opting out of the Wharton conference.

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