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. Gandhi's ruling Congress party remains favourite . Big players expected to seek coalition partnersWhen voters in parts of central and eastern India go to the polls today it will mark the start of the largest democratic ballot in history, a rolling wave of voting in five phases that will stretch over a month and demand formidable security measures, given the twin threats posed by Maoist rebels and jihadi terrorists.To get some idea of the scale consider this: 43 million citizens, more than the adult population of England, have been added to the electoral roll since 2004. More than a million electronic voting machines are to be deployed at 828,000 polling stations. No voter will be more than 2km from a ballot box. Elections can be violent. In the first phase of polls five years ago more than 20 people died. Although the central government has a million-man army, most election security is handled by a 250,000-strong paramilitary force.In the light of the terrorist attack in Mumbai last

Ultra-green vehicles at heart of £250m plan to slash UK's carbon emissionsConsumers are to be offered incentives of up to £5,000 to purchase an electric car under government plans to be unveiled today that will also see the creation of electric car cities across the UK and the launch of large-scale experiments with ultra-green vehicles. The proposals are part of a £250m strategy, seen by the Guardian, spelling out a revolution in Britain's road transport network based on ultra-low carbon vehicles. It will be launched today by Geoff Hoon, the transport secretary, and Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, with the aim of kickstarting the market for cleaner road vehicles and slashing the UK's CO2 emisisons. Hoon said yesterday that decarbonising road transport had a big role in helping the UK meet its targets of reducing CO2 emissions by 26% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. 'Something like 35% of all our carbon emissions are caused by domestic transport,' he said. 'Of that, 58

NEW YORK (AP) -- For big banks like Citigroup, the first quarter of 2009 may turn out to be the best of the year....

Ultra-green vehicles at heart of £250m plan to slash UK's carbon emissionsConsumers are to be offered incentives of up to £5,000 to purchase an electric car under government plans to be unveiled today that will also see the creation of electric car cities across the UK and the launch of large-scale experiments with ultra-green vehicles. The proposals are part of a £250m strategy, seen by the Guardian, spelling out a revolution in Britain's road transport network based on ultra-low carbon vehicles. It will be launched today by Geoff Hoon, the transport secretary, and Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, with the aim of kickstarting the market for cleaner road vehicles and slashing the UK's CO2 emisisons. Hoon said yesterday that decarbonising road transport had a big role in helping the UK meet its targets of reducing CO2 emissions by 26% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. 'Something like 35% of all our carbon emissions are caused by domestic transport,' he said. 'Of that, 58

The release of remastered albums on CD has reignited the debate on the Beatles' continuing online absenceLast week's announcement that the Beatles' back catalogue will be made available on remastered CD failed to satisfy all Fab Four fans. Fifteen remastered albums will be released on 9 September, as will The Beatles: Rock Band videogame. But there is still no news on when the band's catalogue will be made available online.Frustratingly for digital music fans, the Beatles and a handful of other high-profile acts continue to occupy a small but significant gap in the online catalogues of the likes of iTunes and Spotify, preventing listeners from downloading and streaming some of the world's biggest artists.This 'Beatles Gap' has been a bone of contention ever since iTunes launched five years ago. Initially, a whole host of big-name acts avoided iTunes and its rivals, but the likes of Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Madonna and Radiohead have all since joined the digital music revolution. But th

Ultra-green vehicles at heart of £250m plan to slash UK's carbon emissionsConsumers are to be offered incentives of up to £5,000 to purchase an electric car under government plans to be unveiled today that will also see the creation of electric car cities across the UK and the launch of large-scale experiments with ultra-green vehicles. The proposals are part of a £250m strategy, seen by the Guardian, spelling out a revolution in Britain's road transport network based on ultra-low carbon vehicles. It will be launched today by Geoff Hoon, the transport secretary, and Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, with the aim of kickstarting the market for cleaner road vehicles and slashing the UK's CO2 emisisons. Hoon said yesterday that decarbonising road transport had a big role in helping the UK meet its targets of reducing CO2 emissions by 26% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. 'Something like 35% of all our carbon emissions are caused by domestic transport,' he said. 'Of that, 58

Despite the down economy, fans are still buying tickets to the big summer music festivals, lured by layaway programs and, in one case, a former Beatle.

The saga of the american merchant seamen who clashed with Somali pirates on the high seas off Africa ended early Thursday with a big 'welcome home' banner and the warm embrace of families. A charter flight from Kenya brought the crew of the Maersk Alabama to...

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International News: CFC program to mentor scribes, develop talent -- The Peacock is making a big push to scout for talent in Canada.