Universal Sompo General Insurance Co. Ltd. (USGICL) has signed an agreement with Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) to distribute its products across selected branches. USGICL was formed as a joint venture with Indian Overseas Bank, Allahabad Bank, Karnataka Bank, Dabur Investments and Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. O.N. Singh, executive chairman, USGICL said, “Though it took us a long time to commence our operations due to various reasons, we are confident of achieving our target. We have put everything in place and are geared up to take off in a big way.” 

Nepal has asked all citizens travelling to India to carry documents that could verify their identities.

In a press release Monday, the Nepali foreign ministry urged its citizens planning to travel to India to carry documents like passports, citizenship certificates or driving licenses.

"After recent incidents in India, the Indian administration has tightened the internal security," read the statement, referring to the Mumbai attacks.

Pristina  - The European Union's mission in Kosovo began deploying personnel Tuesday with the ultimate aim of helping the territory enforce the rule of law.

The mission, the Eulex, said it would comprise 1,900 foreign officials when fully deployed throughout Kosovo, building from the 1,400 there at the launch.

Some 1,100 local staff would also join the Eulex to help Kosovo establish the elusive rule of law by coaching, advising and in some cases ordering local authorities.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February, but remains plagued by ethnic hatred, segregation, crime and corruption, thriving amid widespread poverty and a staggering rate of unemployment.

The England cricket team, led by skipper Kevin Pietersen, arrived in Chennai on Monday evening.

The entire team arrived in two batches from Abu Dhabi to play two test matches against India.

England are scheduled to play two Tests - in Chennai (Dec 11-15) and Mohali (Dec 19-23).

The first test is scheduled to begin on Thursday at Chennai.

The outgoing Chief Minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje has accepted the mandate of the people. She had promised to work as a "constructive opposition". "I respect the mandate of the five-and-a-half crore people of the state. We will play the role of a constructive opposition and will not allow any hurdles in the development of Rajasthan," she said following the poll results in Jaipur on Monday.

"The people's choice is final. They think well before deciding. I respect that," Raje, who was born to a royal family of Madhya Pradesh, said.

Tokyo  - Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp announced Tuesday plans to cut 8,000 jobs worldwide as a result of the global economic crisis.

The world's second-largest maker of consumer electronics hopes to save more than 100 billion yen (1.1 billion dollars) by the measure, which affects about 4 per cent of its
160,000-strong global workforce.

The job cuts, which go with plans to scale back investments and pull out of some business sectors, will be made at the beginning of the next business year on April 1, 2009, the company said.