Soviet Money

A high-ranking Russian official on Wednesday said India must keep in mind the old ties and the help Russia has rendered in the past. The comments have come against the backdrop of a senior US official visiting the country to discuss various issues. Maintaining that India has the right to pursue its own interests, Russia's Consul General in the financial capital Aleksei Surovtsev said Moscow will "appreciate" if India keeps certain facets of the Indo-Russian ties in mind. India should keep in mind the "great long-term friendly relationship" that dates back to even before the country's independence in 1947, Surovtsev told PTI on the sidelines of an event here. "Apart from that we definitely know great examples of this friendship such as 1971 when Soviet vessels were kind of behind backs of Indian army and fleet in the Bay of Bengal. So, this is definitely what we are hugely appreciating right now that India keeps this in mind," he added. Surovtsev was replying to a specific question

It wasn't clear why the transcript was taken down. At a regular press briefing Monday, Mao Ning, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said she was unaware of the situation

Business Standard's opinion pages this week focused on Project Cheetah, Telecom Bill, Ukraine versus the ex-Soviet economies, and much more

While the oligarchs have played fast and loose, Ukraine remains by far the poorest of the ex-Soviet economies of Europe, writes T N Ninan

The trend continued till Rajiv Gandhi's rule. Even CPI, CPI-M leaders received money