Home Updated on October 25, 2002  

clips are sponsored by the Indian American Center for Political Awareness (www.)



--- South Asian News, August 02, 2002 ---(International)

Violence flares in Kashmir as India announces elections to be held in September and October. Pakistani President makes a brief stop at China. Floods continue to claim more lives in South Asia. The Editorial section focuses on the situation in Kashmir and its forthcoming elections. In the Business section, Indian Foreign Minister calls for Developed countries to increase trade with poor nations.

Africa

* Grenade attack greets Kashmir polls (Sunday Times)
* 'Arms sales to India okay' (News24)
* Mob beats five women to death (News24)

Americas

* Islamic militant behind Hindu attack killed in Jammu, India, police say (Canada Network)
* Two die in heavy Indian shelling of Pakistani Kashmir: police (The News Mexico)
* U.S., Asian nations sign antiterrorism treaty (Globe & Mail)
* Eight Pakistanis detained in theft of Prophet's slippers (Globe & Mail)

Asia-Pacific

* India to press ahead with Jammu and Kashmir state elections (Channel News Asia)
* India won't allow monitoring of Kashmir elections (Japan Today)
* Armed conflicts kill 12 in India-controlled Kashmir (Xinhua News Agency)
* 2 Pakistani nationals arrested in India (Xinhua News Agency)
* SE Asian nations agree to fight terrorists with US (Australian Broadcasting)
* India, Pakistan press for textile pacts with US, EU (Xinhua News Agency
* Pakistani lawyer says gang rape 'fabricated' (Australian Broadcasting)
* Pakistani President Musharraf makes brief stopover in Beijing (Channel News Asia)
* South Asia tensions come under spotlight at ARF (Channel News Asia)
* India calls Kashmir elections (The Australian)
* For Kashmir leaders, state election shapes as exercise in self-preservation (TheAge)
* UK, India in warplane deal (Australian Broadcasting)
* Kabul may release 100 Pakistani prisoners soon: report (Xinhua News Agency)
* Pakistani intelligence team leaves for Gguantanamo (Xinhua News Agency)
* Nepal-India secretary-level trade talks postponed (Xinhua News Agency)
* Floods sweep away 12 children in eastern India (Australian Broadcasting)
* 8 people dead in floods in Nepal (Xinhua News Agency)

Europe

* Kashmir elections announced (BBC)(Herald Sun)(Advertiser)(Reuter)
* India condemns militant 'conspiracy' (BBC)
* Kashmir Separatist Leader Rejects Elections (Reuter)
* Police kill 'wanted militant' in Kashmir (BBC)(Times Online)
* Pakistan laws target Bhutto return (BBC)
* South Asia floods claim more lives (BBC)
* Pakistan gang rape spotlights village traditions (Swiss Info)

Middle East

* Pakistan says Indian shelling killed two children (IRNA)
* Musharraf backs Lankan Muslims (Gulf Daily News)
* Displeasure at Asean statement (Gulf News)
* Monks to march for peace from Pakistan to India (Gulf News)
* Lanka-Pakistan pacts aim to bolster exports (Gulf Daily News)
* India's Election Commission announces J&K assembly poll schedule (IRNA)
* Army called in as Bangladesh floods toll rises (Gulf Daily News)
* Sex attack ordeal for Delhi student (Gulf Daily News)
* Encephalitis epidemic death toll in India's Assam rises to 86 (IRNA)
* Pakistan: Fresh intimations of disorder in society (Arab News)

Editorial/Op-Ed

* Kashmir: Vote first, talk later (Far Eastern Economic Review)
* Pakistan: Fresh intimations of disorder in society (Arab News)

Business/Technology

* Indian tax concessions 'will increase savings' (Gulf Daily News)
* 'Boost trade ties' call (Gulf Daily News)
* India, Belarus discuss steps to strengthen bilateral trade (IRNA)
* Shell, IOC to pick up stakes in Indian gas firm (Reuter)

Africa

* Grenade attack greets Kashmir polls (Sunday Times)

SRINAGAR, India - Muslim rebels have reacted angrily to India's announcement of September polls in disputed Kashmir, hurling a grenade at the office of a pro-India party. Minutes after election officials in New Delhi announced that Kashmir would head to the polls in four stages beginning September 16, suspected rebels threw a hand grenade at the headquarters of India's main opposition Congress party in the summer capital Srinagar.

http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/zones/sundaytimes/newsst/newsst.asp

* 'Arms sales to India okay' (News24)

Pretoria - Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on Thursday defended South African arms sales to India, saying these took place according to strict rules. South Africa had among the most stringent regulations about when, where and to whom arms should be sold, she told reporters in Pretoria. India was not currently at war. Its dispute with Pakistan over the area of Kashmir did not mean India should be denied the right to sovereignty, to keep peace and defend its borders, the minister added.

http://www.news24.com/contentDisplay/level4Article/0,1113,2-10-20_1236088,00.html

* Mob beats five women to death (News24)

Calcutta - Five Indian tribal women suspected of being witches were beaten to death by a village mob in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, a senior police official said on Thursday. Police superintendent Siddhnath Gupta said the incident took place on Monday at Kilkat tea garden inside Duars forest in the foothills of Himalayas, about 600 kilometres from the West Bengal state
capital Calcutta.

http://www.news24.com/contentDisplay/level4Article/0,1113,2-10-20_1236160,00.html

Americas

* Islamic militant behind Hindu attack killed in Jammu, India, police say

JAMMU, India (AP) - Police said Friday they fought and killed an Islamic militant who claimed responsibility for a July 13 attack on a shantytown in Kashmir that left 30 people dead. A police officer also died in the gunbattle Friday in the Raika forests near Jammu, winter capital of Jammu-Kashmir state, Inspector General of Police P.L. Gupta said. Police cordoned off the area after Islamic rebels hiding in the mountainous forests ambushed a police search team Thursday, killing two officers. Gupta said the militant killed Friday has been identified as Abu Adnan, belonging to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e Tayyaba group.

http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=3A7CDC7B-1533-40E5-AA6D-8563C1D457D4

* Two die in heavy Indian shelling of Pakistani Kashmir: police

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan-controlled Kashmir - Two boys were killed and three other members of the same family were wounded Thursday in heavy Indian shelling of border villages in the Pakistan controlled part of Kashmir, police said. The shelling took place in almost all areas of Neelum valley, northeast of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, they said. "Two boys, aged 15 and 4, were killed in Oore Syedan village in the upper belt of Neelum valley," senior police officer Raja Ghulam Sarwar told AFP.

http://www.thenewsmexico.com/noticia.asp?id=31891

* U.S., Asian nations sign antiterrorism treaty

Bandar Seri Beaway, Brunei -- The United States signed a new antiterrorism treaty with Southeast Asian countries yesterday aimed at upgrading security in the region. Washington and the ASEAN group -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- will share information, boost police co-operation and plug holes that extremists can exploit. The treaty will also raise U.S. technical and logistical aid to "prevent, disrupt and combat" international terrorism.

http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20020802/UREPOM-4/International/international/internationalAsiaHeadline_temp/3/3/3/

* Eight Pakistanis detained in theft of Prophet's slippers

Islamabad -- Police in the Pakistani city of Lahore have detained eight employees of a historic mosque after a pair of slippers said to have belonged to the Prophet Mohammed were stolen from a glass display case this week.Mufti Ghulam Sarwar Qadri, the minister in charge of religious relics, called Wednesday's theft from the Badshahi Mosque "the worst-ever incident in our history." The mosque houses other relics reportedly associated with the Prophet Mohammad, including hairs said to come from his head.

http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20020802/UREPOM-3/Asia/internationalAsia/internationalAsia_temp/2/2/3/

Asia-Pacific

* India to press ahead with Jammu and Kashmir state elections

India is going ahead with state elections in Jammu and Kashmir amid news of militant activity and the ongoing standoff with Pakistan.The country's election commission announced the dates for the elections to the state assembly on Friday, saying they will be held in four stages.The polls will take place on September 16, September 24, October 1 and October 8, and counting will begin October 10 with results due two days later.India is banking on the elections to give its legitimacy a boost in the bloodied Muslim-majority region.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southasia/view/15067/1/.html

* India won't allow monitoring of Kashmir elections

New Delhi - India on Thursday rejected a U.S. call to allow international observers to monitor upcoming elections in the Indian-administered portion of divided Kashmir, but said steps would be taken to ensure they will be free and fair, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported."We do not need any certificate from outsiders," Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani was quoted as saying. "Jammu and Kashmir is an inseparable part of India."

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=7&id=225189

* Armed conflicts kill 12 in India-controlled Kashmir

Aug 01 - NEW DELHI- At least 12 people, including so-called militants and Indian soldiers, were killed in armed conflicts in India-controlled Kashmir, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI) Thursday. Indian security forces shot dead six militants in separate encounters in Udhampur and Doda districts of south Kashmir on Thursday, the agency quoted a defense spokesman as saying in Jammu,a major city in the Kashmir valley. An Indian official claimed that a civilian was killed by militants in a village of Rajouri district on Wednesday.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-08/01/content_507669.htm

* 2 Pakistani nationals arrested in India

NEW DELHI, Aug. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Two Pakistani nationals, who have worked in India as doctors, were arrested by the intelligence wing of the Indian army, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported on Thursday. The two, who were from Sindh province of Pakistan and have worked as medical practitioners in Jaisalmer district of India's west state of Rajasthan for the last two years, were taken into custody early this week, PTI said. However, it did not say why they were arrested and what crimes or wrongdoing they had committed.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-08/01/content_507649.htm

* SE Asian nations agree to fight terrorists with US

South East Asian nations have signed an agreement with the United States to take stronger action to fight terrorist activity in the region. It is an issue that has dominated the summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations, or ASEAN, in Brunei. Under the agreement Washington will increase its technical and logistical aid to countries in the region in return for greater co-operation in dealing with suspected terrorists. They will also do more to share information and boost police co-operation.

http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s637940.htm

* India, Pakistan press for textile pacts with US, EU

Developing countries angrily accused rich states on Wednesday of reneging on commitments on textile exports, warning them that they risked damaging crucial negotiations to free up world trade. Countries such as India and Pakistan, for whom clothes and textiles are major foreign currency earners, have been pressing the EU and the US to speed up plans to lower import barriers. But a Wednesday deadline for an accord at the 144-state WTO passed without any sign the sides could narrow their differences.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/2002/08/02/story/

* Pakistani lawyer says gang rape 'fabricated'

The lawyer defending a Pakistani man, accused of involvement in a gang rape, has told a court the crime was fabricated. But at the same hearing, one man testified that he witnessed the alleged rape. Defence lawyer Salim Malik accused a disgruntled Muslim cleric of pressuring the victim's father into concocting the gang rape, after failing to extract bribes from the four men accused of the crime.

http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s638727.htm

* Pakistani President Musharraf makes brief stopover in Beijing

Chinese President Jiang Zemin met with visiting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Friday as the Pakistani leader made a brief stopover in the Chinese capital on his way home.President Musharraf, who arrived in Beijing early on Friday after visits to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, would return home shortly after the meeting, the Xinhua news agency said.However the report did not give any details of the meeting. China's foreign ministry and Pakistani diplomats were not immediately available for comment.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/eastasia/view/15038/1/.html

* South Asia tensions come under spotlight at ARF

The standoff in South Asia has come under the spotlight at this week's ASEAN Regional Forum in Brunei.In a statement, the forum called on Pakistan, who is not part of the grouping, to end terrorism in Kashmir.But Pakistan has hit back by saying the forum failed to take India to task for its actions over Kashmir. In an interview, President General Pervez Musharraf says relations will improve only if the issue of Kashmir is addressed."I think the bottom line of relations between India and Pakistan, (is that) we have to catch the 'bull by the horn'. The dispute between us is the Kashmir dispute," said General Musharraf.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southeastasia/view/15058/1/.html

* India calls Kashmir elections

New Delhi- India announced it would hold state legislature elections in September and October in the disputed Himalayan province of Kashmir, claimed by nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan. Chief Election Commissioner JM Lyngdoh announced at a news conference that the polls in troubled Kashmir would be held in four phases, on September 16 and 24, and Octctober 1 and 8.
Minutes after the announcement, a grenade was lobbed at the national opposition Congress party headquarters in Srinagar, the summer capital of the northern Jammu-Kashmir state.

http://theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,4827408%255E401,00.html

* For Kashmir leaders, state election shapes as exercise in self-preservation

On a temperate morning this week, Shabir Ahmad Shah sat on his couch, and on the fence. In about two months, voters in the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir, ruled by India and coveted by Pakistan, will elect a state assembly. The question is whether Mr Shah - whose long campaign against Indian rule and his many years in prison once earned him comparisons with Nelson Mandela - will run in an election conducted under the Indian constitution. American diplomats, not to mention Kashmiris, are eagerly awaiting his answer and that of other moderate separatists. Anger at what was seen as a government-rigged election in 1987 helped foment an armed Muslim insurgency that has cost at least 35,000 lives.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/08/01/.html

* UK, India in warplane deal

The Indian Government says it has agreed a price for the purchase of 66 Hawk trainer jets from Britain in a controversial deal that is believed to be worth millions of dollars. A Defence Ministry official says the matter will soon go before a Cabinet committee for final approval. Negotiations over the possible British sale of Hawke jets to India have been going on for over a decade. They have been bogged down by the issue of price.

http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s637229.htm

* Kabul may release 100 Pakistani prisoners soon: report

Islamabad, Aug. 2 -- More than 100 Pakistani prisoners have been shifted from a jail in northern Afghanistan to Kabul for their possible release in the near future, according to the Rawalpindi-based daily paper "The News" on Friday. An eight-member delegation of aging Pakistanis whose sons are being held in Afghanistan was told during a recent visit to Kabul that 112 Pakistani prisoners had been lodged in a jail in the Afghan capital after being shifted from the northern Takhar province bordering Tajikistan. The paper said the delegation, led by Peshawar's Maulana Gul Rahman, has returned home empty-handed. Despite meeting several Afghan government ministers and former Mujahideen leaders, the delegation members were unable to secure release of any prisoner.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-08/02/content_508822.htm

* Pakistani intelligence team leaves for Gguantanamo

Islamabad-A five-member Pakistani intelligence team left for US Naval Base at Guantanamo on late Wednesday night to investigate the Pakistani prisoners arrested from Afghanistan for their alleged link with the al-Qaida organization of elusive Osama Bin Ladin, the local newspaper The Frontier Post reported Friday. The Foreign Office Spokesman confirmed the visit while talking to the Frontier Post on Thursday. He said that the purpose of the visit is to interrogate the Pakistani prisoners who are being heldin the X-Ray cell of Guantanamo in Cuba. He said that he was not aware of the details related to the interrogations.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-08/02/content_508354.htm

* Nepal-India secretary-level trade talks postponed

Nepal and India have decided to postpone their secretary-level trade talks in New Delhi in mid Auguest aiming to solve the problems existing in their bilateral trade.The three-day inter-governmental committee meeting will "evaluate trade between Nepal and India after the renewal of the trade treaty by the two governments in February this year," the Space Time Today daily reported Thursday, quoting Bhanu Prasad Acharya, secretary of the Nepali Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies. During the discussions on renewal of the Nepal-India trade treaty, both parties had agreed to organize regular meetings twicea year, Acharya said, adding "To this effect the New Delhi meetingwill be the first one after the bilateral trade treaty was renewed."

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-08/01/content_507185.htm

* Floods sweep away 12 children in eastern India

Twelve children drowned when they were swept away while attempting to cross a flooded stream in eastern India to fetch grass for animal feed, police said. A group of 16 children attempted to cross a feeder stream of the Koshi river near the village of Gaiyari, 400 kilometres east of the Bihar state capital Patna, but only four survived. The bodies of nine of the children had so far been recovered, police superintendent Arvind Kumar said.

http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s638856.htm

* 8 people dead in floods in Nepal

KATHMANDU, Aug. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- At least eight people were confirmed dead in the latest floods and landslides triggered by torrential rains in recent days in Nepal, the state-run Radio Nepal reported Friday. "Eight people lost their lives in the latest incidents of floods and landslides, mostly in central Nepal," the radio quoted a statement issued by the Nepali Home Ministry as saying, adding that 153 people of 30 families have been displaced in the eastern district of Jhapa after a village was inundated by floods. The statement also confirmed that 269 people died in floods and landslides in various parts of Nepal since the beginning of this year's monsoon cloudbursts as 34 districts that cover nearly half area of the country, were affected by landslides.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-08/02/content_508340.htm

Europe

* Kashmir elections announced

India's independent poll body has announced fresh elections in Indian-administered kashmir. Elections are to take place in four phases beginning on 16 September and ending on 8 October. counting of votes will begin on 10 October with final results expected by 12 October.
In the past, Kashmiri separatists have refused to participate in the polls.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2167693.stm
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,4827408%255E401,00.html
http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,4827408%255E401,00.html
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml;jsessionid=IJPTBXZO3XI10CRBAEOCFFA?type=search&StoryID=1285076

* India condemns militant 'conspiracy'

India has reiterated charges that Pakistan is not doing enough to curb Islamic militancy after a gun battle in Indian-administered Kashmir left five people dead. Four suspected separatists and an army officer were killed in the all-night exchange, which took place in Rajouri, close to the Line of Control that separates Indian and Pakistani Kashmir.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2164698.stm

* Kashmir Separatist Leader Rejects Elections

Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah said on Friday his group would not take part in elections due in September and October in Indian Kashmir. He was speaking shortly after India's Election Commission announced it would hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir state, at the heart of a military standoff with Pakistan, in four stages at the end of September and start of October.

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml;jsessionid=IJPTBXZO3XI10CRBAEOCFFA?type=search&StoryID=1285294

* Police kill 'wanted militant' in Kashmir

Police in Indian administered Kashmir say they have killed a militant who claimed responsibility for an attack which left 27 civilians dead, last month. A police officer also died in a fierce gun battle on Friday. Friday's clash started after police cordoned off the area near Raika forests in Jammu on Thursday, following an ambush by the rebels on a police search team in which two officers were killed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2167695.stm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/TGD/tgdBreakingNewsDisplay/0,,3,00.html#2

* Pakistan laws target Bhutto return

Pakistan has made more changes to the country's election laws which are aimed mainly at keeping former prime minister Benazir Bhutto out of the electoral process. Anyone convicted by a court because of their failure to appear before it in a corruption case is now barred from contesting the October elections.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2167650.stm

* South Asia floods claim more lives

Heavy rains in eastern India, Bangladesh and Nepal have left hundreds of people dead and forced millions to leave their homes. In India's eastern state of Bihar another 19 deaths were reported on Thursday, taking the total for the region to more than 560 since early July.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2159084.stm

* Pakistan gang rape spotlights village traditions (Swiss Info)

Pakistan- A small field is all that separates two rival clans, caught up in a brutal gang-rape case that has shocked Pakistan and highlighted the plight of women in villages obsessed with notions of honour and revenge. Now the police have been called in to keep the peace in Meerwala, a remote, sun-baked village in Punjab province. Both the larger, land-owning Mastoi clan and its weaker Gujar neighbours fear a bloodbath if they are left to their own devices in the village, a collection of huts and houses at the end of a dusty track snaking through crops of cotton.

http://www2.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&eid=1253917

Middle East

* Pakistan says Indian shelling killed two children (IRNA)

Islamabad -- At least two children have been killed and five other civilians wounded by Indian shelling of areas in Pakistan administered Kashmir, reports said Friday. Indian troops fired mortars into several locations in Neelam Valley sector that also damaged civilian properties, police officials said in Muzaffarabad, which is capital of Pakistan-held Kashmir.

http://www.irna.com/en/world/.ewo.shtml

* Musharraf backs Lankan Muslims (Gulf Daily News)

Visiting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf pledged yesterday to put pressure on Sri Lanka to work in the interest of its Muslim minority.
Musharraf met with Rauf Hakeem, the leader of the island's main Muslim party the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), who briefed him on the plight of the island's Islamic community, particularly in the embattled northeast

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/arc_Articles.asp?Article=29090&Sn=WORL&IssueID=25135

* Displeasure at Asean statement (Gulf News)

Pakistan yesterday expressed its displeasure in a cautious reaction to the Asean Regional Forum's statement calling on Islamabad to stop "all terrorist activity" to ease tension with India. The Association of South East Nations Regional Forum (ARF) should have urged India to stop its "repression" in Kashmir and engage in talks with Pakistan to resolve the long running dispute, a Foreign Office spokesman said.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/News.asp?ArticleID=59497]

* Monks to march for peace from Pakistan to India (Gulf News)

Ten Buddhist monks plan to start a three-month march from Pakistan to central India next week to urge peace between the nuclear-armed rivals.
The 10-member group, led by Japanese monk Terasawa Junsei and including participants from Chechnya, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, plan to start their March from Taxila near Islamabad next Wednesday. "India and Pakistan must not convert this region of great civilisation into a graveyard of nuclear devastation," Junsei, a veteran peace marcher, told reporters.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/News.asp?ArticleID=5949

* Lanka-Pakistan pacts aim to bolster exports (Gulf Daily News)

Sri Lanka signed a trade deal with Pakistan yesterday, strengthening economic ties with the country that is one of the island's major military suppliers. The agreement was signed after a meeting between Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and visiting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Officials said the deal would help the island's feeble economy, struggling to right itself after decades of civil war.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/arc_Articles.asp?Article=29042&Sn=BUSI&IssueID=25135

* India's Election Commission announces J&K assembly poll schedule (IRNA)

New Delhi, Aug 2, -- India's Chief Election Commission J.M.Lingdoh on Friday announced the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections will be held in four phases in September-October. Lingdoh, while addressing the reporters here at Nirvachan Bhawan (Election House) Friday said, the first phase of elections will be held on September 16, followed by the second on the September 24,
third on October one and the fourth and last on October eight.

http://www.irna.com/en/world/.ewo.shtml

* Army called in as Bangladesh floods toll rises (Gulf Daily News)

Government authorities called out army troops for help yesterday after a swollen river broke through an embankment, flooding dozens of villages in eastern Bangladesh. The soldiers joined hands with engineers to pile rocks and sandbags along the River Meghna in an effort to prevent flooding of more areas in Chandpur district, about 65km east of Dhaka.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/arc_Articles.asp?Article=29091&Sn=WORL&IssueID=25135

* Sex attack ordeal for Delhi student

A 24-year-old woman studying at the law faculty of prestigious Delhi University was abducted from the sprawling campus and gangraped by four men, police said yesterday. The law student was forced into a Maruti car on Tuesday and repeatedly raped in the moving vehicle after her cycle-rickshaw broke down in front of Delhi University's Kirori Mal College, according to police.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/arc_Articles.asp?Article=29106&Sn=WORL&IssueID=25135

* Encephalitis epidemic death toll in India's Assam rises to 86

Guwahati, Aug 2, IRNA -- The flood-hit northeastern Indian state of Assam Thursday sought urgent help from the central health ministry to tackle a Japanese encephalitis epidemic that has claimed up to 86 lives since July, officials said. "We want the central government to provide us with
anti-encephalitis vaccines as the disease was assuming alarming proportions across the state," Assam's Health Minister Bhumidhar Barman told IRNA.

http://www.irna.com/en/world/.ewo.shtml

* Pakistan: Fresh intimations of disorder in society

As anxiety mounts about prospects of change through October elections, there are fresh intimations of disorder in the Pakistani society. In the wake of a gang rape ordered by a local council and the trade-off of girls as blood money in the rural sector of Punjab, incidents of agitation that led to violence on the part of the police have been reported this past week from Islamabad and Lahore. Four persons were killed and many injured on the outskirts of Islamabad on Monday when bulldozers arrived to demolish houses in two villages to launch a new housing project. It led to a clash between the villagers and the police. Also on Monday, police used batons in Lahore against male and female teachers protesting the denationalization of educational institutions.

http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=17410

Editorial/Op-Ed

* Kashmir: Vote first, talk later

An impasse confronted United States Secretary of State Colin Powell in India and Pakistan. The countries are no longer on the brink of war, but they're still very far from the negotiating table. Getting them there depends on two factors. The first is the number of militants crossing into India's portion of Kashmir. The second is the climate surrounding elections for the state legislature in Indian-controlled Kashmir to be held in the autumn, the first such polls in six years.

http://www.feer.com/articles/2002/0208_08/p013region.html

* Pakistan: Fresh intimations of disorder in society (Arab News)

As anxiety mounts about prospects of change through October elections, there are fresh intimations of disorder in the Pakistani society. In the wake of a gang rape ordered by a local council and the trade-off of girls as blood money in the rural sector of Punjab, incidents of agitation that led to violence on the part of the police have been reported this past week from Islamabad and Lahore.Four persons were killed and many injured on the outskirts of Islamabad on Monday when bulldozers arrived to demolish houses in two villages to launch a new housing project. It led to a clash between the villagers and the police.

http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=17410

Business/Technology

* Indian tax concessions 'will increase savings'

Indian industry yesterday welcomed Finance Minister Jaswant Singh's new tax breaks, saying they should boost savings and economists predicted they could lead to lower interest rates. On the Bombay Stock Exchange share prices also reflected a positive reaction, with the 30-share BSE sensitive index higher in early trade.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/arc_Articles.asp?Article=29043&Sn=BUSI&IssueID=25135

* 'Boost trade ties' call

India's foreign minister urged the developed world yesterday to increase trade with poor countries to prevent them from being overly dependent on aid. Yashwant Sinha said if developing countries could increase their exports by five per cent, it would generate an additional income of $350 billion annually, far more income than the $50bn a year received from donor nations.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/arc_Articles.asp?Article=29047&Sn=BUSI&IssueID=25135

* India, Belarus discuss steps to strengthen bilateral trade

New Delhi, August 2, -- India and Belarus agreed to intensify efforts to further enhance bilateral trade and cooperation in diversified areas, local media said on Friday. The visiting Belarus Foreign Minister Mikhail Khvostov, in his parleys here with Indian leaders on Thursday, also discussed the situation in the region including Indo-Pak stand-off.

http://www.irna.com/en/world/.ewo.shtml

* Shell, IOC to pick up stakes in Indian gas firm

Gandhinagar, India, Aug 2 -- Global energy firm Royal Dutch/Shell and state-run Indian Oil Corp are among four firms taking stakes in Gujarat State Petronet Ltd (GSPL), which will issue fresh equity, a company official said on Friday. GSPL, which is laying a 2,500-km (1,565-mile) gas grid criss-crossing the western state of Gujarat, expects to raise two billion rupees ($41 million) by diluting its equity, GSPL director D.J Pandian told Reuters.

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml;jsessionid=IJPTBXZO3XI10CRBAEOCFFA?type=search&StoryID=1285241

================================================================================================

--- South Asian News, August 02, 2002 ---(International)


The Indian American Center for Political Awareness (IACPA) is a national non-profit organization committed to the political empowerment of the Indian American community. For additional information on IACPA, please visit www..

These links are provided for informational purposes only and no representation is made for the accuracy of information posted on other people's websites. String Information Services (www.stringinfo.com, contact: Prashant Kothari at ppkothari), a provider of secondary research, data harvesting and data conversion services prepares these links and the KS group manages, edits and distributes the list. E-mail Kapil Sharma at information if you have any questions.

Copyright © 2001, Indian American Center for Political Awareness. All rights reserved.
India Abroad Center for Political Awareness Home Page Sitemap 1 5 6