--- South Asian News, November 18, 2002 ---(International)

In Pakistan, talks on government formation remains deadlocked. The body of the executed CIA killer arrives in Pakistan. In Kashmir, security forces gun down eight rebels while paramilitary forces are deployed to prevent the banned march of a Hindu organisation. The Nepalese king has nominated a new cabinet to tide over the political crisis in the country. In business news, new exploration for oil and gas in Pakistan stays stalled due to delay in government formation.

Africa
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N/A

Americas
------------

* Hindu protesters arrested at rally (Globe & Mail)

Asia-Pacific
------------

* Pakistan Islamists' Talks with Pro-Govt Party Fail (ABC News)
* Officials play down blast at Indian nuclear facility (Australian Broadcasting)
* Executed man's body returns to Pakistan (eTaiwan News)
* Pakistan to Elect Parliament Leaders on Tuesday (East Day) (People Daily)
* Gunbattles across Kashmir (Australian Broadcasting)
* India deploys paramilitary, police to prevent fundamentalist march (eTaiwan News) (East Day)
* Nepali king nominates new cabinet members (Xinhuanet)
* Nepali pair arrested over Bangladesh murders (ABC News)
* Nepalese Govt and Maoists pledge talks after 200 die in offensive (ABC News)

Europe
------

* Pakistan parties remain deadlocked (BBC) (Reuters)
* Pakistan beefs up anti-terror law (BBC)
* Killer's body returns to Pakistan (BBC)
* India suspends border jetty work (BBC)
* Indian parliament towinter session (BBC)
* Indian police free Hindu militants (BBC)
* Indian states to meet over kidnap (BBC)
* India Lawmakers May Delay Economic Bills Over Gujarat (Bloomberg)

Middle-East
---------------

* Pakistan: The ball is now in politicians' court (Arab News)
* Zardari taken back into custody (Gulf News)
* Govt foils VHP attempt to take out rally (Arab News)
* No outside pressure on government formation: Pakistan (IRNA)
* PPP team to hold talks with dissidents (Gulf News)
* Bhutto party snub for Musharraf (Gulf News)
* India opposes gas pipeline via Pakistan: Pak expert (IRNA)
* Gujarat police clamp on Hindu march (Gulf Daily News)
* Nepal offers talks despite rebel attacks (Gulf Daily News)
* Bangladesh, India troops trade fire (Gulf News)
* Dhaka urges Delhi to deport suspects fleeing crackdown (Gulf News)
* Colombo to seek Delhi backing (Gulf News)
* Kumaratunga pledges commitment to truce (Gulf Daily News)

Editorial
----------

N/A


Business/Technology
-------------------

* Pakistan Oil Investment May Slow on Political Concern (Bloomberg)
* Moody's may upgrade India's ratings (Business Times)
* India's Canara Bank Seeks 3.85 Bln Rupees From IPO (Bloomberg)
* Indian Review by Moody's May Spur Borrowing Abroad (Bloomberg)

Africa
---------

N/A

Americas
------------

* Hindu protesters arrested at rally

Hundreds of Hindus were arrested yesterday as police broke up a banned campaign rally in western India, where religious clashes killed at least 1,000 people this year.

http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20021118/REPO2-1/Asia/internationalAsia/internationalAsia_temp/5/5/6/

Asia-Pacific
------------

* Pakistan Islamists' Talks with Pro-Govt Party Fail

Pakistan's Islamist parties said Monday efforts to form a coalition government with a pro-military party had failed because of differences over how much power President Pervez Musharraf should wield.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20021118_24.html

* Officials play down blast at Indian nuclear facility

Indian nuclear energy officials have launched a probe into an explosion at a nuclear facility in the southern city of Hyderabad. Officials said the blast, which happened on Sunday morning, had not caused any leakage of radioactive materials as it occurred away from the processing unit.

http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s729554.htm

* Executed man's body returns to Pakistan

The body of Mir Aimal Kasi, the Pakistani executed in the United States last week, is due to arrive back in the country today, Kasi's brother Naseebullah said. Kasi, who comes from Pakistan's southwest desert province of Baluchistan, was killed by lethal injection in a Virginia jail on Friday for the 1993 murders of two Central Intelligence Agency employees.

http://www.etaiwannews.com/Asia/2002/11/18/.htm

* Pakistan to Elect Parliament Leaders on Tuesday

Pakistan's newly-elected National Assembly (NA) is to elect its Speaker and Deputy Speaker on Nov. 19 through a secret ballot. The to-be-elected speaker will be the 15th of the South Asian Sub-continental country, as the first session of the parliament was presided over by the "father of the nation" -- Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who remained chairman of the assembly from Aug. 11, 1947 to Sept. 11, 1948.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200211/18/eng20021118_106968.shtml
http://english.eastday.com/epublish/gb/paper1/727/class000100003/hwz97549.htm

* Gunbattles across Kashmir

Indian security forces have shot dead eight suspected Muslim rebels in separate gunbattles in disputed Kashmir. Separatist violence has continued unabated since a new coalition government took power earlier this month, promising to bring peace to Jammu and Kashmir, torn by a rebellion since 1989.

http://abc.net.au/asiapacific/news/GoAsiaPacificBNA_729038.htm

* India deploys paramilitary, police to prevent fundamentalist march

Hundreds of paramilitary and riot police were deployed across the Indian state of Gujarat yesterday to stop a hardline Hindu group from holding a banned march officials fear could trigger fresh religious violence. More than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, died in February and March when Hindu mobs carried out revenge attacks across Gujarat after 59 Hindu activists were burnt alive when their train was torched by Muslim mob in Godhra.

http://www.etaiwannews.com/Asia/2002/11/18/.htm
http://english.eastday.com/epublish/gb/paper1/727/class000100003/hwz97446.htm

* Nepali king nominates new cabinet members

Nepali King Gyanendra Monday nominated 13 new ministers and assistant ministers, enlarging the month-old Cabinet to 22 members, the secretariat of the Royal Palace announced Monday afternoon. The king added 13 new faces in the Council of Ministers, with eight new ministers and five assistant ministers in the cabinet.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-11/18/content_633420.htm

* Nepali pair arrested over Bangladesh murders

Two Nepali nationals are among six people arrested in Bangladesh in connection with a double-murder case police say. Police said the pair, identified as Brajendra Shaha and Uday Bahadur Shaha, were named by other suspects as accomplices to the murder of two men stabbed to death last week after a van carrying readymade garments for export was looted.

http://abc.net.au/asiapacific/news/GoAsiaPacificBNA_729536.htm

* Nepalese Govt and Maoists pledge talks after 200 die in offensive

More than 200 people are believed to have died in the massive Maoist rebel offensive in two remote districts of Nepal two days ago, police sources said.A police official in northern Jumla district, where thousands of Maoists marched on the headquarters Khalanga early Friday, said the bodies of 88 Maoists have been recovered after a fierce battle in which the army regained control several hours later.

http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s728738.htm

Europe
------

* Pakistan parties remain deadlocked

The three main parties in Pakistan have failed to reach a compromise deal on a future coalition government. MPs are to elect the Leader of the House next week.As a result, all three have now filed nomination papers for their own candidates for the election of speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2487801.stm
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=1757037

* Pakistan beefs up anti-terror law

Pakistan has tightened its anti-terrorism laws, allowing police to detain suspects for up to a year without bringing charges. The amendment to the law, which has come into immediate effect, also allows police and security forces to investigate the assets and bank accounts of relatives of any suspects.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2487021.stm

* Killer's body returns to Pakistan

The body of Mir Aimal Kansi, the Pakistani who was executed in the United States on Friday, is due to arrive back in Pakistan on Monday. Kansi, who came from Pakistan's south-western province of Baluchistan, was killed by lethal injection in Virginia for murdering two American CIA employees in 1993.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2487217.stm

* India suspends border jetty work

Bangladeshi officials say India has suspended work on a controversial jetty on the river border where troops exchanged fire on Saturday, forcing villagers to flee their homes. The officials said the agreement was reached after a meeting between senior representatives of border guards from both countries, the Bangladesh Rifles, BDR, and the Indian Border Security Force, BSF.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2487775.stm

* Indian parliament towinter session

The Indian parliament is due to begin its winter session on Monday with Kashmir and Gujarat expected to dominate the agenda. The main opposition Congress Party says it wants more autonomy for Kashmir following its success in legislative elections there in September and October.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2487817.stm

* Indian police free Hindu militants

Indian police have released two senior officials of the radical World Hindu Council (VHP) who were arrested for defying a ban on a march in the state of Gujarat. The officials, Pravin Togadia and Acharya Dharmenda, were detained as they addressed the outlawed meeting of right-wing Hindus in Ahmedabad. Hundreds of other arrests also took place across the state.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2483847.stm

* Indian states to meet over kidnap

Representatives from the Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are meeting on Monday to work out a joint strategy to try to secure the safe release of a former Karnataka minister kidnapped by the bandit, Veerapan, in August. The meeting in the Tamil Nadu capital, Madras, will be the first since H Nagappa was taken hostage.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2487791.stm

* India Lawmakers May Delay Economic Bills Over Gujarat

Debate in India on as many as 23 economic bills during the winter session of Parliament that started today is likely to be interrupted by an election campaign in Gujarat, the nation's second-most industrialized province.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=South%20Asia%20News&tp=topfin&T=as_storypage99.ht&s=APdiVdxYUSW5kaWEg

Middle-East
---------------

* Pakistan: The ball is now in politicians' court

The enigmatic calm that marked the oath-taking session of the newly-elected Parliament is unlikely to be the barometer of things to come. With rules of power-sharing not yet mutually worked out between the army and the major elected political parties, there will be incessant posturing and positioning on the two key elements that will define power-sharing

http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=20457

* Zardari taken back into custody

Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of former premier Benazir Bhutto, who was freed on parole last week to attend the last rites and burial of his mother, has again been detained by the authorities, a Pakistan People's Party spokesman said yesterday. "Mr. Zardari was taken back into police custody at around 6pm. on Saturday," Ejaz Durrani, a PPP spokesman, said.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=68824

* Govt foils VHP attempt to take out rally

What was feared to become a communal bomb turned out to be a bubble laced with rhetoric that failed to ignite the "Hindu" passion as the much-talked about Hindu hard-liners' rally here proved to be non-starter.

http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=20444

* No outside pressure on government formation: Pakistan

Pakistan on Monday said that there was nooutside pressure, even from the United States, towards formation of a new government.During the weekly briefing here, Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan told newsmen that the Pervez Musharraf government was not under any outside pressure on what should be the shape of the new political set-up.

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

* PPP team to hold talks with dissidents

A three-member delegation from the Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) has been asked totalks with the PPP dissidents who have formed a 'forward bloc.' This was decided at a meeting of PPP Parliamentarians that Benazir Bhutto, chairperson of the party, addressed in Islamabad yesterday over satellite phone from London.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=68814

* Bhutto party snub for Musharraf

The opposition party of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto yesterday insisted it would not recognise controversial amendments introduced by the military regime ahead of October elections.President Pervez Musharraf suspended the constitution in the wake of his 1999 coup and later introduced 29 amendments, several of which leave parliament under the thumb of the president and the military, under a directive known as the Legal Framework Order.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=37368&Sn=WORL

* India opposes gas pipeline via Pakistan: Pak expert

Pakistani former oil minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan alleged on Monday that India, citing baseless reasons, is opposed to the laying of a gas pipeline from Iran via Pakistan. In a detailed interview with IRNA here, he charged New Delhi of resisting implementation of the multi-million-dollar gas project involving Iran, Pakistan and India.

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

* Gujarat police clamp on Hindu march

Police yesterday broke up a rally by Hindu radicals in India's riot-torn western state of Gujarat after a top hardliner defied a ban on demonstrations ahead of elections.Praveen Togadia, general secretary of the radical Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP, World Hindu Council), was taken into custody with a top aide just after he began a march from a temple in Gujarat's commercial capital Ahmedabad.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=37362&Sn=WORL

* Nepal offers talks despite rebel attacks

Nepal's gov-ernment and the Maoists have agreed to hold peace talks after a massive rebel offensive, a minister said yesterday, but the guerillas warned of fresh attacks if negotiations were not on their terms. In the first government reaction since the Maoists ransacked two towns, leaving more than 200 dead, Gore Bahadur Khapangi, the minister for women, children and social welfare, said "talks could be held within a month."

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=37374&Sn=WORL

* Bangladesh, India troops trade fire

The main opposition Awami League yesterday demanded in parliament a statement from Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's on the latest developments in Dhaka-Delhi diplomatic ties and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR)-Border Security Force (BSF) firing along the border. Abdus Samad Azad, who was the Foreign Minister between 1996 and 2001 in the Awami League government, cited newspaper reports of the border skirmish in Satkhira area last Friday and Saturday which caused Bangladeshi citizens to flee their homes amid gunfire.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=68817

* Dhaka urges Delhi to deport suspects fleeing crackdown

Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan yesterday informed parliament that the Indian government had been requested to deport the suspects who crossed over the border into India in the wake of the anti-crime operation in Bangladesh. "We've also asked the Home Ministry and other agencies here to collect names of the criminals so the Indian government can take action on the basis of the lists," he said while replying to a notice about an "anti-Bangladesh" campaign on an Indian website.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=68816

* Colombo to seek Delhi backing

The Sri Lankan government is to send an envoy to neighbouring India to win their support for an international conference to win pledges of aid that is being arranged by the Norwegians to appeal for assistance to rebuild the war ravaged northern and eastern parts of the country.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=68831

* Kumaratunga pledges commitment to truce

Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga has performed her third U-turn in five days on the Tamil Tigers peace bid, baffling observers by pledging her "deep commitment" to the process, diplomats said yesterday.Kumaratunga, in a banquet speech in honour of visiting Croatian President Stipe Mesic, said a truce between the government, which is led by a rival party, and Tamil Tiger rebels was aimed at building confidence.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=37369&Sn=WORL

Editorial
----------

N/A


Business/Technology
---------------------

* Pakistan Oil Investment May Slow on Political Concern

Oil exploration companies doing business in Pakistan say new investment to find oil and gas fields may stall because of delays in forming a new coalition government and worries about security.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=South%20Asia%20News&tp=topfin&T=as_storypage99.ht&s=APdiM0RaEUGFraXN0

* Moody's may upgrade India's ratings

Indian companies may be encouraged to borrow more overseas after Moody's Investors Service said it is considering raising the nation's credit rating. Reversing four years of downgrades, Moody's on Thursday promised to consider upgrading India's 'Ba2' foreign-currency rating, which would mean the ratings company expects foreign lenders to have a better chance of being repaid.

http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,2276,64075,00.html?

* India's Canara Bank Seeks 3.85 Bln Rupees From IPO

Canara Bank began the biggest initial share sale of the year by a state-owned Indian lender, part of a government move to loosen its grip on the banking industry in the world's second most populous nation.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=South%20Asia%20News&tp=topfin&T=as_storypage99.ht&s=APdioKhMeSW5kaWEn

* Indian Review by Moody's May Spur Borrowing Abroad

Indian companies, including Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd. and Power Finance Corp., may be encouraged to borrow more overseas after Moody's Investors Service said it's considering raising the nation's credit rating.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=South%20Asia%20News&tp=topfin&T=as_storypage99.ht&s=APdg3yRT6SW5kaWFu

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