--- South Asian News, November 22, 2002 ---(International)

In Pakistan, the newly-elected Prime Minister begins consultations on cabinet formation. In north Pakistan atleast 20 people die in a severe earth quake while relief operations are in full swing. In Kashmir, two security personnel and two militants die in a gun battle
following an attack on army barracks. The G-20 meeting on Global Financial Stability commences in India. In the editorial section, read about the new start in Pakistan with the return of civilian rule. Also read about ways to bring back normalcy in Kashmir and the new role of Lankan Muslims in its national politics. In business stories, UK and the USA advise India to ease trade restrictions to enhance business opportunities.

Africa
------

* Musharraf loyalist is new Prime Minister (Business Day)
* Pakistan businesses hail change (Business Day)
* 20 die as quake rocks northern Pakistan (News 24) (Independent Online)
* Rebels storm Indian camp in Kashmir, four dead (SABC News)
* India wants to fight terrorism on its own (Business Day)

Americas
--------

* Pakistani parliament chooses moderate PM (Canada Broadcasting) (The News Mexico)
* Quake kills 25 villagers in mountains of Pakistan (Globe and Mail)
* Six dead after gunmen attack paramilitary barracks in Kashmir (Canada.com)

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

* New Pakistani PM begins cabinet planning (Australian Broadcasting)
* Pakistani president congratulates new premier (Xinhuanet)
* Musharraf to administer oath of office to Pakistani PM (Xinhuanet) (East Day)
* Pakistan's religious giant assures support for new govt (Xinhuanet)
* Emergency workers head for Pakistan's earthquake zone (Australian Broadcasting)
* Pakistani police kill 4 out-laws in gun battle (East Day)
* Earthquake in northern Pakistan kills 20 (Australian Broadcasting) (East Day) (Japan Today) (Channel News Asia)
* India to launch disaster management authority (Asian Times)
* Red alert in south Indian state after bomb blast (East Day)
* 5 policemen killed, 10 injured in Kashmir militant strike (East Day)
* G-20 meeting begins in New Delhi (Xinhuanet)(East Day)
* 1 killed, 20 injured in south Indian temple blast (East Day) (Xinhuanet)
* Indian airforce plane crashes in southern Andhra Pradesh, no casualties reported (Channel News Asia)
* Sri Lanka govt, Tamil rebels hold talks (Xinhuanet) (People Daily)
* Intn'l Support for Peace in Sri Lanka to Highlight Oslo Meeting (People Daily) (Xinhuanet)

Europe
------

* Pakistan's Musharraf set to hand over power (Swiss Info)
* Musharraf pledges support for new PM (Financial Times)
* Pakistan quake kills at least 20 (Ananova) (BBC)
* US calls for reform in India (BBC) (BBC) (BBC)
* Two Gunmen Attack Kashmir Barracks (Guardian) (Sky News) (BBC) (Reuters) (Swiss Info)
* Two dead in India bombing (BBC)
* India 'evicted Pakistani troops' (BBC)
* India dusts down grandiose plans to link its great rivers to combat drought and floods (Independent)
* India shuns Sri Lanka donors' meet (BBC)
* Nepal's new premier unmoved by clamour at parliament's gates (Financial Times)

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

* Newsmaker: Jamali to ease West's concerns (Gulf News)
* Jamali win ensures Musharraf's control (Gulf News)
* PPP may expel those who voted for Jamali (Gulf News)
* Pak Prime Minister-elect vows to continue foreign, economic policies (IRNA)
* General Musharraf pledges support to new Pak PM (IRNA)
* 20 killed in Gilgit quake (Gulf News)
* Governor calls for dialogue in Kashmir (Arab News)
* Modi government 'planned riots' (Gulf News)
* Leading surgeon supports Gujarat orphans (Arab News)
* G-20 countries to chalk out poverty alleviation strategy (Gulf Daily News) (Gulf News)
* India reacts with disdain to release of Lashkar chief (IRNA)
* India undecided over participation in Sri Lankan peace meet (IRNA)
* Bangladesh asks India to deport criminals (Gulf News)

Editorial
---------

* New start (Arab News)
* Kashmir: The View from Srinagar (Reuters)
* Accommodating Muslim fears (Asian Times)

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

* Colgate wins 18-year battle (Asian Times)
* India advised to lift cap on FDI in banks (Asian Times)
* O'Neill Urges India to Remove Barriers to Investment and Trade (Bloomberg)
* Indian minister, potential buyers discuss revamp of Unit Trust ()
* State Bank, Indian Rivals Rise on New Bad-Loan Law (Bloomberg)

Africa
------

* Musharraf loyalist is new prime minister

A loyalist of President Pervez Musharraf, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, was elected Pakistan's new prime minister yesterday in a parliamentary vote. Jamali won 172 votes from 329 MPs present in the 342-seat national assembly, defeating a hardline Islamic cleric, who won 86 votes, and a supporter of former premier Benazir Bhutto, with 70 votes. One MP abstained.

http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,,00.html

* Pakistan businesses hail change

Business leaders in Pakistan's commercial capital hailed the election of the first civilian prime minister in three years, voicing the hope that he would push on with the economic reforms of President Pervez Musharraf's regime. Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who heads the pro-Musharraf party holding the largest number of seats in the national assembly, was elected Thursday by a narrow margin in a parliamentary vote.

http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,,00.html

* 20 die as quake rocks northern Pakistan

November 21 -- At least 20 people were killed and an unknown number injured by powerful earthquakes which hit Pakistan's remote mountainous north early on Thursday, said police. "We have reports that 20 people have been killed in three villages," said a police official from the mountain town of Chilas on the famous Karakorum Highway linking the Pakistani capital Islamabad to China.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/0,1113,2-10_1288615,00.html
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=126&art_id=qwB221&set_id=1

* Rebels storm Indian camp in Kashmir, four dead

Two paramilitary soldiers were killed and several wounded today when suspected Muslim rebels stormed a security camp in the heart of Srinagar, summer capital of Indian Kashmir, police said. Two attackers also died in the fire fight that followed the attack on the camp of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) located in a hotel, a police officer said, adding: "The gun battle is over. According to early reports, two CRPF personnel and two militants were killed."

http://www.sabcnews.com/world/asia1pacific/0,1009,47863,00.html

* India wants to fight terrorism on its own

India said yesterday it would not seek external help to combat terrorism but asked the international community to pressure Pakistan into ending its alleged support of militancy in Kashmir. "India can deal with terrorism on its own. We are not dependent on the international community for a solution. This is a fight India has to wage," Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said in parliament yesterday.

http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,,00.html


Americas
--------

* Pakistani parliament chooses moderate PM

November 21 -- Pakistan's parliament elected Zafarullah Khan Jamali as its prime minister Thursday, rejecting a pro-Taliban candidate. Jamali is the first civilian prime minister in the country since the 1999 military coup. Jamali, a member of the pro-military Pakistan Muslim League, is considered a moderate and has the support of a powerful army.

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2002/11/21/pakistan_pm021121
http://www.thenewsmexico.com/noticia.asp?id=40471

* Quake kills 25 villagers in mountains of Pakistan

A large earthquake rattled a remote mountainous region of northern Pakistan yesterday, killing at least 25 people, officials said. The predawn tremor hit the Gilgit region, about 400 kilometres north of Peshawar, said Jehangir Khan, an official with the Ministry of Kashmiri Affairs in Islamabad.

http://www.globeandmail.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20021122/UREPOM-3/Asia/internationalAsia/internationalAsia_temp/3/3/3/

* Six dead after gunmen attack paramilitary barracks in Kashmir

Two men used grenades and automatic rifles to storm a paramilitary force barracks in a converted hotel in the centre of Srinagar on Friday, killing four soldiers and dying in the assault. Eleven soldiers were injured and taken to hospitals, said a spokesman for the Central Reserve Police Force, which fights the Islamic militants who have waged a nearly 13-year insurgency to merge the Indian state of Jammu-Kashmir with Pakistan or win its independence. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

http://www.canada.com/news/story.asp?id={6474D4FC-4E09-42BB-AB60-AC11E6BE212C}

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

* New Pakistani PM begins cabinet planning

Pakistan's new Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali has begun talks on forming the first civilian cabinet in three years, a day after his narrow election in the divided parliament. The cabinet will be a coalition of pro-military parties, independents and dissenters from the opposition Pakistan People's Party who voted for him.

http://abc.net.au/asiapacific/news/GoAsiaPacificBNA_733098.htm

* Pakistani president congratulates new premier

Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf here on Friday congratulated Mir Zafarullah Jamali on his election as the prime minister. Meeting with Jamali here, Musharraf said that he believes the new prime minister would work hard for the solidarity, integrity of the country and the socio-economic development of the people.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-11/22/content_638272.htm

* Musharraf to administer oath of office to Pakistani PM

November 21 -- Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf will administer the oath of office of the Prime Minister to Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on Saturday, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan quoting an official announcement here Thursday. "The oath will be administered at a special ceremony at Aiwan-e-Sadr (Presidential Palace)," the announcement said.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-11/22/content_637155.htm
http://english.eastday.com/epublish/gb/paper1/731/class000100003/hwz98531.htm

* Pakistan's religious giant assures support for new govt

November 21-- Pakistan's Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), the third largest group in the parliament, on Thursday assured its support for the new government. Maulana Fazlur Rehman, candidate for the premiership of MMA, coalition of six religious groups, made the above statement while talking to media after the prime minister's election here on Thursday.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-11/21/content_637133.htm

* Emergency workers head for Pakistan's earthquake zone

A relief operation is under way in the Karakoram Mountains of northern Pakistan after an earthquake measuring at least 5-point-6 on the Richter scale hit the area yesterday. More than 20 people have been killed and hundreds of others injured. Most of the casualties have been reported from remote villages about 80 kilometres west of the main town of Gilgit.

http://abc.net.au/asiapacific/news/GoAsiaPacificBNA_732512.htm

* Pakistani police kill 4 out-laws in gun battle

Pakistani police on Friday gunned down four out-laws and recovered lethal weapons at a village, some 25 kilometers from Hyderabad in the southeastern province of Sindh, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP)reported. The report said the police received information about the hide-out of a dacoits gang and besieged it.

http://english.eastday.com/epublish/gb/paper1/731/class000100003/hwz98579.htm

* Earthquake in northern Pakistan kills 20

An earthquake in Pakistan's remote mountainous north has killed 20 people, a spokesman from the interior ministry says. "Twenty people have died and scores of others are injured but we don't have any exact details," interior ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema said. Minister for Northern Areas Nisar Memon says the quake had hit at about 21:30 GMT Wednesday and measured 5.6 points on the Richter scale.

http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s732256.htm
http://english.eastday.com/epublish/gb/paper1/731/class000100003/hwz98478.htm
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=7&id=239677
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southasia/view/25280/1/.html

* India to launch disaster management authority

The country will soon have a National Disaster Management Authority which will ensure better inter-ministerial and state coordination to mitigate the impact of natural calamities, a top federal government official said here on Thursday.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DK22Df03.html

* Red alert in south Indian state after bomb blast

Security was tightened Friday in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh in the wake of a bomb blast near a temple Thursday night, killing a woman and injuring 20 others, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. A red alert has been sounded Friday in Hyderabad and the neighboring Ranga Reddy district in the state and a strict vigil is being maintained at all places of worship and a strict vigil is being maintained at all places of worship, PTI said.

http://english.eastday.com/epublish/gb/paper1/731/class000100003/hwz98570.htm

* 5 policemen killed, 10 injured in Kashmir militant strike

Two militants of a suicide squad carried out a major strike on a police camp in the heart of Srinagar on Friday morning, killing five policemen and injuring 10before being shot dead,police said. The militants carried out the attack on the camp located in Pamposh hotel in Regal Chowk area around 0545hours, they said.

http://english.eastday.com/epublish/gb/paper1/731/class000100003/hwz98569.htm

* G-20 meeting begins in New Delhi

The Group of 20 Nations (G-20) commenced a meeting here Friday with India articulating the concerns of globalization, financial sector reforms and the difficulties in combating funding of terrorism while stressing the need for stepping up developmental aid. The meeting got under way with senior finance officials of G-8 industrialized nations along with developing countries including India, China, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico attending it.

http://english.eastday.com/epublish/gb/paper1/731/class000100003/hwz98578.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-11/22/content_638153.htm

* 1 killed, 20 injured in south Indian temple blast

November 21 -- A bomb exploded Thursday night in a crowed Saibaba temple, killing one woman and injuring 20 others in Ranga Reddy district of south India's Andhra Pradesh. The bomb, planted in a scooter near the temple at Dilsukhnagar, exploded around 8:30 p.m., police said.

http://english.eastday.com/epublish/gb/paper1/731/class000100003/hwz98541.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-11/22/content_637178.htm

* Indian airforce plane crashes in southern Andhra Pradesh, no casualties reported

An Indian Air Force aircraft crashed in southern Andhra Pradesh state on Thursday, but both the instructor and trainee pilot ejected safely, according to local media. Officials say the plane from the Dundigal Air Force Academy was on a routine flight before it crashed about 60km from Hyderabad, state capital of Andhra Pradesh.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southasia/view/25260/1/.html

* Sri Lanka govt, Tamil rebels hold talks

November 21 -- Delegations of the Sri Lankan government and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels on Thursday formulated a number of consensus-based recommendations seeking to de-escalate and normalize situation in the strategic Trincomalee district in the east, officials said. The meeting is the fifth of a series of direct talks at district level provided within a dialogue mechanism created at the second round of Norwegian-brokered peace talks held in Thailand early this month.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-11/22/content_637150.htm
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200211/22/eng20021122_107281.shtml

* Intn'l Support for Peace in Sri Lanka to Highlight Oslo Meeting

Sri Lanka will seek international support for the Norwegian-brokered peace process in the country more than just financial help at the donor conference to be held in Oslo next Monday, Constitutional Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris said on Thursday. Peiris said that the main objective of this conference is to send a powerful political message to the international community for the support of the peace process in the country.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200211/22/eng20021122_107270.shtml
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-11/21/content_637023.htm

Europe
------

* Pakistan's Musharraf set to hand over power

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has promised to transfer power to a new civilian prime minister in the next one to two days, just over three years since his 1999 bloodless coup.Musharraf addressed the nation on Wednesday on the eve of a vote in parliament to elect the country's first prime minister since the coup, following October's general election.

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=1471475

* Musharraf pledges support for new PM

November 21 -- General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, last night urged the country's next prime minister, due to be elected today, to embrace the military regime's reforms of the past three years, and assured his full co-operation with the new government. In a speech on national television, widely considered symbolically significant, not only because it came ahead of today's election but also because it offered a response to criticism of the government's economic policies, Gen Musharraf drew a list of his achievements.

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=&p=

* Pakistan quake kills at least 20

November 21 -- At least 20 people have died after an earthquake rattled a remote mountainous region of northern Pakistan. The 5.5 magnitude tremor hit the Gilgit region, north of Peshawar. Aftershocks have been rumbling through the region for several hours.

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_713694.html?menu=news.latestheadlines.worldnews
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2499321.stm

* US calls for reform in India

India must remove barriers to trade and make sure property rights are protected in order to attract more investment from abroad, according to a senior US official visiting the country. US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill insisted India's economy would grow faster if the country would cut tariffs to encourage trade.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2501943.stm

* Indian state criticised over poor

Uttar Pradesh, India's largest state and home to the highest concentration of the world's poor, faces a bleak future unless it reverses the "deterioration in governance", the World Bank said yesterday. In an unusually blunt report, the bank said the poor in Uttar Pradesh were increasingly excluded from the development spending supposedly aimed at them.

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=&p=

* Two Gunmen Attack Kashmir Barracks

Two gunmen stormed a barracks Friday and fought a two-hour gunbattle with soldiers in the center of this main city of the Indian state of Jammu-Kashmir. The attackers and two soldiers were killed, said a spokesman for the police force. Thirteen soldiers were wounded as the gunbattle moved through a corridor and the kitchen of the barracks, a former hotel.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2190806,00.html
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2501679.stm
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=1786813
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=1471313

* Two dead in India bombing

Two people have been killed and nearly 20 others injured in an explosion in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh state, officials say. They say the bomb, which was concealed in a scooter, went off near a temple on Thursday evening.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2500885.stm

* India 'evicted Pakistani troops'

November 21 -- The Indian Government has admitted for the first time that it evicted Pakistani soldiers who had crossed the Line of Control in Kashmir in late July. Breaking four months of silence on the subject, Defence Minister George Fernandes told parliament that Indian air and ground forces were used in an operation to displace Pakistani troops on August the second.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2500679.stm

* India dusts down grandiose plans to link its great rivers to combat drought and floods

A plan dating from the 1970s to build a gigantic system of canals linking India's rivers in an effort to break the nation's debilitating pattern of drought and flood has been given new impetus by the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He told parliament that the government saw the scheme as a permanent solution to India's water crises, which could "change the destiny of the country". Getting the money would be no problem, he said. The issue was spending it properly.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia_china/story.jsp?story=354561

* India shuns Sri Lanka donors' meet

India says it will not be sending a political representative to an international donor conference on Sri Lanka to be held in Norway next week. Reports from Delhi quoted a foreign ministry spokesman saying said the government could be represented by one of its diplomats in Norway.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2501741.stm

* Nepal's new premier unmoved by clamour at parliament's gates

November 21 -- Lokendra Bahadur Chand, Nepal's new prime minister is under siege from all sides. The country's Maoist insurgents, who control about 40 per cent of the Himalayan kingdom, refuse to talk to what they see as the "puppet government" of King Gyanendra, Nepal's monarch. The country's mainstream political parties reject Mr Chand's government as an "unconstitutional" creature of the monarchy.

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=&p=

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

* Newsmaker: Jamali to ease West's concerns

Soft-spoken and a little stiff, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, chosen yesterday as Pakistan's prime minister, is one of the country's most seasoned politicians, and is likely to help ease concerns in the West about the rise to prominence of ultraconservative religious parties. He defeated the candidate of the religious right, Fazlur Rahman, by a wide margin.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=69139

* Jamali win ensures Musharraf's control

A loyalist of President General Pervez Musharraf, Mir Zafarul-lah Khan Jamali, was narrowly elected Pakistan's new prime minister yesterday, effectively guaranteeing the military ruler control over the first civilian government since his 1999 coup."Jamali will be worse than a rubber-stamp prime minister," said Syed Zafar Ali Shah from the anti-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=69140

* PPP may expel those who voted for Jamali

The Pakistan People's Party has served show cause notices to three of its lawmakers for voting against the party candidate for prime minister, saying that the new democratic experiment has started on the basis of what it called "moral depravity and legal perversion". At least 10 PPP members of the National Assembly yesterday voted in favour of Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam's Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, and not their own party nominee Shah Mahmood Qureshi for the prime minister's slot.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=69206

* Pak Prime Minister-elect vows to continue foreign, economic policies

November 21 -- Pakistan Prime Minister-elect Mir Zafarullah Jamali has said that economic and foreign policies of General Musharraf government's will continue which, he said, have given greater strength to the country in economy and at the international level. Speaking in the National Assembly immediately after his election on Thursday, Jamali assured the members that he would consult the opposition parties on important matters and no illegal cases would be registered against them.

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

* General Musharraf pledges support to new Pak PM

November 21 -- President General Pervez Musharraf has assured full support to newly-elected Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali, the country's first civilian premier since a military coup three years ago. Jamali belongs to the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) party which is close to Musharraf. The new premier will take oath of his office on Saturday.

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

* 20 killed in Gilgit quake

At least 20 people were killed and scores of others were injured when two earthquake tremors measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale rumbled through the northern region of Pakistan early yesterday, officials said. The victims of the quake that hit the Gilgit region in the north near the border with China included 18 children, they said.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=69205

* Governor calls for dialogue in Kashmir

A special session of the Jammu and Kashmir legislature began yesterday with Governor G.C. Saxena urging the central government toa "serious and result oriented" dialogue to solve the Kashmir problem. Saxena said legislators and other sections of the people should be involved in the proposed dialogue to usher "just and durable peace" in the state that has been "traumatized and brutalized" for the past 13 years by a dragging separatist campaign.

http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=20542

*Modi government 'planned riots'

The Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the western Indian state of Gujarat planned systematic attacks on Muslims after a February train massacre, an independent panel said yesterday. In a report released less than a month before the Gujarat government seeks re-election at the polls, the panel, which included retired judges and non-governmental organisations, said the government orchestrated the riots that left more than 1,000 people dead.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=69143

* Leading surgeon supports Gujarat orphans

Sanjida Banoo is a 13-year-old girl, who lost her father in the communal riots that swept the western Indian state of Gujarat in the recent months. She lived in Jahangir Nagar, Vatva, Ahmedabad, and did not know what to do and where to go. Similar was the fate of Fauzia, the five-year-old daughter of Azim Muhammad Sheikh and Shama Banoo, both of whom perished in the riots.

http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=20543

* G-20 countries to chalk out poverty alleviation strategy

Top finance officials from the Group of 20 will discuss poverty alleviation, the global economy and ways to choke off funding to terrorist groups at a two-day meetingng here today, a senior Indian finance ministry official said. The fourth G-20 meeting will bring together finance ministers, senior officials and central bank governors from 19 developed and developing nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=37576&Sn=BUSI
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=69212

* India reacts with disdain to release of Lashkar chief

November 21 -- India on Wednesday reacted with disdain to reports that Pakistan had released Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) chief Hafeez Mohammad Saeed from detention, saying "this is nothing new". Asked by reporters about the release, India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman said, "Sustenance is still being given to terrorists in Pakistan."

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

* India undecided over participation in Sri Lankan peace meet

November 21 -- As a senior Sri Lanka minister is expected here to persuade India to participate in a donor conference in Oslo next week in support of the ongoing peace process in the island nation, New Delhi Wednesday evening said it had not taken any decision to this effect. Asked by reporters Wednesday about Colombo's request, India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman said, and "There is no decision on India's participation."

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

* Bangladesh asks India to deport criminals

Dhaka has sought the quick deportation of some wanted Bangladeshi criminals to put them on trial at home, but the Indian authorities are yet to officially inform Bangladesh about arrests made in Kolkata on Monday. "Until this morning, we have not been officially informed of the arrested criminals; we have asked our missions in Kolkata and New Delhi to verify the Indian media reports about the arrests," Foreign Secretary, Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, told reporters in Dhaka yesterday.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=69144

Editorial
---------

* New start

What Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, elected to lead Pakistan as its first civilian prime minister since the 1999 coup, has ahead of him is no easy task. His Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid party is seen by the opposition in Parliament as a puppet administration, which will allow President Pervez Musharraf to continue to exercise ultimate power.

http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=20561

* Kashmir: The View from Srinagar

November 21 -- The recent state elections in Jammu and Kashmir have raised hopes that peace in the valley may eventually be possible. However the vote is only the first step towards unravelling the long cycle of violence. The positive election outcome must be reinforced by concrete actions by India, Pakistan and the new Kashmiri leadership.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/554417

* Accommodating Muslim fears

Since the commencement in last December of attempts to resolve Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict through peaceful means, Sri Lankan Muslims have assumed an important "third party" role in the related political processes, including the formal negotiations that began in September 2002 between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DK22Df01.html

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

* Colgate wins 18-year battle

In a major victory for Colgate Palmolive, the Supreme Court has cleared it of a finding by the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) that it resorted to unfair trade practices by launching the "Trigard Family Good Habits Contest" to popularize its tooth brush in 1984.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DK22Df04.html

* India advised to lift cap on FDI in banks

India needs to lift the ceiling on foreign investments in banks and expedite disinvestment of state-owned financial sector entities to attract higher overseas investment, Britain's Chief Secretary to Treasury Paul Boateng said Thursday.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DK22Df02.html

* O'Neill Urges India to Remove Barriers to Investment and Trade

U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill asked India to remove barriers to trade and investment, such as those that restrict New York Life Insurance Co. from owning a bigger share of one of its fastest-growing units. In a speech to business leaders, O'Neill called on India to raise productivity,its markets to foreign investors and goods, stamp out corruption and cut regulation. O'Neill is expected to repeat that message in separate meetings with Indian Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and central bank chief Bimal Jalan.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=South%20Asia%20News&tp=topfin&T=as_storypage99.ht&s=APd34ThYzTydOZWls

* Indian minister, potential buyers discuss revamp of Unit Trust

India's plans to split the nation's biggest mutual fund into two and sell one of them was set for discussion yesterday at a meeting in New Delhi that will be attended by Finance Minister Jaswant Singh. Mr Singh will hold talks on the proposed revamp with officials from Unit Trust of India, state-owned insurer Life Insurance Corp, and the nation's biggest lender, State Bank of India, on the proposed revamp, the finance ministry said.

http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,2276,64569,00.html?

* State Bank, Indian Rivals Rise on New Bad-Loan Law

Shares of State Bank of India and rival lenders surged after Parliament approved a law that should help lenders pare their more than 1 trillion rupees ($21 billion) of bad loans. The law, which must be approved by the upper house, lets banks and asset managers seize and sell the secured assets of delinquent borrowers. It replaces a five-month old government decree that was last month blocked by a court petition, pending approval of the legislation.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=South%20Asia%20News&tp=topfin&T=as_storypage99.ht&s=APd3UGBPvU3RhdGUg

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