SOUTH ASIA NEWS

US NEWS SOURCES -November 22 2002

---IN TODAY'S NEWS---

BREAKING NEWS / NEWSWIRE

* U.S. says will remain growth engine as G-20 meets / (Reuters)
The United States is determined to keep its economic demand on track and be an engine of global growth, U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said on Friday as rich and poor nations began a financial summit. "President (George) Bush has said when Congress comes back in January, he'll make proposals about job creation and economic stimulus to make sure we continue to play the role of engine for the world economy," he told Indian executives in New Delhi.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/021122/137/1yc9k.html

* When Secretary O'Neill went shopping in Delhi's Sarojini Nagar / (IANS)
For hundreds of early shoppers and shopkeepers in the vibrant and colourful Sarojini Nagar market in south Delhi, the unannounced arrival of a fleet of black limousines created a flutter. Though many had no idea who the visitor, a black-suited foreigner surrounded by a bevy of grim-looking secret servicemen, was, the word soon went around that an "American minister" had come shopping. U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, who was in India to attend the G-20 finance ministers' meet, had been brought to the market that is a haven for cheap readymade garments, among other things, to get a feel of "middle class India".
http://in.news.yahoo.com/021122/43/1yc3o.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northern Pakistan is rattled by a large earthquake in a remote mountainous region killing 25 people. Pakistan's new Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali makes it clear that Pakistan will continue supporting the fight against terror. In Indian Kashmir, two guerrillas cut through into the security camp and kill five soldiers. O'Neill who has been making the rounds in South Asia, urges India to restrict trade barriers and give way for freer trade between neighbours. The editorial points out that it needs more than a free election to get lasting peace in Kashmir and the onus lies on the Indian government. In the business section read a report on the software services sector in India utilizing the outsourcing boom to pave new growth paths.

HEADLINES

TOP STORIES

Earthquake hits remote Pakistan region, killing at least 25 people (Wall Street Journal) (NY Times) (LA Times) (Washington Post) (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) (Press Enterprise) (CBS News) (News Observer) (The Oklahoman) (News Day) (MSNBC)
Further tremors spread fear in Pakistan mountains (NY Times) (Sanluisobispo.com) (ABC News)
Close vote in Pakistan keeps link to America (NY Times)
Profile of new Pakistan PM Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali (Wall Street Journal) (Voice of America)
Pakistan PM-elect pledges to continue in antiterror fight (Wall Street Journal)
Pakistan parliament chooses PM backed by military (Wall Street Journal)
Russian diplomat: Pakistan officials help Bin Laden (Wall Street Journal)
Pakistan won't need IMF program after 2004 - Ctrl Bk Gov (Wall Street Journal)
Pakistanis question perks of power (Washington Post)
Pakistani MP brands America a 'terrorist' (Common Dreams News Center)
Rebels attack Indian camp in Kashmir; seven dead (Wall Street Journal) (NY Times) (Washington Post) (Voice of America) (Reuters Alertnet) (Reuters Alert) (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) (Sanluisobispo.com) (Dayton Daily News) (ABC News) (KREM. com) (Press Enterprise) (Ohio News) (Las Vegas Sun) (News Day) (CNN)
U.S. O'Neill to push India on freer trade (Wall Street Journal) (NY Times) (Washington Post) (Bloomberg) (Sanluisobispo.com)
U.S. and Britain urge India to shed state-owned assets (NY Times)
G-20 ministers gather in India (Wall Street Journal) (Voice of America) (CNN)
India bomb blast after U.S. visit (Wall Street Journal) (CBS News) (CNN)
Indian-Kashmir peace call (CNN)
India evicted Pakistani troops from Kashmir in August (Wall Street Journal)
India scientists hope for spacecraft to orbit moon by '08 (Wall Street Journal)
India handicrafts fair pulls in $170m of orders (Global Sources)
Sri Lanka Muslims want talks to address their fears (MSNBC)
Donors say proper aid use key to rebuild S.Lanka (MSNBC)
Sri Lankan pres' party opposes PM, rebels sharing table (Wall Street Journal)

EDITORIALS / OP-ED
Kashmir: The view from Srinagar (Reuters Alertnet)

BUSINESS / TECHNOLOGY
Indian panel gives cautious nod to ‘super regulator’ (Global Wireless)
India to reap benefit of tech outsourcing boom (NY Times) (InfoWorld Media Group) (ISP World) (CNET Networks)

OTHER STORIES
Beatles bowing to Indian hit in world music poll (Washington Post) (ABC News)
Cultures unite to savor America's rich diversity (Newark Star Ledger)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STORIES

TOP STORIES

* Earthquake hits remote Pakistan region, killing at least 25 people
Peshawar, Pakistan -- A large earthquake rattled a remote mountainous region of northern Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least 25 people, officials said. The pre-dawn temblor hit the Gilgit region, about 240 miles north of Peshawar, said Jehangir Khan, an official with the Ministry of Kashmiri Affairs in Islamabad. Aftershocks rumbled for several hours.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021121_002851,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Pakistan-Earthquake.html

* Further tremors spread fear in Pakistan mountains
Islamabad -- Thousands slept in thein bitterly cold conditions overnight in Pakistan's mountainous north as tremors continued following a major earthquake that killed 23 people, officials said Friday. Landslides seriously hampered relief work, blocking access roads to valleys high in the Karakorum mountains close to the Nanga Parbat peak, they said.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-quake-pakistan.html
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/world/4577868.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20021122_14.html

* Close vote in Pakistan keeps link to America
Islamabad -- President Pervez Musharraf's chosen candidate defeated a pro-Taliban cleric in a parliamentary vote for prime minister today, garnering just enough votes to ensure a smooth transition of power and Pakistan's continued cooperation with the United States in its efforts against terror.Zafarullah Khan Jamali, 58, is a veteran politician from the southwestern province of Baluchistan, who served as a minister under a previous military government.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/22/international/asia/22STANhtml

* Profile of new Pakistan PM Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali
Islamabad -- Soft-spoken and a little stiff, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, chosen Thursday as Pakistan's prime minister, is one of the country's most seasoned politicians. A powerful figure in southern Baluchistan province, the 58-year-old Jamali was the choice of the Quaid-e-Azam faction of the Pakistan Muslim League, which supports President Pervez Musharrraf and won the most seats in Oct. 10 parliamentary elections.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021121_000960,00.html
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=68899A75-2C9B-4B60-8E7E299B6EBE9428

* Pakistan PM-elect pledges to continue in antiterror fight
Islamabad -- Zafarullah Khan Jamali, President Pervez Musharraf's candidate who was elected prime minister Thursday, made clear that Pakistan will continue supporting the fight against terror. "Pakistan has become a front-line state, will remain one," he said in a speech after his election. "Pakistan is going ahead as a respectable country."
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021121_007005-search,00.html

* Pakistan parliament chooses PM backed by military
Islamabad -- Pakistan's parliament chose a middle-of-the-road prime minister Thursday who has the support of the powerful army. The pro-Taliban candidate, Fazlur Rahman, was a distant second in the race for prime minister. The election of Zafarullah Khan Jamali as Pakistan's 20th prime minister paves the way for the formation of a coalition government that will bring together the pro-army faction of the Pakistan Muslim League, dissident members of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's party and independent members of Parliament.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021121_000666,00.html

* Russian diplomat: Pakistan officials help Bin Laden
Moscow -- A senior Russian diplomat Thursday said Osama bin Laden and members of his al-Qaida network were receiving help from authorities inside Pakistan, a news agency reported. The Interfax news agency also quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov as saying that bin Laden and Mullah Mohammed Omar, the former leader of Afghanistan's ousted Taliban regime, were probably hiding on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021121_001050,00.html

* Pakistan won't need IMF program after 2004 - Ctrl Bk Gov
Hussain said the central bank will continue to buy dollars to boost its reserves to better equip the country to absorb external shocks and reduce the country's dependence on outside financing. "If you want to eliminate the dependence on external donors all you have to do is build up a significant cushion...reserve building is part of providing that cushion to boost the confidence of foreign and domestic investors," he said.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021121_000495,00.html

* Pakistanis question perks of power
Karachi, Pakistan -- Public schools here are little more than warehouses, grim concrete shells lacking libraries, sports facilities, sometimes even teachers. Classes have as many as 60 students. But the children of Pakistani military officers almost certainly are not among them. For them, there is Army Public School O Levels. Geared toward preparation for the competitive O Levelexams required by British universities, the handsome school is an educational showpiece whose computer, physics and biology labs would not seem out of place in an American suburb.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ANov21.html

* Pakistani MP brands America a 'terrorist'
A senior Pakistani MP described America as the “biggest terrorist state” in prayers said in Parliament yesterday for a man executed in Virginia last week for the murder of two members of the CIA. The remark, which will embarrass the Islamabad Government, was made as a record 20,000 people gathered to remember Aimal Kansi in his home city of Quetta. Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a deputy parliamentary leader of a five-party Islamic alliance, hailed Kansi as an “Islamic hero” and prayed for the destruction of those responsible for his execution.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/1120-08.htm

* Rebels attack Indian camp in Kashmir; seven dead
Srinagar, India -- Two guerrillas dressed in police uniforms fought their way into a security camp in the heart of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, on Friday and killed five soldiers, police said. Both assailants also died in the firefight that followed the most daring militant attack since a new government led by a regional group took power this month promising to heal the wounds of a 13-year separatist revolt in the Muslim-majority region.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021122_000526-search,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-kashmir-attack.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ANov22.html
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=BC429F57-60AE-44BF-B8721E65F78FC9EF
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL279291
http://www.newsalert.com/bin/story?StoryId=CpD250bebAw5KAweTA2fZAg1PCI1ZCg90
http://www.newsalert.com/bin/story?StoryId=CpD250bebAw5KAweTA2fZAg1PCI1ZCg90
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/world/4578538.htm
http://www.activedayton.com/ddn/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V5601.AP-Kashmir-Attack.html
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20021122_276.html
http://www.krem.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D7NEVRJG0.html
http://www.pe.com/ap_news/International/Kashmir_Attack_36573I.shtml
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/world/4579718.htm
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-asia/2002/nov/22/112205601.html
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-kashmir-attack1122nov22,0,7163142.story
http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/11/21/kashmir.attack/index.html

* U.S. O'Neill to push India on freer trade
Hyderabad, India -- India needs to reduce restrictive trade barriers andup to freer trade with its neighbors to draw investment and give its poor a chance at prosperity, U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said on Thursday. O'Neill, on a week-long visit to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, said he intended to pursue a proposal for freer trade between the three southwest Asian neighbors when he meets Indian government officials in New Delhi on Friday.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021122_001143-search,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/politics/politics-trade-oneill-india.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ANov21.html
http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=Top%20Financial%20News&T=markets_box.ht&middle=ad_frame2_all&s=APd3EAxVvTydOZWls
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/politics/4574052.htm

* U.S. and Britain urge India to shed state-owned assets
Hyderabad, India -- Senior American and British officials touring India today called on the Indian government to scale back its role in the domestic economy, which has lagged behind China in growth. Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill said here in southern India today that the country needed stronger legal protections for businesses, which are often vulnerable to sharp swings in regulation or political sentiment. Mr. O'Neill said the Indian economy was attracting only one-tenth the volume of foreign investment now going to China.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/22/business/worldbusiness/22INDI.html

* G-20 ministers gather in India
New Delhi -- Officials from some of the world's richest and poorest countries launched talks on Friday on global economic and financial issues against the backdrop of a possible war in Iraq. The annual summit of finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of 20 will also discuss how to cut off funds for terrorism, boost global trade and combat financial crises.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021121_002636,00.html
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=786C2AF8-7A46-42CF-90E7C359F945B0FF
http://asia.cnn.com/2002/BUSINESS/asia/11/21/india.g20.reut/index.html

* India bomb blast after U.S. visit
A bomb exploded in a parking lot in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad on Thursday, injuring up to 10 people after the visit of U.S. Secretary Paul O'Neill, police said. Police superintendent Ramachandra Raju said the bomb was placed in a motorbike. "It exploded, resulting in injuries to six to 10 persons," he told the private Star News channel.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021121_004404,00.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/11/21/world/main530311.shtml
http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/11/21/india.bomb/index.html

* Indian-Kashmir peace call
Srinagar, India -- The newly-elected administration in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir called on the central government in New Delhi to take steps to bring what it calls a "durable peace" to the state. Addressing the inaugural session of the legislature on Thursday, state governor G.C. Saxena urged the Indian government to initiate a "serious, result-oriented unconditional dialogue with elected representatives and others."
http://asia.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/11/21/kashmir.peace/index.html

* India evicted Pakistani troops from Kashmir in August
New Delhi -- Indian ground and air troops had evicted Pakistani soldiers who had intruded into Indian territory in Kashmir in July-August, India said Thursday, breaking a four-month silence over the issue. There was no immediate reaction from Pakistan to the statement in the Indian Parliament by Defense Minister George Fernandes. Pakistan shares a disputed border with India in the Himalayan province of Kashmir. The neighbors have fought three wars.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021121_002860,00.html

* India scientists hope for spacecraft to orbit moon by '08
New Delhi -- Indian space scientists expect to ask the government next month to approve shooting a spacecraft to the moon's orbit by 2008 to investigate unexplored lunar regions, a local news agency reported Thursday. "If all goes well, the Indian Space Research Organization will take up the challenge of sending a spacecraft to the moon in the next four to five years," United News of India quoted the organization's chairman, K. Kasturirangan, as saying Wednesday.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021121_001323,00.html

* India handicrafts fair pulls in $170m of orders
New Delhi -- The 14th India Handicrafts and Gifts Fair 2002, which wrapped up on October 16 in New Delhi, generated orders worth about $170 million, according to Export Promotion Council of Handicrafts (EPCH) executive director Rakesh Kumar. "The fair has been growing year after year," said Kumar. "This year, the number of exhibitors rose to about 1,000 compared to last year's 650. Buyers' attendance also jumped from 4,500 to 6,000."
http://www.gifts.globalsources.com/MAGAZINE/GT/0301/IHGF.HTM

* Sri Lanka Muslims want talks to address their fears
New Delhi -- Sri Lanka's Muslims, who have expressed fears about their safety in areas dominated by Tamil Tigers, want the next round of peace talks to address their concerns, the head of the island's Muslim party said on Thursday. The Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebels, fighting for self-determination for minority Tamils in the north and east, have held two rounds of peace talks after a Norwegian-brokered truce signed last February.
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters.asp?reg=ASIA

* Donors say proper aid use key to rebuild S.Lanka
Colombo -- Disbursing aid rapidly and efficiently is the next hurdle that faces Sri Lanka and Tamil Tiger rebels as they prepare to appeal for aid at a conference in Oslo on Monday to support their bid to help end 19 years of war. Some of the island's biggest donors said on Thursday making proper use of aid money and launching projects swiftly is as much part of the battle as getting donors totheir wallets if people are to see a dividend from peace.
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters.asp?reg=ASIA

* Sri Lankan pres' party opposes PM, rebels sharing table
Colombo -- The party of Sri Lanka's powerful president said Friday it doesn't want the prime minister to share a table with Tamil Tiger rebels at an international conference in Norway next week, because it could prompt Western nations to lift their bans on the guerrillas. Sri Lanka's government - run by a different party than that headed by the president - lifted its ban on the Tigers in September before beginning peace talks to end the 19-year civil war.
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20021122_001997-search,00.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDITORIALS / OP-ED

* Kashmir: The view from Srinagar
Islamabad -- 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. A new report from the International Crisis Group (ICG), Kashmir: The View >From Srinagar, says that the election of a state leadership in Kashmir different from the ruling power in New Delhi for the first time since independence in 1947 is a welcome sign of political liberalisation.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/554417

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BUSINESS / TECHNOLOGY

* Indian panel gives cautious nod to ‘super regulator’
New Delhi -- The Indian government’s plan to set up a “super regulator” along the lines of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) got a boost, with the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Information Technology giving its approval to the “Communications Convergence Bill, 2001,” which includes setting up of the Convergence Commission of India (CCI).
http://www.globalwirelessnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=3670
http://www.globalwirelessnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=3670

* India to reap benefit of tech outsourcing boom
Bangalore, India -- India's software services sector, which has made low costs its competitive advantage, should reap the benefits of an outsourcing windfall as more and more global firms move to cut spending, industry officials said. ``I think there's a very bright future for India because cost control issues are going to continue to weigh heavily on American and European firms, probably till 2004,'' Michael Melenovsky, senior vice-president at researcher IDC, told Reuters on the sidelines of its industry seminar on Thursday.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-tech-india-outsourcing.html
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/11/21/021121hnindia.xml?s=REUTERS
http://www.ispworld.com/Reuters/BreakingNews/112102_js05.htm
http://news.cnet.com/investor/news/newsitem/.html?tag=ats
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-tech-india-outsourcing.html
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/11/21/021121hnindia.xml?s=REUTERS
http://www.ispworld.com/Reuters/BreakingNews/112102_js05.htm
http://news.cnet.com/investor/news/newsitem/.html?tag=ats

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OTHER STORIES

* Beatles bowing to Indian hit in world music poll
London -- Step aside the Beatles, Queen and Led Zeppelin -- a Tamil song from a 1991 Indian film is topping them all in a worldwide poll to find the most popular song on the planet. "Rakkamma Kaiya Thattu" is one of three Indian songs riding high in the top ten of a BBC poll of radio listeners, celebrities and politicians from 116 countries. Cliff Richard is running a close second in the poll with his 1979 hit "We Don't Talk Any More." American singer Cher is holding down the third spot with her dance smash "Believe."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ANov21.html
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Entertainment/reuters20021121_272.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ANov21.html
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Entertainment/reuters20021121_272.html

* Cultures unite to savor America's rich diversity
Typically during November, Gurparkash Singh celebrates Diwali, a fall festival of lights. But last night, Singh and 300 other Somerset County residents from different countries and cultures celebrated Thanksgiving, a quintessential American holiday, as a way to revel in the great diversity of their community.
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/somerset/index.ssf?/base/news-1/.xml

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--- South Asian News, November 22 2002 ---

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.