--- South Asian News, November 27, 2002 ---(International)

India reacts cautiously as Pakistan calls for dialogue on all issues including Kashmir. Meanwhile the Indian Premier greets his counterpart on his appointment to head the civilian setup in Pakistan. In Sri Lanka, its President asks rebels to lay down their arms to strengthen the peace process. The editorial section focuses on the Islamic militant outfits based in Pakistan which target India. In business news, read about the thriving business of diamond cutting in India.

Africa
------

* Thousands left homeless after Pakistani earthquake (SABC News)
* India considers death sentence for rapists (Independent Online) (News 24)

Americas
--------

* Pakistani prisoners return from Afghanistan (The News Mexico)

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

* Islamabad calls for dialogue with India, willing to discuss Kashmir (Channel News Asia)
* Continuation of reforms critical for new govt:IMF (Asia News Network)
* Figures nail Musharraf lies (Asia News Network)
* Aftershocks, Closed Road Hamper Pakistan Quake Aid (ABC News)
* Pakistan desires to improve relations with India: FM (Xinhuanet)
* India reacts cautiously to Pakistan's offer (Xinhuanet)
* Indian PM greets Pakistan's new Premier (Xinhuanet)
* 13 killed in Jammu, Kashmir (Xinhuanet)
* No respite from jihadis (Asian Times)
* Learn from China, businessmen urged (Asian Times)
* India confident of achieving 8% growth (Asian Times)
* CCEA approves award of oil, gas blocks (Asian Times)
* Sri Lankan president wants Tamil rebels to lay down arms (Channel News Asia) (Australian Broadcasting) (East Day)
* Sri Lanka peace bid wins old foes cash and support (Straits Times)
* UN seeks more peace keepers from Bangladesh (Xinhuanet)

Europe
------

* US gets Pakistan nuclear 'assurances' (BBC)
* Aftershocks hamper Pakistan quake aid (Swiss Info) (Reuters)
* Pakistan army flies out quake victims (BBC)
* Kashmir temple to re(BBC)
* Delhi agrees talks on Nagaland political status (Financial Times)
* Delhi's rich adopt gender selection of the poor (Times Online)
* Press question Kashmir approach (BBC)
* India Plans AIDS Vaccine Trials by End of 2003 (Reuters)
* India Aids awareness urged (BBC)
* Weakening cyclone moves from India coast to Myanmar (Reuters)
* Anti-king protests in Nepal (BBC) (Reuters)
* Nepal group wins anti-slavery award (BBC)
* Tamil rebel leader to speak (BBC)
* S.Lanka president says Tigers must renounce terror (Reuters)

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

* Kasuri invites Vajpayee to Saarc summit (Gulf News)
* MQM coalition likely to rule in Sindh Province (Arab News)
* Tussle in MMA for top opposition post (Gulf News)
* No consensus on Sindh CM post (Gulf News)
* Senate polls demanded (Gulf News)
* Advani: Death for rapists (Gulf News)
* India calls for probing Pakistan-North Korea weapon deal (IRNA)
* India reacts cautiously to Pakistan offer to normalize relations (IRNA)
* Vajpayee congratulates new Pakistan premier over appointment (IRNA)
* Gujarat polls throw light on 'secular' credentials (Gulf News)
* Lanka rebels mark leader's 48th birthday (Gulf Daily News)
* 18 Lanka troops acquitted over 1992 massacre (Gulf News)
* Awami boycotts parliament (Gulf News)

Editorial
---------

* Al-Qaeda empire in Pakistan (Asian Times)
* MoD's half-truths don't add up to credibility (Asia News Network)

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

* A cut above the rest (Asian Times)
* Dr Reddy's to Top $60 Mln of U.S. Generic Drug Sales (Bloomberg)
* Bangladesh port project ruled illegal (BBC)

Africa
------

* Thousands left homeless after Pakistani earthquake

Thousands of people have slept in theand cold conditions in Pakistan's mountainous north as aftershocks spread fear following a major earthquake that killed 23 people last week. Government officials say thousands of people were refusing to sleep indoors, fearing their fragile houses would collapse.

http://www.sabcnews.com/world/asia1pacific/0,1009,48225,00.html

* India considers death sentence for rapists

The Indian government is considering changing its criminal law to mandate the death sentence for rapists, but women say a change in society is needed to bring down India's high rape rate. The government says one Indian woman is raped every 34 minutes.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=3&art_id=qwB253&set_id=1
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/0,1113,2-10_1290412,00.html

Americas
--------

* Pakistani prisoners return from Afghanistan

Up to 87 Pakistani nationals captured by anti- Taliban forces last November in Afghanistan were released from detention and returned home Tuesday evening.

http://www.thenewsmexico.com/noticia.asp?id=40805

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

* Islamabad calls for dialogue with India, willing to discuss Kashmir

Pakistan's new civilian government says it wants to improve relations with India and has again called for dialogue, especially on the issue of Kashmir. A statement issued by the country's new foreign minister says the future prosperity of the subcontinent depends on these ties.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southasia/view/25616/1/.html

* Continuation of reforms critical for new govt:IMF

The continuation of reforms by the new government is critical for Pakistan's growth and poverty reduction objectives, believes the IMF. According to official sources, the IMF has linked its assistance with the continuation of broad economic and financial agenda introduced by President Musharraf's government three years ago.

http://www.asianewsnet.net/template.php?No=8364&logo_name=General%20News&SectionID=15&backissue=

* Figures nail Musharraf lies

The government has collated figures related not only to infiltration, but to acts of terrorism organized from across the border. General Pervez Musharraf's speech pledging to end all acts of terrorism against India has been taken as the cut-off point.

http://www.asianewsnet.net/template.php?No=8392&logo_name=Regional

* Aftershocks, Closed Road Hamper Pakistan Quake Aid

Aftershocks and blocked roads were hampering efforts on Wednesday to help up to 15,000 people forced to sleep out in freezing temperatures in Pakistan's north following a major earthquake that killed 23 people last week.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20021127_39.html

* Pakistan desires to improve relations with India: FM

November 26 -- Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri on Tuesday expressed Pakistan's desire to improve its relations with India and said solution of the long-running Kashmir dispute would ensure lasting peace in the region. "We feel the future prosperity of 1.3 billion people of the sub-continent depends on these (Pakistan-India) relations," the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) quoted him as saying.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-11/26/content_641596.htm

* India reacts cautiously to Pakistan's offer

November 26 -- India Wednesday reacted cautiously to Pakistan's new offer to normalize relations, saying New Delhi would be looking for action on the ground and not merely words. "We have seen the comments of the newly appointed Foreign Minister of Pakistan. We will naturally need to wait and see its reflection on the ground," an External Affairs Ministry spokesman told reporters in response to questions.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-11/26/content_641584.htm

* Indian PM greets Pakistan's new Premier

November 26 -- Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Tuesday congratulated Pakistan's new Premier Zafarullah Khan Jamali four days after he was sworn in to head a civilian government set up since an army coup led by Gen. Pervez Musharraf in October 1999.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-11/26/content_641582.htm

* 13 killed in Jammu, Kashmir

November 26 -- Thirteen people, including three members of a family and an equal number of boys, were killed and two injured in militancy-related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir since Monday night, a police spokesman said Tuesday. Three members of a family were killed by unidentified militants in Badgam district in Central Kashmir Tuesday, the spokesman said.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-11/26/content_641581.htm

* No respite from jihadis

Thirty-eight persons, including 17 security force (SF) personnel, have been killed in three separate terrorist strikes in a span of just three days over the past week in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). These high-intensity attacks come against the backdrop of a "soft approach" adopted by the new coalition government headed by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DK27Df02.html

* Learn from China, businessmen urged

External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha's clear message to Indian industry is: "Go out. Go beyond exports. Go into investment." He said this at a plenary session over dinner on "Geopolitical Uncertainties" at the India Economic Forum, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the World Economic Forum, on Monday in New Delhi.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DK27Df07.html

* India confident of achieving 8% growth

The federal government has expressed confidence in attaining the desired 8 percent growth rate annually during the next five years, but is concerned over the worsening of the fiscal situation of Indian states.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DK27Df03.html

* CCEA approves award of oil, gas blocks

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the awarding of 23 oil and gas blocks - including 13 to Oil and Natural Gas Corp and nine to Reliance Industries - from the third offering under New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP).

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DK27Df05.html

* Sri Lankan president wants Tamil rebels to lay down arms

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has called upon separatist Tamil Tiger rebels to lay down their arms to secure success of the current Norwegian-brokered peace process.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southasia/view/25663/1/.html
http://abc.net.au/asiapacific/news/GoAsiaPacificBNA_736313.htm
http://english.eastday.com/epublish/gb/paper1/736/class000100003/hwz99442.htm

* Sri Lanka peace bid wins old foes cash and support

Sri Lanka's warring parties vowed they would not return to fighting and won cash and unprecedented international political support for their Norwegian-backed peace bid. The United States led the international backing for the fragile peace bid while warning Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerillas to turn over a new leaf by renouncing violence and terror and respecting human rights.

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,4386,157261,00.html?

* UN seeks more peace keepers from Bangladesh

November 26 -- The United Nations (UN) is seeking more "blue-helmets" from Bangladesh to help run peace missions successfully in trouble-torn areas across the world, the official Bangladesh News Agency reported Tuesday. The report quoted sources in the Armed Forces Division (AFD) of the Prime Minister's Office as saying that the UN has recently proposed to recruit a big contingent of troops for its Congo mission from Bangladesh, the highest peacekeeper (blue-helmets) contributing nation to the UN till April this year.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-11/26/content_641599.htm

Europe
------

* US gets Pakistan nuclear 'assurances'

November 26 -- The US says it is satisfied with assurances from Pakistan that it is no longer co-operating with North Korea in supplying nuclear weapons technology. Speaking to journalists during a visit to Mexico, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said there was nothing at the moment "that has been reported to me that I need to be looking at".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2516189.stm

* Aftershocks hamper Pakistan quake aid

Aftershocks and blocked roads are hampering efforts to help up to 15,000 people forced to sleep out in freezing temperatures in Pakistan's north following a major earthquake that killed 23 people last week.

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=1481620
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=1813068

* Pakistan army flies out quake victims

November 26 -- The Pakistani army has resorted to using helicopters to re-locate several thousand people affected by last week's earthquake. As temperatures in the area plummet with the onset of winter, landslides and aftershocks continue to hamper relief operations in the remote Diamir district, about 75 kilometers (45 miles) from Gilgit.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2515699.stm

* Kashmir temple to reopen

A Hindu temple is due to reto the public in Indian-administered Kashmir, two days after an attack that left 14 people dead. The Raghunath Temple in Jammu, the state's winter capital, was the scene of a siege between separatist militants and police.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2514023.stm

* Delhi agrees talks on Nagaland political status

November 26 -- India on Tuesday lifted its ban on the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, the country's oldest separatist group, and agreed to hold unconditional talks on the political status of Nagaland. The move, which could have positive repercussions for the country's other insurgencies, including the 13-year-old separatist war in the divided state of Kashmir, could mark the end of a 50-year-conflict that has claimed at least 20,000

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

* Delhi's rich adopt gender selection of the poor

When Bhanvi Kumri found out that the child she was carrying was a girl, she burst into tears. "I wanted to get rid of it," she said. Her first child had been a girl and when she became pregnant a second time, she prayed that it would be a boy. "A girl is OK, but a boy is a necessity in India."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-493544,00.html

* Press question Kashmir approach

November 26 -- The policies of the new chief minister in Indian administered-Kashmir, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, were the subject of some strong comments and editorials in many Indian newspapers on Tuesday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2515647.stm

* India Plans AIDS Vaccine Trials by End of 2003

November 26 -- India hopes to begin the first phase of trials of an indigenously developed AIDS vaccine at the end of next year, the president of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) said Tuesday. "We're still in the preparatory stages of getting ready to do clinical trials and also thinking of doing manufacturing here. That process has been underway for about a year-and-a-half," Dr. Seth Berkley told Reuters.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=1809756

* India Aids awareness urged

Public ignorance is fuelling the spread of HIV across India, according to the United Nations. An estimated 1% of India's one billion population has HIV. However, experts believe the true figure may be substantially higher.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2512559.stm

* Weakening cyclone moves from India coast to Myanmar

A cyclone swirling in the Bay of Bengal off India's eastern coast has weakened and is heading towards Myanmar, an Indian weather official said. "The cyclone is moving eastwards towards Myanmar but is weakening and is in the process of becoming a deep depression," T.K. Sarkar, director of the regional India Meteorological Department, told Reuters.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL289357

* Anti-king protests in Nepal

Thousands of people in Nepal have participated in demonstrations across the country to protest at King Gyanendra's assumption of full executive powers. The demonstrations were organized by a major political party, the centrist Nepali Congress, which says the royal move a month ago was unconstitutional.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2516661.stm
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL313282

* Nepal group wins anti-slavery award

An organization fighting bonded labour in Nepal - Backward Society Education (Base) - has won an international anti-slavery award. The citation highlights the work Base has done with the Tharu minority of western Nepal. The Nepalese Government abolished bonded labour earlier this year.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2517633.stm

* Tamil rebel leader to speak

The reclusive leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels, Vellupillai Prabhakaran, is due to make a rare public speech in Sri Lanka. It coincides with Martyr's Day, which is held by Tamil Tiger rebels in honor of their fallen comrades.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2517703.stm

* S.Lanka president says Tigers must renounce terror

Sri Lanka's president called on Tamil Tiger rebels on Wednesday to renounce violence and lay down arms, echoing a U.S. appeal which the guerrillas have already rejected.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL281264

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

* Kasuri invites Vajpayee to Saarc summit

Pakistan's new Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmud Kasuri yesterday urged India to shun "coercive diplomacy" and engage in talks with the newly-elected leadership, while issuing an invitation to the Indian prime minister to attend a South Asian summit in January.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=69708

* MQM coalition likely to rule in Sindh Province

The Sindh Province will for the first time since its inception in 1970 have a Mohajir or an Urdu-speaking chief minister, sources here said. The sources confirmed that an agreement to this effect had been reached between the pro-government Pakistan Muslim League-Q and the Muttehada Quami Movement (MQM). The sources also hinted that former chief secretary of the province Syed Sardar Ahmad will be nominated for the post.

http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=20668

* Tussle in MMA for top opposition post

After failing to field a joint candidate for the top position of premier, Pakistani opposition parties are at loggerheads over whom to elect as leader of the opposition, opposition sources said. The Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians and the alliance of the hardline Islamic parties, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, are in the run to grab the position of the leader of the opposition.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=69706

* No consensus on Sindh CM post

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Grand National Alliance (GNA) are both trying to push its nominee for the slot of chief minister of Sindh province, but the two groups, which are allies at the centre, have so far failed to evolve a consensus.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=69702

* Senate polls demanded

The Pakistan People's Party yesterday demanded that the government immediately announce the date for the Senate elections, saying that until the upper house is in place, the parliament remains incomplete. "It is a matter of grave concern that 45 days after the elections . only formal business has been conducted in the National Assembly while two Provincial Assemblies have not met," Raza Rabbani, PPP's secretary general, said in a statement.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=69698

* Advani: Death for rapists

The federal government yesterday offered to consider enacting fresh legislation to award capital punishment for rapists provided a general consensus is evolved on it after outrage over the assault of a medical student in the capital.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=69704

* India calls for probing Pakistan-North Korea weapon deal

India Tuesday demanded proper investigation by concerned international regime into the reported missile and nuclear weapon-related barter deal between North Korea and Pakistan, cautioning of its 'grave' implications for global security.

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

* India reacts cautiously to Pakistan offer to normalize relations

India on Wednesday reacted cautiously to Pakistan's new offer to normalize relations, saying New Delhi would be looking for action on the ground and not merely words. "We have seen the comments of the newly appointed Foreign Minister of Pakistan. We will naturally need to wait and see its reflection on the ground," India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman told reporters.

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

* Vajpayee congratulates new Pakistan premier over appointment

India's Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Tuesday congratulated Pakistan's new Premier Zafarullah Khan Jamali four days after he was sworn in to head a civilian set up, local media said here on Wednesday. "I would like to convey on behalf of my government and on my own behalf our felicitations and best wishes to you on your appointment as the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan," Vajpayee said in his message.

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

* Gujarat polls throw light on 'secular' credentials

It has been pitched as the mother of all election battles: an election which will redefine Indian politics and society. Gujarat, we are constantly reminded, is an election like no other in recent times. It's a battle for the secular soul of India, an ideological war between the practitioners of hate politics and those who would like to see a plural, socially diverse country.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=69707

* Lanka rebels mark leader's 48th birthday

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels were marking the 48th birthday yesterday of their leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, with celebrations for the first time in government-controlled areas. This year's birthday is his first for Prabhakaran since the government and the Tigers revived their peace process in December and come as the two sides meet at a donors conference in Norway where they are holding their highest-level contact in 12 years.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Articles.asp?Article=38076&Sn=WORL

* 18 Lanka troops acquitted over 1992 massacre

Eighteen Sri Lankan soldiers were acquitted by a court of charges they massacred Tamil civilians a decade ago at the height of the island's separatist war, judicial officials said yesterday. The Colombo High Court judge Sri Sriskandarajah acquitted the 18 soldiers after the jury was forced to go in for a second deliberation and reconsider their decision taken in the first round.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=69699

* Awami boycotts parliament

The main opposition Awami League did not attend parliament yesterday, having decided to boycott the rest of the current session in protest against a bill seeking to delete the country's independence leader's title from the name of a national agricultural award.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=69701

Editorial
---------

* Al-Qaeda empire in Pakistan

Pakistan-based pan-Islamic terrorist organizations, which are allied with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda in his International Islamic Front (IIF), have been consistent in the pursuit of their long-term strategy directed against India. They look upon Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) as the gateway to India and repeatedly underline that the "liberation" of J&K would be only the first stage of their jihad against India.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DK27Df01.html

* MoD's half-truths don't add up to credibility

Does the Union Ministry of Defence come clean only when its risks serious trouble if it is economical with the truth? When giving information to Parliament, for example? That would be the obvious inference from the reply to a question confirming a major action in the Machal sector of North Kashmir towards the end of July and early August - something which the Union government had consistently denied.

http://www.asianewsnet.net/template.php?No=8394&logo_name=Asian

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

* A cut above the rest

Although India currently enjoys undoubted dominance in the world's cut and polished diamonds market, China is emerging as a viable rival, if not in the near term, certainly in the longer term. As one diamond dealer in Mumbai, the heart of India's diamond cutting industry, succinctly comments, "We'll have to be very cautious with China's foray into the diamond processing industry."

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DK27Df06.html

* Dr Reddy's to Top $60 Mln of U.S. Generic Drug Sales

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. said it will exceed a $60 million target for U.S. generic drug sales this year because of revenue from its version of the antidepressant drug Prozac. Sales of generic medicines rose 13 times last year for India's second-biggest drug maker by market value after it won exclusive rights for six months to sell its version of Eli Lilly & Co's top-selling drug.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=South%20Asia%20News&tp=topfin&T=as_storypage99.ht&s=APeQFKxN0RHIgUmVk

* Bangladesh port project ruled illegal

Bangladesh's High Court has declared as illegal government approval for the construction of a private container terminal by an American company at Chittagong. Bangladesh will lose hundreds of millions of dollars in investments from US companies, some of which are keen to put their money in Bangladesh

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2518019.stm

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

---South Asian News, November 27, 2002 ---(International)

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