'Indians in U.S. biggest success story of diaspora' * (IANS/Yahoo)
	Indians in the U.S. have been the most important and biggest success story of the Indian diaspora, says Indian Ambassador Lalit Mansingh said. "They have the highest per capita income, and also have the highest educational qualifications among all communities." Mansingh said this at the release of a new book "NREyes-Pravas Bhartiya" on expatriate Indians that chronicles the success stories of people who have left their country's shores to make a big name for themselves internationally. Those profiled in the book who were present were tabla player Zakir Hussain, fashion designer Anand Jon, actress Madhur Jaffrey, surgeon V.A. Subramaniam, Columbia University professor Sreenath Srinivasan and owner of Royal Albert's Palace Albert Jasani.
	http://in.news.yahoo.com/030829/43/27d5h.html
	Indian Americans among Discovery channel's 'Buff Brides' *(IANS/Yahoo)
	A homicide detective, a former basketball player and a forensic pathology resident are among 20 professional women, including two Indian Americans, being featured in a Discovery Health Channel series, "Buff Brides". All of them sweat, diet and get bridal gown fittings on the glorious but sometimes-bumpy road to their wedding day. Based on Sue Fleming's best-selling book of the same name, the 10-part series premieres on October 6 at 8 p.m. on Discovery Health Channel. One of the brides, Madhu Bhawnani, whose journey down the sometimes-bumpy road the show follows, is planning a traditional Indian wedding.
	http://in.news.yahoo.com/030829/43/27d0p.html
	Drug industry says WTO deal imperfect but balanced * (Reuters/Yahoo)
	But India's pharmaceutical industry -- a leading supplier of generic drugs to other developing countries -- shared those NGO concerns. "Although a deal has been reached, the policy is riddled with barriers which will make generic drugs more expensive than necessary," said D.G. Shah, secretary general of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance. "It appears poorer nations have accepted the conditions of the United States out of anxiety to reach a solution to their health problems." Some companies were more positive, however, noting the worst fears that Indian firms might be excluded from this trade had been allayed. D.S. Brar, chief executive of Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, India's top drugmaker by sales, said Indian companies would still benefit from export contracts. "For Indian exporters, it cannot be perceived to be a regular business. It will depend on when emergencies arise. But for diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS, a fairly regular business should be possible," he told Reuters. Poor countries with established drug factories already have the right to make generic copies of patented drugs in the event of a medical emergency by issuing a compulsory licence. The new WTO deal addresses the needs of those without a manufacturing base which want to import supplies from countries like India and Brazil.
	http://in.news.yahoo.com/030828/137/27cpo.html

HEADLINES
 

STORIES
 

*

An FBI agent hand-delivered a subpoena to the Democratic State Committee in Trenton this week as federal authorities stepped up the investigation of a former campaign fund-raising official for Gov. James E. McGreevey. It was the second time federal authorities issued a subpoena to the state party this year. The first came in June as part of an ongoing probe into the private billboard business of two former top McGreevey aides. The subpoena issued Tuesday sought documents relating to the activities and fund-raising efforts of Roger Rajesh Chugh, who served as Asian outreach coordinator for McGreevey's 2001 gubernatorial campaign. Chugh and the governor first grew close when McGreevey served as mayor of Woodbridge in the 1990s. Kevin Hagan, who became chief executive officer of the Democratic State Committee earlier this year, said yesterday the party "did receive a subpoena and is working cooperatively with the authorities." Hagan said the subpoena sought fund-raising and personnel records related to Chugh, but he declined to describe the request in detail.

*

Aug 28, Srinagar, India -- India's deputy prime minister said on Thursday that car bombings in Bombay and a spate of attacks in Indian Kashmir could hurt a peace process with Pakistan. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Mian Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri called the remarks by Lal Krishna Advani "very unfortunate." Indian police have blamed an outlawed Indian students' group and a banned Pakistan-based Kashmiri militant group for the twin blasts in Bombay on Monday which killed 51 people.

*

Aug 28, Mumbai, India -- More than 100 legislators from two Hindu nationalist parties protested against Maharashtra state's coalition government — led by the secular Congress party — blaming it for two devastating bomb attacks earlier this week. ``This will be a continuous campaign until the government goes,' said Vijay Girkar, chief of Bharatiya Janata Party's Bombay division in the western Indian state. The BJP and the Shiv Sena are demanding ``president's rule' — or direct rule by a federally named governor — in Maharashtra, saying government and police apathy caused Monday's blasts, which killed 52 people and injured more than 150.

*

Aug 29, Jammu, India -- Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Friday ruled out talks with Pakistan until there was an end to militant attacks which New Delhi blames on Pakistan-based Kashmiri separatists. ``We would like to have meaningful talks but, if terrorist activities continue, that will not be possible,'' Vajpayee told a news conference in Jammu, winter capital of Indian Kashmir. He was speaking after twin car bombings in Bombay which killed 52 people and a spate of attacks in Kashmir, where India faces a separatist revolt in its only Muslim-majority state.

*

Aug 28, Islamabad -- India accused Pakistan on Thursday of dragging out talks about resuming air links cut amid tensions nearly two years ago, contradicting a joint statement issued by negotiators that said the discussions were ``cordial and businesslike.' The Pakistanis adopted a ``negative approach' and tried to bring in ``extraneous issues' during the two days of meetings that concluded Thursday in Pakistan's northern city of Rawalpindi, said Navtej Sarna, spokesman for India's External Affairs Ministry. ``An agreement could easily have been reached,' Sarna said from New Delhi.

*

Aug 28, Colombo -- The top cease-fire monitor in Sri Lanka met with army and rebel commanders Thursday in the island's east to try to end a spate of murders of Muslims, allegedly by the guerrillas. Tensions have been mounting in the island's east — where the majority of Sri Lanka's 1.3 million Muslims live — after at least four people were killed by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels earlier this month. Since then, the area has been hit by a string of protests against the insurgents.

*

Aug 28, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan -- Indian troops shelled Pakistan's portion of Kashmir on Thursday, wounding 12 people, including two children, police said. Most of the injured were in Nakyal, about 250 kilometers (160 miles) south of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, said Raja Ghulam Sarwar, a police superintendent. Pakistan returned fire, he said. Five of the 12 wounded people were injured when a shell exploded near a bus in Nakyal, he said.

*

Aug 28, Colombo -- Armed policemen stood guard in the capital Thursday as thousands of Marxist supporters marched toward the city center to protest government plans to share power with Tamil Tiger rebels. More than 40,000 supporters of the People's Liberation Front were heading toward Colombo to conclude a four-day march that started from the southern town of Galle, party officials said. ``The government is trying to divide the country. We will not allow it,' said Wimal Weerawansa, general-secretary of the party, the island nation's third largest.

*

Aug 28, Los Angeles -- A coalition of legal groups and backers of Sri Lanka's Tamil community have filed a challenge to a section of the USA Patriot Act that makes it illegal to provide "expert advice and assistance" to groups with alleged links to terrorists. The five organizations and two individuals are seeking an injunction to prevent the government from enforcing the section, arguing it violates constitutional rights of free speech and against self-incrimination. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court, names U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and Secretary of State Colin Powell as defendants.

*

Aug 28, Kabul -- The Afghan government wants refugees returning from Pakistan to settle in the countryside, not the war-shattered capital, a senior official said Thursday, amid growing concern about overcrowding and poor conditions in Kabul. U.N. and Afghan officials said that between 30 percent and 40 percent of the estimated 2.4 million refugees or displaced people who have resettled in Afghanistan since 2002 have ended up in greater Kabul — an area including the city and surrounding rural areas.

*

Aug 28, Kathmandu -- Maoist rebels shot dead a senior army officer at his home in an upmarket residential district of Nepal's capital on Thursday, a day after walking out of peace talks and ending a seven-month truce, an official said. The dead man was the most senior army officer to have been killed since the rebels launched their revolt in 1996. In another incident, about a dozen rebels with automatic weapons shot and wounded a bank official as they stole about $100,000 from a state-owned bank in west Nepal, police said.

*

Aug 29, Kathmandu -- Thousands of people marched in the Nepali capital on Friday to press the government and Maoist rebels to resume peace talks, just days after the insurgents called an end to a truce. More than 10,000 people -- including school children and their teachers -- began a five-km (three-mile) silent march after offering prayers at the Martyrs' Memorial in the heart of the city.

*

Aug 28, San Francisco -- Lahori Ram is a self-made man. Today, at the age of 59, he is rich -- owning more than 100 apartment units in the Bay Area - and powerful. He is president of the Indian National Congress of America, hobnobs with the likes of Bill Clinton and former India prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, and was one of seven California business leaders appointed by Gov. Gray Davis last week to a four-year term on the state Commission for Economic Development. Ram left India as a 28-year-old graduate student on Aug. 15, 1972, the country's Independence Day, because it is known as an auspicious travel day. He knew no one in America and had no idea where he would sleep when he landed.

*

Aug 28, Rawalpindi, Pakistan -- Pakistan and India have failed to agree on the resumption of air links after two days of talks, the BBC reported Thursday. The news came as Indian Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani said reconciliation between the two countries had been affected by Monday's bomb attacks in Bombay, known locally as Mumbai. Pakistan has denied any responsibility for the blasts, which left some 50 people dead.

*

Aug 29 -- In your coverage of the tragic car bombing in Mumbai, India (Page 1A, Aug. 26), your reporter refers to India as ``Hindu India.'' This phrase is tantamount to referring to the United States as the ``Christian United States.'' This is not only erroneous, but serves to perpetuate public misconceptions that have dogged coverage of events in India by the U.S. media for decades. While Hindus are the majority in India (81.3 percent in 2000), the constitution clearly defines the separation of church and state.

*

Aug 29 -- Let's begin at the beginning and that, for me, lies in a quote. "Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom." As many Indians know, this is a quote from the speech delivered by Prime Minister Nehru at midnight, August 15, 1947, marking India's independence from British rule. I wasn't born in 1947 and, in fact, have absolutely no idea of what it felt like to be born in a country that wasn't independent.

*

Aug 29 -- The most popular book in France at the moment is "Who Killed Daniel Pearl" by the journalist and philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy. It advances the theory that the Wall Street Journal reporter was not killed because he was a Jew and a suspected American or Israeli spy, but because "he was the man who knew too much." Mr. Pearl, Mr. Levy concludes, was close to uncovering the link between al-Qaida and the Pakistani secret service, the Interservices Intelligence Agency. According to Mr. Levy, the ISI, which also controls Pakistan's atomic bomb, is run by Islamic extremists who fully intend to use that bomb one day in the service of the jihad.

*

Aug 29 -- Pakistani soldiers who serve in Iraq with coalition forces and their families will no longer be considered Muslims and "will face serious punishment under the laws prescribed by Sharia (Islamic Law)." So decreed a fatwa issued recently by Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), a coalition of six politico-religious parties that governs two of Pakistan's four provinces and controls 20 percent of the national assembly. The all-Iraq-news-all-the-time media evidently did not think the fatwa newsworthy enough to make the cut. President Bush has asked President Pervez Musharraf to contribute a 15,000-strong division, or at least a brigade of 3,000, to assist the United States in policing Iraq. Mr. Musharraf has concluded that to be the first Muslim nation to send troops to Iraq would be political suicide. At the very least, he expects the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution requesting military peacekeeping assistance from member nations.

*

Aug 29 -- I have many friends who have lost high IT industry paychecks and are struggling financially because their jobs are now being done in lower-cost countries. But none of the legal remedies currently proposed are going to stop this problem -- assuming it really is a problem in the long run. First of all, I want to point out that American programmers and other IT people were outstandingly unsympathetic when factory workers' jobs started going overseas 30 or 40 years ago, and I don't recall a single peep out of anyone in the IT industry when taxi companies in many American cities managed to get regulations requiring cabbies to pass local knowledge tests removed so that they could hire new-immigrant drivers instead of treating their "American" drivers well enough that at least some of them would stick with the business and make it a career.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

              --- South Asian News, August 29, 2003 ---

STRING