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Updated on April 26, 2003 |
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SOUTH ASIA NEWS |
STRING |
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US
NEWS SOURCES -February 21, 2003 |
| EDITORIALS / OP-ED |
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Indian sectarian tensions resurface ahead of state
polls (Wall Street Journal-Subscription
required) |
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Despite ample foreign exchange, nation offers poor little
opportunity (San Francisco
Chronicle) |
| BUSINESS / TECHNOLOGY |
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More IT firms look overseas to cut costs (New York
Times-Registration required) |
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Yahoo: No tea or sympathy in India (New York
Times-Registration required) |
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Pesticide findings spur Indian government crackdown on
bottled water companies (Washington Post) (Cleveland.com)
(Michigan Live) (Wall Street Journal-Subscription required) (Star Tribune)
(New York Times-Registration required) |
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US
states may ban contract on outsourcing (Financial
Times) |
| OTHER STORIES |
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Slain model tried suicide (New York
Post) |
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Indian man smuggles Pakistani in suitcase, sentenced to 16
months jail (Voice of America) (San Diego
Union-Tribune) |
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| TOP
STORIES |
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Sensenbrenner
says India weak link in fighting money laundering |
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New Delhi --
India is a weak link in the global fight against money laundering that
aids terrorism and the country's central bank has been unable to stop the
practice, a Wisconsin congressman said Thursday. "India is not complying
with international standards to stop money laundering. The United States
is concerned, the U.S. Congress is concerned," Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner
Jr., R-Wis., who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, told journalists at
a U.S. Embassy press conference. |
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http://www.startribune.com/stories/568/3664670.html |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030220_003173,00.html |
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http://washingtontimes.com/world/.htm |
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No plan for
joint control of Pakistan nuclear program |
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Karachi, Pakistan
-- There is no plan to set up a joint Pakistan-U.S. command to control the
country's nuclear program, Pakistan's foreign minister was quoted as
saying in newspapers here Friday. "Pakistan's nuclear program and its
assets are in safe hands and no other country will be included in the
atomic command," Khursheed Kasuri told reporters Thursday in the southern
port city of Karachi. His comments followed meetings last week between
Pakistani officials and U.S. authorities in the U.S., apparently to
discuss the safety of the country's nuclear program. |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030221_000676-search,00.html |
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Pakistan ready
for dialogue with India, foreign minister says |
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Karachi, Pakistan
-- Pakistan is ready for "comprehensive dialogue" with India over Kashmir
and other points of dispute, Pakistan's foreign minister said Thursday,
just a day after India said the country's leaders wouldn't meet at an
upcoming international conference. Pakistan has several times called for
negotiations to settle the protracted dispute over Kashmir that has
confounded relations between the two neighbors almost since the outset of
their independence from Britain in 1947. Speaking to reporters in the
southern city of Karachi Tuesday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed
Kasuri said his country wants to resolve its disputes with India through
talks. |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030220_003456,00.html |
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Indian Supreme
Court defers hearing of temple-mosque dispute |
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New Delhi -- The
Supreme Court on Friday deferred the hearing of a government plea to allow
Hindu religious activity around the ruins of a 16th-century mosque that
was destroyed by a Hindu mob in northern India in 1992. The postponement
was a setback for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government, which
has been pushing for an early hearing to appease Hindu hardline groups
that form its bedrock support base. Hindu nationalists, who want to build
a temple on the site of the Babri Mosque, were gathering for a "religious
senate" in New Delhi this weekend and have been pressing Vajpayee's
government to help them. |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030221_001039-search,00.html |
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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=834&ncid=731&e=10&u=/nm/20030221/wl_india_nm/india_105115 |
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Pakistan says
embassy official in New Delhi harassed |
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New Delhi --
Indian intelligence agents harassed a Pakistani embassy official on the
streets of the Indian capital New Delhi, shouting abusive language and
bumping his scooter as he rode to the embassy, Pakistan's official news
agency reported Thursday. The relationship between the nuclear-power
rivals India and Pakistan is rife with incidents of this kind. Ten days
ago they carried out tit-for-tat expulsions of high-level diplomats.
Embassy official Mohammed Khalid was heading to his office in New Delhi on
Sunday when the agents, riding motorcycles, began trailing him and hit his
scooter from the side, the Associated Press of Pakistan news agency
reported. |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030220_005372,00.html |
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Thousands of
Bangladeshis protest possible attack on Iraq |
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Dhaka --
Thousands of Bangladeshis demonstrated Thursday against a possible
U.S.-led attack on Iraq, and the Muslim-majority country made plans to
evacuate its citizens working in Middle Eastern countries if a war breaks
out. About 10,000 demonstrators - many of them young people from Islamic
schools - rallied in central Dhaka, the capital. Some chanted: "Down with
warmongers Bush and Blair!" The demonstration was organized by a newly
formed Citizens' National Committee Against War, whose members include
politicians, Islamic clerics, newspaper editors, university teachers and
lawmakers from Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's ruling
coalition. |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030220_002509,00.html |
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http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?ObjectID=35AF8663-F732-4296-BCDC45063FAF2CE1 |
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Major anti-war
march planned in Pakistan |
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Islamabad --
Pakistan's resurgent Islamic hard-liners are promising to fill the streets
with over 1 million demonstrators to show their ``fury and anger'' at a
possible American attack on Iraq -- and to warn the government not to
support such a war. Anything approaching that kind of turnout in protests
scheduled for March 2 and March 9 would send a chill through the halls of
power here, and produce anxiety for the Bush administration, which counts
a stable Pakistan as a vital ally in the war on
terror. |
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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Pakistan-Million-Man-March.html |
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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=Pakistan%20Million%20Man%20March |
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http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/sns-ap-pakistan-million-man-march0220feb20,0,5444018.story?coll=ny%2Dlatestheadlines |
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AFeb20.html |
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http://www.startribune.com/stories/670/3665095.html |
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/02/21/international0510EST0474.DTL |
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* |
Foreign
ministers of India and Russia discuss Iraq,
Afghanistan |
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Moscow --
Visiting Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha and his Russian
counterpart discussed international crises and bilateral cooperation
during their talks Thursday. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said he
informed Sinha about Moscow's efforts to help settle the Iraqi crisis
through diplomacy. He also said the international community "must not
weaken its attention to the situation in Afghanistan" to make sure Taliban
and al-Qaida holdovers don't regain power. |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030220_005000,00.html |
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India may
review restrictions on foreign news agencies |
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New Delhi --The
Indian government is considering a review of its 47-year-old policy that
prevents foreign news agencies from distributing news directly to Indian
newspapers, magazines and broadcasters. Under a 1956 Cabinet resolution,
all foreign news agencies must distribute news within India through a
local agency owned and managed by Indians. "We are governed by the policy
of 1956 regarding news agencies. Much water has flown since then.
Certainly it is a case for review," Information and Broadcasting Minister
Ravi Shankar Prasad was quoted as telling Press Trust of
India. |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030221_001197-search,00.html |
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* |
Indian forces
kill five Muslim rebels in Kashmir |
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Srinagar, India
-- Indian forces shot dead five Muslim rebels in separate gunbattles in
Kashmir, security officials said on Friday. A Border Security Force
official said troops shot dead a "top Pakistani" militant overnight in
Budgam district, west of Srinagar. Elsewhere, four militants, including
two members of the banned Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad, group were
killed in separate clashes. |
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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=834&ncid=731&e=10&u=/nm/20030221/wl_india_nm/india_105114 |
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Two killed in
religious riots in India |
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Bhopal, India--
Religious rioting left two people dead in central India on Thursday after
Hindu extremists stormed an ancient monument they say is a temple but
Muslims consider a mosque. One of the dead was a Muslim who was attacked
by Hindus in Charawat village in Madhya Pradesh state, police said.
|
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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=India%20Hindu%20Riots |
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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/-india-hinduriots.html |
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AFeb20.html |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030220_005722-search,00.html |
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http://www.austin360.com/aas/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V6169.AP-India-Hindu-Rio.html |
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http://www.startribune.com/stories/670/3665531.html |
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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-India-Hindu-Riots.html |
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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=516&ncid=731&e=8&u=/ap/20030220/ap_on_re_as/india_hindu_riots |
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Pakistan sees
no exodus of nationals from Gulf |
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Karachi, Pakistan
-- At the time of the 1991 Gulf War, 100,000 Pakistani workers fled the
region in an exodus that hit a key source of foreign exchange for their
country. But a second war over Iraq is unlikely to prompt a repeat
performance among an estimated 1.5 million Pakistanis now working in Gulf
countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar
and Oman, officials say. "I don't think the entire Gulf region will go up
in flames," foreign ministry spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan told Reuters,
adding that only the few dozen Pakistanis currently living in Iraq might
be in any danger. |
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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=834&ncid=731&e=10&u=/nm/20030221/wl_india_nm/india_105139 |
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Pakistan
mourns air force dead, focus on weather |
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Islamabad --
Pakistan held a prayer ceremony on Friday for its air force chief and 16
others killed in an air crash and news reports said pilot error in foggy
weather was the most likely cause of the accident. An air force Fokker
F-27 turboprop carrying Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir, his wife and
several senior officers crashed on a hill about 27 km from the
northwestern town of Kohat on Thursday, killing all 17 aboard. The prayer
ceremony, attended by President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir
Zafarullah Khan Jamali, was being held at the air force base in capital
Islamabad. The victims of the air crash will be buried later in their
hometowns. |
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http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-crash-pakistan.html |
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AFeb21.html |
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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=516&ncid=731&e=1&u=/ap/20030221/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_plane_crash |
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http://www.activedayton.com/ddn/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V7545.AP-Pakistan-Plane-.html |
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Bombay blast
suspect begins week in custody |
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Mumbai, India --
A suspect in a wave of bomb blasts that rocked Bombay 10 years ago began
serving a week in police custody on Friday after being remanded by a
court. Ejaz Pathan, an accused in the bombings that killed at least 260
people, and murder suspect Iqbal Kaskar appeared in different courts in
Bombay on Thursday under heavy guard after police arrested them at the
airport following their arrival from Dubai. |
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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=834&ncid=731&e=10&u=/nm/20030221/wl_india_nm/india_105107 |
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Sri Lanka
truce monitor says balance of power vital |
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Colombo -- Sri
Lanka's military and Tamil Tiger guerrillas should maintain the current
balance of power to safeguard a ceasefire that marks one year on Saturday,
the head of the international group monitoring the truce said. Opposition
parties want the rebels to lay down their arms before the government holds
further talks to end the 19-year ethnic war, but Trond Furuhovde, the head
of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, said this could harm the peace
process. |
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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=834&ncid=731&e=10&u=/nm/20030221/wl_india_nm/india_105138 |
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Pakistan deems
day of mourning in crash |
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Pakistan's
president on Friday mourned the death of his air force chief and 16 other
people killed when their plane slammed into a fog-shrouded mountain in
northwest Pakistan. "This is a very sad day for me. I have lost a very
good friend," President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said at the Friday funeral
for Air Force Chief Mushaf Ali Mir, his wife, seven other air force
officials and eight crew members. "The death of Mushaf Ali Mir is a great
loss for the country." Pakistan declared Friday a day of mourning for
victims of the crash. The Fokker-27 turboprop crashed Thursday near the
Kohat Air Force Base, about 120 miles northwest of the capital,
Islamabad. |
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AFeb21.html |
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http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/world/5232119.htm |
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http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-asia/2003/feb/21/022107545.html |
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| EDITORIALS / OP-ED |
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Indian
sectarian tensions resurface ahead of state polls |
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New Delhi --
Hindu hard-liners are stirring passions and raising anti-Muslim rhetoric
in an effort to win votes in four state elections next week. With
legislative elections for another five states due later this year, and
federal polls in 2004, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Bharatiya
Janata Party is projecting itself as the protector of Hindus against
Islamic Pakistan and radical Muslim militants. A year after Hindu-Muslim
rioting killed more than 1,000 people in western Gujarat state, sectarian
tensions are resurfacing with the activities of the governing BJP's
religious affiliates, particularly the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or World
Hindu Council. |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030220_009070-search,00.html |
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Despite ample
foreign exchange, nation offers poor little
opportunity |
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Islamabad --
Pakistan's economy has shown marked improvement since the Sept. 11
attacks, thanks in part to perks from Washington for joining in the
U.S.-led war on terrorism. "All financial indicators are going in the
right direction," said A.R. Kamal, director of the state-owned Pakistan
Institute for Development Economics. But even though the numbers show an
upswing, many experts say Pakistan's economic prospects remain bleak
because of grinding poverty, chronic corruption and a bloated defense
budget to confront neighboring India. |
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/02/05/MN164989.DTL |
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| BUSINESS / TECHNOLOGY |
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More IT firms
look overseas to cut costs |
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Market research
firm Giga Information Group is forecasting a boom in overseas outsourcing
for the U.S. information technology industry. The research firm predicts
IT outsourcing to India will grow by 25 percent this year, as companies
seek to cut costs and improve quality. IT outsourcing is when a company
farms out certain IT operations such as software development or data
center management to another company. |
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http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_.html |
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Yahoo: No tea
or sympathy in India |
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A tea maker in
India found itself in hot water when it tried to sell "Yahoo" tea: The Web
portal didn't like what was brewing and slapped the company with a
lawsuit. The Delhi High Court has since issued an interim injunction to
prevent Mumbai-based Sarda Trading Company and its business partners from
selling Yahoo-branded tea, Asia Times Online reported. In securing the
temporary victory, Yahoo’s legal advocate Pravin Anand argued that Yahoo's
trademark and name should be extended to items such as books and clothing,
and not just online services. |
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http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_.html |
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Pesticide
findings spur Indian government crackdown on bottled water
companies |
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New Delhi -- The
government has withdrawn quality certificates given to some of India's
most popular brands of bottled water and may close some bottling plants
after sample tests found high pesticide levels, officials said. India's
Bureau of Standards revoked the certificates for water produced at five
plants, including one operated by Bisleri International, which makes one
of India's most popular drinking water brands, according to inspection
results made available to The Associated Press on Thursday. The documents
also showed that Indian branches of multinational companies PepsiCo Inc.
and Coca-Cola Co. have been warned about improving their equipment and
testing procedures. |
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AFeb21.html |
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http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/business/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?f0013_BC_India-BottledWater&&news&newsflash-financial |
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http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/business/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?f0013_BC_India-BottledWater&&news&newsflash-financial |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030221_000106-search,00.html |
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http://www.startribune.com/stories/671/3666822.html |
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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-India-Bottled-Water.htm |
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US states may
ban contract on outsourcing |
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Several US states
are considering joining New Jersey in introducing laws that would ban the
outsourcing of public-sector contracts to low-cost offshore processing
centres such as India. New Jersey's legislation is close to being enacted,
while Massachusetts is among the states reported to be considering similar
action. The moves have sparked concern in India's fast-expanding offshore
technology services industry, which has hired Hill & Knowlton, a US
public relations firm, to lobby against them. |
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http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=&p= |
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| OTHER STORIES |
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Slain model
tried suicide |
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An aspiring model
swallowed a handful of pills last August after quarreling with the
Indian-American man accused of hiring hit men to bump her off this month
in Bombay, police said yesterday. Pragdesh Desai called cops to say his
girlfriend, Leona Swiderski, took the pills after the two argued in their
$3,500 a month home in Palisades Park, N.J., police said. Swiderski, 33,
was conscious when cops arrived and was treated at a local hospital, said
Palisades Park Police Chief Michael Vietri. The next month, cops again
responded to the home after a friend called to report a loud argument.
|
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http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/55004.htm |
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Indian man
smuggles Pakistani in suitcase, sentenced to 16 months
jail |
| |
Hong Kong -- An
Indian man who smuggled a Pakistani into Hong Kong in his suitcase was
sentenced Thursday to 16 months in jail. Pardeep Singh, 22, was found
guilty of aiding and abetting the Pakistani's illegal entry into Hong
Kong, officials said in a statement. On Dec. 26, Singh entered Hong Kong
through a checkpoint at the mainland Chinese border city of Shenzhen,
carrying a large suitcase. When authorities found the hidden Pakistani man
inside, Singh denied the luggage was his and claimed an Indian friend gave
it to him |
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http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectid=BB02845B-1612-4D7E-B1747A214A7067E6&title=Indian%20Sentenced%20for%20Suitcase%20Stowaway%20in%20Hong%20Kong&db=current |
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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/-suitcasestowaway.html |
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--- South Asian News, February 21, 2003
--- |
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These links are provided for informational purposes only and no
representation is made for the accuracy of information posted on other
websites. Kapil Sharma manages, edits and distributes the list. E-mail
Kapil Sharma at kap if you have any
questions. For information on Madison Government Affairs, please visit http://www.madisongov.net/.
String
Information Services is a provider of secondary research, data
harvesting and data conversion services and assists in the preparation of
these links. For additional information, please contact (http://www.stringinfo.com/ or
Prashant Kothari at ppkothari.) |
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Copyright © 2001, Indian American Center for
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