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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
28, 2003 |
| EDITORIALS /
OP-ED |
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Illegal
Bangladesh immigrants(United Press
International) |
| BUSINESS /
TECHNOLOGY |
|
Coke to
invest around $100 million in India(New York Times-Registration
required) (Washington Post) |
|
AEterna's
Zentaris unit to distribute Impavido in India(Wall Street
Journal-Subscription
required) |
| OTHER
STORIES |
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Indian
trains, stations to offer Internet access(Silicon Valley Online) (Wall
Street Journal-Subscription required) |
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City of Leh
thrives as oasis of peace in Kashmir(The National
Geographic) |
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Globalization: Bad rap, rich rewards?(Business
Week-Subscription required) |
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Regional
lawmakers in Pakistan stiffen penalties for sale of cigarettes to
children(Yahoo News) |
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| TOP
STORIES |
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* |
Attack on U.S.
Consulate in Pakistan kills two |
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Assailants armed with
automatic weaponsd fire on a police post protecting the U.S.
Consulate in Karachi, killing two policemen and injuring at least two
others, police said. Police and witnesses were uncertain how many
assailants were involved in the shooting on Friday. "We did not see
anybody shooting, but we heard the shooting," said Lt. Afsar, an off-duty
naval officer who was nearby. The assailantsd fire from a park
several yards from the heavily fortified consulate. Security around the
U.S. offices is intense, following a June bombing outside the complex that
killed 12 people, all Pakistanis. |
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AFeb28.html |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB-search,00.html |
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http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/-pakistan-shooting_xhtm |
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/02/28/international0526EST0485.DTL |
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http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/3724947.html |
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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/ats-ap_top12feb28,0,5597202.story?coll=sns-newsnation-headlines |
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http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20030228_97.html |
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http://www.austin360.com/aas/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V4055.AP-Pakistan-Shooti.html |
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http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/news/0203/28pakistan.html |
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http://www.ctnow.com/news/custom/newsat3/ats-ap_top13feb28,0,1376509.story?coll=hc-headlines-newsat3 |
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http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-pakistan-shooting0228feb28,0,7551743.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines |
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http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/5283656.htm |
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http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/r.htm |
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http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/022803dnintpakistan.12839f28.html |
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http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-pakistan-usa-attack.html |
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http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/nation/5283656.htm |
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http://www.herald-sun.com/firstnews/37-325801.html |
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-pakistan-shooting0228feb28,1,6034206.story?coll=chi%2Dnews%2Dhed |
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http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-pakistan-shooting0228feb28,0,4463550.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dnationworld%2Dheadlines |
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U.S., Iraqi diplomats
visit Pakistan for UN vote |
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Feb 27., Islamabad -- Iraq
and the United States each sent envoys to Pakistan on Thursday to compete
for Islamabad's backing in the U.N. Security Council. Each envoy hoped to
sway Pakistani leaders vacillating between abstaining in a council vote or
supporting a U.S.-backed resolution that could pave the way for war
against Saddam Hussein. President Pervez Musharraf's government faces
pressure from Islamic extremist groups who oppose a war with Iraq and are
planning large demonstrations. But Pakistan may have much to gain
economically by voting with the United States. Khalid Mahmood, a research
analyst at the state-run Institute of Regional Studies, said a pro-U.S.
vote in the Security Council would almost certainly result in
bloodshed. |
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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Pakistan-US-Iraqhtml |
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/02/27/international1629EST0753.DTL |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030227_005539-search,00.html |
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http://www.startribune.com/stories/670/3723522.html |
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American nuclear
scientists praise India's safety regulations |
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Feb 27., New Delhi --
American nuclear scientists on Thursday praised India for the safety
measures at its nuclear power plants, as the electricity-starved country
planned to boost its reliance on nuclear energy. India, which has 14
nuclear reactors, has never had a serious accident such as the one at the
Three Mile Island plant in the United States in 1979. It was the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission's first visit to India since April 1998 -- a
month before India carried out nuclear tests that led to international
economic sanctions. ``What we have observed is that Indian power plants
have made remarkable improvements in power capacity,'' said Richard A.
Meserve, chairman of the commission, an independent U.S. agency that
regulates nuclear facilities and materials. |
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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-India-Nuclear-Safety.html |
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http://www.boston.com/dailynews/058/world/American_nuclear_scientists_pr:.shtml |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030227_002689,00.html |
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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/-india-nuclearsafety.html |
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/02/27/international0820EST0515.DTL |
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http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/r.htm |
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AFeb27.html |
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http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-india-nuclear-safety0227feb27,0,4714133.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dnationworld%2Dheadlines |
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* |
Raytheon to pay $25
million fine |
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Feb 27., Boston -- Defense
contractor Raytheon Corp. agreed Thursday to pay $25 million to settle
allegations it illegally attempted to export communications equipment to
Pakistan from 1990 to 1997. The allegations were described in a civil
complaint filed Thursday in Boston federal court, but dismissed as part of
the settlement. The case stems from Raytheon's efforts to sell its
``troposcatter'' radio system, widely used by U.S. forces during the
Persian Gulf War, to Pakistan, which is prohibited from receiving American
arms exports under the 1990 Pressler Amendment. Raytheon had been
negotiating to sell the radios to the Pakistani military during the 1980s.
When the law was passed, Raytheon spent $2 million to ``commercialize''
the radio and satisfy the requirements of the law. |
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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Raytheon-Pakistan.html |
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http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=&p= |
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http://www.businesstoday.com/business/business/ray02282003.htm |
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http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/ap/feb03/ap-raytheon-pakist022803.asp |
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http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/business/5279330.htm |
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/02/27/national1903EST0851.DTL |
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http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/059/business/Raytheon_to_pay_25m_in_civil_fines+.shtml |
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http://www.austin360.com/aas/business/ap/ap_story.html/Financial/AP.V3054.AP-Raytheon-Pakist.html |
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http://www.newsday.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-raytheon-pakistan0228feb27,0,1514407.story?coll=sns-ap-business-headlines |
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http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/5279330.htm |
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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/5279330.htm |
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http://www.startribune.com/stories/671/3723658.html |
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http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2003/02/24/daily38.html |
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* |
Drought keeps India's
economic growth low |
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Feb 27., New Delhi --
India's economy will likely grow 4.4 percent in the current fiscal year,
slowing from last year's 5.6 percent expansion, as a severe drought in
many parts of the country outweighed a strong pickup in industrial output,
the government said Thursday. The annual Economic Survey -- the official
report card on the state of the economy -- said the lower growth in the
fiscal year that ends March 31 was caused by a sharp decline in farm
output caused by the drought. Several newspapers have reported starvation
and distress migration in western and eastern India, though the survey
claimed the government had used its food stocks to make up for any
shortage and prevent price increases. |
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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-India-Economy.html |
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http://www.newsday.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-india-economy0227feb27,0,845241.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dbusiness%2Dheadlines |
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http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/ap/feb03/ap-india-economy022803.asp |
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/02/27/financial1312EST0131.DTL |
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AFeb27.html |
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http://www.startribune.com/stories/671/3723086.html |
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* |
Violence kills 3 in
Pakistan |
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Feb 27., Karachi, Pakistan
-- Three people were killed Thursday in sectarian violence in this
southern port city, police said. No one was arrested.Two Iranian Shiite
Muslims were killed when gunmen on a motorcycle sprayed their bakery with
bullets, police said. In another part of Karachi, a Sunni Muslim cleric
also was shot dead by gunmen who fled on a motorcycle, police
said. |
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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Pakistan-Religious-Killing.html |
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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apasia_story.asp?category=1104&slug=Pakistan%20Religious%20Killing |
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http://www.austin360.com/shared/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V2220.AP-Pakistan-Religi.html |
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http://www.startribune.com/stories/670/3723042.html |
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http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-pakistan-religious-killing0227feb27,0,2295015.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dnationworld%2Dheadlines |
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* |
Bangladesh, US to sign
science, tech cooperation accord |
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Feb 27., Dhaka -- The U.S.
and Bangladesh will sign an agreement this weekend seeking to promote
cooperation in science and technology and the exchange of research data,
the Bangladeshi government said Thursday. U.S. Assistant Secretary of
State Christina Rocca will arrive in Dhaka on Saturday to sign the deal
with Science and Information Technology Minister Abdul Moin Khan, the
government's Press Information Department said in a statement. The
proposed accord, the first of its kind between the two countries, will
facilitate the exchange of data, information, students, teachers and
researchers between the countries, the statement said. |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030227_003909,00.html |
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* |
India-Germany talks
next week to address Iraq, global terror |
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Feb 27., New Delhi -- The
possibility of a U.S.-led war in Iraq, regional security and the threat of
global terrorism are expected to dominate German President Johannes Rau's
talks with Indian leaders next week, officials said Thursday. India and
Germany support a U.N.-mandated action to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass
destruction. Rau, accompanied by lawmakers and officials, will arrive in
the historic Indian city of Jaipur on March 2, according to a statement
from India's External Affairs Ministry. |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030227_003647,00.html |
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* |
Indian protesters rally
against possible US-Iraq war |
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Feb 27., Calcutta, India
-- Protesters held marches and sit-ins in two Indian cities on Thursday
opposing a possible U.S.-led attack on Iraq. More than 1,000 young
communist activists began a 24-hour sit-in outside a heavily guarded U.S.
Information Center and Library in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta.
Waving placards reading "No Blood for Oil," the protesters marched through
parts of Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal state, opposing the U.S.
policy in the oil-rich Gulf. |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030227_002793,00.html |
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030227/ap_wo_en_po/as_gen_india_us_protest_1 |
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* |
Sri Lankan Prime
Minister leaves for India to discuss peace process |
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Feb 27., Colombo -- Sri
Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe left for India on Thursday to
discuss his government's efforts to solve its 19-year ethnic conflict with
Tamil Tiger rebels. "This visit underlines the reality that the government
of India is firmly in support of the peace process," government spokesman
Gamini Peiris told reporters. India isn't directly involved in Sri Lankan
affairs. However, 56 million Tamils living in the southern Indian state of
Tamil Nadu have family and cultural ties with the Sri Lankan
Tamils. |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030227_002060,00.html |
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030227/ap_wo_en_ge/as_gen_sri_lanka_india_1 |
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* |
Pakistan military finds
opium, weapons stash in jungle |
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Islamabad -- Paramilitary
forces found a stash of more than 1,300 kilograms of opium and nearly two
dozen mortar shells in a jungle in southwestern Pakistan , the official
news agency reported Friday. No one was arrested in the operation in the
Girdi Jungle of the southwestern Baluchistan province, about 10 kilometers
south of the Afghan border, state-run Associated Press of Pakistan
reported. |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030228_000073-search,00.html |
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030228/ap_wo_en_ge/as_gen_pakistan_drugs_1 |
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* |
India allocates 653
billion rupees for defence in year to March 2004
budget |
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New Delhi -- Finance
Minister Jaswant Singh announced a record low annual hike of just 3 bln
rupees in defence spending for the next financial year beginning April 1,
over the previous fiscal year's allocation of 650 bln rupees. However, he
said the military would not be starved of funds and that modernisation
projects would not be derailed. The defence budget for the year to March
2004 was pegged at 653 bln rupees, with the rupee assumed at 48 to the US
currency. "The government is fully committed to modernise the armed
forces," Singh said. |
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http://news.nasdaq.com/news/newsStory.aspx?&cpath=20030228\ACQAAFAFXNEWS_EN_AAF_F_2371_28.htm |
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* |
Indian diplomat leaves
for Pakistan |
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Feb 27., Wagha, India -
India's newly appointed deputy ambassador to Pakistan left for Islamabad
Thursday after the rival neighbor countries went through a series of
diplomat expulsions in recent months. T.C.A. Raghvan, who entered Pakistan
at the northern land border at Wagha, said there was no possibility of
India resuming talks with Pakistan until the latter ended cross-border
terrorism — training and arming of Islamic militants fighting for Kashmir
(news - web sites)'s independence or merger with Islamic Pakistan since
1989. Both countries claim the entire Himalayan region of Pakistan, which
is divided between the two countries. Pakistan denies giving material aid
to the separatist rebels in India's portion. |
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030227/ap_wo_en_ge/as_gen_india_pakistan_diplomat_1 |
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In India, Hindus can
pray once a week at a disputed monument |
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Bhopal, India -- After
days of violent protest earlier this month, the government has ruled that
Hindus will be allowed to pray once a week at an ancient monument in
central India that they say is a temple, but which Muslims consider a
mosque. The federal government Thursday announced that Hindus would be
allowed to pray every Tuesday at the centuries-old Bhojshala monument in
Madhya Pradesh state. Since 1997, Hindus have been allowed to pray only
once a year to their goddess Saraswati at the shrine, while Muslims have
been allowed to pray every Friday. |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030228_001278-search,00.html |
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030228/ap_wo_en_ge/as_gen_india_religious_compromise_1 |
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| EDITORIALS /
OP-ED |
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* |
Illegal Bangladesh
immigrants |
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New Delhi -- In December
1971, India and Pakistan went to war over 6 million refugees, mostly
Hindus, pushed out of East Pakistan into India. Lal Krishna Advani,
India's deputy prime minister, who also holds the home portfolio, now
informs the country that there are 15 million illegal Bangladesh
immigrants living in India. |
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http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=r |
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| BUSINESS /
TECHNOLOGY |
|
* |
Coke to invest around
$100 million in India |
|
Feb 27., New Delhi -- The
Indian unit of The Coca-Cola Company (KO.N), the world's No 1 soft drinks
company, said on Thursday its bottling subsidiary would invest about $100
million in 2003 to expand operations and boost market share. Coke, the
market leader in India where it battles PepsiCo Inc. (PEP.N) for the $1.2
billion carbonated beverage segment, has already invested over $800
million in India. A spokesman for Coke's Indian unit said the investment
would be in new plants and to expand plant capacity in the country where
it sells over 15 beverage brands ranging from bottled water, juice drinks
to ready-to-drink hot tea and coffee. |
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http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-food-india-coke.html |
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AFeb27.html |
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* |
AEterna's Zentaris unit
to distribute Impavido in India |
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Feb 27., New York --
AEterna Laboratories Inc.'s (AELA) Zentaris AG unit has signed an
exclusive distribution and marketing agreement with German Remedies Ltd.
for the marketing of Impavido (Miltefosine) in India and Bangladesh. In a
news release, AEterna said the deal is the start of global marketing of
Miltefosine, which is aimed at all countries burdened with leishmaniasis
disease. Under the pact, German Remedies will market the product in the
private sectors of India, and will distribute the product in Bangladesh
upon registration, it noted. |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030227_003938,00.html |
|
| OTHER
STORIES |
|
* |
Indian trains, stations
to offer Internet access |
|
Feb. 27, Bangalore, India
-- Call it search engines, mail on rail or rolling chat: Tourists will
soon have a new reason to travel through India by train. They can remain
in touch with home through the Internet, under a plan by rail authorities
to offer wireless access on trains and cyber cafes at stations by next
year. ``We will offer Internet access on at least one train, if possible
more, by March 2004,'' Pradeep Kumar, general manager of RailTel Corp. of
India, said Thursday. ``The service will be expanded to many more trains
in due course. We will also have cyber cafes at 1,500 stations within a
year, with more to follow,'' he said. |
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http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/5276322.htm |
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20030227_001702,00.html |
|
* |
City of Leh thrives as
oasis of peace in Kashmir |
|
Feb 27 -- The small
Himalayan city of Leh, in the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir near
the border of Tibet, awakes to the sound of Muslim and Buddhist prayers
broadcast from the main mosque and temple. By 9 a.m. the streets are
bustling with vendors, tourists and soldiers. Elsewhere in Kashmir, a
half-century-old political conflict might boil into nuclear war between
India and Pakistan. But Leh, with its Buddhist heritage in a predominantly
Muslim state, hardly seems to notice. |
|
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0227_030227_tvlehhtml |
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* |
Globalization: Bad rap,
rich rewards? |
|
The poor shall always be
with us, cautions the Bible. Maybe not, argues Indian economist and former
World Bank staffer Surjit S. Bhalla in a provocative new book, Imagine
There's No Country: Poverty, Inequality and Growth in the Era of
Globalization, which was published late last year by the Institute for
International Economics, a highly regarded Washington think tank. That's a
mouthful of a title, but the book is a must-read for anyone seriously
interested in the debate about whether globalization is good for the poor
-- or if the collapsing of borders has added to the misery of those at the
bottom of the economic heap while enriching the relatively
well-to-do. |
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http://businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/feb2003/nf20030228_1232_db065.htm |
|
* |
Regional lawmakers in
Pakistan stiffen penalties for sale of cigarettes to
children |
|
Lahore, Pakistan --
Regional lawmakers in eastern Pakistan unanimously approved a bill Friday
that would stiffen penalties on merchants who violate a ban on the sale of
cigarettes to children, a government minister said Friday. The law passed
by the 371-member assembly of Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province,
would restrict the sale of cigarettes to anyone under 18 years of age,
said Raja Mohammed Basharat, the province's law minister. "We felt the law
should be enacted because of the increasing trend of smoking among the
children," he said. |
|
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030228/ap_wo_en_ge/as_gen_pakistan_children_cigarettes_1 |
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--- South
Asian News, February 28, 2003 --- |
|
|
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
Sharmaat kapif
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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