Indian American Center for Political Awareness Home Page : South Asia News Clips : November 20

In an effort to keep the clips free for research and educational purposes, I encourage you to be a sponsor of the clps. I would be more than happy to talk with you offline as to the benefits of sponsorship and what it entails. If you are interested in additional information, sponsorship, or including new members to the distribution list, please contact Kapil Sharma of Madison Government Affairs at kap or visit www.madisongov.net. The clips are co-produced by Stringinfo (www.stringinfo.com)

Archives

U.S. urges Nepal rebels to resume peace talks (Reuters/Yahoo)
* The United States made a fresh appeal on Tuesday to Nepal's Maoist rebels to return to talks aimed at ending a bloody revolt that has killed 8,100 people. Washington has been a strong supporter of Kathmandu's drive to crush the rebels, who have been fighting since 1996 to replace the constitutional    monarchy with communist rule, and are known for their staunch anti-American posture. The latest appeal came three days after the rebels ambushed an army patrol and killed a brigadier general, his wife and three soldiers. The brigadier general was the most senior army officer to be killed in the seven-year revolt.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/031118/137/29jc7.html


Top Stories

A tough lesson for immigrant parents (Chicago Tribune - Registration required)
Experts See Major Shift in Al Qaeda's Strategy (LA Times - Registration required)
U.S. envoy faults Pakistan as ally - Grim assessment of Afghan security by new ambassador (SF Chronicle) (Washington Post) (News Journal, TX) (Atlanta Journal Constitution) (Rocky Mount Telegram) (Sarasota Herald Tribune) (Akron Beacon Journal) (Fort Wayne Gazette) (Duluth News Tribune) (Biloxi Sun Herald) (Grand Forks Herald) (Times Daily, AL) (Voice of America)
Sri Lanka's Parliament Reconvenes (Columbus Ledger-Enquirer) (Wilmington Star, DE) (Wilkes Barre Weekender) (Atlanta Journal Constitution) (Abderdeen American News) (Rocky Mount Telegram) (News Journal, TX) (Duluth News Tribune, MN) (Times Daily, AL) (Boston Globe)

*************************************************************************************************************

Business

Ephinay lands $10M VC deal (Charlotte Business Journal)
AT&T Wireless (CNN Money) (Forbes.com) (NY Times - Registration required)
Loss of tech jobs slows, but 54,000 more face ax (Contra Costa Times)
Tech Still Losing Jobs (Mercury News) (Biloxi Sun Herald) (SiliconValley.com)
Getting a Job in the Valley Is Easy, if You're Perfect (The Ledger, FL)
(The New York Times - Registration required) EMC to invest $100m in Indian facility (The Boston Globe)
Coca-Cola officials tell Indian village council that plant is not sapping groundwater (Environmental News Network)
Mill to close; 300 jobs cut (The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, GA)
Indian food market has smell of success (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
Lacking visas, grads can't work everywhere they want to be (Virginia Cavalier)
Alternatives to global capitalism endorsed (Providence Journal Bulletin)

Commentaries/Editorials/Letters to the Editors

Commentary: Bobby Jindal vs. David Duke (Town Hall, DC) Commentary: U.S. engineers shortchanged (Statesman, OR) Commentary: Israel and India: exceptional, essential (Seattle Times) Commentary: The Job Hunt (Washington Post)

Defense

Israel Now a Top Defense Exporter (NewsDay) (Akron Beacon Journal)(Sarasota Herald Tribune) (Wilkes Barre Weekender) (Macon Telegraph, GA), (Duluth News Tribune, MN) (Columbus Ledger-Enquirer) (Atlanta Journal Constitution) (Wilimington Morning Star) (Aberdeen American News) (Bradenton Herald) (News-Journal, TX) (SF Chronicle)
Vietnam to Buy Indian Weaponry Under Defense Accord (Defense News - Subscription required)
India to Upgrade Missle Arsenal (Defense News - Subscription required)
India's HAL Eager for Aviation Ventures (Defense News - Subscription required)

Politics

Jindal's defeat (Washington Times)
Ambassador relates experiences (Yale Daily News)
SF Campaign Notebook (SF Chronicle)

Other

It's many people's kind of town - To experience the real Chicago, immerse yourself in its diversity (Boston Globe)
RAMADAN FESTIVAL: Pakistani community invites non-Muslims (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
NWACC Students Learn More About Country Through Slides, Cuisine (Morning News, AR)
Pakistani woman jailed for lying (Philadelphia Daily News) (Phildelphia Inquirer)
Saudis' strict Islam called a 'threat' (Washington Times)
A Taste of Home - South Asians visit Richardson complex to find the pleasures they left behind (Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX)
Authorities Detain 35 Migrants in Ukraine (Rocky Mount Telegram) (News Journal, TX) (Akron Beacon Journal, GA) (Bradenton Herald, FL)
Muslim exodus from U.S. unravels tightknit enclaves (Chicago Tribune - Registration required)
****************************************************************************

It's many people's kind of town - To experience the real Chicago, immerse yourself in its diversity (Boston Globe) RAMADAN FESTIVAL: Pakistani community invites non-Muslims (Atlanta Journal Constitution) NWACC Students Learn More About Country Through Slides, Cuisine (Morning News, AR) Pakistani woman jailed for lying (Philadelphia Daily News) (Phildelphia Inquirer) Saudis' strict Islam called a 'threat' (Washington Times) A Taste of Home - South Asians visit Richardson complex to find the pleasures they left behind (Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX) Authorities Detain 35 Migrants in Ukraine (Rocky Mount Telegram) (News Journal, TX) (Akron Beacon Journal, GA) (Bradenton Herald, FL) Muslim exodus from U.S. unravels tightknit enclaves (Chicago Tribune - Registration required)

Top Stories

A tough lesson for immigrant parents (Chicago Tribune - Registration required) " .... Now, with the suburbs increasingly becoming a port of entry for immigrant families, parents like 45-year-old Minal Shah of Wheeling are struggling to understand the customs at their children's schools. "I've had a very good response from the teachers here in the U.S., and I know my children like scho says Shah, a native of India. "But when I want to talk to a teacher, I need to make an appointment. In India, I would just approach the teacher when I picked up my child, and we could talk about any concerns right away." The enormous challenges facing immigrant parents are capturing the attention of local principals, teachers and PTA leaders, all of whom are working together to build multicultural school communities in Chicago and the suburbs.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/women/chi-nov19,1,5041566.s

Experts See Major Shift in Al Qaeda's Strategy (LA Times - Registration required) A U.S.-led assault on Al Qaeda has left many of the network's leaders dead, in jail or on the run. Still, counter-terrorism officials have linked Al Qaeda or its followers to a drumbeat of attacks in Russia, Indonesia, India, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and the Philippines, dating back to spring. Intent on maximizing the propaganda impact of its actions, the network has shifted from a single-minded focus on American interests to a broader mix including Jewish and Muslim
targets. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-terror19nov19002421,1,7447082.story?coll=la-headlines-world-manual

U.S. envoy faults Pakistan as ally - Grim assessment of Afghan security by new ambassador (SF Chronicle) (Washington Post) (News Journal, TX) (Atlanta Journal Constitution) (Rocky Mount Telegram) (Sarasota Herald Tribune) (Akron Beacon Journal) (Fort Wayne Gazette) (Duluth News Tribune) (Biloxi Sun Herald) (Grand Forks Herald) (Times Daily, AL) (Voice of America) Zalmay Khalilzad, who takes up residence as U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan next week, said Tuesday that Pakistan is not doing enough to deter attacks on U.S. soldiers by militants operating along its mountainous border. Khalilzad gave the administration's bleakest assessment yet of security conditions in Afghanistan, saying that a regrouping of the Taliban and al Qaeda, increased drug trafficking and even common criminals are hampering President Hamid Karzai and the transition to democracy. "There are Taliban leaders and people that are using Pakistani territory to come across and carry out attacks in Afghanistan," Khalilzad told a small group of reporters. "We would like Pakistan to do more."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/11/19/MNGJ635G321.DTL
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ANov18.html
http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V5128.AP-US-Afghanistan.html?urac=n&urvf=
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V5126.AP-US-Afghanistan.html
http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/content/news/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V5128.AP-US-Afghanistan.html;COXnetJSessionID=17Ip4jJJwqA4KXnYsF0yYQsA0Q46xYqd JX1zAsAoQHzhbytNxr2j!?urac=nurvf=
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031118/API/311181049
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/7293871.htm
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/7293871.htm
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/7293871.htm
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/nation/7293871.htm
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/7293871.htm
http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031118/API/311181049
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=07A3C4BD-784A-46F7-94409A3E1F80F

Sri Lanka's Parliament Reconvenes (Columbus Ledger-Enquirer) (Wilmington Star, DE) (Wilkes Barre Weekender) (Atlanta Journal Constitution) (Abderdeen American News) (Rocky Mount Telegram) (News Journal, TX) (Duluth News Tribune, MN) (Times Daily, AL) (Boston Globe) Sri Lanka's Parliament met Wednesday for the first time since President Chandrika Kumaratunga suspended the chamber as part of her power grab earlier this month against the prime minister's administration. Although lawmakers abided by the president's order - which was authorized under the Sri Lankan constitution - they questioned whether it was appropriate for the president to be able to suppress the elected body. The temporary suspension was one of several moves taken by Kumaratunga on Nov. 4 that fueled her confrontation with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, propelling this South Asian island nation into a political crisis and interrupting peace efforts with Tamil Tiger rebels.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/7294754.htm
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031119/API/311190
http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/7294754.htm
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V6284.AP-Sri-Lanka.html
http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/7294754.htm
http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/content/news/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V6
http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V6284.AP-Sri-Lanka.html?urac=n&urvf=
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/7294754.htm
http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031119/API/311190705
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/11/19/us_american_citizens_were_intended_targets_in_colombia/

Business
Ephinay lands $10M VC deal (Charlotte Business Journal) Charlotte's Ephinay Corp., which helps companies cut costs by outsourcing finance-related jobs, has landed $10 million from a major Silicon Valley venture capital firm. The $10 million investment from Trinity Ventures of Menlo Park, Calif., follows a $10 million investment in Ephinay announced earlier this year by Chrys Capital, a venture firm with offices in India and Palo Alto, Calif. The combined $20 million represents the largest venture capital deal involving a Charlotte business this year, several local financial sources say. http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2003/11/17/story3.html

AT&T Wireless (CNN Money) (Forbes.com) (NY Times - Registration required) In the tech sector, AT&T Wireless plans to lay off more than 10 percent of its 30,000 workers over the next year and outsource the jobs, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the situation. The moves by the wireless telephone company would come on top of a recent announcement increasing the number of people it could lay off because of a consolidation of facilities, the newspaper reported. AT&T Wireless is discussing outsourcing arrangements with companies that employ people in India and elsewhere overseas, according to the Journal.
http://money.cnn.com/2003/11/19/markets/beforebell/
http://www.forbes.com/home_asia/newswire/2003/11/19/rtr1152975.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-telecom-att-jobs.html

Loss of tech jobs slows, but 54,000 more face ax (Contra Costa Times) The worst of the high-tech meltdown that last year wiped out 123,000 jobs in California may be subsiding, but the state stands to lose another 54,000 jobs this year, a high-tech trade association said in a study due out today. In its annual look at the high-tech industry, AeA, formerly the American Electronics Association, found that in 2002, California lost nearly 23 percent of the 540,000 high-tech jobs lost in the United States. The good news: Not as many high-tech jobs will vaporize in the Unites States this year as before, the AeA said, with about 234,000 job losses in 2003, a 57 percent drop. That hints at a possible recovery, said Mark Albertson, AeA's senior vice president for California and the western United States.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/business/7298418.htm

Tech Still Losing Jobs (Mercury News) (Biloxi Sun Herald) (Silicon Valley.com) The economy is supposedly bouncing back, but it sure doesn't feel that way to many unemployed tech workers. High-tech job losses continued in 2003, although at a slower pace than in recent years, according a report by an electronics industry trade group that will be released today . Employers in the high-tech industry are on pace to cut 234,000 positions nationwide in 2003, down from 539,000 in 2002, according to AeA, a trade group formerly known as the American Electronics Association. Overall, about 13 percent of the country's tech jobs have vanished over the past two years. That may provide little solace to job seekers who are still waiting for recent news of better corporate earnings and national economic growth to translate into new jobs. But even optimists who point to these encouraging signs say it's hard to know when the industry may again begin expanding its workforce. http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/business/technology/7298279.htm
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/business/technology/7298279.htm
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/7298279.htm

Getting a Job in the Valley Is Easy, if You're Perfect (The Ledger, FL) (The New York Times - Registration required) As the economy bounces back, even Silicon Valley's job market is showing signs of revival. But it has a long way to go. Employers are being extremely picky, the few jobs being offered pay less than they once did, and they do not come with the bountiful benefits and sterling opportunities of the 1990's boom, job seekers say. Just ask Cary Snyder. After 16 months without a job, he is joining a four-person start-up as a technical analyst, having given up his search for just the right position. He may not have job security, but he says it beats combing through want ads. "Not only are there fewer jobs, but the ones that are out there don't pay as much as they used to,'' Mr. Snyder said. Still, he added: "Looks like I'll be getting a regular paycheck in January or February."
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031119/ZNYT01/311190422/1001/BUSINESS
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/19/technology/19techjobs.html

EMC to invest $100m in Indian facility (The Boston Globe) EMC Corp., the world's third-largest builder of data-storage computers, will invest at least $100 million in India to expand research and development, increase sales, and hire more workers. Hopkinton-based EMC will spend the money over five years, said Gary Jackson, EMC's vice president for Asia Pacific. EMCd a software center in the southern city of Bangalore in January.
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2003/11/19/health_insurance_jumps_17_in_mass/

Coca-Cola officials tell Indian village council that plant is not sapping groundwater (Environmental News Network) Coca-Cola representatives have testified before a village council in southern India that the U.S. soft drink giant's local plant is not depleting groundwater, and shouldn't be closed. Coke's appeal this week before the Perumatty village council in Kerala state came at the direction of a court, which had refused the company's petition to block efforts by the council to shut down the plant. The Perumatty council in the Palghat district, 145 kilometers (90 miles) north of Cochin city, has threatened to cancel Coke's operating license. It claims the plant is guzzling groundwater, thus drying up of wells, ponds, and canals.Coke officials submitted scientific studies to the council, arguing that there was no evidence of groundwater overuse."The villagers are not suffering because of the Coke plant here, and we are not exploiting the water resources," Coca-Cola plant manager N. Janardhanan said Tuesday.
http://www.enn.com/news//s_10558.asp

Mill to close; 300 jobs cut (The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, GA) The Alabama communities of Valley and Lanett suffered a major blow Tuesday with WestPoint Stevens' decision to close its Lanier Plant and lay off 300 workers by mid-January. For Valerie Gray, the pain can be found in stark numbers. Executive director of the Chambers County Industrial Development Authority, Gray estimates WestPoint Stevens employed about 15,000 people in the area in the 1980s. On Tuesday, the home fashions manufacturer said it now has about 4,000 workers operating nine mills in Valley, Lanett, and Opelika, Ala. It will employ 14,100 nationwide once the January cuts kick in...... The textile industry as a whole has been reeling in recent years from the flood of fabric and finished goods imported from overseas factories, which use much cheaper labor than in the United States. WestPoint Stevens, in fact, imports about 25 percent of its bedding and bath material and products, Miller said. They come primarily from India, Pakistan and China.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/7295950.htm

Indian food market has smell of success (Atlanta Journal Constitution) This is a store that is guaranteed to resurrect any dormant sense of smell. Sweet, spicy, tart, pungent. Turmeric, cardamom, cumin, coriander and curries, curries, curries. The scents of India waft through the door no sooner than you crack itNestled between an Indian restaurant and a nail salon in one of the many strip malls that are spreading like bad news across north Fulton, India Spices brings to Alpharetta the wonders of the subcontinent -- papadum, dals, rotis, wonderful basmati rice that comes in 50-pound bags and masalas (Indian spice blends) of every sort.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/atlanta_world/bazaar/111903.html

Lacking visas, grads can't work everywhere they want to be (Virginia Cavalier) With the job market in the shape it is, finding work is hard enough. When you add the need for work authorization, increasingly strict visa rules and the pressure to choose between the country of your birth and the country of your current residence, the challenge becomes even greater. This was the situation facing Razy Farook, a fourth-year Commerce student from Sri Lanka, when he walked into a job interview a few weeks ago. He walked out after answering just one question: Did he have appropriate authorization to work in the United States? According to Farook, when he told the interviewer 'no,' meaning any company that hired him would have to sponsor him for a visa, the interview came to a swift conclusion. "I said 'no,' and he was like, 'oh, sorry,'" Farook said. "I asked him if he had any other questions and he said 'no, it's not my decision, it's human resources.'"
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=17859&pid=1084

Alternatives to global capitalism endorsed (Providence Journal Bulletin) International corporations hold out the lure of fresh jobs and new dollars in exchange for tax breaks but they rarely deliver on those promises. The jobs are filled by out-of-town workers, the profits are not reinvested into the community and the factories often close, moving to more worker-friendly markets halfway around the world. .... A cooperative of a different sort is flourishing in India, where local women formed neighborhood savings groups to provide start-up capital for the first project -- making soap. That business was so successful that the co-op has branched out, manufacturing school supplies and starting a fish-farming industry."This is a case where local wealth was marshaled into bringing people out of poverty," Graham said. "These are non-capitalists. The workers have appropriated the wealth."

Commentaries/Editorials/Letters to the Editors

Commentary: Bobby Jindal vs. David Duke (Town Hall, DC) There may not be much news in an oath-taking, but Arnold Schwarzenegger's brief inauguration as governor of California drew more national media coverage than the entire campaigns for governor in the states of Kentucky, Mississippi and Louisiana. Both Kentucky and Mississippi switched to Republican governors on Nov. 6, a historical feat in Kentucky since they haven't elected a Republican governor since 1967. But Governor-Elect Ernie Fletcher has never starred in a movie as a killing machine from the future. Last Saturday, 32-year-old Republican Bobby Jindal lost the Louisiana governor's race by about four points to Democrat Kathleen Blanco, the 60-year-old Cajun lieutenant governor. Of the major networks, ABC's Mike Von Fremd was the first reporter to cover that campaign -- the morning before the voting started. This inaction is a little shocking, concerning how sensitive the media purport to be about "diversity," at least of the gender or skin-color variety. Von Fremd noted that in either outcome in Louisiana, the governor would be a first, either the first female or the first non-white governor. To see Jindal as an attractive story based only on his "non-whiteness" would be offensive, even as it should make him newsworthy by the usual easy-bake affirmative-action formula. Jindal is an Indian-American raised in Baton Rouge by immigrant parents. How's that for a first?
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/brentbozell/bb20031119.shtml

Commentary: U.S. engineers shortchanged (Statesman, OR) Should we even encourage our children to seek engineering careers? Should we throw money into their college educations?Because likely there is no job at the end of this investment. Our corporations have been allowed to bring low-paid engineers into the United States at an alarming rate since The Immigration Act of 1990 was revised to admit foreign nationals for permanent employment-based programs. This H-1B Visa program has resulted in approximately 200,000 immigrants (mostly from India) in 1998-1999; 600,000 in years 1999-2001; 100,000 in 2002; and approximately 240,000 in 2003. These workers include electrical, electronics, computer and software engineers. Compare this to the rising unemployment of U.S. engineers. The unemployment rate for electrical and electronic engineers reached 7 percent, 6.5 percent for computer engineers and 7.5 percent for computer hardware engineers. The U.S. electronic industry shed 560,000 high-paying manufacturing and service jobs between Jan. 1, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2002. There are supposed to be certain criteria for corporations to be allowed to import these workers. These include having tried to hire American engineers. There is no strict monitoring of the requirements, so corporate abuse is rampant.
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=71044

Commentary: Israel and India: exceptional, essential (Seattle Times) When you hold yourself up to an exceptional standard, the world will expect exceptional conduct. By self-advertisement, India is the world's largest democracy — a system of government uncommon to its region. And Israel, to which India lately has pulled much closer diplomatically, is the shining democracy of the troubled Middle East. And so, in important respects, India and Israel are exceptional and essential. But there are problems. Let's take Israel first. In a speech in Los Angeles (Nov. 11) before a distinguished L.A. World Affairs Council audience, Abraham H. Foxman surprisingly and vehemently rejected the Israel exceptionalism standard. "I am not aware Israel held itself up to a higher standard," said the U.S. director of the Anti-Defamation League, in response to a question from the audience on Israeli exceptionalism. In fact, he added, "no thanks!" http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/_plate19.html

Commentary: The Job Hunt (Washington Post) Every other word in the presidential campaign seems to be about jobs. George Bush says he wants more of them. The Democrats say he's been a disaster at creating them -- the worst record since Herbert Hoover, in the oft-repeated phrase (70 years later and they're still running against Hoover). Economists debate why the recovery isn't doing much on the job front. Liberals say the GOP cares more about tax cuts for the wealthy than working-class stiffs. Conservatives say the Democrats are doom-and-gloomers rooting for bad news. All of which is built on the questionable notion that a president can snap his fingers and create lots of good ol' American jobs. It's a lot more complicated than that. Ever call customer service and get some distant, foreign-sounding voice? According to the new Fortune, 110,000 people in Bangalore, India, are writing software, running computers, processing mortgages and preparing tax forms for U.S. and other global companies -- including Intel, Oracle, GE, AOL and Ernst & Young. "The attraction of the Indian knowledge workers who get those jobs is that they're paid 10 to 20 percent of what Americans would expect for similar work -- and in many cases they do it better," Fortune says. This has caused folks "to wonder just what it is that Americans will do for a living now that even knowledge work can easily be sent overseas." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ANov18.html

Defense

Israel Now a Top Defense Exporter (NewsDay) (Akron Beacon Journal) (Sarasota Herald Tribune) (Wilkes Barre Weekender) (Macon Telegraph, GA), (Duluth News Tribune, MN) (Columbus Ledger-Enquirer) (Atlanta Journal Constitution) (Wilimington Morning Star) (Aberdeen American News) (Bradenton Herald) (News-Journal, TX) (SF Chronicle) .... A major reason for Israel's recent surge was a $700 million deal to upgrade Turkish tanks, according to Barbara Opall-Rome, Tel Aviv correspondent of Defense News. In addition to India and Turkey, other large markets for Israeli weapons systems include the United States, Singapore and Sri Lanka. Some Israeli weapons have gone to controversial buyers -- the Pinochet regime in Chile, for example, or Li Peng's China in the wake of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989. Today, Defense Ministry spokeswoman Rachel Niedak-Ashkenazi says, a parliamentary committee must give its approval for all Israeli weapons transfers, and the Defense Ministry prevents weapons systems from going to countries with checkered political records. http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-israel-weapons-bon
anza,0,5950453.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/7297852.htm
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031119/API/3111905
96 http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/7297852.htm
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/7297852.htm
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/7297852.htm
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/7297852.htm
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V5833.AP-Israe
l-Weapons-.html http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031119/API/311190
596&cachetime=5 http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/7297852.htm
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/7297852.htm
http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V5833.AP
-Israel-Weapons-.html;COXnetJSessionID=17DJvhWTbHbyCOzI2VsfxoMXvlwUpJdKaAmCJ 6mUwvR9D19nXMjx!-243811452?urac=n&urvf= http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/11/18/international0156EST0428.DTL

Vietnam to Buy Indian Weaponry Under Defense Accord (Defense News - Subscription required) As part of its effort to increase military alliances in Southeast Asia, India on Nov. 17 agreed to supply a wide range of weaponry to Vietnam. During a delegate-level meeting here, New Delhi agreed to supply Vietnam with an unspecified number of military communication systems and ammunition for artillery and mortar systems, and to upgrade Vietnam’s 120 MiG-21 aircraft and 100mm and 130mm artillery systems, a senior Indian Defence Ministry official said. The talks were co-chaired by Ajai Prasad, India’s permanent defence secretary, and Senior Lt. Gen. Nguyen Huy Hieu, the visiting vice defense minister of Vietnam. Though the value of the entire package is around $600 million, the Indian Defense Ministry official said Nov. 17, India has agreed to accept only $300 million as a gesture of friendship. http://www.defensenews.com

India to Upgrade Missle Arsenal (Defense News - Subscription required) India’s sole missile manufacturer has been authorized by the government to upgrade the military’s aging surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles, a job expected to be worth about $15 billion over 10 years. The Ministry of Defence in October authorized state-owned Bharat Dynamics Ltd. (BDL), Hyderabad, to perform life-cycle extension work on all types of missiles that have accumulated in the last 25 years in the inventories of the Army, Navy and Air Force, BDL Chairman Purusthottam Mohandas said Nov. 4. He said trials on some upgraded Soviet-era SA-6 and SA-8 surface-to-air missiles have begun at BDL factories in Hyderabad and Medak. http://www.defensenews.com

India's HAL Eager for Aviation Ventures (Defense News - Subscription required) India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) wants to forge international joint ventures that will better position the Bangalore-based company to become an aviation industry hub for Southeast Asia. To that end, HAL Chairman Nalini Ranjan Mohanty is looking for a Western industry partner for India’s ongoing multirole transport aircraft (MTA) program. Mohanty said the partner would join the program “as an equity partner and provide expertise in the manufacture of avionics and engines.” He declined to discuss the companies being considered, but said a partnership agreement is expected very soon. http://www.defensenews.com

Politics

Jindal's defeat (Washington Times) Many analysts attributed Bobby Jindal's defeat in the Louisiana governor's race Saturday to the Republican's failure to respond to a negative ad in the closing days of the campaign. But Fred Barnes, writing yesterday at the Weekly Standard's Web site (www.weeklystandard.com
), had a different explanation. "Why did Jindal lose after leading his Democratic opponent, Kathleen Blanco, in statewide polls in the weeks before the election? In a word, race," Mr. Barnes said. "What occurred was the 'Wilder effect,' named after the black Virginia governor elected in 1989. Wilder, a Democrat, polled well, then won narrowly. Many white voters, it turned out, said they intended to vote for a black candidate when they really didn't. Questioned by pollsters, they were leery of being seen as racially prejudiced. "Jindal's advisers worried that he might lose the 'Bubba vote,' rural whites unwilling to vote for a black candidate or even a dark-skinned Indian-American. The Jindal camp's fears were realized. A Republican normally needs two-thirds of the white vote to win in Louisiana to compensate for losing nearly all of the black vote. But Jindal got only 60 percent of whites, according to an analysis by GCR & Associates Inc., a political consulting firm. Its findings were reported in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. ... "Jindal, whose parents moved to Baton Rouge from India shortly before he was born, won 70 percent of the white vote in the New Orleans area. But outside that urban hub in the more rural and poorer parts of the state, only 48 percent of whites voted for Jindal, according to the GCR analysis." http://washingtontimes.com/national/r.htm

Ambassador relates experiences (Yale Daily News) Ambassador Munir Akram never intended to end up a diplomat."Diplomacy, as far as I'm concerned, was an accident. I was a farmer," Akram said at a crowded Saybrook College Master's Tea Tuesday.Akram, the permanent representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, discussed his life, the United Nations and India's relationship with Pakistan. Approximately 50 students attended the tea, which was sponsored by Yalies for Pakistan.Akram has been serving his native country as a diplomat for nearly four decades, having entered Pakistan's foreign service in 1968. He has been Pakistan's U.N. representative since 2002, when Pakistan was elected to a seat on the U.N. Security Council. Saying that at his job there has "never a dull moment," Akram described Pakistan's foreign policy as "360-degree," with things constantly happening on all the country's borders."I can't even begin to tell you the excitement of being a diplomat for a country like Pakistan," Akram said. http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=24202

SF Campaign Notebook (SF Chronicle) San Francisco's elected public defender, Jeff Adachi, endorsed District Attorney Terence Hallinan for re-election Tuesday and took aim at what has been a chief criticism of the incumbent -- the low rate of convictions in felony cases presented to Hallinan's office.Joined by Hallinan at the Hall of Justice, Adachi said that the only way to increase the conviction rate -- a promise made by Hallinan's challenger, deputy city attorney Kamala Harris -- is to abandon the district attorney's commitment to rehabilitative diversion programs. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/11/19/BAGBD35L9A1.DTL

Other

It's many people's kind of town - To experience the real Chicago, immerse yourself in its diversity (Boston Globe) "..... Celebrating its 30th anniversary on Devon, India Sari Palace was one of the first Indian businesses toalong this several-block stretch that some now call ``Little India'' or ``Indiatown.'' Until fairly recently, the neighborhood was predominantly Jewish. When the national origins quota system ended in 1965, a slow but steady wave of South Asian immigration began, according to Chicago's Indo-American Center. As Jews migrated toward suburbia, the new immigrants set up shop in the storefronts. By the 1980s, Indians and Pakistanis were a sizable community here, and now Devon is among the largest Indian marketplaces in North America. South Asians make the pilgrimage from all over the Midwest for 25-pound sacks of basmati rice, just-add-water Indian meals, and countless cans of mangoes at Patel Brothers grocery. They come for Indo-Pak CDs and movies at Saleem Golden Paan, so named for its freshly made paan, an edible betel leaf folded over fillings such as tobacco or grated coconut. They come for the intricate gold jewelry, which is yellower than ``normal.'' http://www.boston.com/travel/articles/2003/11/19/its_many_peoples_kind_of_town/

RAMADAN FESTIVAL: Pakistani community invites non-Muslims (Atlanta Journal Constitution) The Pakistani American Community of Atlanta (PAK Atlanta) wants non-Muslims to join its celebration of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month. The Lawrenceville-based organization hosts a festival at 3 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Gwinnett Civic and Cultural Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth. Keynote speaker: Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States. He was appointed to the post in September 2002. Other diplomatic assignments he has held include High Commissioner of Pakistan to India, and ambassador to China. An Atlanta appearance, noted Farooq Soomro of Lawrenceville, a PAK Atlanta director, speaks volumes for metro Atlanta's 15,000 or so Pakistani-Americans. And their neighbors. "It brings recognition to Atlanta," Soomro said, "and it's a chance for the community to show its strength. This event is a showcase of our culture and religion, and we want to reach out to all communities, not just the Muslim community. We want everyone to come and take note of this." http://www.ajc.com/print/content/epaper/editions/tuesday/gwinnett_f39bdafe.html

NWACC Students Learn More About Country Through Slides, Cuisine (Morning News, AR) Chelsie Lamborn has always wanted to visit India. Tuesday she got a taste of what to expect when she goes. Lamborn is a student at NorthWest Arkansas Community College and one of the people who attended a presentation from Vipan Arora, who is from India and an employee at the college. The presentation was part of the college's commemoration of "International Education Week." Other activities include an essay contest where students write about cultural diversity, a daily geography contest in the common area and displays from international students. In addition, there is an international potluck dinner and entertainment Friday. Arora showed students and NWACC employees photos of India, certain styles of dress and gave them samples of food. She also discussed facts and figures about the country. http://www.nwaonline.net/.bsp

Pakistani woman jailed for lying (Philadelphia Daily News) (Phildelphia Inquirer) A Pakistani woman who had lived, until recently, in Upper Darby, was sentenced yesterday to 16 months in prison for lying to federal agents who were looking for her ex-husband, a suspected terrorist.Humaira Jawed, 27, daughter of a wealthy Pakistani businessman, admittedly misled agents by claiming that her ex-husband was in Pakistan when she knew he was driving a cab in Philadelphia.About 50 agents from the Joint Terrorism Task Force spent a week hunting for Agha Ali Abbas Qazalbash, in Philadelphia and New York, only to learn that he had flown back to Pakistan two days after his ex-wife was first questioned.Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Beam Winter yesterday told U.S. District Judge Bruce W. Kauffman that Jawed's lies gave Qazalbash "time to successfully flee the country." http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/7297111.htm
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/7297082.htm

Saudis' strict Islam called a 'threat' (Washington Times) .... Wahhabism is a puritanical form of Islam that teaches intolerance of anyone who does not conform to its worldview — Muslims and non-Muslims alike. It is taught in Saudi schools and preached in tens of thousands of government-supported mosques. Several panelists said considering this type of education, it was no accident that 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers were Saudis. In addition, Saudi Arabia's oil wealth — in the form of government grants, individual donations by members of the royal family and charity boxes at mosques — has been responsible for exporting and funding this ideology to Islamic schools and mosques in Pakistan, Indonesia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina and East Africa, members of the panel said. http://washingtontimes.com/world/r.htm

A Taste of Home - South Asians visit Richardson complex to find the pleasures they left behind (Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX) Kiran Parekh had spent more than seven hours watching cricket by midmorning Saturday, but he looked wide-awake when he emerged from the exotic, sage-hued theater at FunAsiA.Within minutes, he and two friends had made plans for another dawn cricket-watching session at the Richardson entertainment complex. Parekh and friends Ashutosh Jantrania and Hiven Shah, started watching the match at 3 a.m.At FunAsiA, South Asian immigrants -- and U.S. natives who want to learn about their culture -- can catch the latest releases from Bollywood, or Indian cinema, while munching on nachos, popcorn and traditional Indian snacks such as samosas -- deep-fried flour patties stuffed with potatoes. Folks with a sweet tooth can order vanilla ice cream or quench their thirst with sugar cane juice. Authorities Detain 35 Migrants in Ukraine (Rocky Mount Telegram) (News Journal, TX) (Akron Beacon Journal, GA) (Bradenton Herald, FL) Ukrainian authorities detained 35 illegal migrants from Asia and the Middle East who were found underneath several tons of cabbage in a truck, police said. Police in the capital, Kiev, found the 32 men and three women from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Jordan hidden in a cramped, makeshift shelter under a truckload of cabbage, police spokesman Ihor Bolgar said.The migrants, aged 16-25, had paid as much as $10,000 to Ukrainian traffickers to get them to Slovakia, where they hoped to find work, Bolgar said. http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/content/news/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V4
705.AP-Ukraine-Migrant.html http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V4705.AP
-Ukraine-Migrant.html http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/7293076.htm
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/7293076.htm

Muslim exodus from U.S. unravels tightknit enclaves (Chicago Tribune - Registration required) On the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Shakeel Ahmed loaded his wife and five children into the family's green 1994 Mercury mini-van, their years in America reduced to a pair of cardboard boxes stuffed with children's clothes. The rest they left behind: a television, furniture, pots and pans, blankets and pillows. Ahmed figured he had little time to waste because word had spread through the sweet shops and mosques around Devon Avenue, the heart of Chicago's South Asian community, that the federal government was deporting illegal immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-nov18,1,7884984.story?coll=chi-homepagepromo451-fea