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SOUTH ASIA DAILY NEWS CLIPS
 
Breaking News
Delhi, Chicago face similar challenges (IANS/Yahoo) * Entrepreneurs
planning to foray into the North American market ought to head for Chicago.
At least that is what Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, coming from the heart
of the American Midwest, advocates. Daley is in town with a business
delegation at the invitation of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
to promote greater interaction between New Delhi and Chicago. The two cities
have much in common, Daley contended. "Delhi and Chicago are sister cities
in terms of challenges they are face in urban development," he said,
detailing how Chicago had come a long way from being a city of gangsters and
hooch-runners to a plush business and industrial hub attracting $16 billion
investment. http://in.news.yahoo.com/031125/43/29smp.html
 
  India seeks reciprocity in market access for services, goods (IANS/Yahoo)
India should notits market to any developed country that does not
provide market access to its goods and services, IT and Communications
Minister Arun Shourie declared Tuesday. Addressing a three-day business
summit here, he said this was one of the decisions developing countries took
at the World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting at Cancun in Mexico.
"Unless they (developed nations) reciprocate and give us market access for
services and goods, we should notup our market access for their
goods," Shourie. He was speaking at the annual India Economic Summit
organised the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the World Economic
Forum have jointly organised. "We should notup access in goods if
walls are set up (by the developed nations) in services," he said. Reacting
to concerns expressed by the industry leaders over the backlash in the U.S.
against outsourcing of IT services to Indian companies, Shourie warned
against being very vocal "as such whirlwinds come and go as it happened in
the case of Chinese goods like batteries, which were expected to swamp the
market and impact domestic industries (in India)".
  http://in.news.yahoo.com/031125/43/29s5y.html
 
****************************************************************************
*********************************
 
Top Stories

 
  Report: Asian AIDS Epidemic Is Worsening (Tuscaloosa News) (Central Daily
Times) (Grand Forks Herald)
  India-Pakistan Cease-Fire to Begin at Midnight Tuesday (Washington Post -
Registration required) (News Journal, TX) (Sarasota Herald Tribune)
(Wilimington Morning Star, NC)
  Fatal dormitory fire blamed on lack of alarm system, other basic safety
features (USA Today)
  India's Mystical Murders - Kidnap-Slaying of Boy, 6, Puts Spotlight on
Tantrism (Washington Post)
 
 

Business

 
  Dell calls come home (Nashua Telegraph) (USA Today) (Fort Wayne News
Sentinel) (Contra Costa Times) (The Bradenton Herald, FL) (Wichita Eagle)
(Mercury News) (Akron Beacon Journal) (Miami Herald) (Biloxi Sun Herald)
(Fort Worth Star Telegram) (NewsDay) (Gwinnett Daily Post, GA) (Salt Lake
Tribune) (NY Daily News) (LA Times - Registration required) (Akron Beacon
Journal) (Seattle Times) (Baltimore Sun) (Rocky Mount Telegram) (Detroit
News) (San Antonia Express) (Topeka Capitol Journal) (Houston Chronicle)
(Washington Times) (Washington Post)
  India's Dell says no orders received to revert customer calls to U.S.
(Fort Worth Star Telgram)
  Foreign investment stifled in India (Mercury News)
  Coca-Cola faces Dec. 2 hearing in India, possible plant closure (Macon
Telegraph) (Fort Wayne Gazette) (Duluth News Tribune) (Central Daily Times)
(Wilkes Barre Weekender) (Belleville News-Democrat, IL) (Grand Forks Herald)
(Abderdeen American News) (Columbus Ledger-Enquirer) (Wichita Eagle)
(Citizen Online, GA) (The News Journal, DE) (The Billings Gazette)
  Employers’ jobless tax rates to rise - 2003 payout forces fund to raise
per-worker fee (Dayton Daily News)
  IT job strategies: Opportunities in the outsourcing rush (IT Managers
Journal)
 





   Commentaries/Editorials/Letters to the Editors
 
  Commentary: A vision of possibilities at Seattle Public Schools (The
Seattle Times)
 
 

Defense


 
  Indo-Russian Missile Strikes Target in Sea Test  (Defense News -
Subscription required)
  Indian Ministry Puts Russian Arms Manufacturers on Notice (Defense News -
Subscription required)
  Indian Army Outlines Big Weapon Buying Blueprint (Defense News -
Subscription required)
 
 

Politics

N/A

Other

 
  Indian Factory Explosion Kills 10 People (Rocky Mount Telegram) (Times
Daily, AL) (USA Today)
  Hunger in world rising (Columbus Ledger Enquirer) (Abderdeen American
News) (Mercury News) (Miami Herald) (Biloxi Sun Herald) (Duluth News
Tribune) (Washington Times) (Seattle P-I)
  Cautious India welcomes Pakistan's cease-fire announcement (Contra Costa
Times) (The Ledger, FL) (Rocky Mount Telegram) (Times Daily)
  Indian court convicts 12 Hindus for killings  (Provo Daily Herald)
  Girl Lying in Street was Run Over (NY Daily News) (NY Post)
  Muslim Legacy In India :: Do Muslims Deserve The Hatred Of Hindus? (Media
Monitors Network)
  Students: U neglects S. Asian studies (The Minnesota Daily)
  Kashmir's rare red deer is on brink of extinction  (Reuters/Environmental
News Network)
  Democratic Candidates for President Debate in Iowa (New York Times -
Registration required)
  The Indian-Israeli partnership (Media Monitors Network)
  Musharraf Foe Tortured Over Letter, Kin Say (LA Times)
 
 
****************************************************************************
*********************************
 

Top Stories



 
  Report: Asian AIDS Epidemic Is Worsening (Tuscaloosa News) (Central Daily
Times) (Grand Forks Herald)
  HIV is spreading faster in Asia than in Africa, and the Asian AIDS
epidemic is worsening because of complacent governments, inadequate health
care and widespread prejudice, a new report has warned. "Time to Act,"
released Tuesday by ActionAid-Asia says HIV/AIDS has reached a critical
point in the region and is threatening millions of lives in India, China and
other populous nations. ActionAid-Asia is part of the global development
group ActionAid, which works in 40 countries. "It is both a cause and
consequence of poverty and human rights violations," the report said, adding
that unprotected sex, drug abuse and unsafe medical practices are the
triggers that are helping the epidemic to spread. In Asia 7.2 million people
are now living with the virus, five million of them in India and China. An
estimated half million people died of AIDS and almost one million contracted
HIV in the last year in Asia. Africa has 29 million infected people.
 
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031125/API/311250650
  http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/7346344.htm
  http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/7346344.htm
 
  India-Pakistan Cease-Fire to Begin at Midnight Tuesday (Washington Post -
Registration required) (News Journal, TX) (Sarasota Herald Tribune)
(Wilimington Morning Star, NC)
  The Indian and Pakistani armies agreed to stop firing across their
frontier, including in disputed Kashmir, starting at midnight Tuesday in a
further easing of tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors. It is the
first formal cease-fire between the two since an Islamic militant insurgency
began in India's portion of divided Jammu-Kashmir in 1989. The two armies
fire machine-guns and automatic rifles at each other almost daily, and the
cease-fire would apply to the entire border, including the disputed frontier
dividing Kashmir between the hostile neighbors.
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ANov25.html
 
http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V8139.AP-India-Pakistan.html;COXnetJSessionID=1DuhZWc0ldsSKV7r9JN7hLkzFydgjqHVQ6rXrWgz1lHaeDeUyLom!?urac=n&urvf=
 
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031125/API/311250602
 
http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031125/API/311250602&cachetime=5
 
  Fatal dormitory fire blamed on lack of alarm system, other basic safety
features (USA Today)
  The lack of an alarm system and other basic safety precautions contributed
to the high death toll in a dormitory fire that killed 36 foreign students
and injured nearly 200, officials said Tuesday.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/-russia-dorm-fire_x.htm
 
  India's Mystical Murders - Kidnap-Slaying of Boy, 6, Puts Spotlight on
Tantrism (Washington Post)
  Madan and Murti Simaru were desperate for a son. So when nature failed to
provide them one, the impoverished field hand and his wife did what many
Indians do in times of need: They went to see a tantrik, practitioner of an
ancient spiritual art -- tantrism -- that aims to harness supernatural
powers for the resolution of worldly ills. The outcome could hardly have
been more shocking. Acting on the instructions of the tantrik, the couple
arranged for the kidnapping last month of a 6-year-old neighbor and then --
as the tantrik led them in chanting mantras -- mutilated and killed the
child, Monu Kumar, on the bank of an irrigation canal, according to a police
report. Murti Simaru allegedly completed the fertility ritual by washing
herself in the child's blood.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ANov24.html
 
 

Business



 
  Dell calls come home (Nashua Telegraph) (USA Today) (Fort Wayne News
Sentinel) (Contra Costa Times) (The Bradenton Herald, FL) (Wichita Eagle)
(Mercury News) (Akron Beacon Journal) (Miami Herald) (Biloxi Sun Herald)
(Fort Worth Star Telegram) (NewsDay) (Gwinnett Daily Post, GA) (Salt Lake
Tribune) (NY Daily News) (LA Times - Registration required) (Akron Beacon
Journal) (Seattle Times) (Baltimore Sun) (Rocky Mount Telegram) (Detroit
News) (San Antonia Express) (Topeka Capitol Journal) (Houston Chronicle)
(Washington Times) (Washington Post)
  After an onslaught of complaints, computer maker Dell Inc. has stopped
using a technical support center in India to handle calls from its corporate
customers. Some U.S. customers have complained that the Indian
technical-support representatives are difficult to communicate with because
of thick accents and scripted responses. Tech support for corporate
customers with Optiplex desktop and Latitude notebook computers will instead
be handled from call centers in Texas, Idaho and Tennessee, Dell spokesman
Jon Weisblatt said Monday.
 
http://nashuatelegraph.com/Main.asp?SectionID=27&SubSectionID=357&ArticleID=94312
  http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/-dell-support-home_x.htm
  http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/7345841.htm
  http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/business/7345153.htm
  http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/business/7345841.htm
  http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/business/7345841.htm
  http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/7345272.htm
  http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/business/7345841.htm
  http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/7345841.htm
  http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/business/7345841.htm
  http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/business/7345427.htm
 
http://www.newsday.com/business/printedition/ny-bzdell253558669nov25,0,1155643.story?coll=ny-business-print
 
http://www.gwinnettdailyonline.com/GDP/archive/article0112876F3F01458A81583F3053C56360.asp
  http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Nov/11252003/business/114198.asp
  http://www.nydailynews.com/business/story/139749p-124074c.html
 
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-rup25.8nov25,1,3871170.story?coll=la-headlines-technology
  http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/business/7344756.htm
 
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/_dellcallcenters25.html
 
http://www.sunspot.net/business/bal-bz.dell25nov25,0,5745320.story?coll=bal-business-headlines
 
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/technology/article/0,1299,DRMN_49_2454771,00.html
  http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0311/25/technology-334165.htm
  http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=110&xlc=1089669
  http://www.cjonline.com/stories/112503/bus_dell.shtml
  http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2247721
  http://washingtontimes.com/business/r.htm
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/ANov24.html
 
  India's Dell says no orders received to revert customer calls to U.S.
(Fort Worth Star Telgram)
  A day after Texas-based computer maker Dell Inc. said it had stopped
routing calls from corporate customers to its technical support center in
southern India, the center here said no such thing had happened. "We did not
send back any calls to the U.S.," the Dell International Services'
spokeswoman in the high-tech hub of Bangalore, said on Tuesday. The
spokeswoman said she did not want to be quoted by name. Technical support
for Dell's Optiplex desktop and Latitude notebook computers, normally
handled in Bangalore, is to henceforth be handled from call centers in
Texas, Idaho and Tennessee, Dell spokesman Jon Weisblatt had told The
Associated Press in Austin, Texas on Monday. Customers weren't satisfied
with the level of support they were receiving, so we're moving some calls
around to make sure they don't feel that way anymore," Weisblatt said.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/business/7345841.htm
 
  Foreign investment stifled in India (Mercury News)
  India's economy is more competitive than before, but a widening
infrastructure gap with advanced countries and a stalled privatization
process may keep the country from growing faster, business leaders from
around the world said Monday.   After decades of central economic planning,
the last 12 years of economic reforms have improved Indians' view of their
own abilities, and the government claims economic fundamentals are at their
best since the country's independence in 1947.  Still, investors complain
about a highly bureaucratic business climate as well as curbs on foreign
ownership in India that leave it several notches below China and Brazil in
attracting foreign investment.    `India has made tremendous progress in
recent years, but red tape, bureaucracy is an issue,'' said Augusto
Lopez-Carlos, chief economist at the Global Competitiveness Program of the
World Economic Forum. Delegates to the Switzerland-based forum's annual
economic summit in New Delhi said India has an abundance of resources, but
doesn't use them efficiently.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/7345273.htm
 
  Coca-Cola faces Dec. 2 hearing in India, possible plant closure (Macon
Telegraph) (Fort Wayne Gazette) (Duluth News Tribune) (Central Daily Times)
(Wilkes Barre Weekender) (Belleville News-Democrat, IL) (Grand Forks Herald)
(Abderdeen American News) (Columbus Ledger-Enquirer) (Wichita Eagle)
(Citizen Online, GA) (The News Journal, DE) (The Billings Gazette)
  A village council says it will decide on Dec. 2 whether to shut down a
Coca-Cola plant in southern India because of allegations that it is
depleting groundwater.  "We have the legal right to cancel the license of
any industrial unit ... if it adversely affects the people of the locality,"
A. Krishnan, chief of Perumatty village in the southern Indian state of
Kerala, said in an interview on Monday.   "I have asked the Coke officials
to appear before the council once again on Dec. 2," he said, adding that the
council will announce its decision the same day.  Perumatty council controls
several villages in the Palghat district, 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of
the state's commercial hub, Cochin. The Coca-Cola plant was set up in the
village of Plachimada in 1998.
  http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/7344382.htm
  http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/7344382.htm
  http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/7344382.htm
  http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/7344382.htm
  http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/7344382.htm
  http://www.belleville.com/mld/newsdemocrat/7344382.htm
  http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/7344382.htm
  http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/7344382.htm
  http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/7344382.htm
  http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/7344382.htm
 
http://www.citizenonline.net/citizen/archive/article685A35014F864CBBB9680A0C6CF08FEA.asp
 
http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/business/2003/11/25dailybriefing.html
 
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2003/11/25/build/business/50-dell.inc
 
  Employers’ jobless tax rates to rise - 2003 payout forces fund to raise
per-worker fee (Dayton Daily News)
   ... He said the chamber, the Dayton Development Coalition and elected
offices are working to transfer emerging technologies into commercial
applications to create jobs. He said chamber members will be meeting with
Statehouse and congressional delegations to re-examine whether international
trade agreements are working against companies and employees in the Dayton
area. "We’ve seen a real concern with some of the low-cost goods from
low-cost labor coming out of China," Bucklew said. He said outsourcing of
service jobs to places such as India also is a worry.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/1125joblesstax.html
 
  IT job strategies: Opportunities in the outsourcing rush (IT Managers
Journal)
  While U.S. firms are expected to quadruple their use of offshore IT
resources in the next four years, that's not necessarily bad news for U.S.
IT workers, according to a new  report from IDC. IDC declares "such a
dramatic shift may not necessarily translate into a doomed outlook for U.S.
IT services jobs or U.S.-based services firms ... U.S. services firms will
continue to use offshore resources to lower costs, while the majority of
U.S. workers at risk will leverage their current expertise into new skills
that will remain in demand." The down economy and the availability of
skilled workers in countries like India, who typically work for less than a
third of American salaries, has made outsourcing "a horse that's left the
barn" according to Gartner. And that trend is unlikely to stop, even if the
economy improves.
http://management.itmanagersjournal.com/management/03/11/23/2220240.shtml?tid=102&tid=85
 
  


Commentaries/Editorials/Letters to the Editors

 
  Commentary: A vision of possibilities at Seattle Public Schools (The
Seattle Times)
  Thirty years ago, in what proved to be a turning point in my life, I left
my home in the foothills of the Himalayas to come and study in America. In
doing so, I followed in the footsteps of my eldest brother, who made the
same journey years before, earning a doctorate from the University of Texas
in 1964. His experience underscored what had been clear to me since my
earliest days in India: that education was the key to my future. When I was
growing up, my family lived in a small rural village. Like our neighbors, we
had few material possessions and by American standards we were very poor.
There were no desks or chairs at my elementary school; we often held classes
outside, under the trees. But children in our village were surrounded by
caring and supportive adults. There was a hunger for knowledge, a reverence
for learning — and an unyielding bond between teachers and their students.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/_raj25.html
 
 
 
 

Defense


 
  Indo-Russian Missile Strikes Target in Sea Test  (Defense News -
Subscription required)
  The first Indo-Russian joint venture in missile development reached a new
height with the Nov. 23 firing of the BrahMos cruise missile, which
successfully struck a target in the Bay of Bengal, a senior Indian Defence
Ministry official said. “A prototype of the BrahMos missile for the first
time successfully destroyed a designated target at the missile testing
center at Chandipur in the eastern state of Orissa,” the official told
DefenseNews.com Nov. 24. “The firing was successful and the missile, after
flying on its planned trajectory, hit the intended target.
http://www.defensenews.com
 
  Indian Ministry Puts Russian Arms Manufacturers on Notice (Defense News -
Subscription required)
  India has warned Russian industry that if the latter’s defense equipment
is not reliable and of the highest quality, New Delhi will shop elsewhere.
Russia, which has been India’s primary arms supplier for five decades, was
put on notice during Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s visit to
Moscow Nov. 11-13, senior Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials here
said Nov. 18.  http://www.defensenews.com
 
  Indian Army Outlines Big Weapon Buying Blueprint (Defense News -
Subscription required)
  The Indian Army has drawn up a blueprint for modernizing the service in
what will be the largest procurement effort in decades. Lt. Gen. Ashok
Chaki, the Army’s deputy chief of procurement, said Oct. 28 the service must
upgrade arms, surveillance equipment and command, control and communications
systems to maintain an edge over its adversaries. The 10-year procurement
plan, estimated to cost around $15 billion, was submitted to the Ministry of
Defence (MoD) in October, a senior Army planning official said Nov. 14. The
modernization blueprint also envisions a complete overhaul of existing
weaponry. http://www.defensenews.com
 
  Politics

N/A

Other


 
  Indian Factory Explosion Kills 10 People (Rocky Mount Telegram) (Times
Daily, AL) (USA Today)
  In explosion Tuesday at a state-run factory that makes detonators in
southern India killed at least 10 workers, a police commissioner said. The
blast occurred at Indian Detonators Ltd., a company owned by the Defense
Ministry in Kukatpally, a suburb of Hyderabad, the state capital of Andhra
Pradesh. At least 10 workers were killed when the building collapsed on
them, said regional police commissioner Mahinder Reddy. He added that the
explosion could have been caused by a short circuit. Seven bodies were
recovered from the debris.
 
http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/content/news/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V8244.AP-India-Explosion.html;COXnetJSessionID=1DZUF80ZXukl3txAljGTsljTVRtBut5
xsGU5i28QwI3MJsMmoM3H!?urac=n&urvf=
 
http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031125/API/311250640
  http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/-india-explosion_x.htm
 
  Hunger in world rising (Columbus Ledger Enquirer) (Abderdeen American
News) (Mercury News) (Miami Herald) (Biloxi Sun Herald) (Duluth News
Tribune) (Washington Times) (Seattle P-I)
  ..... Twenty-two countries - including Bangladesh, Haiti and Mozambique -
succeeded in "turning the tide against hunger" in the second half of the
1990s, after rising through the first five years, it said.   At the other
end of the scale are 26 countries where hunger increased by almost 60
million from 1990-1992 including Afghanistan, Congo, Burundi, North Korea,
Somalia, Tanzania, Guatemala, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the report said.
China reduced the number of hungry people by 58 million from 1990-1992, but
progress has slowed. By contrast, India reduced the number of malnourished
people by 20 million between 1990-1992 and 1995-1997, but the number
increased by 19 million over the following four years, it said.
  http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/7345060.htm
  http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/7345060.htm
  http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/7345060.htm
  http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/7345060.htm
  http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/state/7345060.htm
  http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/7345060.htm
  http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/r.htm
  http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/149760_hunger25.html
 
  Cautious India welcomes Pakistan's cease-fire announcement (Contra Costa
Times) (The Ledger, FL) (Rocky Mount Telegram) (Times Daily, AL)
  India reacted cautiously Monday to Pakistan's announcement of a unilateral
cease-fire along the volatile frontier dividing Kashmir, saying it welcomed
the overture but that infiltration by Pakistan-based militants must end.
The announcements were a small step forward in improved ties between the
nuclear-armed neighbors, who just last year came close to w ar.  "We welcome
the announcement . . . of a unilateral cease-fire," said Navtej Sarna,
India's foreign ministry spokesman. "We will respond positively to this
initiative." http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/7345074.htm
  http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031125/API/311250602
 
http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/content/news/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V8139.AP-India-Pakistan.html?urac=n&urvf=
 
http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031125/API/311250602
 
  Indian court convicts 12 Hindus for killings  (Provo Daily Herald)
  A court convicted 12 Hindus of killing Muslims during religious rioting in
western India last year that left more than 1,000 people dead, an official
said Monday.  Three other people were convicted of lesser charges, including
assault and rioting, at the district court in Nadiad, 25 miles south of
Ahmadabad, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, said state prosecutor
Paresh Dhore.  The court acquitted 48 others accused of the killings in
Ghodasar, a village near Nadiad.  The sentences will be handed down today,
said Judge C. K. Rane. Those convicted of murder could face life
imprisonment.
http://www.harktheherald.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=7180
 
  Girl Lying in Street was Run Over (NY Daily News) (NY Post)
  Police were trying to piece together how a 16-year-old girl wound up dead
yesterday in the middle of a busy Queens street. Shadaf Khanu was run over
by at least one car, but witnesses said she was already lying facedown on
Eliot Ave. near Wetherole St. in Rego Park when the car hit her around 5
p.m. "The young lady was lying in the street and somebody stopped to help
her," said John McCabe, 53, a retired cop who lives nearby. "Another car
came around the corner and actually rolled over her." Police were investigat
ing whether Shadaf fell, was pushed or was hit by a car before landing on
the ground. Area residents said cops canvassed the neighborhood asking
whether anyone heard sounds of a struggle or fight before the woman was
found in the street, but neighbors told the Daily News they heard nothing
unusual. http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/140011p-124213c.html
  http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/11793.htm
 
  Muslim Legacy In India :: Do Muslims Deserve The Hatred Of Hindus? (Media
Monitors Network)
  The violence against committed Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 was in some ways
a continuum of the periodic riots that have gone on for decades. In other
ways it was a watershed event. The level of violence against women and
families reached horrific proportions never seen before. The ruling party in
Gujarat planned and carried out the violence with the active support and
connivance of the government and the law. The mobs that perpetrated
apocalyptic violence against Muslims were taunting their victims by calling
them “Babur ki aulad” that is progeny of the Mughal emperor Babur. The
implication in their mind was clearly that Muslims are the descendants of
brutal foreign invaders and need to be thrown out of India. Their
understanding of the Muslim legacy in India is similar to that of an
occasional historian.
  http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/2420/
 
  Students: U neglects S. Asian studies (The Minnesota Daily)
  When Charles Arndt arrived at the University in fall 2000, he expected to
get a solid education in South Asian culture and history. Arndt had received
a letter from the University in October 1999 that said it was “an excellent
place” to study South Asian culture, he said. But what he got was quite
different, he said. Arndt, now a College of Liberal Arts senior, soon
discovered he could only get a major in general South Asian culture rather
than the study of any specific South Asian country. In some years, classes
he needed were not offered. Arndt is one of a number of University students
who have fought for four years against what they call unfair treatment of
South Asian languages and cultures.
  http://www.daily.umn.edu/articles/2003/11/25/7625
 
  Kashmir's rare red deer is on brink of extinction  (Reuters/Environmental
News Network)
  A rare species of red deer found only in the mountains of Kashmir is on
the verge of extinction because of years of neglect and rebellion in the
Himalayan region. The red deer (Cervus elaphus hanglu), known commonly as
the hangul, was once the biggest draw of a mountain-ringed sanctuary on the
outskirts of Kashmir's main city, Srinagar, where they grazed in huge herds.
Today, the number of the deer in the Dachigam forests has dwindled from
about 5,000 to about 170 after years of poaching and neglect by authorities
busy fighting a separatist revolt. "The situation is alarming for this
species of deer only found in Kashmir," said Kashmir's Forest Minister
Ghulam Mohiudin Sofi. "Militancy has left nothing untouched in our state,
but in wildlife the worst hit is the hangul. The poor animal is the victim
of years of neglect. In the early 1990s, militants indiscriminately
slaughtered this rare Kashmiri deer for food."
http://www.enn.com/news//s_10745.asp
 
  Democratic Candidates for President Debate in Iowa (New York Times -
Registration required)
  The following is the text of the Democratic candidates' debate in Iowa
sponsored by MSNBC and the Democratic National Committee, as transcribed by
FDCH e-Media, Inc. (PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WAS DISCUSSION ON OUTSOURCING TO
INDIA).
  http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/24/politics/campaigns/24TEXT-DEBATE.html?
 
  The Indian-Israeli partnership (Media Monitors Network)
  The rapprochement between India and Israel is an important component of a
new strategic landscape in the greater Middle East that includes Central
Asia and parts of the Indian Ocean littoral. The two countries discovered
affinity in outlook on their regional disputes and a common strategic
agenda. Generally, the two states exhibit a resemblance in strategic
culture, entertaining similar notions about behavior during armed conflict.
Indians and Israelis display extremely high levels of threat perception, as
they feel beleaguered in their region. Both states waged several major
conventional wars against their neighbors and have faced limited armed
incursions and terror. The current source of threat to the two nations is
similar--the radical offshoots of Islam in the greater Middle East. India
regards parts of the Arab world, Saudi Arabia in particular, as a hub for
Islamic extremism. Moreover, this threat is felt closer to home regarding
Saudi-Pakistani relations, which India views with suspicion. For Israel, the
Islamic radicals in the Arab world and in the Islamic Republic of Iran
constitute a constant security challenge. Moreover, religious extremism
energizes residual Arab enmity toward the Jewish state. The combination of
Iran’s fanatic hatred and nuclear potential especially constitutes an
existential threat. The Pakistani nuclear arsenal is similarly viewed in New
Delhi as being in danger of falling into the hands of Islamic radicals.
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/2419/
 
  Musharraf Foe Tortured Over Letter, Kin Say (LA Times)
  Nearly a month after his arrest for publicizing a scathing attack on
President Pervez Musharraf typed on army staff letterhead, a Pakistani
opposition leader remained in solitary confinement today, charged with
inciting rebellion. Javed Hashmi, president of the 11-party Alliance for the
Restoration of Democracy, told a news conference here on Oct. 20 that he had
received an unsigned letter on army headquarters stationery condemning
Musharraf and his close ties to Washington.
 
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-hashmi25nov25,1,5544407.story
 
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