Home Updated on July 13, 2004  
South Asia Clips is a free daily newservice that monitors South Asia and South Asian American news in major U.S. media outlets.  Production of the South Asia clips is a non-profit effort and are co-hosted by Madison Government Affairs (www.madisongov.net).  If you have any questions or would like to subscribe, please contact me at kap.  Please note that the clips are also archived at www.madisongov.net under the news section.
 
SOUTH ASIA DAILY NEWS CLIPS
 
      June 30, 200 4 
 
Breaking News 
 
For the US, Pakistani with "bruises" could be terrorists (ANI/Yahoo):  In a bid to pre-empt any move to carry out terrorist attacks, the US authorities have ordered that all persons of Pakistani origin flying into the US will be searched physically for minor injuries such as "rope burns," "unusual bruises" and "scars" which could have been possibly occurred while training in terrorist camps, the Daily Times reported Wednesday.  Those Pakistanis who have acquired US citizenship will also not be spared, it added. Following the secret information obtained from internal US' intelligence documents, all immigration inspectors posted at all the main US airports have been ordered to examine thoroughly all such travelers. They have also been advised to examine travellers of Pakistani descent for physical signs that they've engaged in paramilitary training in Pakistan. http://in.news.yahoo.com/040630/139/2ep0k.html 
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Top Stories
 
US Airports Alerted on Pakistanis (Washington Times/UPI) (Chicago Tribune/AP)
Immigrant Loses Bid to Stay in US (Albany Times Union/AP) (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
Asian Indians at Risk for Diabetes, Even When Thin (Kansas City Star, Dallas Morning News) (Good House Keeping/Dallas Morning News)
New Pakistan Prime Minister Takes Office (Atlanta J.C./AP - registration required) (Boston Herald/AP)
Asia Hungry for Nuclear Power (Christian Science Monitor)
UD Student Finds Pakistan Peaceful (Delaware News Journal) 
Del. Muslims Speak Up about Faith (Delaware News Journal)
FBI officer details how "tourist" video led to man's detention (Seattle P.I./New York Times)
 
Business
 
Indian City Rides Tech Euphoria (LA Times - registration required) 
Hallmark Signs Outsourcing Deal (San Mateo County Times/AP) 
 
Commentaries/Editorials/Letters to the Editors
 
Commentary: Singh - Call Him the Man From Colorado (Denver Post)
Defense
 
US General Visits Pakistan (Washington Times/UPI) 
 
Political
 
GOP accuses Group of Posing as Party (Houston Chronicle)(Star Telegram/AP)
US Senate candidate launches make-or-break ads (Atlanta J.C.)
 
 
Other
 
Villagers Fight to Turn the Tide (Newark Star Ledger) 
Hindu U earns degree of pride with first graduates (Fort Wayne News Sentinel/Knight Ridder Newspapers) 
Leopards Pray on People in Bombay Park (Columbus Ledger Enquirer/AP) (Biloxi Sun Herald/AP)
New Cardiologist Calls Floresville Home (Wilson County News) 
Rats Rules at Indian Temple (National Geographic)
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Top Stories
 
US Airports Alerted on Pakistanis (Washington Times/UPI) (Chicago Tribune/AP)
The Department of Homeland Security has alerted officials at six U.S. airports to look for Pakistani travelers with suspected links to terrorists. A DHS action memo, sent to customs inspectors at airports in Washington, New York, New Jersey, Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles says the suspects may be planning terrorist attacks in the United States between now and the presidential election in November. The warning also urges U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials to carefully examine all travelers of Pakistani origin, including U.S. citizens.
 
Immigrant Loses Bid to Stay in US (Albany Times Union/AP) (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
An immigrant pizza deliveryman who was detained after taking pictures of a Hudson reservoir a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks lost his fight to stay in United States on Tuesday. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied Pakistani Ansar Mahmood's request to defer a removal order, despite a groundswell of public support that included letters from several U.S. senators. Mahmood's lawyer, Rolando Rex Velasquez, said he broke the news over the phone. "You could hear that he was very disappointed and depressed," Velasquez said.  No terror-related charges were ever filed against Mahmood, 27, but investigators found he had signed an apartment lease, helped pay rent and registered a car in his name for a young Pakistani couple with expired visas. Mahmood also admitted helping the couple get jobs at the Domino's pizza shop in Hudson where he worked. Mahmood pleaded guilty in January 2002 to harboring aliens and was sentenced to time served and five years probation. An immigration judge later ordered him returned to his native Pakistan. The order was upheld last year by the Board of Immigration Appeals.
 
Asian Indians at Risk for Diabetes, Even When Thin (Kansas City Star, Dallas Morning News) (Good House Keeping/Dallas Morning News)
Asian Indians should take extra care to keep their weight down, Dallas researchers say. The recommendation comes from a new study showing that even when thin, this ethnic group behaves metabolically like whites who are overweight. This puts Asian Indians at a higher risk for diabetes and heart disease. People of Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi descent "may not have to have as much weight gain as Caucasians to get in trouble," said Dr. Manisha Chandalia, an endocrinologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. "Even when they don't have that much fat," she said, "their fat cells are behaving more like whites who are even fatter." Chandalia and her colleagues compared 79 lean Indian men with 61 Caucasian men of similar build. Neither group was overweight, and on average the Indians were a little thinner. But more than half of the Indian men had abnormal levels of hormones produced by fat cells. Less than 25 percent of the whites had abnormal levels. http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/9046676.htm?1c
 
New Pakistan Prime Minister Takes Office (Atlanta J.C./AP - registration required) (Boston Herald/AP)
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain took the oath of office as prime minister Wednesday as part of a government transition hailed by Pakistan's military ruler as historic but derided by the opposition as an affront to democracy.  Hussain was sworn in by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf at a ceremony at the presidential palace in Islamabad, one day after lawmakers endorsed his appointment in a rubber-stamp vote.  Hussain is expected to stay as premier only for a matter of weeks. Ruling party officials say Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz is to assume the prime minister's spot once expected political maneuvering is completed.  Musharraf also swore in a 27-member Cabinet on Wednesday. State-run radio reported two new ministers had taken office, but didn't mention their portfolios. The key ministerial positions including foreign affairs, defense, interior and information were unchanged. Aziz was sworn in again as finance minister.
 
Asia Hungry for Nuclear Power (Christian Science Monitor)
While dark memories of nuclear accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl have virtually frozen nuclear-power development in the West, energy-hungry Asia is increasingly embracing the nuclear option.  On the 50th anniversary of the birth of nuclear power, analysts say it will be the example of fresh nuclear success in Asia - where 18 of 27 new plants worldwide are being built - that may determine the future of atomic power in the West. China and India are pursuing especially ambitious nuclear plans. Confronting cities choked with pollution but with few fuel resources, they have started up nine new plants in the past four years, and are building 10 more. Industry sources say China is aiming for a total of 30 plants in 15 years. Those moves contrast sharply with the atom's fall from grace in the West. Though the US operates 104 plants - nearly a quarter of the global total of 442 - it has not issued a new building permit since before the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island. The story is similar in western Europe. The 1986 Chernobyl disaster sowed fear - and only one new plant is now being built, while several countries are phasing out nuclear power or rejecting it altogether.
 
UD Student Finds Pakistan Peaceful (Delaware News Journal) 
When University of Delaware doctoral student Colin Baker had the chance to do research in Pakistan, he was apprehensive.  After all, he said, news reports depict Pakistan as a troubled country with Islamic extremism running rampant.  "I was afraid of standing out as an American ... and being grabbed and held as a hostage," said Baker, who is studying material science. So he turned to his professor Ismat Shah for advice.  Shah, a native of Pakistan who visits the country annually, said he understood Baker's concern.  "I did tell him it was his decision," he said, noting that he would accompany Baker. "But I also told him that I would be with him."  Baker finally agreed to go on a 10-day visit to Islamabad in April to do research at Quaid-e-Azam University.  "They don't have nearly as much as we do here," he said, referring to university's technological capabilities. "But they were excited to show things they have ... and it's not much." http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/06/30udstudentfindsp.html
 
Del. Muslims Speak Up about Faith (Delaware News Journal)
University of Delaware sophomore Sadaf Zahra once stayed quiet when the subject of Islam was brought up. But she no longer can.  She said the past few months of conflict in the Middle East - gruesomely emphasized by the recent beheadings of two Americans and a South Korean - have made her speak out more in defense of her faith.  "We have to understand that there are good and bad people in every religion," said Zahra, 21, a Pakistani-American who grew up in Delaware. "These people who call themselves Muslim aren't really Muslim because they are breaking every tenet of the faith."  Zahra is not alone in her efforts to dispel stereotypes. Educators in colleges and high schools also are trying to present a more balanced view of Islam, blaming media reports and ignorance for fueling an image of Muslims as terrorists and extremists.  They've done so by allowing their students to read the Quran and compare it to the Bible, by taking non-Muslims to a local mosque and bringing Muslim speakers to the classrooms for discussions. http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/06/30delmuslimsspeak.html
 
FBI officer details how "tourist" video led to man's detention (Seattle P.I./New York Times)
 It took no more than a week for James P. Wynne, a veteran FBI investigator, to confirm the harmless truth that only now, more than two years later, he is ready to talk about. The small foreign man he helped arrest for videotaping outside a tall office building in Queens on Oct. 25, 2001, was no terrorist.  Yet Purna Raj Bajracharya was swallowed up in the government's new maximum-security system of secret detention and secret hearings for three months, and his only friend was Wynne, the same FBI agent who had helped decide to put him there.  Bajracharya, 47, was a Buddhist from Nepal planning to return there after five years of odd jobs at places such as a Queens pizzeria and a Manhattan flower shop. He was videotaping New York street scenes to take back to his wife and sons in Katmandu. And he had no clue that the tall building in his viewfinder happened to include an office of the FBI. 
 
Business
 
Indian City Rides Tech Euphoria (LA Times - registration required) 
High tech is king. Traffic is impossible. Real estate is soaring. The future seems a little closer than it does anywhere else. If you ignore the occasional wandering cow, this low-slung city feels a lot like Silicon Valley in the late 1990s, when everyone was getting rich by inventing dot-coms and no one saw any reason they wouldn't be able to do so forever.  Bangalore's ascent is fueled by outsourcing. When a software programmer in San Jose or Seattle loses his job, this is often where it ends up. If you've gotten a call about switching your long-distance plan or a query about why you haven't paid your credit card bill, there's a good chance that call came from Bangalore.  http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bang30jun30,1,4889855.story?coll=la-home-headlines
 
Hallmark Signs Outsourcing Deal (San Mateo County Times/AP) 
Hallmark Cards Inc. said Tuesday it has signed a seven-year, $230 million deal to outsource some of its high-tech jobs.  The deal will keep the jobs, at least initially, at the greeting card giant's Kansas City headquarters.  Affiliated Computer Services, based in Dallas, is taking over 30,000 square feet to set up a technical services center. The center will employ 145 former Hallmark workers, who will provide their former company with technical support, network programming and other computer assistance, said Hallmark spokeswoman Julie O'Dell.  ACS spokeswoman Lesley Pool said her company will likely move out of Hallmark's building when it signs more information technology clients.  As part of Hallmark's agreement, O'Dell said the 145 jobs cannot be shifted to ACS's information technology operations in India, where many companies have outsourced positions to save on labor costs. But any positions beyond the initial 145 would be subject to different rules.  http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/Stories/0,1413,87~11271~2243513,00.html
 
 
Commentaries/Editorials/ Letters to the Editors
 
Commentary: Singh - Call Him the Man From Colorado (Denver Post) 
For the first time in its history, India's prime minister is a Sikh. Now, perhaps, people will understand that not all people who wear turbans are terrorists.  For me, it's a personal issue and one my family must deal with every time we step out of the house. My husband is a member of the Sikh community, proud warriors and farmers in India, a community that has contributed greatly to the country's prosperity and security. But since Sept. 11, 2001, Sikhs have morphed into something quite different for the vast majority of Americans. Millions watching their TV sets that fateful day saw a turbaned, bearded,  brown-skinned man leering as the mighty towers crumbled. Of course, Sikhs had nothing to do with it. No one community did in its entirety - only individual perpetrators. But in the court of public perception, that did not matter. Sikhs wear turbans, they have beards and brown skin. That is enough.
Defense
 
US General Visits Pakistan (Washington Times/UPI) 
Commander U.S. Central Command, Gen. John Abizaid, arrived in Islamabad Tuesday on a two-day visit to Pakistan to discuss Iraq and other issues. It is Abizaid's first visit to the country since the Bush administration designated Pakistan a major non-NATO ally earlier this month. Abizaid is expected to meet President Pervez Musharraf Wednesday for talks on "U.S.-Pakistan defense cooperation," said an official statement issued in Islamabad. The statement said Musharraf and Abizaid will also discuss the ongoing campaign against terrorism, the situation in neighboring Afghanistan and "matters relating to the interim Iraqi government" when they meet. http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/r.htm
 
Politics 
 
GOP accuses Group of Posing as Party (Houston Chronicle)(Star Telegram/AP)
The Republican National Committee filed a complaint Tuesday accusing a Texas group of posing as a GOP organization to raise money by phone using an Indian telemarketing firm and through fund-raising mailings. The fund-raising telephone calls prompted false, widespread rumors that the RNC was outsourcing its donor phone calls to India, the committee's complaint to the Federal Election Commission says. The complaint accuses the Republican Victory Committee, based in Irving, of impersonating the Republican Party and fraudulently raising money by telling prospective donors it was being solicited by the GOP for use by Republican candidates. Jody Novacek, one of those named in the RNC complaint, said the Republican Victory Committee is a tax-exempt, political organization raising money for get-out-the-vote activities around the country. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/politics/2654890
 
US Senate candidate launches make-or-break ads (Atlanta J.C.)
... The 30-second spot presents the candidate the way his campaign has sought to on the stump: a rural Georgian who worked his way through college and made a fortune but never forgot his South Georgia roots in Waycross. It also highlights Oxford's success in preventing jobs in his high-tech company, STI Knowledge Inc., from being outsourced abroad. Instead of sending 150 telephone jobs to India or Ireland, Oxford sent them to South Georgia towns. The spot, titled "Water Tower," features images of rural Georgia: Oxford standing in front of the Waycross water tower, walking through a farm field and talking to voters in the small downtown. "Now he's running for the Senate and taking a stand against big corporations that send our jobs overseas," a narrator says in the ad. "Cliff Oxford says it's time for America to take care of Americans." http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0604/30oxford.html
 
Other
 
Villagers Fight to Turn the Tide (Newark Star Ledger) 
Defying today's government-imposed deadline, some 30,000 people are clinging to their homes in a 700-year-old town that is expected to be submerged within weeks by waters from a river dam being built across the Narmada Valley in central India.  "I will not move out, whatever the consequences," Anand Maheshwari, a local shopkeeper, told the Associated Press in a phone interview this week from the town of Harsud. "My house is 100 years old. How can I leave it? I will wait until the backwaters enter my house. Then, I will decide."
 
Hindu U earns degree of pride with first graduates (Fort Wayne News Sentinel/Knight Ridder Newspapers) 
There wasn't a commencement procession at the Hindu University of America, and for good reason: Faculty members would have far outnumbered the students. Well, make that "student." Just two degrees were awarded at the Orlando campus_masters in Hinduism and Vedic astrology_and only one of the graduates, Jessica Sayles, attended. Still, there was an invocation. A ceremonial Hindu lamp was lighted, and university officials and invited guests spoke. In a verse from Hinduism's sacred writings, university officials asked Sarasvati, the goddess of learning and wisdom, to bless the university. The ceremonies included not just the 2-year-old school's first graduation but a dedication of its first new, permanent structures_prefabricated buildings that probably won't ever be covered with ivy. Although modest, the recent events were momentous for Hindu U. supporters around the world. The unique institution has come a long way from its first days in an old house and a portable classroom with a staff and faculty of two. 
 
Leopards Pray on People in Bombay Park (Columbus Ledger Enquirer/AP) (Biloxi Sun Herald/AP)
Leopards from a national park on the edge of Bombay, India's largest city, have killed 10 people this month - prompting forest officials to let loose pigs and rabbits to feed the big cats. The killings are up sharply from previous years, and six of this month's deaths occurred outside the park as leopards extended their range in search of food. Traps are being set up outside the park. A low voltage electric fence will be built to prevent the estimated 30 leopards from leaving Sanjay Gandhi National Park. In the next few weeks, 500 wild boar and 40 deer will be released as leopard prey. This month's deaths bring the year's toll to 14, and five other people were mauled. Some 15 deadly leopard attacks were reported last year, and 11 in 2002.
 
New Cardiologist Calls Floresville Home (Wilson County News) 
Wilson County residents can now benefit from the services of Dr. Devraj Nayak, a cardiologist who will begin practicing at Wilson Memorial Hospital on July 1.  Nayak, who recently moved from New York, is excited about the opportunity to work with the hospital staff and sees there is a demand for the cardiologist in the area. “I see a great potential for growth in this area,” Nayak said. “There will be tremendous growth here once the new hospital is built. People are proud of this place and want to get treatment here.” Nayak has joined Cardiovascular Associates of San Antonio, a group of cardiologists with satellite offices throughout the area. He will be practicing in the Coates Professional Building, located at 1303 Hospital Blvd. in Floresville, three days a week and also will practice at the Southeast Medical Center in San Antonio. http://www.wilsoncountynews.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=19&twindow=&mad=No&sdetail=5352&wpage=&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath
 
Rats Rules at Indian Temple (National Geographic)
The floors are a living tangle of undulating fur. Small, brown blurs scurry across marble floors. Thousands of rats dine with people and scamper over their feet.  It may sound like a nightmare from the New York City subway to some, but in India's small northwestern city of Deshnoke, this is a place of worship: Rajastan's famous Karni Mata Temple.  This ornate, isolated Hindu temple was constructed by Maharaja Ganga Singh in the early 1900s as a tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata. Intricate marble panels line the entrance and the floors, and silver and gold decorations are found throughout.  But by far the most intriguing aspect of the interior is the 20,000-odd rats that call this temple home. These holy animals are called kabbas, and many people travel great distances to pay their respects.  The legend goes that Karni Mata, a mystic matriarch from the 14th century, was an incarnation of Durga, the goddess of power and victory. At some point during her life, the child of one of her clansmen died. She attempted to bring the child back to life, only to be told by Yama, the god of death, that he had already been reincarnated.  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/06/0628_040628_tvrats.html 
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