Pakistani Presidential Elections in Two Months 
Presidential elections in Pakistan would be held between Sep 15 and Oct 15 and the present assemblies would elect the president, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said Thursday. Read On

Canada Restakes Claims to the Arctic 
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has restaked his country's claims to the resource-rich Arctic region by going on an "Arctic sovereignty tour". Harper started the three-day tour with the announcement of an expansion of a nature reserve in Canada's far north, one of the remotest regions on the planet. Read On

Israel's Missile Defence to be Operational
in 18 Months
Israel's short-range rocket-based missile interception systems will become operational in 18 months, local daily Ha'aretz reported Thursday. Read On

• US Ambassador Gives $50,000 as Flood Relief 
• EU Pledges Over $5 mn Aid to Asia's Flood Victims

Changes in Immigration Rules 'Unfair':
British MPs' Panel 
In a major development, Britain's parliamentary joint human rights committee Thursday termed the changes to immigration rules that adversely affected thousands of Indian origin professionals and others as "unfair and unlawful". Read On

Pakistan Will Not Impose Emergency: Minister
Apparently bowing to public pressure, the Pakistani government categorically stated it was not considering the imposition of an emergency to tackle the uncertain political situation in the country. Read On

• Nagasaki Commemorates 62nd Anniversary of
  Atomic Bombing
• US Action Inside Territory Unacceptable: Pakistan

Georgia Asks for UN Debate
on Russian Missile 'Aggression' 
Days after a Russian missile landed on its territory, Georgia has branded it an "act of aggression" and demanded the United Nations Security Council debate the incident. Read On

Pakistan Studying Emergency Option
A beleaguered Pakistani government was Thursday studying the option of imposing a state of emergency, even as US Secretary of State Condoleezza spoke to President Pervez Musharraf in an early morning telephone call. Read On
► Emergency in Pakistan:
    Fundamental Rights First Casualty

US Downplays Musharraf Pullout
from Kabul 'Jirga' by Arun Kumar
The US is seeking to underplay the decision of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to pull out from a Washington-brokered peace conclave in Kabul amid reports of an impending state of emergency in Islamabad. US media reports suggested that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke to Musharraf in the early hours Thursday in Pakistan to allay fears that its key ally's absence from the high-profile meeting reflected divisions in the "war on terror". Read On

• Shuttle Endeavour Blasts Off for Space Station
• A Grateful Serbia Offers Its Economy
  to Mother Russia
• 2008 Olympics will leave a Green Legacy for Beijing
• Powerful Quake Rocks Indonesia 
• Washington has a Taste of Indian Summer;
  Rains Flood New York 

Is Emergency Declaration Imminent in Pakistan?
The declaration of a state of emergency could be imminent in Pakistan, private channel Geo TV reported on its website late Wednesday. Read On

Musharraf Not to Attend Jirga in Kabul
Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf will not attend the 3-day joint Afghanistan-Pakistan jirga or council of elders in Kabul, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. Read On

• Musharraf Regime Sympathetic to Al Qaeda: Bhutto
• Number of US troops in Iraq Reaches New High 
• North Korea Agrees to Denuclearize Before Aid
• Bahrain Announces Schedule for Amnesty Seekers

Obama Sticks to his Guns on Pakistan 
by Arun Kumar
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama stuck to his guns about a recent declaration that he would strike Al Qaeda targets inside Pakistan with or without the approval of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Participating in a lively debate ... Read On

Musharraf, Karzai to Open Jirga
Amid Clouds of Distrust
The presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan will Thursday jointly open a meeting of tribal leaders from their two countries in Kabul, with analysts predicting that nothing may come out of the exercise. Read On

US Hopes India will help Prevent
Iran Going Nuclear 
The United State hopes that India would continue to support international efforts to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and being a destabilising factor in the region. Read On

• Aitzaz Ahsan may Contest Against Musharraf 
• US Treasury Blacklists Hamas-linked Charity
• Over two-dozen Taliban Guerrillas Killed 
• Curb Internet as Recruitment Ground for Terrorists

Karthik Hits 91 as India Make 316/4 
Dinesh Karthik narrowly missed his second Test century but still helped India reach a solid 316 for four wickets on the opening day of the third and final Test against England Thursday. Read On

PM Allocates Rs.2.32 Billion to Flood-hit Bihar
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh allocated Rs.2.32 billion from the Prime Minister's Calamity Relief Fund for flood relief in Bihar, where 120 people have died, and where epidemics are a distinct danger. Read On

Mother, Grandparents get Jail for Girl Child Murder
In what could be the first ruling against the "ghastly" practice of female infanticide, a Jodhpur court has sentenced a woman and her parents to five years' imprisonment for murdering her infant girl child last year. The father, who was not present at the time of killing, has been let off. Read On

• India Considering Manned Space Mission
• UNPA to Oppose India-US N-Deal in Parliament  
• Traders, Farmers Protest Entry of Big Retailers
• EXL's Margins Under Pressure Due to Rising Rupee
• Madras High Court Restrains Patent Board
  in Novartis Case   
• Tamil Nadu Government to Own Cable TV
  Distribution Unit
• Forest Dwellers to March to Delhi for their Rights

They Wanted to Kill Me: Taslima 
Controversial Bangladeshi novelist Taslima Nasreen says her attackers at a book release function in Hyderabad were intent on killing her, but she would not be cowed down and would continue to write. Read On
► Taslima's Visa Extended Till February 

Social Security Sought for India's 395 mn Unorganized Labor
An official panel Thursday recommended a minimum level of social security for India's 395 million workers in the unorganized sector, constituting 86 percent of the country's total workforce, saying otherwise the "alternative is only starvation". Unlike organized sector workers, those in the so-called unorganized sector - small-time laborers, landless and marginal farmers and daily wage earners among others - do not have access to job benefits. Read On

India, Australia Must Join Hands for Development: Pachauri by Neena Bhandari
India and Australia must urgently work towards a closer relationship on development issues to have greater global appeal, said the head of the world's leading climate change organisation. Read On

Triangular Fight for Vice President Friday
Two weeks after choosing their first woman president, India's parliamentarians will Friday vote for the 12th vice president in a three-cornered contest that brings to the fore new polarizations in national politics. Read On

Terror in Assam, Hindi-speakers Fresh Targets
by Syed Zarir Hussain
Assam is on the boil with separatists wreaking havoc by carrying out a string of explosions in crowded public places and once again targeting Hindi-speaking migrant workers, triggering fear and panic. Read On

• India Day Parade in New York this Weekend 
• 173 Dead, Rs.22 bn Lost in Uttar Pradesh Floods   
• Floods Wash Away Bihar Pulse Polio Drive

India Quietly Expands Ties with Mongolia
by Rahul Bedi
India is quietly expanding its defence and security links with Mongolia in a bid to monitor China's space and military activities in the region. Furthering these links presently are four Indian Army colonels attending the 10-day Khaan Quest 2007 command post exercise (CPX) in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar. Read On

Lawyers Argue Right and Wrong
of Sanjay Dutt's Sentencing by Sarita Patnaik
Is six years too much or too little? More than a week after Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was jailed after being convicted under the Arms Act in the 1993 Mumbai bombings case, the question continues to be intensely debated in legal circles. Read On

Australia Court Reserves Decision on Haneef's Visa till Aug 21 by Neena Bhandari
Freed terror suspect Muhammad Haneef will have to wait until Aug 21 to know whether his visa will be reinstated and if he can resume work in Australia. Read On

Supreme Court Quota Freeze to Stay,
Politicians Miffed
In a major embarrassment for the government, the Supreme Court Wednesday declined to lift its freeze on reservations for OBCs in institutions of higher learning for the current year, signalling a victory for anti-quota advocates. Read On

Balco to Become Largest Aluminium Producer 
Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco), a member of Vedanta Resources plc, is set to become the largest aluminium producer in the world from a single location as it signed a pact with the Chhattisgarh government to set up a new smelter plant with an investment of Rs.80 billion ($ 2 billion). Read On

Nuclear Deal Cannot be Renegotiated,
PM Tells Left
After his Left allies rejected the Indo-US nuclear deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has made it clear to them that the pact will not be renegotiated as it has already been approved by the cabinet, Read On
► BJP to Left: Walk the Talk, Vote Against N-deal