Hundreds Still Awaiting Rescue
from South African Mine
Hundreds of workers were still trapped 2.4 km underground in a South African gold mine Thursday, a day after one of the most dramatic accidents in the country's mining history. Around 750 out of the 3,200 workers cut off from the mine surface Wednesday morning when a falling pipe damaged the main shaft and were still waiting to be lifted to safety, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said. Read On

Myanmar Junta Ready for Reconciliation Talks
Myanmar's junta announced that it was ready to start reconciliation talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi if she would stop her "confrontation" tactics & support of sanctions against the country. Read On

Nepal Polls Likely to be Postponed
By Sudeshna Sarkar
The Nov 22 election in Nepal, regarded as a key step in restoring peace and stability in the strife-torn nation, is likely to be deferred a third time with the multi-party democratic government reaching an agreement Thursday night with the Maoist guerrillas to put on hold all preparations. Read On

India-US Ties Go Beyond Nuclear Deal:
Pranab Mukherjee by Arun Kumar
The India-US civilian nuclear deal is not the only thing going in the relationship between the two countries and its collapse for any reason would not imply a return to a "negative situation", according to External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Read On

• India-US Pact for Low-cost Medical Technologies
• Ozone Over South Pole Shrinks 30 Percent

South and North Korea Sign
Joint Declaration on Peace
The leaders of South and North Korea agreed Thursday to denuclearise the Korean peninsula, end military hostility and establish a permanent peace treaty to replace the armistice which ended the 1950-53 Korean War during the second inter-Korean summit, reported Yonhap news agency. Read On

Iran has Right to Pursue
Civil Nuclear Programme: India by Arun Kumar
Like India, Iran too has the right to pursue a civilian nuclear programme, but with obligations under the Non Proliferation Treaty, and problems with Tehran should be resolved through talks, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has suggested. Read On

• Around 1,200 Rescued,
  Thousands Still Trapped at South African Mine
• Dhaka Wants Borders with Neighbours Demarcated
• Learn Hindi, Mandarin, says British Trade Leader
• Carmakers Looking at Low-cost Cars
  for Emerging Markets 
• Indian Railways in 'Twinning' Pact with Welsh Rail  
• Indonesia Plans to Build World's Longest Bridge

Nepal Polls in Jeopardy
as Talks Fail, Strikes Erupt by Sudeshna Sarkar
The November election, regarded as a key step in restoring peace and stability in strife-torn Nepal, lay in deep danger as talks between the government and the Maoist rebels floundered and fresh strikes erupted. A deadly confrontation between the ruling parties and the Maoists is on the cards ... Read On

Musharraf-Bhutto Power-Sharing Deal Flounders
by Muhammad Najeeb  
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf indicated he was close to a power-sharing deal with former prime minister Benzair Bhutto but the exiled leader said the talks had "totally stalled". Read On

World Alarmed as Maoists Continue Attacks on King Supporters
The world has begun expressing concern at Maoists continuing their attack on supporters of King Gyanendra and Nepal's biggest private media house, saying the legitimacy of the ruling parties would come under question if they failed to take action. Read On

• Musharraf has Excellent Relations with Kiyani 
• Venezuela Offers Europe Guaranteed Oil and Gas

India, Philippines to Sign 8 Pacts,
Discuss Myanmar
India and the Philippines, an influential ASEAN country, will sign eight pacts in areas ranging from counter-terrorism to energy and trade after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh holds talks with Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Friday. Read On

US Permits Sale of High-tech
Dual-use Products to India by Arun Kumar
The US has announced a new programme to allow American companies to sell high-tech dual-use products with potential military applications to pre-screened customers in India without an individual licence. Read On

Myanmar Army Major Defects,
Tele-links Still Patchy 
While telephone and Internet connections with Myanmar remained difficult, a former army major who fled to neighboring Thailand said he defected since he did not want to shoot at civilians & monks. Read On

• Kiyani Acceptable to US, Benazir: Report 
• Lal Masjid Reopens: Thousands Offer Prayers
• Nepal Backs India's Security Council Bid 
• US House Wants Bush to Present
  Troop Withdrawal Plans   

JD-S Sets Terms, BJP says Deal Non-negotiable 
The Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) Thursday said the Bharatiya Janata Party could not be trusted to maintain peace and communal harmony in Karnataka even as the BJP maintained their 20-month-old power transfer deal was not negotiable. Read On

AIADMK Moves Apex Court with Contempt Plea Against Karunanidhi 
Tamil Nadu's opposition AIADMK party Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking initiation of contempt to court proceedings against state Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and union Shipping Minister T.R. Baalu for enforcing a shutdown in the state ignoring the apex court's order banning it. Read On

• Left Not to Withdraw Support Over El-Baradei Visit  
• Gujarat BJP Dissidents Ready to Leave Party
• Court Questions CBI for Clean Chit to Tytler
  in 1984 Riots Case
• Italy Honours Fallen Indian Soldiers of World War II
• Yuvraj Confident of Levelling ODI Series
• Kalam Back to His Favourite Work Place
• Kabul School Celebrates Gandhi Jayanti

Intelligence Apparatus Must Improve: PM 
Underlining the need to shore up the country's internal security machinery, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for superior intelligence capabilities that could prove as timely alerts to impending threats. Manmohan Singh also pointed to the global face of terrorism and how police forces needed to go far beyond conventional responses in facing terrorist threats. Read On
► Text of PM's Speech to Top Police Officials 

Death for Former MP Isn't Effective Justice: Experts
by Rana Ajit
India's first death penalty to a former MP and minister is just "symbolic deterrence" for criminals in politics as it isn't a case of effective justice, coming as it does 13 years after the murder and will take another five years to reach the higher courts, say experts. Read On

Sethusamudram Will Only Help LTTE: Swamy
Janata Party chief and former union minister Subramanian Swamy said that the Sethusamudram shipping canal project would only help the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and its sympathisers, posing a security problem for India. Read On

India's Vast Retail Market Beckons,
but Challenges Aplenty by Karen Yap Lih Huey
Retailers and consumer goods majors are trumpeting their moves to target the vast untapped rural markets in India, but experts say success will not come without a rough ride and will involve repurposing products and packaging for a different kind of consumer. Read On

• Deve Gowda to meet Rajnath Saturday
• Dera Chief Gets Interim Bail
• Mizos come out to Support Democracy in Myanmar
• Myanmar Cracks Down on Clappers,
  Citizen Journalists
• Kumaraswamy Calls Cabinet Meet Friday,
  BJP to Stay Away 
• Scientists advocate new method for Better Rice Yields
• Tension as Dera Chief Arrives to Face
  Murder, Rape Charges

Karnataka Drama On,
Kumaraswamy Calls Cabinet Meet
Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) president H.D. Deve Gowda said Thursday he will meet Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Rajnath Singh Saturday in a final bid to save their coalition in Karnataka even as Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy announced a cabinet meeting Friday which the BJP is set to boycott. Read On

Vanishing Indian Crafts to be Revived
via Classrooms by Prashant K. Nanda
High school students will soon have the option to stay away from classes for short spells and do painting, learn pottery and pick up the fine nuances of natural fibre weaving as part of efforts of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to revive dying Indian crafts. Read On

NRIs, Foreign Couples Throng Pune Fertility Centre
Last month at the Ruby Hall Clinic here, a 60-year-old became a surrogate mother when she gave birth to twins. She had offered to be a surrogate for her US-based daughter, whose uterus had been removed due to genital cancer. Read On

Is there a Psychopath On the Prowl in west Delhi?
Nobody has seen him and police dismiss him as a "media-generated idiom". But fact or phantom, the 'hammerman' lurks at every corner in west Delhi's Baljeet Nagar where people live in constant fear and wake up bracing for news that one more woman has been bludgeoned. Read On

Sensex Poised to Breach 18,000 Mark Thursday
Indian shares ended firm with the benchmark index rising three percent to its 10th straight record close Wednesday and edged towards the 18,000-point mark, led by market heavyweights Reliance Industries Ltd and technology stocks. Read On

• Anand Mohan Gets Death Sentence
  for IAS Officer's Lynching

Rajnath in Poll Gear,
Accuses UPA of Ignoring Rural India
Accusing the Congress-led UPA government of ignoring rural India, BJP president Rajnath Singh said Wednesday the people were looking towards his party to take the country in the right direction. Read On