• 68 Militants, Troops Killed in Pakistan Fighting 
• US Accuses Iran of Inciting Violence in Iraq

Like It or Not, Musharraf is President 
President Pervez Musharraf has been re-elected for a five-year term "whether one likes it or not", the Pakistani media said Sunday, noting that the verdict pointed to deep fissures within the opposition parties as also among the judiciary. Read On
► PPP Hardliners See Poll Boycott as Saving Grace
► My Life is at Risk in Pakistan: Benazir

Clamour Grows in Nepal for PM's Ouster
by Sudeshna Sarkar
Clamour began mounting in Nepal for the resignation of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala after his multi-party government announced the indefinite postponement of a much-awaited election, for the second time this year. Read On
► Nepal Maoists Call Stir to Coerce Government

• Typhoon Krosa Hits China,
  One Million People Evacuated 
• Myanmar Junta Drumming up Support

Myanmar Junta's Dragnet Drags On in Yangon 
More than a week after crushing a peaceful, monk-led rebellion, Myanmar's junta has continued to arrest and interrogate alleged participants in the anti-regime revolt, state media acknowledged Sunday. Read On

Yale Starts Leadership Program for Indian MPs
Yale University has launched a leadership programme for Indian MPs, opening a window to discussions on policy issues with leading thinkers away from the public eye. The inaugural session will begin Oct 9 at the university campus in New Haven, CT. Read On

India-US Nnuclear Deal 'Ill-Conceived': NYT
by Arun Kumar
Critics of the India-US civil nuclear deal have gathered a little more steam with an influential daily looking approvingly at questions raised by three lawmakers about what it called an "ill-conceived" deal. Read On

Britain Given Stark Warning on Race Relations
Britain, proud of its cultural, ethnic and religious diversity, remains a country deeply divided along racial lines where communities lead "parallel lives" and inequality, exclusion and isolation is suffered by many, says a new report. Read On

Trade Text 'Violates' Doha Mandate:
India tells West by Dipankar De Sarkar
India has told key negotiators at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that developing countries will not agree to current trade proposals that ask them to "do more" than wealthy nations in cutting industrial tariffs in the ongoing Doha Round of trade talks. Read On

• Floods, Landslides Kill 33 in Vietnam
• Bush Opposes Partition of Iraq   
• Two Ministers Stand to Gain
  from Musharraf-Benazir Deal 

Gambari to Revisit Myanmar,
No Security Council Action Yet
With the UN Security Council divided over actions to support democracy in a country ruled by a military junta, special envoy Ibrahim Gambari has said that he plans to return to Southeast Asia and Myanmar in early November to see "all people and stay as long as possible." Read On
► Myanmar Releases Detained Monks
    but Diplomats not Hopeful 

• US Pushes Insurers to Tie Up with Indian Hospitals
• Iran Escalating Involvement in Iraq: Iraqi Adviser
• Narrow Win for Pro-West Bloc in Ukraine Poll 
• Pakistan Presidential Election
  Amid Opposition Boycott

Nepal Government Fears Revolt
by Soldiers Loyal to King
With the election postponed indefinitely to appease the Maoists and King Gyanendra's fate to be decided in parliament in six days, it is speculated that Nepal's government could be fearing a fresh revolt by soldiers still loyal to the palace. Read On
► India Expresses Disappointment
    Over Deferment of Nepal Poll

• Musharraf Signs Ordinance for Bhutto Amnesty  
• Ahmadinejad Sticks to Iran's Nuclear Right
• Russian Giant to Build Indian Hydropower Plants  

Congress in Poll Mood, Left Defensive 
Congress president Sonia Gandhi Sunday hit out at the government's Left allies for opposing the India-US civil nuclear deal - signalling a parting of ways with them and possible early polls - while the communists went on the defensive, saying the onus for calling early polls would lay with the ruling coalition. Read On

• Kumaraswamy Ambivalent on Floor Test
• N-Deal is Against India's Interests: Yechury
• BJP says It Will Sue Karunanidhi

Sonia Takes on Left Over Nuclear Deal
Congress president Sonia Gandhi Sunday hit out at her Left allies publicly for the first time, saying those opposing the India-US nuclear deal were against the country's development. In remarks bound to further strain the ties between the Congress and its communist allies, Gandhi told a massive rally here that the nuclear deal was "necessary for the country to keep the pace of development going." Read On 

BJP Formally Ends Support to JD-S,
Kumaraswamy for Elections
Karnataka appeared Sunday headed for fresh elections after the Bharatiya Janata Party formally ended its 20-month alliance with the Janata Dal-Secular and sought immediate polls - a demand promptly echoed by beleaguered Chief Minister Kumaraswamy. Read On

Violence in Delhi as Blueline Bus Kills Seven
A speeding Blueline bus mowed down seven people in the worst such disaster blamed on the "killer" fleet, sparking mob fury that halted all traffic on the highway to Agra and forced the police to fire tear gas. The dead included five women, a child and a man. Read On

• Amid Nuclear Deadlock, IAEA Boss Comes to India
• Pranab Meets Basu, Buddha on N-deal
• India to Set Up Centralized Drug Licensing Authority
• Sunderbans Scripts a Story of Tiger Protection
• Indian Handicrafts: Weaving their way to Slow Death?

Indian Diaspora in US Keen to Invest in Assam
by Syed Zarir Hussain
The Indian diaspora in the US has shown interest in investing in Assam with proposals ranging from producing bio-diesel to operating small aircraft for regional connectivity, ... Read On

December Assembly Polls May Be Tough for Modi
By Rajeev Khanna
Five years after his thumping victory, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi faces a tough challenge in upcoming assembly polls whose outcome may well determine the timetable of the next general election. Political sources say it is not going to be an easy ride in the state for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party although Modi, enjoying the backing of the BJP brass, is confident of returning to power in December. Read On

BPOs No Longer Career Choice for Indian Youth
Careers in BPOs and call centres are no longer hot options for Indian youth and these sectors will face the toughest manpower challenge yet in the next two years, says a study. The outsourcing industry is already facing an attrition rate of 25-30 percent as youths are shifting to more promising areas such as hospitality, aviation and retail, says the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham). Read On

To Plug Pilferage,
No More Blank Passports for Missions
by Devirupa Mitra
The Indian government has decided to stop dispatching blank passports to its missions abroad after hundreds went missing, inviting flak from the country's official auditor. Read On

PM, Sonia Play Down Spat with Left
over Nuclear Deal
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said he hoped for the best from the Left parties on the India-US civil nuclear deal, even as Congress chief Sonia Gandhi maintained her party was ready for elections if it was forced upon the country. Read On

Jurist L.M. Singhvi Dead
Eminent jurist, constitutional expert and former parliamentarian L.M. Singhvi, who was one of India's longest-serving envoys to Britain, died Saturday. He was 76. A noted scholar in Jain history and culture, Singhvi was ailing for the past two weeks and died of a heart attack at the Max Devki Hospital around 1.45 p.m., family members said. Read On
► Indo-British Ties Reached New High
    Under Singhvi's Astute Diplomacy 
► Singhvi was Longest Serving Indian Envoy in Britain