Stocks Crash, but Pakistanis Begin
Process of Revival by Muhammad Najeeb
Pakistan stocks crashed Monday as markets opened after three days, just as hopes of stability in the country had plummeted with the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. But peace of sorts returned to the streets. Read On

• Musharraf Will Have to Go: Sharif 
• Will Autopsy on Benazir's body become Necessary?
• Kenya's Post-poll Violence Kills 54
• Belarus President Threatens to 'Kick Out'
  US Ambassador 

Bhutto Killing Raises Questions
on Pakistan's Nuclear Arsenal by Rahul Bedi
Benazir Bhutto's assassination and the chaos it threatens to bring about once more raises worrying questions about the continuing security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. Pakistan is the sole Islamic state with nuclear weapons. Read On

• Normalcy in Pakistan After Three Days of Anarchy
• Markets Nosedive in Pakistan after Bhutto Killing

What Triggered Benazir's Assassination? 
by K. Subrahmanyam
A leading national daily had articles on Benazir Bhutto's assassination under the headline "Chronicle of a death foretold". Both friends and her opponents had warned Benazir about the threats to her life if she returned to Pakistan. Read On

US Presidential Candidates Gear Up
for First Race at Iowa by Arun Kumar
White House hopefuls are taking their gloves off as they gear up for the first qualifying race Thursday in the US presidential contest after a long, hard and hot campaign through the year. After a series of moderated TV debates over policy issues, aspirants are now changing tack and taking direct swipes at each other in campaign speeches and advertisements as their caravans of buses and vans roll across Iowa, where the first battle looms. Read On

• Lesson for Malaysia from Bhutto Killing: Minister
• LTTE Can't Withstand Three-pronged Attack: Official
• More Delay in Colombian Hostage Release 
• Richa Gangopadhyay is Miss India USA 2007  

Nepal's Terai Calls for Mature Leadership
by Shubha Singh
The resignation of Mahanta Thakur, senior Nepali Congress minister, and other senior politicians from mainstream political parties earlier this month to set up a new political front has created an opportunity for the emergence of a mature leadership, which the Terai region requires. Read On

Bhutto Son to Lead PPP,
Pakistan Weighs New Poll Date
by Muhammad Najeeb
Bilawal, the teenage son of the slain Benazir Bhutto, was Sunday picked to head her Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) following her killing as the country was set to choose a new date for elections set for Jan 8. In a development mirroring the PPP's desperate need for a Bhutto tag, it announced that Bilawal, a 19-year-old Oxford student, would chair the party with his father Asif Ali Zardari as co-chairman. Read On
► Fahim to be PPP Candidate for PM

• Kibaki Declared Kenyan Leader Amid Clashes 
• Sri Lanka Hopes to Get Prabhakaran in Six Months
• Iraqi Tribals ask Osama to Stop Attacking Civilians
• Saddam Remembered A Year After Execution
• Samjhauta Express Resumes Service
• Syria Sees No Peace Before Israel Quits
  Golan Heights
• Colombian Ethanol Fuel Program has Indian Roots
• US Speaker Links Bhutto Probe to Pakistan Aid
• US Lawmaker Wants Troops Redeployed
  from Iraq to Pakistan

War Certain in Sri Lanka But Outcome Uncertain
by P.K. Balachandran
Most Sri Lankans believe that 2008 will be a year of war but predictions of the outcome vary. With both the government and the Tamil Tigers preparing to take on one another in the island's north, some believe the rebels will be defeated and lasting peace will dawn. Yet others foresee a prolonged, low intensity war of attrition with no victor. Read On
 

Tainted Indian Army Major General Superseded 
A tainted Indian Army general accused of illegally amassing wealth totalling Rs.478 million has been superseded. His junior has been promoted to three star rank and appointed director general of ordinance service at the army headquarters. Read On

• President, PM Greet Citizens on New Year
• Indian Retail Seen Touching $365 Billion in 2008
• Left asks Congress to Correct UPA's Economic Policy

Bhutan Holds Historic Parliamentary Elections
by Syed Zarir Hussain
The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan made a historic leap towards democracy with voting for the first ever parliamentary elections, marking the beginning of an end to the nation's 100-year-old monarchy. Read On

India's Key Market Index Closes 47 Percent Up
by Arvind Padmanabhan
Fuelled by a robust performance of Indian stock markets in 2007, which sent a key stock index soaring over 47 percent, Indian companies mobilized a record amount from public offerings during the year, estimated at $8.3 billion. Read On

N-deal Slows Down, as Pakistan Turmoil
Worries India by Manish Chand
It was a contentious year for Indian diplomacy as a politically divisive debate threatened to swamp its seminal nuclear deal with the US and the peace process with Pakistan slowed down due to unrest in that country that at the yearend was a grave concern not only to India but to the entire region. Read On

• Reservation, Not Religion, Root Cause of Orissa Riots
• Blend East with West in Lucknow's Cool Gurukul
• Bhutan Sheds 100-year-old Monarchy with
  Parliamentary Elections 

Modi as PM? Winner Will Take All
by Faraz Ahmad
The world loves a winner, and the impressive electoral victory of Narendra Modi could persuade most National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners to support him as a prime ministerial candidate - though for now they have endorsed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decision to have party leader L.K. Advani lead them into the next general election. Read On

Indian Army Re-evaluating
Indigenous Battle Tank Arjun by Vishnu Makhijani
The Indian Army has contracted to buy 124 indigenous Arjun main battle tanks (MBTs) but might not go beyond that figure as it is seemingly unimpressed with the tank's capabilities. Read On

• BSP Carves 'Nuisance Value' in State Elections
• Goodies and Instability for IT Hub in New Year  

Massive Rally in Delhi to Protect Ram Setu 
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) along with their affiliate organisations staged a massive rally here Sunday to protect the controversial Ram Setu off the coast of Tamil Nadu. Around 500,000 supporters from all parts of the country attended the rally organised by the Rameshwaram Ram Setu Raksha Manch at the Swarn Jayanti Park in north Delhi. Read On

Ram Lives Beyond History in Peoples' Souls: Historians by Prashant K. Nanda
Putting to rest a nationwide political debate whether Lord Ram has any historicity or not, hundreds of historians said that he is "not a part of history" but "certainly lives in mind and soul". Read On

• Dhumal Sworn In as Himachal Chief Minister 
• Sonia Gives Green Signal for Karunakaran's Re-entry
• With Mercury Dipping,
  Delhi Braces for a Frosty New Year's Eve 

Decoding Modi's Victory and Secular Politics
by Manish Chand
Narendra Modi's repeat landslide victory in Gujarat against the spectacular odds stacked against him - anti-incumbency, the odious hangover of the 2002 riots, an unforgiving Muslim minority, BJP spoilers and a hostile media - has exposed the fragility and speciousness of secular politics practised in the country by those who are quick to seize on the secularism mantra as the sole rallying point. Read On