Brown Holds Musharraf to Account
for Ensuring Democracy by Dipankar De Sarkar
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Monday told Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in clear terms to ensure that planned general elections in his country next month are free and fair as pro-democracy protesters criticized the government for according Musharraf a red carpet welcome. Read On

Britain Faces Recession,
India, China Can't Help: Deloitte 
By Dipankar De Sarkar
The global financial crisis is set to affect the British economy, which is about to enter its weakest period of growth in 15 years without any prospect of a bailout by the US, China or India, Deloitte said. Read On

• Spurning Hillary Senator Kennedy to Support Obama
• Militants take Pakistani Children Hostage
  for Several Hours
• US Varsity, Friends Pay Last Respects
  to Slain Indian Student
• Nepal Maoists to Celebrate
  North Korean Leader's Birthday 
• Shocked Indo-Guyanese Protest weekend massacre

US to India:
Let's Wrap Up N-deal while Bush is President
With the future of the civil nuclear deal looking uncertain, US ambassador David Mulford Monday underlined the need for India to wrap up a safeguards pact with the IAEA so that it can be completed in the lifetime of the Bush administration. Read On
► Robert Gates to Visit India in February 

• Brown meets Musharraf: London Protests

Sri Lankan Party Questions Indian 'Influence'
on Rajapaksa by P.K. Balachandran
A radical Sinhalese Marxist party wants India to clarify if it influenced the Sri Lankan govt's move to finally implement a controversial constitutional amendment in a bid to resolve the ethnic conflict. Read On

• Asian Markets Slide
  on Renewed US Recession Fears 
• Iran Warns UN of Strong Reaction
  Against any New Resolution
• Russia Completes Fuel Deliveries
  to Iran's First Nuclear Plant 
• Kanishka Bombing Convict Faces
  Fresh Jail Term for Perjury
• Maoists Shut Down ITC's Tobacco Factory in Nepal
• Kenya Violence Spirals, 10 Burnt Alive 
• Samak Sundaravej Thailand's New PM 

Millions of Indonesians Mourn
as Suharto is Buried
The body of former Indonesian president Suharto was laid to rest at his family's mausoleum near the central Java city of Solo on Monday in a state funeral attended by the country's top leaders. Read On

Bangladesh Bird Flu Spreads
as it Closes Border with India
Bangladesh has closed its border with India following the spread of bird flu to 29 districts of the country, even as Dhaka says the situation is better than in adjoining West Bengal state of India. Read On

• Nepal Maoists Replace King's Cult with Despots
• Pakistani Elite Still Rule the Roost 
• New Yorker Charged with Hate Crime against Sikh

Americans Prefer Indian Goods to Chinese 
A majority of Americans are more likely to buy Indian products than Chinese ones, according to a recent survey by Fortune magazine. After major recalls of products sourced from China by some US companies, including toy maker Mattel, due to high lead content, nearly 57% of Americans said they were "less likely to buy a product if it is made in China". Read On

• Han Seung Soo to be South Korea's Next PM
• IAEA Starts Follow-up Check
  on Japan's Nuclear Plant 

Pakistan Rebuffs US Proposal for CIA Buildup
Two top US intelligence officials made a secret visit to Pakistan this month to seek greater latitude for the Central Intelligence Agency to operate in the tribal areas where Al Qaeda and other militant groups are active, but were rebuffed by President Pervez Musharraf, the New York Times reported. Read On

BJP Starts with 33% Reservation for its Women
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday took a major decision on women's reservation by announcing it would reserve 33 percent of seats for them in the party's organizational structure. Read On

Police Trace More Hospitals Linked
to Kidney Racket
Police Monday uncovered two more hospitals and 10 laboratories allegedly involved in a global organ trading racket even as they confirmed that a doctor who masterminded it all had fled India. Read On

• President Wants 70% Rural People Taken
  on Board Development

Kerala Ready to Scrap Cyber City Land Deal 
The Kerala government said Monday it will not hesitate to cancel the proposed Rs.40-billion ($1 billion) Cyber City project here if any foul play was detected in the transfer of 70 acres of government land to the project's promoters. Read On

Sign Free Trade Agreement, Delhi asks Dhaka 
India has again urged Bangladesh to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) to help bridge the widening gap in trade balance between the two countries. Read On

• Indian Industry Expects Rate Cut by Reserve Bank
• Indian Stock Markets Dip Again on Weak Global Cues
• Sehwag's Ton Goes in Vain, Australia Win Series

Rahul Sends Mayawati a Message
The battle for the Dalit vote has just got more intense with Congress' celeb leader Rahul Gandhi staying in a Dalit home in his constituency, in a bid to dent the political monopoly over the community of Chief Minister Mayawati and her Bahujan Samaj Party. Read On

• Replicate NCC Spirit in Other Spheres: PM 
• Opposition Stalls J&K Assembly Session
• Chiranjeevi Apologizes to actor Rajasekhar
  After Assault 
• Jammu and Kashmir Minister Removed
  after Threatening Calls 
• Bastar Artisans Net Rs.1 Million at Goa Exhibition

Shah Rukh Earns More from Ads than Movies
By Jivraj Burman
Shah Rukh Khan, the Badshah of Bollywood, is an even bigger king of the advertising world, according to his tax figures. Read On

BJP in Poll Mode, Projects Trinity of Icons
Upbeat after its victories in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) put itself in the election mode at its national executive meeting Sunday, projecting its three top leaders - including Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi - as a trinity of icons for the next general elections. . Read On
► BJP to Go Alone in Karnataka  
► Upbeat BJP Proposes Simultaneous Polls in States

• Indian CEOs Most Optimistic
  on Economic Growth: Gallup Poll 

India Pats Devolution Package to Make
Sri Lanka Do More by M.R. Narayan Swamy
India's surprise decision to hail a truncated Sri Lankan devolution package is aimed at slowly pushing Colombo on to the path of power sharing to end decades of ethnic conflict. Most Tamils in Sri Lanka have been taken aback by New Delhi's pat for the package that was unveiled this week in Colombo recommending full implementation of the 13th amendment of the constitution of 1987. Read On

• Rajesh Khanna Opening a Goat Farm?
• Indian Capital Markets Face Challenges: Report

IAF to Buy 40 More Hawk Trainers
by Gulshan Luthra 
The Indian Air Force (IAF) will buy about 40 more Hawk Advanced Jet trainers (AJTs) from Britain. Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal F.H. Major told India Strategic defence magazine that IAF's original plan was to induct 122 AJTs but the acquisition got delayed by nearly a quarter of the century, and when the deal was signed in March 2004, it was only for 66 aircraft. Read On

Eastern Promise Lifts the Gloom
as Davos Meet Ends by Dipankar De Sarkar
Thousands of business and political leaders, gathered in the midst of a global economic downturn, wound up their exchanges in this snow-covered Swiss town Sunday in a grim mood, lifted only slightly by the promise of an Eastern growth. Read On