31 Die in Sri Lankan Army-LTTE Clashes
on SAARC Summit Eve by P. Karunakharan
At least 13 Sri Lankan soldiers and 18 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed and over 50 wounded in clashes in the northern Wanni region as South Asian leaders arrived in Colombo for the 15th SAARC summit, an official said Saturday. Read On

• 103 Killed in Swat Valley: Report

Nepal Maoists Accuse Dalai Lama
of Brainwashing Children by Sudeshna Sarkar
Nepal's Maoists have accused Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama of brainwashing children as young as seven years after luring them away from Nepal in the name of educating them. Read On

Sri Lanka's Refugee Flow to India
Continues Unabated by M.R. Narayan Swamy
Sri Lanka may be winning the war against the Tamil Tigers but the steady influx into India of Tamils fleeing the conflict shows no signs of abating. But in recent months, Tamils who are making it to Tamil Nadu after a rough and dangerous sea ride from Sri Lanka's north - the latest battle zone - are landing on the coast as virtual paupers. Read On

• McCain Attacks Obama
  as Campaign Enters Final 100 Days    
• US Stocks Fall on General Motors Losses,
  Unemployment 

India Upbeat
after Unconditional IAEA Safeguard Pact
by Mehru Jaffer
The mood in the Indian camp was distinctly upbeat after the civilian nuclear deal with the US passed its first international test here Friday with the IAEA unanimously approving a country-specific safeguards agreement, the penultimate step in making the deal operational. Read On

India Gets IAEA Pass for Global Nuclear Trade
The India-US civil nuclear deal Friday cleared its first global test as the 35-member board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) unanimously approved the India-specific safeguards agreement, a key step towards readmitting New Delhi into the privileged world of nuclear commerce. Read On
► Safeguards Agreement Meets India's Needs:
     IAEA Chief

US has Evidence Linking ISI to Kabul Blast: NYT
Ahead of a likely meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Colombo, top US officials have told an American daily that they had clear evidence that Pakistan's spy service ISI helped plan the July 7 bombing of India's embassy in Kabul. American intelligence agencies have concluded that the ISI helped plan the July 7 bombing of India's embassy in Kabul, says a report Friday in The New York Times (NYT) headlined: “Pakistanis Aided Attack in Kabul, U.S. Officials Say”. Read On
► Pakistan Denies NYT Report
    on ISI Link to Kabul Blast 

Nepal's Porn Industry Spreads its Net
by Sudeshna Sarkar
After suffering the stigma of being a nation which sees thousands of its young girls and boys sold to the brothels of neighboring India, the new republic of Nepal now has another dark distinction - the rise of Nepali porn. The flooding of the once reclusive Himalayan nation with cheap cameras, mobile phones and computers has seen a surge in the number of homemade pornographic films and XXX Nepali cyber sites. Read On

• Support for Brown Dips to Historic Low: Poll
• US Suspects Pakistani Intelligence
  of Indian Embassy Bombing: Report

US House Apology for Slavery
Revives Reparations Call  
The apology by the House of Representatives for slavery has renewed discussion in the United States about reparations for descendants of African-Americans who were enslaved for more than two centuries in the early years of the country. Read On

US Growth at 1.9 Percent in Second Quarter
The US economy grew at 1.9 percent in the second quarter of 2008, the government said Thursday, shaking off an ongoing credit and housing crisis that had some predicting a recession in the first half of the year.  Read On

Halt Terror to End Strains in India-Pakistan ties,
PM tells Gilani by M.R. Narayan Swamy
A blunt Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told his Pakistani counterpart here Saturday that the suicide attack on the Indian mission in Kabul, rising ceasefire violations along the Kashmir border and infiltration of terrorists had hurt bilateral relations. Speaking candidly to Yousuf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the 15th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit, Manmohan Singh voiced concern that the "recent events" had impacted on the prospects of their peace dialogue. The Indian prime minister said that "such attacks" would have to stop for India and Pakistan to rebuild their strained ties. Read On

• Late Wickets Leave India-Sri Lanka Test in Balance
• Farmers Block Trains,
  Mamta Broadside against Left on Singur 
• BJP Harps on Hindutva, Terrorism at Lucknow Rally 
• CPI-M Rakes up Hyde Act, Attacks Safeguards Pact
• Jammu Unrest Reaches Delhi,
  Kashmiri Hindus Clash with Police  

SAARC Summit Opens with
Appeals to Battle Terror by M.R. Narayan Swamy
South Asian leaders joined Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday in calling for a sustained campaign against terrorism, as the 15th SAARC summit opened here under an unprecedented security blanket also involving the Indian military. Read On
► Text of Manmohan Singh's Speech
    at SAARC Summit Opening 

India has to Act in Sri Lanka,
Pro-LTTE Group Tells PM by M.R. Narayan Swamy
A Tamil political party sympathetic to the Tamil Tigers has told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that India has to play a role in ending the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. Accusing Colombo of causing misery to civilians by relentlessly pursuing war against the Tigers, a team of MPs from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) told Manmohan Singh late Friday that the global community also expected India to act. Read On

Protests in Jammu as Army Stages Flag Marches
Protesters, including women and children, Saturday defied curfew to hold demonstrations as the Indian Army staged flag marches in the Jammu region, where violence a day earlier left two people dead when police were controlling riots against the revocation of land transfer to the Amarnath shrine board. Read On
► Land Row: Jammu Agitation Draws Support
    from Congress 
► Army Called Out in Jammu to Curb Violence  

IAEA Approval Sees India-US N-deal
Cross Major Hurdle by Mehru Jaffer
The landmark India-US nuclear deal passed its first global test Friday when the IAEA unanimously approved an India-specific safeguards agreement that puts New Delhi just one step away from joining the privileged world of nuclear commerce. The next important stage will be the Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting in the third week of August to decide on amending its rules to permit the resumption of nuclear commerce with India after a hiatus of over three decades. Once that happens, the nuclear deal will go to the US Congress for its final nod in September. Read On
► Safeguards Pact Approval
     is 'Important Day' for India: PM 

Two Killed, Many Injured in Police Firing
as Jammu Flares Up 
The agitation over the Amarnath land row took a violent turn as police firing on angry mobs left at least two people dead and more than a dozen injured in Samba town of Jammu district late Friday, triggering more clashes in the town and its surroundings. Read On

• Equity Markets End Week on an Upswing
• 32 Killed as Train Catches Fire
  in Andhra Pradesh 

Loopholes Persist
in India's New Defence Purchase Policy
by Vishnu Makhijani
India's new defence purchase policy enunciated Friday has at least two glaring loopholes that will enable its circumvention, even as it provides the private sector much cause for cheer. The loopholes pertain to the provision for fast tracking the purchase of military hardware worth up to Rs.4 billion ($95 million) and for placing repeat orders for equipment that is already in the armed forces inventory. Read On

India to Ensure Greater Transparency
in Defence Purchases
India said Friday it would ensure greater transparency in the purchase of military hardware by streamlining procedures to speed up the acquisition process. Significantly, the Defence Procurement Procedure-2008 (DPP-2008) released Friday contains a provision for banking the reinvestments in India that foreign vendors would have to make in all deals worth over Rs.3 billion ($70.8 million). Read On