India has Never Been a Threat to Pakistan: Zardari
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has declared that India "has never been a threat" to his country, and has termed militants operating in Kashmir as "terrorists", though previous regimes in Pakistan called them freedom fighters. Read On

Hindujas Eye Acquisitions in Europe,
South America By Venkatachari Jagannathan
The London-based Hindujas are eyeing takeover of technology firms and foundries in Europe and South America and plan to invest Rs.37 billion ($800 million) to make their automotive and foundry businesses a Rs.300 billion ($6.5 billion) enterprise. The group's Chennai-based truck and bus manufacturer Ashok Leyland is also setting up an integrated chassis and bus assembly unit at Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE to offer modern vehicles at highly competitive prices in the region, a member of the family said. Read On

• Citigroup goes to Court over Wachovia Takeover
• OJ Simpson Faces Possible Life Term
  for Armed Robbery, Kidnapping
• Amnesty for Some Prisoners,
  but Sobhraj's Hopes Dashed 

N-deal: Bush may Sign Away Indian Concerns
October 8th by Arun Kumar
President George W. Bush will sign the Congressional approval of the Indo-US nuclear deal into law Oct 8, hopefully taking care of Indian concerns over a couple of new riders in the legislation. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee failed to sign the implementing 123 agreement during her just concluded visit to New Delhi due to Indian insistence that Bush must first sign the approval legislation. Read On

German Hypo Real Estate Bail-out Collapses
Hypo Real Estate (HRE), the German company caught up in the wave of western bank failures, said Saturday a government-backed bail-out it was seeking had collapsed. The mortgage lender said assurances of loans from several other financial institutions had expired. Newspaper reports said leading German banks had discovered that HRE's troubles were more serious than first thought. Read On

China Seeks Balance Between Food Security, Urbanization
Feeding 1.3 billion people remains one of China's top challenges after 30 years of reform and opening up and the government's worries are all the more aggravated by the continuous loss of farmland and labor to rampant urbanization. Read On

• China Warns Against US Arms Sale to Taiwan

Former IMF Economist Warns of Global Recession
Simon Johnson, the former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, warned of a global recession as a result of the devastating financial crisis that has struck the US and Europe. Read On

159,000 Jobs Lost in US in a Month: Report
As many as 159,000 jobs were cut in the US in September, the worst ever retrenchment in a month for five years, the government has reported, heightening fears that the economic downturn was worsening and could persist well into next year. Read On

Maoists Ready to Parley with Terai Rebels
by Sudeshna Sarkar
Alarmed by reports that 14 armed groups, including its former comrades, were holding secret talks in India to begin a united revolt against the state, Nepal's Maoist government has formed a ministerial team to open talks with the rebels who are demanding greater rights for Madhesis, people of Indian origin. Read On

• Tatas to Decide on Nano Plant's New Site Next Week
• Three Lashkar Militants Killed
  in Jammu and Kashmir: Police 

Delay in Sealing of Breach in Kosi
Could Lead to Devastation Next Year
Slow pace of work in sealing the breach in the Kosi river near Kusaha in neighboring Nepal has the experts worried, who say that the delay could lead to further flooding in the state during the next monsoon. Read On

Discontent Among Muslims has Congress Worried
by Khalid Akhter
Top Congress party leaders are anxious about the growing discontent and restlessness within the Muslim community, which feels it is being targeted in the name of fighting terrorism, especially in the wake of police claims they had busted the group behind the string of terror attacks. Read On

Nano in Karnataka Will Top 100 Years of Tatas' Ties with State by V.S. Karnic
If Tata Motors set up their Nano small car project in Karnataka, it will be the icing on the cake for the Tata Group's 100-year-old association with the state, formerly the princely state of Mysore. The group's association, first with Mysore and later Karnataka, began towards the end of the 19th century when its founder Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata decided to set up a Research Institute or University of Research, prodded by Swami Vivekananda during a chance meeting on their voyage to America in 1893. Read On

• Tata Motors Inspects Dharwad Site for Nano
• One Battle Lost, Not the War: Buddha on Nano
• Credit Squeeze Hits Car Sales
• BJP to Use e-Posters for Campaigning
• Paswan Favors President's Rule in Orissa
• Assam Clashes Toll Mounts to 30, Violence Spreads
• Agartala on Railway map, Train Service Opens Sunday
• Kerala to be Headquarters
  for Country's First Amphibious Brigade 

Yasin Malik Arrested, Curfew in Kashmir Valley 
Muhammad Yasin Malik, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), was arrested and indefinite curfew imposed Sunday across the Kashmir Valley ahead of the proposed separatist march Monday to city centre Lal Chowk. Read On

16 Killed in Assam Clashes, 10,000 Displaced 
Police recovered nine more bodies overnight in the violence torn Assam districts of Udalguri and Darrang, taking the toll in three days of clashes between two communities in the area to 16. Read On

• Top Lashkar Commander Killed
• Participants at IIMA's Faculty Development Course
  Want More

Curfew in Kashmir Valley
Ahead of Separatist March
Indefinite curfew was imposed across the Kashmir Valley Sunday ahead of the proposed separatist march called by the hardline and moderate factions of the Hurriyat to city centre Lal Chowk, police said. Read On

India, US to Sign 123 Pact 'Very Soon'
India and the US Saturday affirmed that they would sign their nuclear agreement "shortly" even as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice underlined that there were "no open issues" and that Washington would abide by its commitments in the 123 pact and the Hyde Act. Rice also assured that President George W. Bush will sign the Congress legislation on the nuclear deal "very soon" after "administrative details" are completed. Read On

• Tatas' Singur Withdrawal `Slap' for West Bengal:
  Biman Bose 
• Former Gujarat Minister Gets 20 Years in Jail
  for Surat Bombings 
• Six Policemen Charged for Assaulting MP