Americans Find Financial Crisis
Far Greater Threat than Terrorism  
The vast majority of Americans surveyed post economic meltdown agreed that the financial crisis "poses a greater threat to the quality of my life than does the threat of terrorism", Read On

Market Crisis Hits Poor As Well by Chris Cermak
As the world's richest nations debate how to bring a catastrophic financial crisis under control, international groups are warning that its reach now goes far beyond the developed world. Poor countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, which are already dealing with a surge in food and energy prices, are now finding it harder to sell goods abroad and encourage investment in their own economies. Read On

Interplanetary Voyages
- Man's Quest for a Second Home
by Andrei Kislyakov
Deep space exploration is becoming an ever bigger part of national space programmes. Currently, missions to the Moon and Mars are considered feasible. The US has announced preparation for another space probe launch to collect data from the Martian atmosphere, scheduled for 2013. Read On

G7 Promises 'Urgent' Action on Financial Crisis
The world's seven leading economies agreed to do everything in their power to tackle a financial crisis that threatens to plunge the world into recession, but unveiled no new joint measures. Read On

• Probe Finds Palin Guilty of Abusing Powers
• US is Open to Expanding G7: Paulson  
• Suu Kyi Appeals Against Prolonged Detention

No Time Frame Can be Set to Defeat LTTE: Karuna by M.R. Narayan Swamy 
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers are in "a precarious condition" but no one can predict when they can be overcome militarily, says "Karuna", a former top Tiger commander who became an MP this week. Read On

US Stocks Continue Week's Plunge
on Recession Fears
US stocks swung wildly Friday amid fears of a widening global credit crunch and recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 4 percent by early afternoon in a wild trading day on Wall Street. The Dow plunged nearly 700 points to below 8,000 within minutes of opening, but had roared all the way to its starting point about 30 minutes later amid widespread uncertainty over the state of the US economy. Read On

Europe's Stocks in Free Fall
after Wall Street Tanks 
European shares plummeted Friday as investors dumped shares on Wall Street amid fears the credit squeeze could trigger a prolonged global recession. With New York's losses quickly gaining momentum following its opening Friday, Europe's benchmark blue-chip Stoxx 50 index plunged by 10% to 2066 points. The panic selling snowballed across Europe with shares in Frankfurt and Paris spiraling down by about 12% following Wall Street's opening. Read On

• Afghanistan Security Situation may Worsen:
  US Military Chief  

Flawed Corporate Methods Fuelled Current Economic Meltdown
Archaic corporate systems failing to unearth risky business deals helped fuel the country's deepest financial meltdown since the Great Depression, a University of Illinois business law expert said Read On

• Tokyo Markets Continue Descent;
  Nikkei Plunges Below 9,000 
• Australian Stocks Follow Wall Street Down
• Netherlands Offers 20 bn Euros for Finance Sector
• Obama Seeks 30-min Ads
  as McCain Steps Up Attacks 
• Sales of Household Safes Rocket in Britain 
• Nepal Jail Authorities Dismiss Sobhraj Wedding
  as Gimmick

Bush Seeks 'Common Policy' with Europe
on Finance Crisis
US President George W. Bush has called for a "common policy" between the United States and Europe to address the financial crisis that has threatened the world's economy. Bush, meeting with Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic, said Thursday that he discussed "our common desire to work with our European friends to develop a best as possible common policy". Read On

India Proposes More Fiscal Measures
to Infuse Liquidity in System by Rajeev Ranjan Roy
India is proposing more fiscal measures, including further cuts in cash reserve ratio (CRR) for banks and in the interest rates to tide over the current turmoil in the financial markets, well-placed sources in the finance ministry and the central bank said Saturday. Read On

India's Central Bank says
Financial System Well Regulated
A day after Indian equities crashed in line with the global meltdown and on worries over declining industrial growth, RBI Governor D. Subbarao has said overseas exposures of domestic banks were small and that the country's financial system remained well-regulated. Read On
► Right Time for Overseas Indians to Invest in India
► India's Forex Reserves Drop Nearly $8 Billion
► Equities Markets Suffer Worst Mauling
    in Recent Times

• Come Rain or Shine,
  India's Lunar Mission to Keep Oct 22 Date 
• Harbahajan, Zaheer Raise Hopes
  after Top-order Collapse
• Army Foils Infiltration from Pakistan, Militant Killed
• On Birthday, Amitabh Bachchan Hospitalized

History and Hope Ride on Kashmir's Hi-tech Train
by F. Ahmed
Bedecked in flowers, it rolled out of the Nowgam railway station near here, looking like a dream. Many hoped the red and green train - the first ever in the Kashmir valley - would be the harbinger of good times in this trouble-torn land. Read On
► Prime Minister Flags Off Kashmir's Dream Train

N-deal is Done, Pranab, Rice Sign 123 Pact 
by Arun Kumar
The historic India-US civil nuclear deal is finally done with the signing of a pact envisioned by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W. Bush to end three decades of India's nuclear isolation. Read On
► India Bound Only by 123: Pranab Mukherjee
► India Not Against a US-Pakistan N-deal: Mukherjee
► Inking of 123 a Surrender to US: Karat

India's Human Rights Monitor Hamstrung by Rules:
NHRC Chief by Azera Rahman
As rights violations and anti-Christian attacks spread across the country, many turn to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for redressal. But the statutory body to address the issues is hamstrung by rules that severely limit its role. Read On

Anti-Christian Violence a Result of Hindu Anger: Rajnath Singh
By Rashmi Saksena
While distancing the Bharatiya Janata Party from the Bajrang Dal, party president Rajnath Singh has stopped short of blaming the rightwing outfit for continuing anti-Christian violence and attributed it to "Hindu anger" against forcible conversions instead. Read On

Chinese, Indian Firms to Sign Contracts
Worth Millions: Minister
Chinese companies will sign trade contracts worth "millions of dollars" with their Indian counterparts here Saturday, a Chinese minister said Friday in what appears to be the first major step by the leadership in Beijing to close the yawning trade gap between the two countries. Read On
► India, China Complete FTA Feasibility Study

• Two Years After Ban,
  Tender Hands Still Scrub Pots 
• Anti-dowry Laws are Being Misused: Court
• PM's Visit: Two Killed, Many Injured
  in Srinagar Protests 
• What Policymakers, Industry, Economists
  are Saying on Global Crisis
• RBI Cuts Cash Reserve Ratio by 150 Basis Points

India's Industry, Infrastructure Growth Nosedives
Faced with the twin onslaught of high inflation of 11.8%  and volatile capital markets, India's industrial production and infrastructure sector nosedived in August, logging just 1.3% and 2.3% growth. The poor pace of expansion in the two core sectors has also not helped policymakers grappling with a persistent turmoil in the domestic capital market, notwithstanding monetary measures taken to pep up sentiments. Read On  

Indian Equities Tank Seven Percent
in Day-long Mayhem
As fears over the impact of the global financial crisis on the Indian economy escalated Friday, a key Indian equities index closed with one of its steepest losses in recent months, with interventions by the government, the central bank and the markets watchdog having little impact to lift the battered sentiments. Read On

• Pakistan's 'Justified Concerns' Addressed
  While Building Baglihar: PM
• Shutdown, Stone Pelting as PM Arrives in Srinagar
• 30 Hours On,
  Life Slips Away for Toddler Trapped in Borewll