• Canada, EU, Seek New Trade Pact
  Amid Finance Crisis
• US Airstrikes Kill 60 Militants in Northwest Pakistan
• European Shares Rebound after Wall Street Gain  
• Tata-owned Corus, Jaguar Land Rover Take a Knock
• The Joke's on McCain, Obama,
  and Both Laugh Together 

Washington Post Endorses Obama
as 'Right Man' for Hard Times
Calling senator Barack Obama the "right man for a perilous moment," the Washington Post endorsed the Democratic candidate for the US presidency. With the endorsement, the paper added its national weight to 39 other regional newspapers - including the Boston Globe and St Louis Post Dispatch - that have declared for the centre-left candidate. Read On
► Obama would Maintain US Leadership Abroad

US Cannot Shape the World without India
by Arun Kumar 
Describing the India-US civil nuclear deal as a "game-changing" success story, a senior Republican leader has advised the next US president that American efforts to shape the world may not succeed fully without India. "The bottom line is that American efforts to shape the world are unlikely to succeed fully without the cooperation of India," said Senator Dick Lugar adding, "Its sheer size ensures that it will have an enormous impact on the global economy." Read On  

• Christians Continue to Flee Northern Iraq
• US Stocks Surge as Oil Price Falls Below $70 

US, Iraqi Negotiators Reach Agreement
on Troops Presence
US and Iraqi negotiators have reached a tentative agreement outlining the future presence of US troops but it still requires the support of lawmakers in both countries, the Pentagon said Thursday. The United States and Iraq have been negotiating the pact for months to establish a legal basis for maintaining American forces in Iraq once a UN mandate expires at the end of this year. Read On

Rs.200 mn Indian Aid for Nepal Flood Victims
The Indian ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood Thursday handed over a cheque for Rs.200 million ($2.5 million) to Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" as the Indian government's relief assistance to victims of the Kosi flood, that was pledged by India during Prachanda's visit to New Delhi last month. Read On

• Japan Approves Extra Budget
  for Economic Stimulus Package  

Asia-Pacific Markets in Free Fall
over Bailout Doubts 
Markets across Asia plummeted on opening Thursday, dragged down by US retail sales data and concerns about whether bank bailouts would be able to rescue financial markets and avert a recession. The Tokyo stock market plummeted in early trading after Wall Street's blue-chip Dow Jones industrials lost nearly eight percent overnight amid growing recession fears in the US and worldwide. Read On

• Just Half Percent of Indian Cash Savings
  will Give us Profit
• Balle-Balle:
  All Nine Indian-Canadian MPs are Punjabis

McCain, Obama Spar in Final Faceoff before Poll
by Arun Kumar
In their final faceoff before the Nov 4 US presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain sparred in their debate televised live over issues ranging from the economic crisis to who has run the more negative campaign. Seeking to separate himself from the unpopular policies of President George Bush in the midst of America's worst economic crisis, a trailing-in-the-polls McCain declared he was his own man and would go in a "new direction". Read On

Eyeing India's $150 bn Nuclear Pie,
US Sending Trade Team in December
by Arun Kumar
Washington – The United States has reassured India of reliable fuel supply for its civilian reactors while announcing a nuclear trade mission to India in December that seeks a share in the projected $150 billion business. Announcing the nuclear trade mission led by the US-India Business Council (USIBC), US Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez noted that the trade association has projected a $150 billion business over the next 30 years because of the India-US civil nuclear deal. Read On
► India's Nuclear Power Share may Reach
    20 Percent by 2050

India Can Intervene in Sri Lanka: Karunanidhi
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said Friday night that India could certainly intervene in Sri Lanka to alleviate the sufferings of Tamil minorities there, in the same way it did in then East Pakistan in 1971 Read On
► 14 DMK MPs Hand in Resignation Letters
    over Sri Lanka Issue

Tata's 'Open Letter' Raises Political Storm
in West Bengal
In an advertisement splashed in several newspapers here, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata Friday warned the people of West Bengal of the "destructive political environment of confrontation" that he said was being espoused by Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress - in the process, kicking off a political storm. Read On

India Summons Sri Lankan Envoy,
asks Colombo to End Violence
With the political temperature rising in Tamil Nadu over the situation in Sri Lanka, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon Friday summoned Sri Lankan High Commissioner C.R. Jayasinghe and asked Colombo to “take steps” to stop the violence that has severely affected Tamil civilians in the island nation. Read On

Key Indian Market Index Dips below 10,000 
The mayhem in Indian stock markets continued Friday with a key index dropping below the psychologically important 10,000-point mark after having crossed an all-time high of 21,206.77 points in January. Read On

• Japan Wants India to Sign NPT, Cautious on N-issue
• Scores of Christians Convert to Hinduism
  in Orissa's Kandhamal 

Left Serves Notice of Privilege Motion against PM in Parliament
The Left parties have served notice of a privilege motion against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in parliament for failing to take the house into confidence on the India-US civilian nuclear deal. Read On

• India 311/5 on a day of records in Mohali
• Tendulkar is the Leading Run-getter in Tests
• Economic Meltdown or Terrorism,
  It's all about Human Psyche

Equating Islam with Terrorism is Dangerous
by Sarwar Kashani
The widening gulf between different religions was leading to dangerous global instability, said leaders of Western and Islamic countries here Friday, and warned against equating Islam with terrorism. Read On
► 'Islamophobia' a Threat to Global Peace: OIC Chief

Tata Bats for Buddha,
Attacks Mamata through Huge Ads 
A fortnight after pulling out the Nano plant from Singur, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata Friday asked the people of West Bengal to support either the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-led government "to build a prosperous state" or suffer the "destructive political environment of confrontation" that he said was being espoused by Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress. Read On

Mayawati Out to Settle Personal Scores,
State be Damned by Sharat Pradhan
Personal ego has led Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati to challenge the authority of the union government and undermine the status of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi with whom she seems clearly out to settle several personal scores. Read On

India Joins Lunar Race
at Time of Renewed Interest in Moon
by Fakir Balaji
With the maiden launch of unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-1 Oct 22 from spaceport Sriharikota, about 80 km from Chennai, India joins the lunar race in quest of space supremacy and its place in the elite club of space-faring nations, at a time when there's renewed global scientific interest in the moon. Read On

Moon Mission Won't Lead
to Big Satellite Launch Orders
by Venkatachari Jagannathan 
The launch of India's lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan Oct 22 will not immediately result in big satellite launch orders for Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), but will improve its expertise in the area where India specializes- Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles. Read On

Apologetic Naresh Goyal Takes Back
All Sacked Jet Employees  
Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal Thursday night profusely apologized for sacking a large number of employees, mainly cabin crew, assured them that their jobs were intact and told them they could report to work from Friday. "I have not been able to sleep all night when I saw what happened. I apologize for what has happened," Goyal said at a hurriedly called late night press conference. Read On