US Wants Pakistan to Shift Focus
from India to Terrorism by Arun Kumar
The US defence chief wants Pakistan to reform its notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency and shift its focus from India to Afghanistan and train its troops in counterinsurgency to meet the terrorist threat at home. Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Kayani "recognizes that he has an extremist threat in Pakistan", Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an interview with PBS broadcast late Thursday. Read On
► US 'Extremely Concerned'
    about Worsening Situation in Pakistan

• US Stocks Post Fourth-Straight Rally 
• Global Meltdown Effect:
  300 Bangladeshi Workers Return from Malaysia 

Zardari Gets 24-Hour Deadline,
Kayani Meets President 
A volatile situation existed in Pakistan where authorities Friday continued their crackdown on agitating lawyers staging a 'long march' amidst reports that President Asif Ali Zardari had been set an internationally-backed, 24-hour deadline by the army to end the stir. Pakistan Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani was reported to have got into the act Friday, meeting Zardari for the first time since the president returned home Wednesday from a regional meeting in Tehran.  Read On  

Iran's Nuclear Threat 'Real, Dangerous':
Russian Analyst
Russia and the West would be making a big mistake if they ignored or underestimated the potential missile and nuclear threat coming from Iran, a Russian military expert has said.  Some Western and Russian sources claim that Iran may be currently running a programme, dubbed Project Koussar, to develop a totally different missile with a range of 4,000-5,000 km. Read On

Australian Oil Spill Bigger Than First Thought
Oil from a damaged ship has washed up on 60 kilometers of beaches on Australia's east coast in what officials declared an environmental disaster. Oil gushed from the Hong Kong-owned Pacific Adventurer Wednesday when it was lashed by a storm in international waters near Brisbane. Read On

• US Drone Attack Kills 24 Militants in Pakistan

Obama's Indian-American Info Czar
Goes on Leave Amid FBI Probe by Arun Kumar
By Arun Kumar
After just a week on the job, President Barack Obama's Indian-American info czar Vivek Kundra is said to have gone on leave amid an FBI probe that resulted in a search of his former office. Kundra went on leave after FBI agents arrested an Indian-American businessman and a Washington DC government official on corruption charges Thursday and searched the offices of the capital city's chief technology officer as part of a corruption probe. Read On

• Canada Jails Terrorist Who had Pakistan Links
• Canadian Chopper Crashes into Atlantic, 16 Missing  

Europe on Collision Course with US
Over Financial Crisis
Europe looks set for a collision course with the US over solutions to the global economic crisis, as Germany and France jointly called Thursday for greater regulation of financial markets. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy presented a united front at talks in Berlin, opposing US demands for increased economic stimulus to tackle the crisis. Read On

• US Stocks Add to Rally 
• Madoff Jailed,
  Pleads Guilty to Massive Fraud in Court 
• Shoe-Throwing Iraqi Journalist
  Gets Three Years in Prison

India Responds to Pakistan's Mumbai Queries, Wants Credible Action
India Friday handed over to Pakistan answers to 30 questions it had posed on Mumbai's "horrific terror attacks" and hoped that this step will lead to "credible action" by Islamabad against the perpetrators of the carnage and the "terrorist infrastructure" in that country. Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon met Pakistan's High Commissioner Shahid Malik and formally handed over New Delhi's replies to Islamabad's 30 questions over the Mumbai attacks after it admitted that the attacks were staged from its soil. Read On

Maharashtrian Should be PM, says Pawar;
Sorry, Responds Congress 
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said that it was time a Maharashtrian became the prime minister but added quickly that he was not speaking for himself. A miffed Congress declared that there was "no vacancy" for the country's top post. Read On

Third Front Forces BJP, Congress
to Rework Election Strategy by Arun Anand
The launch of the multi-party Third Front has forced both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to start redrawing their strategies for the Lok Sabha elections, party sources said Friday. Although both the Congress and the BJP have publicly dismissed Thursday's rally at Tumkur near Bangalore as one of no consequence, leaders of these parties admit that the centre-Left alliance may prove to be a major factor in the April-May ballot. Read On

• Bulls Rule the Roost, Sensex Up 5 Percent

No Toilet, No Bride - Haryana Slogan Hits the Mark
by Ritu Sharma
The war against insanitation is being fought by women in Haryana by placing a simple condition before their daughters get married - her new household should have a toilet. Read On

India Responds to Pakistan,
Says Enough Evidence to Take Action
India Friday handed over to Pakistan answers to 30 questions they had posed in connection with Mumbai's "horrific terror attacks" and underlined that these replies provided "enough material" for Islamabad to take the investigation forward and punish the guilty. Read On

In Year-long Celebrations, Exiled Tibetans will say 'Thank You India!' by Fakir Balaji
Tibetans, young and old, including monks, nuns and children are revving up to celebrate five decades of exiled life in sprawling settlements as this one by showcasing their identity, culture, religion, language, songs and folk dances at year-long thanksgiving functions. Read On

Third Front Takes Off,
Congress, BJP say Nothing to Worry
Left and regional parties from across the country Thursday launched a Third Front at a massive rally here as an alternative to the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the general elections beginning next month but the two national parties asserted the grouping would not hurt their poll prospects. Read On

Indian Officials Join Meeting
as US Calls for $500 bn IMF Push 
by Dipankar De Sarkar
Officials from India and other Group of 20 (G20) countries began meeting Thursday amid a call by the US Treasury Secretary to increase the IMF's borrowing pot by a massive $500 billion to help developing countries cope with the fallout of the global financial crisis. Read On

India Concerned, PM Discusses Pakistan Situation at Cabinet Meet 
With political instability deepening in Pakistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday reviewed the developments in the neighboring country at a Cabinet Committee on Security meeting as New Delhi voiced concern saying "strong and stable regimes" are needed in the neighborhood to combat terrorism. Read On