News Analysis - March 2006 @ whatisindia.com

Sugar Farming Increases for Quick Profit (March 31, 2006)
More and more Indian farmers are switching from traditional crops of vegetables, pulses, and cereals to sugarcane because of the quick profit they can make from this cash crop.<More>

SC Refuses Total Cow Slaughter Ban (March 31, 2006)
The Supreme Court refused to ban cow slaughter as that would amount to judicial legislation and would infringe on the roles, responsibilities, and authority of the Legislative bodies. <More>

Customary Laws Govern Religion, Posts: SC (March 31, 2006)
The Supreme Court (SC) has said that tribal customary laws requiring a headman to perform both administrative and religious obligations can bar individuals who converted to other religions from contesting for such positions.<More>

AIDS Case Numbers Dip in South (March 31, 2006)
An Institute of Medical Education and Research of Chandigarh study concluded that the number of AIDS cases in South India is lower because of the use of condoms and more awareness of infections than good medical practice or testing processes.<More>

Coalition Force Inflicts Damage on Taliban (March 31, 2006)
A strong Taliban force attacked a coalition base in Halmand province of Afghanistan shortly after midnight using mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, and small arms. < More>

Carter Bid to Bring Peace to Nepal (March 31, 2006)
Former US President Jimmy Carter, Nobel Laureate for bringing peace to Israel and Egypt, is arriving in Nepal to talk to King Gnanendra, political opponents, and Maoist terrorists. < More>

Kadima wins to form Coalition Govt in Israel (March 31, 2006)
Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of comatose Ariel Sharon’s right of Center Kadima party won the elections and is set to form a Government only with the help of coalition partners.< More>

Sharp debates in US on Nuclear Deal (March 31, 2006)
A sharp debate is ensuing in the US over the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal with former President Jimmy Carter publicly stating that he opposes the Agreement while a senior Intelligence Committee member said he supports it. <More>

India 4th World GDP Growth Engine (March 30, 2006)
In continuing euphoria, the Indian economy was fourth largest contributor to incremental global GDP growth at 3.2% after the US, China, and Japan; it raced past Germany, France, and the UK in this key indicator.<More>

Major Gains in Food Processing (March 30, 2006)
Indian food processing industry is now valued at USD 92 billion and the Government says that more money from the 8-10% growth is reaching the farmers directly because of production innovations such as contract farming.<More>

Landmark SC Labor Judgments (March 30, 2006)
The Supreme Court (SC) made three landmark judgments that together would vastly change how labor is viewed and used by the Government.<More>

Two Doctors Testing Fetal Sex Convicted (March 30, 2006)
For the first time, two doctors who tested the sex of the child in the fetus of the mother have been convicted for violating the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique Regulation & Prevention of Misuse Act, 1994.<More>

Novel HIV-AIDS Train To Educate Villages (March 30, 2006)
India will soon host a novel project that will allow artists, doctors, and counselors will travel by a special train that will make 40,000 stops to educate villages about the dangers of HIV-AIDS. <More>

Did Salem name Bollywood Actors? (March 30, 2006)
Unnamed sources present at the laboratory tests performed on Portugal-extradited gangster Abu Salem said that the names or issues relating to Bollywood actors did not even feature in their questioning.<More>

Pinaka Successful, Mig-29K next year (March 30, 2006)
The indigenously designed and built multi-barrel rocket launcher code named Pinaka was successfully test fired twice from India's integrated test range at Chandipur. <More>

Saran on Selling Trip to US (March 30, 2006)
Ahead of first briefings, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran is travelling to the United States with a group of senior Government officials to drum up support for the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal among key Congressmen and Senators.<More>

New Taliban Threatens to Consume Pak (March 29, 2006)
The Pakistani establishment is increasingly nervous about the rise of a group calling itself the "Pakistani Taliban" and reports say that they rule large swathes of tribal land in Waziristan.< More>

Nepal Continues to Self-Destruct (March 29, 2006)
On receiving intelligence on a gathering on Maoist terrorists in Central Nepal, in a move to avenge the murder of 13 of their colleagues, the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) launched a surprising attack killing more than 20 terrorists.< More>

Iranian Vice-PM Visits India (March 29, 2006)
Visiting Iranian Vice-President Rashim Mashaee insisted that his country is not hiding any nuclear bomb program and encouraged India not to believe Western propaganda.< More>

US, Japan, & Aussie Strategic Grouping (March 29, 2006)
The United States, Japan, and Australia have created a new forum to discuss global security and stability and met for the first time last week to discuss Iran, North Korea, China, and India.< More>

India & GCC in new Partnership (March 28, 2006)
India and 6 Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) entered a new era of partnership with a free trade agreement (FTA) and framework agreement for economic cooperation.<More>

Cut Back in "Target Plus" Scheme (March 28, 2006)
The Government's plan to cut back on its Target Plus program for iron ore, sugar, and rice exporters is raising the anger levels of these exporters.<More>

Islamic Court Review in 4 weeks (March 28, 2006)
The Supreme Court (SC) granted four extra weeks to the Government to collect data on the presence of Islamic and Shariat courts, their roles, and implications on the judicial system.<More>

The Hindu Wants to Print Tobacco Ads (March 28, 2006)
In a surprise move, nationally available English newspaper, The Hindu, has petitioned the Supreme Court (SC) to overrule a Madras High Court (MHC) ruling that disallowed the publication of tobacco advertisements (ads) in newspapers.< More>

Absenteeism of Teachers Affects Development (March 28, 2006)
A World Bank survey studying absenteeism in many countries found that 25% of teachers in India miss work on an average every day, but this rate is not prevalent in all states.< More>

Nepal Maoists kidnap Trekkers (March 28, 2006)
Maoist terrorists in Nepal kidnapped 4 Polish trekkers even as news of two more European trekkers was reported missing.<More>

Renewed Bugti-Pakistan Baloachistan clash (March 28, 2006)
Pakistan’s Bugti clan clashed with Pakistani 23,000 strong armed force in Baloachistan at least four times over the weekend destroying all road transport and gas supply from the Sui Valley.<More>

India Not Part of Asian Currency Unit (March 27, 2006)
Despite the size, growth, and potential of their economies, India, Australia and New Zealand will not be part of an Asian Currency Unit (ACU) being created by for ASEAN countries but will include China, Japan, and South Korea. <More>

Manufacturing Grows with Globalization (March 27, 2006)
Globalization over the last 14 years has tripled manufacturing production with more than 1/2 of produced goods being exported to mainly other Asian and African nations.< More>

No Consensus on "Office of Profit" (March 27, 2006)
The Government finally buried its misgivings on the developments leading to the resignation of Sonia Gandhi and led conversations with political parties to seek amendments to relevant laws so it can avoid nasty jolts to the democracy.< More>

Canada Allows Barbaric Seal Slaughter (March 27, 2006)
In continuation of its barbaric tradition, the Canadian Government has allowed hunters kill hundreds of thousands of harp seal pups off its East coast.< More>

Stricter Pesticide Regulation (March 27, 2006)
In an encouraging move, the Central Insecticide Board (CIB) will, through the Ministry of Environment, soon ban 7 pesticides and also fix the maximum residue limit (MRL) for 23 more.< More>

No Drop in Bird Flu Cases over summer (March 27, 2006)
With the onset of summer, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the bird flu virus is not going to die with the hot weather as once the virus is in an animal, it will continue to survive regardless of ambient weather conditions.< More>

Surprise! Govt has a Naxal policy (March 27, 2006)
Responding to a question in the Parliament, Home Minister Shivraj Patil shocked everyone by tabling a policy, which he says has been in existence for a while.< More>

Indo-French Defense Exercise (March 27, 2006)
India and France will kick off their eighth round of Varuna joint exercises off Goa with India fielding a contingent of Jaguars strike aircraft and Canberra surveillance jets against French Atlantique II.< More>

India-Pak Friendship & Peace Accord (March 27, 2006)
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh offered a peace, security, and friendship accord to Pakistan and asked that country not to link Kashmir with this accord; Pakistan responded positively to this proposal but refused closer business ties. <More>

Caution on Escalating Violence in Lanka (March 27, 2006)
The Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) cautioned both the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) against gradually worsening confrontations.< More>

Nepal Journalists under Siege (March 27, 2006)
An independent international media mission that completed a tour of Nepal stated that the media there has been muzzled both by the Government and the Maoist terrorists.< More>

Pro-Russian Party to Win in Ukraine (March 27, 2006)
A pro-Russian Opposition Party of Regions led by former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich was leading in initial counting and is expected to trounce a pro-Western party that failed to improve living standards or the economy. <More>

Energy Deficit India Sparks Mega Projects (March 25, 2006)
Energy deficiency in India is seeing large investments in mega projects in refinery, pipeline installations, new power generation projects, power line grid deployment, and even private sector nuclear plants.<More>

The Sonia Déjà vu (March 24, 2006)
After pursuing a path to protect its leader Sonia Gandhi from ouster and disgrace through an ordinance that would probably be struck down in the courts, the Congress Party got a jolt when their leader in a master political move resigned from the Parliament. <More>

US Finds New H5N1 Subtype (March 23, 2006)
As India is trying to deal with the bird flu outbreak in Navapur an Jalgaoan, US scientists revealed that the virus has mutated to a different subtype that can be transmitted to humans.<More>

Lackluster Bangla PM Visit (March 23, 2006)
Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia met with her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh and shared mutual concerns on terrorism.< More>

Govt to Release Spectrums, Boost Telecom (March 22, 2006)
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that his Government would release a part of the spectrum that it owns.< More>

China may be "Diabetics Capital of the World" (March 22, 2006)
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that China may have piped India to earn the dubious honor of being the "Diabetes Capital of the World."< More>

Defense Minister Defends Scorpene Deal (March 22, 2006)
Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee issued a statement in the Parliament defending the Scorpene deal.< More>

No Russia-China Accord on Pipeline (March 22, 2006)
Visiting Russian President and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao signed three pacts but failed to agree on a pipeline to carry Natural Gas from Siberia to China.< More>

Bush Says Nuclear Deal in US Interest (March 22, 2006)
US President George Bush extolled American Congressmen and Senators to support the civilian nuclear deal saying that it was in America's interest to support India's nuclear needs.< More>

India’s Stable Democracy Will Quell Chaotic Surface (March 21, 2006)
Professor of International Business at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College