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What Is India News Service
Saturday, July  29, 2006
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Business and Economy

  • ASEAN Suspends FTA
    Malaysia’s Trade Minister was quoted saying that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has suspended free-trade talks with India because New Delhi is demanding that 850 goods it imports from South East Asia to be excluded from the list.<More>

  • Growth Pace to Continue
    The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reaffirmed growth forecast of 7.5%-8% citing strong corporate sector growth, continued investment inflow, strong orders, high capacity utilization, good export growth, stabilized inflation, and sufficient liquidity of banks.<More>

  • India to Raise Pak Trade Curbs at SAARC
    Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath told the Parliament that he will raise the issue of import restrictions by Pakistan at the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit early next month in Dhaka.<More>

  • WTO Stalled, Will Take Months to Revive
    Global talks on trade under the World Trade Organization (WTO) collapsed with developing nations led by India blaming the developed nations led by the US for intransigence in cutting back farm-subsidies in violation of the Honk Kong Agreement.<More>

  • No Implementation of Groundwater Bill
    Federal Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz announced a convention of Chief Ministers to coax adoption of a measures including making rainwater harvesting mandatory and stronger regulation of this dwindling resource.<More>

  • Iran Gas Deal is “Difficult”
    India’s grand plans to source gas from Iran to meet its energy needs has been shattered with Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki saying there were “difficulties” in honoring the USD 22 billion contract to see Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).<More>

  • Wheat Import Shows Falling Agri Self-Sufficiency
    The import of wheat after 6 years has raised serious doubts about the processes in place to achieve the key goal of food self-sufficiency and a preeminent think tank has called for a revamp of agriculture products procurement, storing, and public distribution processes.     <More>

  • Panel Recommends Revamp of Venture Fund Regulations
    A Planning Commission sub-Committee has suggested a slew of fiscal incentives to encourage more domestic venture capital funds (VCF) and has included a proposal to set up an Early Stage Venture Fund (ESVF) through public-private partnership. <More>

  • Increased Food grain Output Likely
    The Federal Agriculture Ministry (AM) said that food grain production is expected to be 5.01% higher at 208.3 million tons (mt) in 2005-2006 versus 198.36 mt a year ago because of better output from rice and oilseeds but wheat production is only marginally higher. <More>

  • Inadequate Response to NMCC Recommendations  
     National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) has recommended that a new National Manufacturing Initiative to further 20 key labor-intensive sectors that net USD 10 billion from domestic markets alone to facilitate a quantum jump in the near future. <More>
Democracy, Politics and Judiciary

  • Govt Withdraws Dismissal Move against Venugopal
    A highly embarrassed Health Minister Anbumani Ramdoss withdrew the controversial order to dismiss All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Dr. P. Venugopal but counsel said that the Government would file fresh charges later. <More >

  • OoP Pitches Parliament against President, SC
    The Federal Government and its communist allies, usually at odds on many issues, joined ranks to assert that the Parliament is “supreme” and some even went to the extent of suggesting that the President has only rights to advice and not over-rule the Parliament. <More>

  • SC Says Women Cannot be charged with Rape
    Hearing the case of a woman whose crises of help was deliberately spurned by the wife of a man raping her, the Supreme Court (SC) surprisingly concluded that the wife and any woman cannot be accused or charged for rape or gang rape. <More>

  • BHC Asks Railways to Revamp Disaster Management
    The Bombay High Court (BHC) has directed the Central and Western Railways to upgrade their disaster management system and submit a comprehensive process for review by August 16. <More>

  •  Sachar Commission Targets Judiciary
    The controversial Sachar Panel created by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and criticized by many for its divisive charter of counting the presence of Muslims in different arms of the Government, has apparently started targeting the Judiciary. <More>
Environment, Health and Education

  • Digital Record of Bio-Resources
    Department of Biotechnology under the Union Ministry of Science and Technology has produced a set of CD based information called “Jeeva Sampada” which is the first digital documentation of India's vast bio-resources covering over 39,000 species. <More>

  • Collateral Damage of HIV - AIDS
    A recent study by three premier institutions predicted that a continued unchecked spread of HIV/AIDS epidemic can adversely impact macro-economic parameters including growth rate, educational levels, and labor shortages. <More>

  • Government to Respond to Reservation Lawsuit  
     The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry is to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court (SC) justifying the Government’s decision to reserve seats for the so-called Other Backward Classes (OBC) in higher educational institutions under the 93rd Amendment. <More>
Terrorism, Defense, Security and Science & Technology

  • Political Failure in War on Terror
    The continued politicking dealt a serious blow to India’s ability to fight terror as Opposition sought to embarrass the Government more than solving the issue while the senior Ministers sought to divide the country further on the basis of religion.     <More>

  • India Signs Nuclear Terrorism Convention
    Sharing the objective of the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism to deny terrorists access to nuclear materials and enhance international cooperation to prevent nuclear terrorism, India announced its acceptance of this measure.     <More>

  • Pak Warns of Nuclear War over Hot Pursuit
    Briefing journalists on a recent article in the Washington Post on the expansion of nuclear facilities, Pakistan Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said trivialized its contents and warned nuclear war if India pursues terrorists into Kashmir that it has occupied.     <More>

  • Some Successes against Naxals
    Finally, there seems to be some forward movement on some policies from the Federal Home Ministry and some successes against Naxals in Andhra Pradesh with the topmost terrorist in that state killed in an encounter by the elite Greyhound Force. <More>

Neighbors

  • Bangladesh Joins ARF
    The 13th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting in Kuala Lumpur will see Bangladesh included as its 26th member led by Foreign Minister Morshed Khan to strengthen participation in the group.<More>

  • Punitive Action Sanctioned on Bangla Border
    Increased infiltration of illegal economic migrants, terrorists, lack of adequate response from Bangladesh, and suspected official complicity has changed India’s attitude ordering the infusion of another 40 battalions on the border and authority to deliver retaliatory fire.<More>

  • Nepal Cuts King’s Last Link with Army
    The interim Government in Nepal abolished the Military Secretariat, seen as the King’s last link with the Army, and also set up a Security Coordination Office (SCO) at the Defense Ministry replacing the King Gnanendra as the Supreme Commander.<More>

  • Vexed EU’s UNSC Resolution on Iran
    The EU-3, introduced a draft resolution in the UNSC calling on Iran to “suspend all enrichment-related activities, including research and development, to be verified by the IAEA, and suspend the construction of a reactor moderated by heavy water.”<More>

  • China: Defense Modernization to Guard Development  
    A senior Chinese military official visiting the US said that his country’s defense modernization is part of a defensive policy and not aimed at seeking regional or global hegemony but to safeguard the rapid development his country has gone through.<More>

  • Pak Says Baloach Unrest Crushed
    Several newspapers in Pakistan ran reports quoting unnamed officials claiming that the insurrection in Baloachistan has been crushed and blaming India for arming, funding, and helping that movement—Baloach rebels have dismissed the report as wishful thinking.     <More>

  • Nepal Talks Deferred Briefly
    Talks between the interim Government and Nepalese terrorist group was deferred but to meet in the near future and focus on the interim constitution content, constituent assembly formation process, constituencies redraw plan, and arms management. <More>

  • LTTE Insists on Change in Monitors
    The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has reiterated to the visiting Ambassador-at-Large of Swedish Foreign Ministry that there is no change in its demand for withdrawal of EU monitors  from the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) by September 1. <More>
World

  • Israel Supports UN Peacekeepers Idea
    Incessant bombing of blocks of apartments and mass migration of people following radio announcements and pamphlets thrown down from planes is best described by a visiting UN official as a “horrific” and “violation of humanitarian law.” < More >
 
Hot Topics
Political Failure in War on Terror
Govt Clarifications on Farm Sector FDI  
PLOTE Leader Killed
ASEAN Suspends FTA
Bangladesh Joins ARF
Punitive Action Sanctioned on Bangla Border
Growth Pace to Continue
India toRaise Pak Trade Curbs at SAARC
Govt Withdraws Dismissal Move against Venugopal

Featured Analyses     More
 

Political Failure in War on Terror

The continued politicking dealt a serious blow to India’s ability to fight terror as Opposition sought to embarrass the Government more than solving the issue while the senior Ministers sought to divide the country further on the basis of religion.  
 

OoP Pitches Parliament against President, SC

 

No Implementation of Groundwater Bill

 

Some Successes against Naxals

 

Inadequate Response to NMCC Recommendations

 

Tigers Forever Initiative

Featured Edits

White House to Hill: Delink n-deal from India-Iran ties

Welcome initiative
The mole and the fox

Inscription
South Indian Inscriptions
Ancient Indian dynasties documented their administration, significant developments, grants, and milestones as inscriptions in temples. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has documented these inscriptions from 1886. These pages contain inscriptions from Pallava, Chola, Pandya, Western Chalukya, Eastern Chalukya, Rashtrakuta, Hoyasala, Vijayanagara, Vishnukundin, Kakatiya, Reddi, Vaidumba, Chinda, Eastern Ganga, Gajapathi, Kalchurya, Qutb-Shahi of Golkonda, and Moghul,  dynasties.
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