Marginal Press Freedom Improvement
The Paris-based “Reporters Without Borders” rated Indian press freedom marginally higher to 105 (from 106) in a list of 168 nations and most South Asian nations to pathetically low numbers while North Korea and Eritrea rated the worst.<More>

Global Human Rights Panel in Sri Lanka
Responding to feedback mechanism from Indian interlocutors, Sri Lanka is actively considering a global human rights panel that will investigate allegations of human rights violations through a “full-fledged international human rights monitoring mission.”<More>>

Mortality Numbers Lower
The Federal Government claimed Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) declined to 301 per one hundred thousand and said that six states continued to be worrisome but announced various incentives to encourage women to go for institutional delivery.<More>

Priorities for the Navy
The new Naval Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta emphasizing reach, technology, and endurance as the important factors that would govern the next generation navy that can protect the growing economy, provide disaster relief, and ensure regional security.<More>

Al-Badr Man Held in Mysore
After West Bengal , the second communist state Kerala, has said that “there is enough indications to show that Pakistan-sponsored terrorism is taking roots” Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan called for “close co-operation” between Federal and state forces.<More>

Internal Security Concerns to the Fore
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned the country that focusing on external aggression reduces awareness and focus on internal security which is far more dangerous because of the number of threats and causes and the effort that is required to defeat them.<More>

Indo-US Anti-Terrorism Exercises
As part of the ongoing “Malabar” series of exercises, Indian and US Navies will practice expeditionary maneuvers off the Konkan coast in addition to a simulated joint semi-urban anti-terrorism exercise by in Belgaum, Karnataka.<More>

LAC Sanctity & Peace
Ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to India later in November, senior Army officers of India and China met behind closed doors to ensure that “good relations and the growing peace” along the long Line of Actual Control (LAC) is maintained.<More>

Constitutional Crisis in Bangladesh
Violating Constitutional norms, Bangladesh President Iajuddin Ahmed named himself head of a non-party caretaker government to organize the next general election and in a partisan manner held private political briefs with selected parties.<More>

Honorable Citation for Army in Lebanon
The 4 Sikh Regiment, that participated in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), received the Force Commander’s Unit Citation for commendable service during the war in South Lebanon.<More>

Lanka Talks in Stalemate
As expected, the Geneva-based talks between the Sri Lanka Government (SLG) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ended without an agreement on any of the issues, but surprisingly, there was no agreement on future engagement.<More>

Russia Disagrees with Iran Draft
While insisting that it wants to “eliminate the risks of sensitive technologies” flowing to Iran, Russia opposed a European draft resolution calling sanctions against Iran because it wanted to maintain “all possible channels of communication.”<More>

NK Returns to Talks
In a surprising diplomatic breakthrough, China and the US said that North Korea (NK) has agreed to rejoin the 6-nation nuclear disarmament tasks 3 weeks after its first nuclear test and an exchange of bellicose statements exacerbated by confusing news reports.<More>