Tighter Child Marriage Laws
Minister for Women and Children said the new Prohibition of Child Marriage Bill 2006 has tighter regulations that would heap jail terms and fines on priests, police, and local leaders if they willfully permit child marriages.<More>

Retrograde Forest Bill Passed
Dismissing concerns by environmentalists and conservation experts, the government passed the politically convenient Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill, 2006 that essentially hands over forests to forest dwellers.<More>

Sethusamudram Destruction Begins
Dismissing environmental concerns and acting under secrecy, India started the destruction of an ancient crossway between India and Sri Lanka called the Adam’s Bridge but believed to have been constructed by God-King Rama to facilitate the Sethusamudram Project.<More>

Recoverable Sat on PSLV
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that it is preparing to launch four satellites on a single Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C7) in January and one of the satellites will be recoverable after a week or so in orbit.<More>

India to Retain Testing Rights
As US President George Bush signed in the nuclear deal that granted India access to nuclear fuel outside the ambit of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), harsh criticism was heaped in India on restrictions placed on the nation by US policy makers.<More>

China-Pak End Exercises
China and Pakistan ended a 10-day joint military exercise that focused on anti-terror operations to share “each others experiences in planning and conduct of anti-terrorist operations” for mutual benefit and also to strengthen traditional bilateral bonds of friendship.<More>

Naxal Raid Train, Loot Guns
In a second such incident this year, 15-20 Naxals halted a train in the middle of dense forests, to relieve Rapid Action Force (RAF) jawans of their weapons and walkie-talkies prompting a wide combing operation to nab them.<More>

India Says Pak Still Has Terror Camps
Defence Minister A.K. Antony said that though there had been a drop in infiltration numbers crossing the Line of Control, there are still over 59 terror-training camps in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).<More>

Talks with Afghan Taliban
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is reportedly ready for talks with the Taliban operating in his country hopeful of including them in governance but not the Pakistani counterpart but only if they terminate links with Pakistan as that nation is trying to “enslave” Afghanistan.<More>

Indo-Pak Joint Sir Creek Survey
In the two days talks over Sri Creek beginning this weekend, India and Pakistan are working out a mechanism for the 2nd survey of Sir Creek targeted for completion next March to enable an easy and conflict free demarcation of the maritime zone.<More>

Indo-Sino Glacier Expedition
For the very first time, India and China will jointly survey up to the sources of the Brahmaputra and Sutlej, which is the largest water reservoir in the world outside the Polar region, and collect data that could be used for modeling climatic changes over glaciers.<More>

Riots in Bangladesh
The general strike called by the 14-party opposition led by Awami League (AL) trying to force electoral reforms turned violent with the army and police fighting running battles with civilians leaving 25 people wounded in Dhaka and 100 in other areas.<More>

No Shortcuts in Kashmir
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf proposed a “four point solution” to resolve the Kashmir dispute that includes Indian troop withdrawal, self-governance for Kashmiris, joint supervision by the three sides, and maintaining current borders in exchange for giving up claim to Kashmir.<More>

Maoists Protest Envoy Nominations
After reaching a landmark deal with the political parties that would essentially nullify any powers to King Gnanendra, albeit temporarily, Nepali Maoist guerrillas called for a nationwide strike to protest against the government’s nomination of new ambassadors to 13 foreign capitals.<More>

New King in Bhutan
Bhutan King Jigme Singye Wangchuck stepped aside and made his son Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck the new ruler of the secluded mountainous nation inspiring hope that the new King will transform the nation into a parliamentary democracy.<More>

The Iran Problem for US
As Tehran civic polls brought in moderate and reformist opponents of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s to power, US policy makers are increasingly concerned about developments and statements from Iran and especially about their nuclear program.<More>

4 Advisers Quit in Bangla
Four members of Council of Advisers of President-cum-Chief Adviser Iajuddin Ahmed resigned protesting that there was “no situation” that “warranted an army deployment” of the Army ahead of the general election.<More>

Little Progress in US-NK in Direct Talks
The United States and North Korea (NK) made no progress in their first direct meeting after a long time on the sidelines of the six-nation nuclear arms talks in Beijing to discuss US financial restrictions on Pyongyang, a key stumbling block in the arms negotiations.<More>

Chavez Single Party System
Venezuela President Hugo Chavez initiated steps to consolidate his landslide re-election to move his nation towards a single party system through consolidation of loosely allied parties and concentrate more powers to himself.<More>

Darfur Force by UNSC
The United Nations Security Council urged Sudan to accept deployment of a peacekeeping force that will contain African Union (AU) and European troops in the ravaged Darfur region to augment the 7000 under-funded and ill-equipped AU force that has failed to stem the bloodshed.<More>

ICG Says Iraq Close to Collapse
As the Pentagon reported an all-time high violence levels, an International Crisis Group (ICG) report warned that Iraq is on the brink of total disintegration and drag the entire West Asian region into a regional war.<More>

No Sanctions Says NK
A defiant Pyongyang declaring itself a nuclear power and threatening to increase its arsenal unless UN sanctions imposed on it since its October 9 nuclear test and remove financial restrictions that prompted the bankrupt nation to break-off the 6 nation dialogue 13 months ago.<More>

Elections in Palestine
Within a year of elections that returned hard-line Hamas into power resulting in the abortion of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and internal discord and civil-war conditions, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced plans that he is pushing ahead with early elections.<More>

Manmohan’s Japan Visit
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Japan where he invited greater investment from Japan under a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and also requested Tokyo’s support for the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).<More>