Wednesday, 01 September 2004, 1700 hrs

NATION & STATES
Iraqi abductors release Indian hostages
A day after the massacre of 12 Nepali workers comes the news that three Indian hostages have been released...

BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Trade policy to boost exports
to 300 billion dollars
The government announced a comprehensive foreign trade policy aimed at doubling India's share to $300 billion...

FEATURED STORIES

Deccan Chronicle
Brand India's three colours
An insidious campaign seeks to create the impression that Uma Bharti violated the Flag Code during her eventful ride from the chair of the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh to a court in Hubli. This is a prime example of “political secularism” at its very worst, writes JAYA JAITLEY

Asia Times
The al-Qaeda striptease
Like a stripper in the dance of a thousand veils, Pakistan continues to reveal al-Qaeda suspects at crucial times. But beyond the titillation that keeps those in Islamabad and Washington enthralled, it is Pakistan itself that is being exposed in this dangerous show, says B RAMAN

Indian Express
Act of last resort
Defending the need for the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act does not mean that one condones custodial rape and murder. Or for that matter any human rights violation, says V P MALIK

India Together
Advertorials: blurring the dividing line
Only eight people in a sample of forty were able to distinguish between editorial content and advertorials, indicating that the media often chooses not to clearly state paid-for text as being just that, writes DEEPTI MAHAJAN

Asia Times
The terror in Indian cell phones
Much to the annoyance of India's journalists, terror anxiety has led to a ban on cell phones in the presence of senior government officials. In an age when technology advances at unimaginable speeds, the fear that all gadgetry can be used for evil deeds has become a way of life, says SIDDHARTH SRIVASTAVA

TOP PICKS

OPINION
What's new in trade policy? (Hindu)
The Centre must hold (Hindu)
U-turn on Uma (Tribune)
Antony & Cleopatra (Statesman)
Blame the Law (Times of India)
Portents of civil war (Deccan Herald)
Act of last resort (Indian Express)

What is India Editorial

Water and river management
in South Asia
Given China's disastrous environmental record, India should join an Asian alliance to pressure its big neighbour into behaving more responsibly, says
ARAVIND SITARAMAN

More edits

The failed Kashmir Women's Disqualification Bill
The state is better off without laws that seek to alienate and marginalise its people

It is raining bad politics
The Hubli drama holds a mirror to divisive politics.

INSCRIPTIONS

South Indian Inscriptions

Original texts from four states, transcribed from a definitive work published by the Archaeological Survey of India

Volume 10
Telugu Inscriptions
from Andhra Pradesh

Volume 3 (Part I and II)
Miscellaneous Inscriptions
in Tamil
(Will be uploaded soon)

ONLY ON WHAT IS INDIA

BUSINESS HEADLINES

Trade policy to boost exports

Public education on liberalisation

Fiscal deficit down 4% till July

Tax collection up 20%

IT firms take aim at consulting biz

‘IT spending still low’

Apex chambers hail policy

Industry welcomes measures

Italians explore trade possibility

Farmers get no direct benefits

Air traffic surges

Crude prices drop sharply

Exporters get tax bonanza

Sensex up 20pts

BUSINESS HEADLINES

New 35 hp tractor

Blue Dart in pact with Hayleys

RPG Life gets patent

Turbo powered Skoda rolls out

Boeing lobbies for rebid

Airtel cuts post-paid rates

BPCL-Lanka venture in final stage

Rs 1-lakh car is still a pipedream

Samsung to focus on hi-end prdts

Apple unveils thinnest iMac

Iisco to merge with SAIL

IT sector faces manpower crisis

WORLD HEADLINES

France intensifies efforts
Pak, India exchange 55 prisoners
Twin bombings kill 16 in Israel
Beeb blasts 'bully' Blair
Bush dons veneer of a moderate
Transformation of Indo-US ties
‘We will win the war on terror’
Clerics guide Iraqi opinion- poll
Putin: Chechen links to Al-Qaeda

EXCHANGE

Dollar: 46.90

Pound: 84.45

Euro: 56.75

Yen: (100) 44.10

SOURCES

Pioneer

Tribune

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