Thursday, 3 February 2005, 1400 hrs

TOP STORIES
PM cancels Dhaka visit,
concerned over security
The Saarc summit scheduled for February 6 and 7 was postponed after India announced that Manmohan Singh could not go to Dhaka considering the security situation there, and the change of guard in Nepal

BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Outlook stable: India's 
currency rating up
Standard & Poor's (S&P), a leading international rating agency, raised India's foreign currency rating by one notch. This reflects India's improved external position and growth prospects 

Outlook
The baton awaits
The police they have incriminating evidence against the accused. Jayendra Saraswati's hand-picked successor is absconding. Will the government use this to take over the math, wonders S. ANAND

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Asia Times
India's media agog over
ads-for-equity gambit
The largest media house in India has embarked on an innovative path to consolidate its business: it is picking up stakes in companies that need brand building but don't have the cash to do it. So Bennett, Coleman and Co is happily swapping its ad space for these companies' equities, reports INDRAJIT BASU 
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Tribune
Nepalis want democracy, not monarchy
The key to the future of Nepal after the dismissal of the Deuba Government and the imposition of Emergency lies in a question that everyone finds difficult to answer at this stage: how would the Nepali citizen respond to this act of the King? By YOGENDRA YADAV


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Deccan Herald
Who will rescue god? 
The disharmony among religions is not to be understood in terms of any substantive issues between them. As a matter of fact, there are no issues. Such issues as are invoked from time to time are mostly excuses. Let us have a closer look at this self-contradiction in religion. By VALSON THAMPU

EDITORIAL PICKS

The Congress game plan (The Hindu)
Chennai season: music musings (The Hindu)
Iraq's election (Economist)
Britain's terror suspects (Economist)
A humane army (Tribune)
Punjab's planned mess (Tribune)
School ban on mobile phones (Tribune)