Military Coup in Thailand
The Thai Army took over administration from to break deadlock and stop “rampant corruption” in the 74 year old democracy but promised to return “power to the people” as soon as possible but after cleaning the political system.<More>

Diplomatic Pressure on LTTE
The new US Ambassador to Sri Lanka espoused the Sri Lankan Government (SLG) line claiming that there is intense diplomatic pressure on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to offer “credible guarantees” not to rearm while negotiating. <More>

Maoists Force Children to March for Peace
Maoist guerrillas and their once-banned ultra-leftist student union forced children, some as young as 10, to attend a 5-hour rally under scorching sun listening to diatribe against US imperialism and Indian expansionism. <More>

India Claims to be Yaws-Free
India ’s Health Minister Anbumani Ramdoss claimed that Yaws, a common chronic infectious disease occurring mostly in the warm humid topical regions, has now been eliminated from India but eradication will take another two years.<More>

Child Labor Targets Missed, Enforcement Tightened
Karnataka, home to India’s Silicon Valley, has said that it will most likely miss child labor targets but has promised that the new federal law aiming to curtail this inhuman practice will be enforced strictly and more vigor<More>

ONGC’s Mangalore SEZ
The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will invest Rs. 35,000 crore (USD 7.6 billion) in the Special Economic Zone at Mangalore to house a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant, a 15 million ton (mt) refinery, petrochemical plant, and power plant.<More>