The Tragedy in Ahmedabad

"The building just collapsed on them and they were buried completely."

    -- An eyewitness to the recent earthquake in India.

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"If the Kashmiris want to talk to India that should be their sovereign decision without anyone in Pakistan getting upset by such a development…"

            --Ayaz Amir, a respected Pakistani journalist on direct talks between Kashmiris and Indians.

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"Recent events were only an outburst of pressure accumulated over longtime."

     -Dhruvahari Adhikari, a senior Nepali journalist on the recent anti-India demonstrations in Nepal.

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"…The power that the Enron plant produces is twice as expensive as its nearest competitor and seven times as expensive as the cheapest electricity available in Maharashtra."

            --Author Arundhati Roy on the high cost of electricity generated by an American company in India.

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"…Continued acts of terrorism will only result in the deaths of more innocent people and greater international condemnation for the LTTE."

-- Karl Inderfurth, US assistant secretary of state for South Asia affairs, during a recent visit to Sri Lanka.

      

When Callous System Compounds Nature's Fury

Burying the dead is no longer a ritual here and the only   lights that can be witnessed are the lights of the funeral.

AHMEDABAD, India -- As President Narayanan prepared to salute India's military might and cultural diversity on the Republic Day parade on January 26 in New Delhi, the earth's underbelly roared five hundred miles away. While TV sets beamed the two-hour-long parade in the capital, thousands of men, women and children were trapped under the debris -- battling for life. It took only minutes for the forces beneath to create a devastation that has not been witnessed for years. A massive earthquake had hit north Gujarat at 8.41 am. The epicenter of the quake was 20 km N-NE of Bhuj and it jolted Patna, Ahmedabad, Surendra Nagar, Rajkot and Jamnagar. The radius of the affected area spread over 1,500 km from the epicenter where the intensity was measured in excess of 7.9. Full Story

India, Pakistan inch toward Kashmir Solution

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan and India, bitter rivals for last five decades since division of the subcontinent in 1947, seem to be inching toward a solution of Kashmir dispute over which the two countries fought two wars - in 1948 and 1965 - and locked themselves in numerous border skirmishes. Full Story

Rumor Causes 5 Deaths and Huge Property Loss in Nepal

KATHMANDU -- The streets in Kathmandu reminded of those days a decade earlier. Hundreds of youths were pelting stones, burning tires in the middle of the streets, and police chasing them. The sudden eruption of a recent violence in the otherwise peaceful Nepali capital prompted people to think-was it the same Kathmandu? Though violence subsided as dramatically as it had erupted within a couple of days, it had left a deep scar within Nepal and beyond its borders. Full Story

Anti-Government Protests Gain Momentum in Sri Lanka's North and South

COLOMBO -- The Norwegian special envoy to Sri Lanka, Eric Solheim, came and went during the second week of the new year. If great things were expected from his visit, they were not immediately apparent. The Sri Lankan government stuck to its guns insisting that despite the unilateral ceasefire declared by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), no ceasefire was going to be observed by the Sri Lankan security forces until substantial negotiations commenced. Full Story

Costly Motorway becomes a Liability for Pakistan

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's ambition to become the first country in South Asia to build a motorway is having a disastrous effect on its economy, and the road, which was expected to become the "road to prosperity", has turned out to be a liability for the country. Full Story

Enron Project: A Touchstone of India's Globalization

BOMBAY -- Manmohan Singh's worst nightmares are not over yet. As Union Finance Minister, he opened India's doors to the world by announcing economic liberalization. Many argue that the focus of investment tilted deliberately toward the consumer industry. Nevertheless, the infrastructure sector became the most contentious zone. And after almost a decade, it continues to be so. Full Story

Colombo Shows No Sign to Reciprocate Tamil Offers

The last couple of months witnessed some dramatic twists on the political arena of Sri Lanka. The sudden offer by the LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, to initiate "unconditional talks" with Colombo on finding ways to extinguish the flames of the 17-year ethnic grapple, suddenly jiggled the situation there. But ... Full Story

Bangla Books and Videos Find Space in American Libraries

 
CAMBRIDGE (MA) - Are you a Bangalee or Bengali? New or old in the city? Missing your home, language, literature and your favorite movies? Or
just lonely, feeling a kind of blue? You have a place to go - Cambridge Public Library located right in theheart of Central Square. Full Story