Travel 18
Op Ed 19
Sports 24
Spiritual Awareness 30
NEW YORK EDITION Vol.4 No.33 December 3-9, 2011 60 Cents Pakistani American businessman to buy NFL team
Ramsaran elected international president of GOPIO National Community, Pages 7
Rage against retail FDI in India, Govt unmoved New Delhi: Protests over the entry of global retail chains such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour saw tens of thousands of shops down shutters across India Thursday, amid continued political stalemate. The protest was called by the Confederation of All India Trade Associations, backed by opposition parties, demanding the withdrawal of a cabinet decision last week to permit up to 51 percent foreign equity in multi-brand retailing and 100 percent in single-brand format. Opposition to FDI in retail has blocked proceedings in Parliament too since the start of the winter session a week ago. The government has been sticking to its guns, arguing foreign investment in retail, one of the most significant economic
Traders sit outside closed shops at a main market in Delhi as nationwide bandh was called Thursday. reforms in years, will benefit traders, consumers as well as farmers. A trade union official, Praveen Khandelwal put the contrary argument Continued on page 4...
TheSouthAsianTimes.info Eco-rock band from NY packs a musical punch in India Eco-Tainment, Page 15
Obama not to apologize to Pak for NATO attack Washington: US President Barack Obama is not considering offering formal condolences to Pakistan over the death of 24 soldiers in a NATO airstrike last week in the restive Afghan border region, the New York Times reported. The report, quoting administration officials, said that Cameron Munter, the US Ambassador in Pakistan, had requested the White House to issue a formal video statement from Obama so that rapid deterioration of relations between the two countries could be prevented. Munter argued that anger in
US to ease curbs on aid to Myanmar Yangon: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a visit to this long-isolated nation, met on Thursday with Myanmar’s famous opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and announced that the US would ease some restrictions on financial aid to reward the country’s political and economic reforms. The US and Myanmar also agreed to discuss the possibility of upgrading diplomatic relations — suspended for two decades — and exchanging ambassadors. “For decades, the choices of this country’s leaders kept it apart from the global economy and the community of nations,” Clinton said after meetings with the country’s new president, Thein Sein, and other leaders. “Today, the US is prepared to respond to reforms with measured steps to lessen its isolation and improve the lives of citizens.” Clinton met Thein Sein at the presidential palace in Naypyidaw, about 200 miles north of Yangon. Thein Sein, a former general, greeted her cordially, calling her visit “a historic milestone” that he hoped would “open a new chapter in relations.” Clinton clarified that the extent of the thaw in US-
1 crore hits, ‘Kolaveri di’ is India’s youth anthem Bollywood, Page 16
Hillary Clinton with Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon: US and Myanmar may exchange envoys. Myanmar ties will depends on additional steps by Thein Sein’s government to further open the political process, to release political prisoners and to end the violent repression of minority ethnic groups.
Arguing that anger in Pakistan had reached fever pitch, US ambassador in Islamabad requested a video statement from Obama. Pakistan had reached a fever pitch. The White House, howev-
er, refused the request and said that expressions of Continued on page 4...
‘China may have 3,000 N-weapons’ Wa s h i n g t o n : China is hiding its ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads in a vast network of tunnels, said a media report citing a study carried out by a professor and his students. The research was carried out over three years by Georgetown University students who translated hundreds of documents, went through satellite imagery, got Chinese military documents and trawled through hundreds of gigabytes of online data, reported the
Washington Post. Led by Prof. Phillip A. Karber, a professor, the study has revealed thousands of miles of tunnels dug by Chinese military's Second Artillery Corps, which protects and deploys ballistic missiles and Continued on page 4...