Subject: South Asia Daily: India Launches Austerity Drive; Drone Strike Kills Four in South Waziristan; Afghanistan Burns 20 Tons of Illegal Drugs
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Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 08:39:00 -0400 (EDT)

India Launches Austerity Drive; Drone Strike Kills Four in South Waziristan; Afghanistan Burns 20 Tons of Illegal Drugs

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India Launches Austerity Drive; Drone Strike Kills Four in South Waziristan; Afghanistan Burns 20 Tons of Illegal Drugs

India Launches Austerity Drive; Drone Strike Kills Four in South Waziristan; Afghanistan Burns 20 Tons of Illegal Drugs

   <p>  <b>India</b>  </p><br><p>  <i>Indian government launches austerity drive</i>  </p><br><p>  The Indian finance ministry announced austerity measures on Thursday, and asked bureaucrats to cut down non-plan  (discretionary) expenditure by 10 percent (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPoMfbmCwpiA888b style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">NDTV</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPoMfbmCwp2A2dc2 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Economic Times</a>). These measures include restrictions on holding meetings at  five-star hotels, creating new positions in the government, first-class air  travel, and new car purchases. The new measures also discourage departments  from holding seminars abroad and encourage video conferencing. However, the  austerity measures will not impact the defense budget, salaries and pensions, or  interest and debt payments.   </p><br><p>  The finance ministry's statement said: "Such measures are intended  at promoting fiscal discipline, without restricting the operational efficiency  of the government... In the context of the current fiscal situation, there is a  need to continue to rationalize expenditure and optimize available resources" (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPoMfbmCwqKA6123 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Livemint</a>). The Prime Minister Narendra Modi government has set a target of  narrowing the fiscal gap to a seven-year low at 4.1 percent. In the 2013-14  year, the fiscal deficit was at 4.5 percent.  </p><br><p>  <i>Indian man arrested for being gay</i>  </p><br><p>  A 32-year-old man was arrested under Section 377 of the Indian  Penal Code (IPC) in the city of Bangalore, located in the southern state of  Karnataka, after his wife caught him on a spycam allegedly having sex with  another man in their home, according to news reports on  Wednesday (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPoMfbmCwqeA4add style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Hindustan Times</a>). It was reported that the wife got suspicious of her husband  when they did not engage in physical relations, slept in separate rooms, and  many random men visited their home. The wife installed hidden cameras and  caught her husband engaging in homosexual activities.   </p><br><p>  Sandip Patil, deputy commissioner of police, Central Division,  Bangalore, said: "We think it is one of the first cases to come up under  this section after the Supreme Court's verdict last year" (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPoMfbmCwq0A769f style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">BBC</a>). Last year, the Indian Supreme Court overturned a high court decision  that had termed Section 377, a 153-year-old British colonial law,  unconstitutional. Section 377 of the IPC criminalizes sexual activities  "against the order of nature," including homosexual acts.   </p><br><p>  <i>Critically-acclaimed 'Haider' creates controversy</i>  </p><br><p>  Bollywood director Vishal Bhardwaj's Indian adaptation of Hamlet,  titled "Haider" and set in Indian-administered Kashmir, has resulted in  numerous controversies in India (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPoMfbmCwrJA68d1 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">NYT</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPoMfbmCwrjA9076 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Firstpost</a>). Critically-acclaimed Haider focuses on the alleged human rights  abuses in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, and highlights the alleged  torturing and kidnapping of local youths by the Indian army. Kashmiri Hindus in  Jammu burnt posters of the film and demanded an immediate ban on the movie.  Meanwhile, Ghulam Hassan Shah, a 65-year-old Imam in a mosque in Srinagar was  stopped from leading the evening prayers at his mosque, and was asked to leave  for his ancestral village because it was un-Islamic for an Imam to appear in a  film. Shah had briefly appeared in the film for three seconds.   </p><br><p>  Pakistan has also banned the screening of the film, as its censors  claim that the movie was "against the ideology of Pakistan." The Hindu Front  for Justice, a group of rightist lawyers, petitioned in court to seek a ban on  the film, arguing that "Haider" was against "national interest." In response to  the criticism Bhardwaj received for portraying the Indian Army in a negative  light, the 48-year-old director said: "I'm also an Indian, I'm also a  patriot, I also love my nation. So I won't do anything which is anti-national.  But what is anti-human, I will definitely comment on it" (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPoMfbmCwr7A9aea style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">BBC</a>).   </p><br><p>  <i>--  Neeli Shah and Jameel Khan</i>  </p><br><p>  <b>Pakistan</b>  </p><br><p>  <i>Drone  strike kills at least four in South Waziristan</i>  </p><br><p>  A drone strike killed at least four militants on  Thursday targeting a house near the town of Wana in South Waziristan (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPoMfbmCwsVA85db style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">RFE/RL</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPoMfbmCwsvA1ede style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Reuters</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPoMfbmCwtIAada4 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">ET</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPoMfbmCwthA2007 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Dawn</a>).  The strike reportedly killed a senior Arab commander, who Pakistan's <i>Dawn </i>newspaper reported as named Adil.  One local villager told <i>Reuters</i>: "We  heard from local militants that there was a senior Arab commander but they  didn't mention his name." Another said there were "foreign guests" at the  house. According to data collected by New America, there have been 17 drone  strikes in Pakistan this year in which 115 people have been killed (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/U76UUsPocBqejEOjA0613 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">NA</a>). The  United States' drone campaign paused in early 2014, and no strikes were  conducted in Pakistan until June. The number of strikes surged in early October  with seven strikes in seven days between Oct. 5 and Oct. 11.  </p><br><p>  <i>Cyclone  Nilofar weakens</i>  </p><br><p>  Cyclone Nilofar, which is 650 kilometers (404  miles) off of Karachi, has weakened and is unlikely to directly hit Pakistan,  according to Pakistani meteorological officials (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPoMfbmCwt0A05c6 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">ET</a>).  Tauseef Alam, the chief meteorologist at the National Seismic Monitoring Centre  in Karachi, told <i>Express News</i> that  the cyclone would not directly hit Pakistan, passing it by to hit the Indian  city of Gujarat instead. The cyclone was downgraded from category three to  category two on Tuesday and it is expected to be further downgraded to a  category one cyclone today. Despite the cyclone's weakening, the Sindh  government declared an emergency in ten of the province's districts (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPoMfbmCwt_A885c style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Dawn</a>).  </p><br><p>  <i>Iran,  Pakistan agree on pipeline plans</i>  </p><br><p>  Iran and Pakistan agreed during a meeting in  Tehran on Tuesday to look for ways to implement the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline  despite U.S. opposition (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPoMfbmCwuGA74f2 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">ET</a>).  Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Pakistan's federal minister for petroleum, told Pakistan's  <i>Express Tribune</i> newspaper: "I am  hopeful that both parties can find a consolidated solution for the project  despite threats of sanctions." The Pakistani delegation reportedly informed the  Iranian delegation that American sanctions were the main challenge to implementing  the pipeline.  </p><br><p>  <i>Malala  to donate World Children's Prize to Gaza</i>  </p><br><p>  Malala Yousafzai, who won the World Children's  Prize on Tuesday, announced on Wednesday that she would donate the $50,000  prize to help rebuild a United Nations Relief and Works Agency school in Gaza (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPorTI9uzBzAa7b5 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">ET</a>).  In her <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPorTI9uzCNAed0f style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">statement</a>,  Yousafzai said: "I am honored to announce all my World's Children's Prize money  will go to help students and schools in an especially difficult place - in  Gaza."&nbsp; Pierre Kr&auml;henb&uuml;hl, the  UNRWA commissioner general thanked Malala, stating that her recognition: "will  lift the spirits of a quarter of a million UNRWA students in Gaza and boost the  morale of our more than 9,000 teaching staff there."  </p><br><p>  <i>--  David Sterman</i>  </p><br><p>  <b>Afghanistan</b>  </p><br><p>  <i>Afghanistan  burns 20 tons of illegal drugs</i>  </p><br><p>  On Wednesday, Afghan counternarcotics agents  burned over 20 tons of illegal drugs that were seized over the last 9 months in  Kabul including heroin, morphine, opium, and chemical products (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPorTI9uzCmA9edf style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Pajhwok</a>).  Opium poppy production in Afghanistan, which accounts for 80 percent of the  world's opium, has hit an all time high with over 3 million Afghans involved in  the cultivation, production, and trafficking of poppy-derived drugs (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPorTI9uzC_A1865 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">NYT</a>).  Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, John F. Sopko, said: "The  recent record-high level of poppy cultivation calls into question the long-term  effectiveness and sustainability" of the U.S.-led counter-narcotics program (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPorTI9uzDZA3f44 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">LAT</a>).  </p><br><p>  <i>Special  court created for Kabul Bank prosecution</i>  </p><br><p>  The Afghan Supreme Court announced on Wednesday  the creation of a special court to expedite the inquiry into the reopening of  the Kabul Bank case where prominent bank officials embezzled $900 million in  2010 (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPorTI9uzDyAdf2c style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">TOLO  News</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPorTI9uzEMA45b2 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Pajhwok</a>).  Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, upon taking office, gave the attorney general  six weeks to prosecute the case; individuals involved in the scandal have yet  to be arrested and no court hearing has been held. Two of the individuals  involved, the heads of the Milli Bank and the New Kabul Bank, recently were  permitted by the Ministry of Finance and Central Bank to leave the country, but  have yet to return following the attorney general's summons.  </p><br><p>  <i>Judicial  reform underway</i>  </p><br><p>  After his inauguration, Ghani gave the judiciary  one month to enact judicial reforms and curtail corruption within the judicial  system, the deadline of which has already passed but newly appointed Chief  Justice Abdul Rashid Rashid says reforms are currently underway (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71y0j9.svp/VFIxLMPorTI9uzElA1975 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">TOLO  News</a>). As of Wednesday, almost 200 judges and 600 court employees have been  fired for abuse of power, taking bribes, or the allegations such actions. The  judicial system is the most corrupt public institution in Afghanistan,  according to Transparency International.  </p><br><p>  <i>--  Courtney Schuster</i>  </p><br><p>  <i>Edited by Peter Bergen</i>  </p><br> 

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