A long-simmering territorial dispute between India and Bangladesh has been resolved as an uninhabited Bay of Bengal island was swallowed by the rising seas. The territory known as New Moore Island to Indians and South Talpatti to Bangladeshis has disappeared from satellites images, reports Jadavpur University's School of Oceanographic Studies in Calcutta. "What these two countries could not achieve from years of talking, has been resolved by global warming," said Prof. Sugata Hazra, adding that anyone wishing to visit the island now would have to travel by submarine. "We will have ever larger numbers of people displaced from the Sunderbans as more island areas come under water." (BBC News, March 24)

Up to 11 villagers, including a child, were killed when a group of over 200 Naxalite guerillas attacked a village in Jamui, Bihar, late Feb. 17. The attack reportedly came in retaliation for the killing of eight Naxalites by the villagers a fortnight ago. (Indian Express, Feb. 19) A day earlier, Naxalite gunmen on motorcycles and pickup trucks killed 24 paramilitary officers in a daylight ambush against an encampment of the Eastern Frontier Rifles in West Bengal. (NYT, Feb. 16)

India is investigating whether Pakistan was behind the Feb. 13 attack on the German Bakery in Pune, Maharashtra, that killed nine just ahead of peace talks with Islamabad scheduled for next week. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to cancel the peace talks. "Terrorism and talks can't coexist," said BJP spokesman Arun Jaitley. The bakery was said to be frequented by foreigners from the city's Chabad House, an Orthodox Jewish cultural and religious center—and also from the local Osho Ashram, founded by the late Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. (FT, WP, Feb. 15; Eurasia Review, Feb. 14)

Tanks rolled and fighter jets roared over India's main ceremonial avenue in an annual Republic Day military parade Jan. 26—hours after Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged heavy fire in disputed Kashmir. A spokesman for the Indian border force said Pakistani troops fired to provide cover to militants trying to infiltrate into Indian-controlled Kashmir. But a Pakistani official said Indian forces used automatic weapons and mortar rounds in "unprovoked firing" that hit Bijhwat village near the Pakistani city of Sialkot. No casualties were reported. (Reuters, Jan. 26)

Four explosions rocked Sri Lanka's Jaffna peninsula in the wee hours on Jan. 26, the day slated for the first national election since the government declared victory in the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May. At least two bombs went off outside the home of a ruling party activist in the Jaffna peninsula, but there were no reports of casualties, the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) said.

An Indian court on Jan. 25 rejected a request by suspected Mumbai terror attack gunman Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab to be tried in an international court. Kasab claimed he would not receive a fair trial in India and that police had falsely accused him of taking part in the 2008 terror attacks. Special Court Judge ML Tahaliyani denied Kasab's request, calling it "premature." Kasab also requested that he be allowed to examine defense witnesses, including passport officers and government staff, from Pakistan and that he be allowed to meet with Pakistani officials. Tahaliyani told Kasab he should file a petition through his lawyer. Kasab faces 86 charges, including murder, for his role in the attacks and, may face the death penalty. A verdict is expected sometime early this year.

A 20-hour gun battle at a hotel seized by militants who had earlier killed an officer at a police checkpoint in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, ended Jan. 7 after police killed two militants, including a Pakistani citizen. A police officer and a civilian were killed, and 10 others wounded. Jammu and Kashmir authorities said both militants belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based terrorist group that has been blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai. Other sources said Jamait-ul-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the initial attack. (NYT, AlJazeera, Jan. 8)

UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Philip Alston on Jan. 8 urged an investigation into possible Sri Lankan war crimes after authenticating a video of captive members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) being executed by members of Sri Lanka's military. Alston said that an investigation by experts in forensic pathology, forensic video analysis, and firearm evidence concluded that the video was authentic.