Lockdown in Nepal town after violence

KATHMANDU • Hundreds of security personnel patrolled a tense town in western Nepal yesterday after an 18-month- old boy and seven policemen died in violent protests against a new Constitution.

The government deployed the army and announced an indefinite curfew in parts of Kailali district a day after protestors attacked police with spears, axes and knives and the home of a paramilitary officer, killing his son.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Indian caste demands preferential treatment

AHMEDABAD (India) • At least half a million protesters paralysed the main city of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat yesterday to demand preferential treatment for their Patidar caste - one of the state's most affluent. The Patidars make up 12 per cent of Gujarat's population. They say they are struggling to compete with less-privileged castes for jobs and university places.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE