Monday, July 2, 2001		Lens on IT

A Chinese cyclist passes by a Japanese-made car in central Beijing. Japan and China dug in their heels in an escalating trade war between the giant neighbours, with Tokyo slamming Beijing's punitive tariffs on its cars and mobile phones as unjustifiable. Japan, the world's second-largest economy, stood defiant the festering row and took shelter behind international trade rules. 

Vinay Kohli, Ministry of Information Technology and MIT chief, Prof Alex Pentland, signing an agreement for setting up the Media Lab Asia in India, in Mumbai. Union Minister for Information Technology Pramod Mahajan, Vilasroa Deshmukh, Chief Minister, Maharashtra and Chhagan Bhujbal, Deputy Chief Minister, are also seen in the picture.

American Airlines gate agent Debbie Benard uses a Palm device connected to a printer to issue a passenger's boarding pass at San Jose Airport in San Jose, Calif. Workers are using handheld computers to change the way they do their jobs. Palm is still the overall market leader in personal digital assistants (PDA).

Tarun Tejpal editor in chief of Tehelka.com and Riz Khan, Former anchor, CNN International, having a word at South Asian Journalist Association (SAJA ) convention 2001 at Columbia University in New York. 

— Reuters photos