World IN BRIEF : INDIA : Shekhar Calls for End to Violence

Indian Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, in his first national address since taking office, appealed for an end to the religious and sectarian battles that brought down his predecessor. “The age of confrontation should be changed in the age of understanding, compassion and cordiality,” Shekhar said in a radio and television broadcast. Shekhar, who replaced Vishwanath Pratap Singh on Nov. 10, promised to “bring this country out of a muddy mire of misery and misfortune.” Hours before the broadcast, Sikh militants killed 10 Hindus in the northern state of Punjab in continuing violence that has killed at least 500 people across the country in the last two months.