July 10, 2003	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 9,1424

NEW DELHI, July 9: Entrepreneurial village women from southern India have struck it rich after creating markets in West Asia, South East Asia and the United States, it was reported Wednesday.

The women are from rural areas in Andhra Pradesh state, which is recovering from a savage month-long heatwave in which more than 1,300 people died.

The women, organised into “self-help groups”, have been making and selling shirts, pickles and crochet caps abroad, the Economic Times newspaper reported.

Most businesses are thriving in the coastal districts, which were the hardest hit during the drought and heatwave.—dpa