Category: Other
Thousands rally over blasphemy law in Pakistan: police
KARACHI, January 9, 2011 (AFP) – More than 20,000 people rallied in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi on Sunday, police said, against proposed amendment to blasphemy laws that were recently used to sentence a Christian woman to death. The protest follows Tuesday’s assassination of the governor of Punjab province, Salman Taseer, by one of his […]
Sri Lanka floods kill two, 600,000 homeless
January 9, 2011 (AFP) – Two children were buried alive in mudslides on Sunday in Sri Lanka where more than 600,000 people have been driven out of their homes by floods, officials said. A six-year-old boy and a nine-year-old girl were killed in separate incidents in the district of Badulla. Heavy rains have caused flooding […]
Rule of Law
January 9, 2011 (AFP) – A media rights group on Sunday marked the second anniversary of the assassination in Sri Lanka of an anti-government editor by calling for a fresh search for his killers. Government soldiers defeated the Tigers in May 2009 after decades of fighting. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) accused the government of blocking […]
India stocks dive on interest rate concerns
MUMBAI, January 7, 2011 (AFP) – Indian stocks slumped for the fourth day running on Friday, shedding 2.44 percent on mounting fears that interest rates will be raised sooner than expected to curb the spiralling cost of food. The benchmark 30-share Sensex index ended 492.93 points lower at 19,691.81, a three-week low. Surging vegetable prices, […]
‘s stewardship of dynamic economy
WASHINGTON, January 5, 2011 (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund Wednesday praised India’s stewardship of one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, saying the country’s growth prospects appear robust. The IMF said that India had emerged from the global financial slump with a strong recovery since mid-2009 led by domestic demand, particularly infrastructure investment. “Executive directors […]
Sri Lanka allows duty free import of milch cows, dairy equipment
Jan 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is lifting all import levies on high yielding milk cows and diary equipment to promote domestic production of milk and is also increasing the farm gate price of milk, a senior minister said. Information minister Keheliya Rambukwelle said the cabinet of ministers had approved the tax change following […]
‘s silk sari industry
NEW DELHI, January 5, 2011 (AFP) – For centuries, the stunning silk saris woven by hand in the holy city of Varanasi have been prized by Indian women, but an influx of cheap Chinese-made copies is destroying the local industry. Badruddin Ansari, one of the few weavers still in business, says that most of his […]
‘s ruling party
NEW DELHI, January 4, 2011 (AFP) – One of India’s biggest corruption cases that tarnished late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in the 1980s returned to haunt the ruling party on Tuesday amid new charges of kickbacks and graft. The weekly current affairs magazine India Today said in its New Year issue that “the size and […]
‘s Cadbury purchase: report
NEW DELHI, January 3, 2011 (AFP) – India’s finance ministry has launched a probe into the takeover by Illinois-based Kraft Foods of British confectionery giant Cadbury that could see the US company hit with a huge tax bill, a report said Monday. The ministry has begun looking into the deal that saw Kraft buy the […]
Sri Lanka plantations mull loans for replanting
Dec 31, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s plantations are considering concessionary loans with interest subsidies from the government to improve replanting of tea, which has fallen behind targets, the Tea Board said. The plantations ministry wants to increase the re- plantation rate of regional plantations corporation estates to three percent a year from the current […]
Indian group buys luxury London hotel Grosvenor House
LONDON, December 31, 2010 (AFP) – The conglomerate, Sahara India Pariwar, has bought London’s luxurious Grosvenor House hotel from state-rescued Royal Bank of Scotland for 470 million pounds (545 million euros, 728 million dollars). “We are extremely happy to announce Grosvenor House joining the Sahara family,” Sahara Group chairman Subrata Roy Sahara said in a […]
Indians to outnumber Chinese in 2025: US
WASHINGTON, December 29, 2010 (AFP) – India is on course to top China as the world’s most populous country in 2025, the US Census Bureau forecast, potentially changing the dynamics between the Asian giants. The latest Census Bureau estimates out this week, which are in line with previous studies, predicted that India would have 1. […]