Category: Other
India inflation nears double-digits, rate hike seen
NEW DELHI, April 15, 2010 (AFP) – India’s inflation rate crept closer to double digits, official data showed Thursday, as analysts forecast another hike in interest rates to contain prices in Asia’s third-largest economy. Year-on-year wholesale price inflation, India’s main cost-of-living measure, edged up to 9.9 percent in March from 9.89 percent the previous month, […]
Caught
MIAMI, April 13, 2010 (AFP) – US police backed by helicopter units swooped on a group of illegal immigrants smuggled in from the Bahamas, arresting 15 from Haiti, Jamaica and Sri Lanka, smuggled in by sea by Cubans, authorities and local media said Tuesday. The Bahamas are a frequent stopover point for human trafficking operations […]
India plans launch sale of 4G mobile services: report
NEW DELHI, April 14, 2010 (AFP) – India plans to hold an auction of ultra-high-speed fourth-generation (4G) mobile phone spectrum soon after completion of 3G access now underway, a report said Wednesday. It will also heat up the battle for customers in the world’s fastest-growing mobile market. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has […]
‘s Tata Tea in joint-venture talks
NEW YORK, April 12, 2010 (AFP) – US soft-drinks and snacks giant PepsiCo and India’s Tata Tea will explore the formation of a joint venture in “healthy” non-carbonated beverages, the companies said in a statement received Monday. “More details will only be available once the definitive agreements for the joint venture are finalized and executed, […]
‘s industrial output posts double-digit growth
NEW DELHI, April 12, 2010 (AFP) – India posted double-digit industrial growth for a sixth straight month in February, data showed Monday, adding to pressure on the central bank to further hike interest rates to tame inflation. Output by factories, mines and utilities grew 15.1 percent year-on-year in February, according to the government figures, lifted […]
France heads for a long Indian summer
PARIS, April 10, 2010 (AFP) – India is flavour of the month in France with the spotlight swerving from the fairytale world of maharajas to tribal craftsmen in a buildup to a year-long celebration of one of the world’s richest and most diverse cultures. A recent exhibition of priceless autochrome colour photographs nearly 100 years […]
Sri Lanka tea price fall hits producer margins
Apr 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices have fallen after hitting record highs at recent auctions, although still higher than last year, squeezing profit margins of producers faced with rising costs, brokers said. While prices of high grown teas made largely by plantations companies fell, those of low grown teas, cultivated mainly by […]
Justice
Apr 10, 2010 (LBO) – What makes a nation a nation is above all the justice that prevails within that nation. It is justice that creates the bond between the people. Justice connects one with the other. Justice among the people is the one thing that is common to all in a nation if it […]
Blocked
SYDNEY, April 9, 2010 (AFP) – Australia on Friday stopped accepting new Afghan and Sri Lankan asylum seekers as it cracks down on people smuggling to thwart an influx of boatpeople, Immigration Minister Chris Evans said. “Today I want to announce that the government is implementing an immediate suspension on the processing of all new […]
India kicks off billion-dollar 3G auction
NEW DELHI, April 9, 2010 (AFP) – India’s mobile phone firms began bidding Friday to provide superfast third-generation (3G) services in the booming cellular market — a sale expected to reap the government billions of dollars. The auction of 3G spectrum will propel India firmly into the Internet era where rolling out landline broadband networks […]
Indian space programme advances with satellite plan
BANGALORE, April 8, 2010 (AFP) – India plans to put a satellite into orbit using its indigenously built cryogenic rocket engine, marking another step in the nation’s ambitious space programme, officials said. Cryogenic rocket motors, which use supercooled liquid fuel, have been built by only six countries or regions in the world, with India joining […]
India corporate fraud rising: KPMG report
NEW DELHI, April 7, 2010 (AFP) – Corporate fraud, particularly involving financial statements, is on the rise in India as executives struggle to meet earnings targets, global consultancy KPMG said Wednesday. Forty-five percent of the 1,000 managing directors, chief financial officers and other top executives of leading Indian businesses declared fraud had increased within their […]