Category: Other

NEW DELHI, May 22, 2006 (AFP) – India has agreed to cut tariffs on a basket of products to pave way for the implementation of a proposed free trade argreement (FTA) with Southeast Asia, a report said Monday.The agreement between India and the 10-member ASEAN is scheduled to come into effect on January 1, 2007 […]

MANILA, May 22, 2006 (AFP) – For decades the troubled Philippines economy has been able to bank on one key asset in attracting foreign investors — proficiency in the English language.In recent years it has helped win outsourcing contracts in the booming business process and call center sectors, one of the few areas of the […]

TOKYO, May 22, 2006 (AFP) – The Japanese government is considering whether to continue slashing foreign aid and defense spending through fiscal 2011, a news report said Monday. The latest proposal would ensure that the current policy of cutting government spending would continue after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi steps down in September, the Nihon Keizai […]

MUMBAI, May 22, 2006 (AFP) – Indian share prices recovered from a 10 percent plunge Monday that halted trading for an hour to close down 4.18 percent as domestic funds helped prop the market, dealers said. “In light of the developments in the stock exchanges, the RBI has been in touch with major settlement banks […]

DHAKA, May 22, 2006 (AFP) – Several people were injured when security forces fired live rounds to disperse tens of thousands of textile workers protesting for higher wages near the Bangladesh capital Monday, police said.The protest started around noon at the Export Processing Zone, and its adjoining areas at Ashulia, 40 kilometres (25 miles) north […]

KUALA LUMPUR, May 21, 2006 (AFP) – A prominent Malaysian cleric has warned Muslims against repeatedly marrying and divorcing for fun after reports of a man who married 30 times and has scores of children and grand-children.Harussani Zakaria, a religious leader in northern Perak state, said in a report over the weekend it was sinful […]

DHAKA, May 21, 2006 (AFP) – The Bangladeshi prime minister Sunday removed the power minister amid growing protests over massive power shortages across the South Asian nation which faces a federal election by early 2007.Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who heads a four-party coalition, removed Minister for Power Iqbal Hasan Mahmud and reassigned him as junior […]

KUALA LUMPUR, May 21, 2006 (AFP) – A prominent Malaysian cleric has warned Muslims against repeatedly marrying and divorcing for fun after reports of a man who married 30 times and has scores of children and grand-children.Harussani Zakaria, a religious leader in northern Perak state, said in a report over the weekend it was sinful […]

LONDON, May 20, 2006 (AFP) – The French were voted the world’s most unfriendly nation by a landslide in a British poll published on Saturday. They were also voted the most boring and most ungenerous. A decisive 46 percent of the 6,000 people surveyed by travellers’ website Where Are You Now (WAYN) said the French […]

KINAHREJO, Indonesia, May 19, 2006 (AFP) – The guardian of Indonesia’s Mount Merapi leads a silent procession — or what should be — around his hamlet under the cover of night in a bid to appease the volcano’s ancient spirits. Merapi, which means “Mountain of Fire”, has been belching potentially deadly heat clouds from its […]

KARACHI, May 19, 2006 (AFP) – A new line of jeans for Muslims who want to stay comfortable when they pray has drawn mixed reactions from religious hardliners in Pakistan, where the trousers are being made. Designed by an Italian company and named after the Arabic term for Jerusalem, Al Quds Jeans are baggy with […]