Category: South Asia

NEW DELHI, May 16, 2014 (AFP) – India’s prime minister-elect Narendra Modi was to make a triumphant entrance to New Delhi Saturday after leading his Hindu nationalist party to an historic landslide victory in the world’s largest election. The former tea-boy, whose humble background is a world away from that of the prevailing Delhi elite, […]

MUMBAI, May 16, 2014 (AFP) – India’s stock market jumped more than six percent to a record high of 25,000 points on Friday as business-friendly opposition leader Narendra Modi looked set for a landslide victory in national elections.The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange index, known as the Sensex, rose 6.06 percent to 25,353.16 in morning trade […]

NEW DELHI, May 16, 2014 (AFP) – India’s triumphant Hindu nationalists declared “the start of a new era” in the world’s biggest democracy on Friday as the ruling Congress conceded defeat in elections that exposed anger about sickly economic growth and rampant corruption.Preliminary results and media projections at the climax of the marathon six-week election […]

NEW DELHI, May 16, 2014 (AFP) – The Bharatiya Janata Party’s landslide election victory will usher in a new government expected to steer India sharply to the right after 10 years of rule by the leftist Congress party.Incoming premier Narendra Modi has never been in government at national level after spending the last 13 years […]

VADODARA, May 16, 2014 (AFP) – Narendra Modi promised to work to “fulfil the dreams of 1.2 billion people” as he addressed cheering supporters for the first time Friday after a landslide Indian election victory for his Hindu nationalist party.A sea of well-wishers from across his constituency of Vadodara in Gujarat turned out to hear […]

NEW DELHI, May 16, 2014 (AFP) – To admirers he is a Thatcherite reformer set to jolt India from the economic doldrums, while his opponents liken him to Putin or even Hitler. Indian election frontrunner Narendra Modi divides opinion like few other politicians. The rise of one of India’s most polarising public figures even split […]

VARANASI, May 12, 2014 (AFP) – Voters headed to the polls Monday in the climax of India’s marathon election, with frontrunner Narendra Modi seeking a crowning victory in the holy city of Varanasi for his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party.“People are tired of false promises, corruption and the same old tape-recorded messages,” Modi said in a […]

NEW DELHI, May 3, 2014 (AFP) – Carrefour, the world’s second largest retailer, is working on a plan to exit India, media reports said Saturday, amid political uncertainty about the future of multi-brand retail in the South Asian giant.One of the few foreign retailers to commit to India recently is Britain’s Tesco, which has declared […]

CHENNAI, May 1, 2014 (AFP) – Twin bombs planted on a train killed at least one person and wounded nine others in the main southern Indian city of Chennai on Thursday, a railway official said.“At least two people have suffered grievous injuries and seven have minor injuries,” he told reporters in comments aired on Indian […]

NEW DELHI, April 27, 2014 (AFP) – India successfully test-fired a new anti-ballistic missile on Sunday in a step towards developing a missile defence system which only an elite club of countries has built.India, which shares borders with arch-rival Pakistan and giant China, both of whom are nuclear-armed, is developing the system that aims to […]

COLOMBO, April 25, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Cricket on Friday named former captain Marvan Atapattu as interim head coach, making him the island nation’s seventh coach in the last four years.Atapattu, 43, was appointed for the tour of England and Scotland starting next month and the subsequent home series against South Africa in July, […]

ISLAMABAD, April 23, 2014 (AFP) – The shooting of one of Pakistan’s most famous TV presenters has highlighted the climate of “extreme fear” facing the country’s media, journalists say, as hardliners of different stripes seek to silence dissenting voices. Hamid Mir, host of Capital Talk, a primetime current affairs show on the Geo channel, was […]