Category: South Asia

MALÉ, March 21, 2014 (AFP) – The Maldivian elections commission said Friday it planned to go ahead with this weekend’s parliamentary polls despite the islands’ new president expressing doubts over whether the vote can be conducted.President Abdulla Yameen told a public rally in the capital island Male on Thursday night that a depleted Elections Commission […]

NEW DELHI, March 19, 2014 (AFP) – Authorities in the Maldives were probing reports Wednesday that islanders saw a “low-flying jumbo jet” on the day the missing Malaysia Airlines plane vanished.While the islands’ National Defence Force said that no trace of Flight MH370 had been picked up on radar, police and the civil aviation authority […]

TOKYO, March 17, 2014 (AFP) – Toyota said Monday it has suspended production at its two Indian auto assembly plants in response to threats against management and “deliberate” assembly-line stoppages, as efforts to hammer out a labour deal failed.A Tokyo-based company spokesman said Toyota hoped to restart production quickly, but could not give a timeline […]

NEW DELHI, March 16, 2014 (AFP) – India on Sunday suspended its search for Malaysia Airlines flight 370 around the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands and in the Bay of Bengal and is awaiting a new request from Malaysia, a defence official said.“The entire operation is on hold for now. We are awaiting fresh instructions […]

WASHINGTON, March 14, 2014 (AFP) – A US naval ship and surveillance plane are heading to the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal to search for a missing Malaysian airliner that vanished a week ago, officials said Friday.The hunt had initially focused on the South China Sea east of Malaysia — along the intended route […]

NEW DELHI, March 9, 2014 (AFP) – One Indian worker was killed in an accident during construction of a nuclear submarine, a defence statement said Sunday, the latest in a string of deadly mishaps to hit the navy.Two other workers were injured in the accident on Saturday at a ship building centre in the southeastern […]

AGRA, February 27, 2014 (AFP) – A pet parrot in India has been credited with helping catch the man who murdered its owner, a relative said Thursday. The owner, a 55-year-old woman, was stabbed to death and her jewellery stolen at her home in the northern city of Agra on February 20. The woman’s relatives […]

WASHINGTON, February 21, 2014 (AFP) – US regulators are not targeting India, despite a series of import restrictions on drugs from the major US trading partner, the Food and Drug Administration chief said Friday.India’s generics industry is a major supplier of lifesaving drugs, including antiretrovirals for HIV, to the United States and over 200 other […]

NEW DELHI, February 8, 2014 (AFP) – India’s Maruti Suzuki said Saturday it had halted production of its iconic first small car, the Maruti 800, which revolutionised road transport for millions of Indians.The boxy, four-seater hatchback — the first car ever owned by many Indian middle class families — first rolled off the production line […]

NEW DELHI, February 6, 2014 (AFP) – Tourists travelling to India from 180 countries will no longer have to queue at their local consulates to obtain visas after New Delhi announced an “historic” overhaul of its strict visa regime.Most foreigners currently have to wait several weeks before learning whether they will be allowed to enter […]

NEW DELHI, January 31, 2014 (AFP) – The Tata Nano, billed as the world’s cheapest car, and a host of other top-selling small models from India have failed their first independent crash tests, a global safety group said Friday. The five entry-level vehicles — including the country’s best-selling small car the Suzuki-Maruti Alto 800, as […]

KABUL, January 18, 2014 (AFP) – Taliban suicide attackers killed at least 14 people, including the IMF representative in Afghanistan and three UN staff, in a terrifying gun and bomb attack on a Kabul restaurant popular with foreigners.One attacker blew himself up outside the Taverna du Liban in the upmarket Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood Friday […]