Category: South Asia

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 […]

NEW DELHI, January 17, 2014 (AFP) – India’s ruling party was putting on a united front Friday at a mass rally after its leader Sonia Gandhi stalled a push to name her son Rahul as prime ministerial candidate at looming elections.Thousands of Congress party members have gathered in the capital New Delhi for a conclave […]

MALÉ, December 30, 2013 (AFP) – A dead body has washed up at an exclusive island resort in the Maldives where English football star David Beckham is taking a hideaway Christmas holiday with his family, police said Monday.Investigations were underway to establish the cause of death of the man, whose body was found floating near […]

JEDDAH, December 28, 2013 (AFP) – Saudi coastguards have found the bodies of three Asian workers at sea after they went missing when an oil company’s offshore platform sank, officials said Saturday. “They were all found. We found two of them late yesterday and another one this morning,” Eastern Province Coastguard spokesman Colonel Khaled al-Arqubi […]

KARACHI, December 13, 2013 (AFP) – Pakistan’s textile sector Friday welcomed a European Union’s move to cut duties on the country’s exports, saying it would add billions to the economy, but it warned an energy crisis could prevent firms from benefiting from the windfall.The EU on Thursday signed a law granting Pakistan generalised system of […]

MUMBAI, December 9, 2013 (AFP) – Indian shares hit a record high while the rupee and bonds rallied on Monday after the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, widely seen as business friendly, recorded a string of victories in state elections. The party’s success has raised hopes among investors that it could come to power with […]

NEW DELHI, November 30, 2013 (AFP) – India’s struggling Tata Nano, billed as the world’s cheapest car, could still have a strong future with a more upmarket image, says Tata group tycoon Ratan Tata, as the company looks to give the hatchback a new start. Tata told US business channel CNBC late Friday he still […]

WASHINGTON, November 22, 2013 (AFP) – A US Senate report on Friday urged Walmart, Gap and other retailers to respect labor unions in Bangladesh, saying workers desperately needed greater rights after hundreds died in fires.“They should also collectively develop and implement a policy of zero-tolerance for suppliers who consistently engage in anti-union activity,” it said. […]

DHAKA, November 20, 2013 (AFP) – Bangladesh police have arrested three union leaders over deadly protests against a new minimum wage for garment workers that have forced hundreds of factories to shut, an officer said Wednesday. Police arrested the trio over their roles in the protests which have left two people dead in key industrial […]

MALÉ, November 17, 2013 (AFP) – Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen was inaugurated Sunday, a day after his shock election victory that ended nearly two years of turmoil that threatened to turn the honeymoon islands into an international pariah.Yameen, the half-brother of the islands’ long-time strongman ruler, was sworn in by the chief justice at a […]