Category: South Asia

MALÉ, September 23, 2013 (AFP) – The travellers pouring off flight LV199 from Shanghai into the international airport of the Maldives, many dressed in designer labels, are an unmissable sign of China’s interest in the far-flung archipelago.His half-brother, long-time autocrat Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled until 2008, was saved from a coup by late Indian […]

DHAKA, September 23, 2013 (AFP) – Angry Bangladeshi garment workers blocked roads, set factories alight and clashed with police for a third day on Monday as protests demanding a minimum monthly wage of $100 spread outside the capital. Thousands of workers also attacked a camp of a reserve police force 40 kilometres (25 miles) north […]

NEW DELHI, September 21, 2013 (AFP) – A new Indian airline planned by the giant Tata Group and Singapore Airlines reaffirms the nation’s longterm potential as an aviation market, despite the sector’s current financial turbulence, analysts say. Tata Sons, the holding company of tea-to-software conglomerate Tata Group, and SIA said this week they were setting […]

MUMBAI, September 20, 2013 (AFP) – India’s new central bank governor marked his first policy meeting Friday with a bold decision to hike interest rates, wrong-footing analysts and leading to sharp falls on the stock market.Reserve Bank of India (RBI) chief Raghuram Rajan, who had warned he was prepared to be unpopular, ordered a rise […]

MALÉ, September 8, 2013 (AFP) – The ex-leader of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, faced disappointment Sunday after failing to secure a majority in presidential polls he hoped would seal his return to power 18 months after he was toppled.Nasheed now faces a tricky run-off election on September 28 after he won the first round of […]

NEW DELHI, September 8, 2013 (AFP) – The euphoria which greeted new central bank governor Raghuram Rajan has been unprecedented in India’s normally sober financial world but the honeymoon may be shortlived.In fact, Rajan’s comments suggest he is likely to be “more hawkish”, said CLSA economist Rajeev Malik said. The former top finance ministry advisor […]

MALE, September 5, 2013 (AFP) – The Indian Ocean archipelago of the Maldives goes to the polls this weekend for a presidential election that will test its young democracy 18 months after a violent change in leadership. Its more than 1,000 islands sit aside the world’s most important east-west shipping channel and its strategic location […]

MUMBAI, September 5, 2013 (AFP) – India’s rupee strengthened and stocks jumped Thursday after new central bank governor Raghuram Rajan outlined a reform plan aimed at boosting investor confidence and stabilising the ailing currency.The rupee climbed to 65.75 against the dollar, gaining nearly two percent from its previous close, on investor hopes the worst could […]

KATHMANDU, September 4, 2013 (AFP) – After a long drive from across the border in China, the white truck arrived in Nepal’s capital at dawn with a seemingly innocuous cargo of Chinese-made clothes. But hidden in a cylinder inside the vehicle’s front bumper was the latest haul of gold smuggled from Tibet — bars weighing […]

MUMBAI, September 4, 2013 (AFP) – Top economist Raghuram Rajan, renowned for predicting the 2008 global financial crisis, took over as India’s central bank chief on Wednesday as the country faces its worst financial storm in years. Rajan, a former IMF chief economist, replaced Duvvuri Subbarao as governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), […]

MUMBAI, September 2, 2013 (AFP) – Bollywood producers have long been fond of filming in exotic foreign locations, but the spiralling Indian currency has seen spending on movie sets abroad drop by one third, according to a study released Monday.The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) says that the amount spent on […]