Category: South Asia

PATNA, July 7, 2013 (AFP) – Indian police reported multiple low-intensity blasts at the Bodh Gaya Buddhist temple complex on Sunday, saying two people had been wounded but the temple was safe.It houses the holy bodhi tree as well as the giant Mahabodhi statue of Buddha, and multiple shrines marking the places where he is […]

NEW DELHI, 2013 (AFP) – India’s state-run banks will open 10,000 branches this year as part of a drive to extend formal financial services to the estimated 40 percent of the country without them, a minister said Wednesday.Spreading banking services is a key part of the government’s new cash transfer programme, that sees welfare beneficiaries […]

KABUL, June 29, 2013 (AFP) – British Prime Minister David Cameron made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Saturday, backing talks with the Taliban after his top general said the West missed a chance to strike a peace deal 10 years ago. “The attack that was organised near the presidential palace will not deter us […]

DEHRADUN, June 22, 2013 (AFP) – Relief teams were racing against time Saturday to rescue tens of thousands of stranded people in rain-ravaged northern India as the death toll from flash floods and landslides neared 600.Rescue workers who managed to reach those stranded were racing to cut down trees and clear vegetation to allow military […]

NEW DELHI, June 14, 2013 (AFP) – India’s inflation cooled to a more than three-year low in May, data showed Friday, but the rupee’s plunge will likely stall any interest rate cut to kickstart the ailing economy.The Wholesale Price Index, India’s most most closely watched inflation gauge, dropped to 4.7 percent in May on an […]

MUMBAI, June 10, 2013 (AFP) – India’s rupee hit a record low of 57.54 against the dollar on Monday on growing demand for dollars among oil importers, while the greenback was also boosted by upbeat US jobs data.The partially convertible rupee hit its previous low of 57.32 against the dollar on June 28 last year.On […]

NEW DELHI, May 31, 2013 (AFP) – India’s economy grew by 5.0 percent in 2012/2013, its slowest annual rate in a decade, in another blow to the corruption-hit government ahead of national elections due by next year, data showed Friday.India’s wholesale inflation, its most widely watched measure, cooled last month to a surprise 41-month low […]

NEW DELHI, May 20, 2013 (AFP) – Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged Monday to build trust with India and declared that ties between the Asian giants were key to world peace as he visited New Delhi only weeks after a border spat.Speaking alongside his counterpart Manmohan Singh, Li said China wanted to increase cooperation with […]

DHAKA, May 20, 2013 (AFP) – Bangladeshi police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at thousands of garment workers Monday as they demanded a wage hike at a protest in a manufacturing hub outside the capital Dhaka.Police said they reacted after workers blocked a key highway in the Ashulia industrial area, home to hundreds of […]

NEW DELHI, May 18, 2013 (AFP) – India faces at least “a one-in-three” chance of losing its prized sovereign grade rating, global ratings agency Standard and Poor’s has warned, in another blow to the scandal-tainted Congress government.The agency said it may also cut India’s ratings if it concludes that Asia’s third-largest economy will not revert […]

Feb 20, 2013 (LBO) – Malaysia’s AirAsia said has sought approval from authorities in India to form a joint venture budget carrier with Tata group and another investor, Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace. AirAsia pulled out of Colombo this year. “AirAsia is confident that it can replicate its unprecedented success across Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and […]

Feb 05, 2013 (LBO) – Afghanistan’s economy is estimated to have grown at a blistering 12 percent rate in 2012 helped by lower inflation of 6 percent and a good harvest, the International Monetary Fund said. Afghanistan was expected to submit a value added tax law to parliament and also fix Kabul Bank. The IMF […]