Indian group buys luxury London hotel Grosvenor House
LONDON, December 31, 2010 (AFP) - The conglomerate, Sahara India Pariwar, has bought London's luxurious Grosvenor House hotel from state-rescued Royal Bank of …
South Asia
Indians to outnumber Chinese in 2025: US
WASHINGTON, December 29, 2010 (AFP) - India is on course to top China as the world's most populous country in 2025, the US Census Bureau forecast, potentially …
India’s new rich prove reluctant philanthropists
NEW DELHI, December 30, 2010 (AFP) - A huge charity gift by a high-tech tycoon has shone a harsh light on the philanthropic track record of India's established …
Bangladesh to explore gas in restive hill region
DHAKA, December 28, 2010 (AFP) - Bangladesh has invited some of the world's leading state-owned gas giants to help explore its insurgency-hit southeastern hill …
Organ traffickers target Nepal’s poorest
KAVRE, December 29, 2010 (AFP) - Seven years ago, Nepalese farmer Madhab Parajuli faced an agonising choice: lose his small plot of farmland to mounting debts, …
India launches sharia stock index for Muslims
MUMBAI, December 27, 2010 (AFP) - India's Bombay Stock Exchange launched a share index of sharia-compliant companies on Monday in an attempt to open …
India-China border tensions belie leaders’ warm words
NEW DELHI, December 26, 2010 (AFP) - The theme of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to India was "friends not rivals," but a border dispute remains a source …
Sales stall for world’s cheapest car
NEW DELHI, December 26, 2010 (AFP) - India's launch of the world's cheapest car, the Nano, was expected to create a vast new market segment in the nation of …
India’s city-dwellers get angrier as society changes
MUMBAI, December 26, 2010 (AFP) - With its religious retreats for meditation and yoga, India has long been sought out by Western visitors eager to escape the …
Onions, coconuts and the politics of taste in S.Asia
NEW DELHI, December 24, 2010 (AFP) - Food and politics have always been closely intertwined in the developing countries of South Asia, but when national taste …
Foreign firms look to increase solar power presence in India
MORABANDAR, December 22, 2010 (AFP) - The Elephanta Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site off the coast of India's financial capital Mumbai, draw hundreds of …
India scraps onion tax as prices soar
NEW DELHI, December 22, 2010 (AFP) - The Indian government, facing mounting public anger over soaring onion costs, on Wednesday scrapped tax on imports of the …
India suspends exports of onions as prices surge
NEW DELHI, December 20, 2010 (AFP) - India suspended exports of onions, a key food staple, on Monday after prices of the vegetable soared, adding to the …
Garment scraps head for Western living rooms at Christmas
HATIBANDHA, December 19, 2010 (AFP) - Every year, Bangladesh's garment sector produces billions of dollars worth of high-street clothes for major western …
China, Pakistan to formalise 10 billion dollar deals
ISLAMABAD, December 18, 2010 (AFP) - China and Pakistan are set to conclude another 10 billion dollars' worth of deals on Saturday, the latest signings on a …
Indian microlenders face crisis, warns industry group
NEW DELHI, December 12, 2010 (AFP) - India's seven-billion-dollar microfinance industry could be thrown into crisis by a bill that seeks to regulate lending to …
Court orders Air India to rehire overweight air hostess
NEW DELHI, December 10, 2010 (AFP) - An Indian court ordered state-run Air India on Friday to rehire an airline hostess that the carrier had sacked nearly a …
Bangladesh announces power sector deregulation
DHAKA, December 9, 2010 (AFP) - Bangladesh has announced a sweeping deregulation scheme for its power sector in a bid to ease the country's crippling …
SpiceJet orders 15 Bombardier jetliners
MONTREAL, December 9, 2010 (AFP) - India's SpiceJet has ordered 15 Bombardier Q400 NextGen regional aircraft valued at 446 million US dollars, the Canadian …
Riot police in streets after Bangladesh stocks dive
DHAKA, December 8, 2010 (AFP) - Riot police took to the streets of the Bangladeshi capital on Wednesday to control thousands of angry investors protesting over …