Category: South Asia

MUMBAI, October 28, 2011 (AFP) – Research In Motion (RIM) has set up a facility in Mumbai to help the Indian government conduct surveillance checks on the company’s BlackBerry services, the Wall Street Journal said on Friday. The financial daily quoted unnamed people familiar with the matter who said the Canadian firm opened the centre […]

NEW DELHI, October 28, 2011 (AFP) – India’s Defence Ministry has invited the two rivals for a $12 billion jet fighter contract — France’s Dassault and the European Eurofighter consortium — to unveil their bids next week. The Dassault group is hoping to secure the contract for 126 jets, one of the largest military contracts […]

NEW DELHI, October 25, 2011 (AFP) – India’s government approved Tuesday a policy to boost the nation’s underdeveloped manufacturing sector, aiming to slash red tape and create special zones for firms in a drive to create 100 million jobs. Manufacturing accounts for just 16 percent of India’s agriculture-dependent economy, which is “a cause of concern,” […]

MUMBAI, October 25, 2011 (AFP) – India’s inflation-fighting central bank on Tuesday raised interest rates by a quarter-point, the 13th hike since March last year, while warning of a further economic slowdown this year. The rise in borrowing costs is likely to infuriate business leaders, who are already worried about growing signs of slackening domestic […]

NEW DELHI, October 22, 2011 (AFP) – India’s central bank is set to raise interest rates for the 13th consecutive time this week in a bid to tame near double-digit inflation, even as “dark clouds” gather over Asia’s third-largest economy. The Reserve Bank of India has increased interest rates 12 times since March 2010 — […]

MUMBAI, October 17, 2011 (AFP) – India’s energy giant Reliance Industries has suspended drilling at its oil and gas exploration blocks covered under a deal with new venture partner BP pending a review, a company source said on Monday. India’s largest private oil explorer is “re-evaluating” its exploration and production strategy in partnership with the […]

DHAKA, October 11, 2011 (AFP) – Bangladesh on Tuesday unveiled a $130 locally made laptop that it hopes will help bridge the digital divide in the impoverished South Asian country. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina unveiled the Doel — or magpie — laptops at a ceremony in the capital Dhaka, saying the computer, made by state-owned […]

MUMBAI, October 10, 2011 (AFP) – Shares in India’s Tata Coffee soared nearly 10 percent on Monday after media reports that a proposed tie-up with giant US chain Starbucks will be announced soon. Tata Coffee, a grower and supplier of high-quality Arabica beans, jumped 9.8 percent intraday to a day’s high of 881. 75 rupees […]

NEW DELHI, October 9, 2011 (AFP) – Every lunchtime at a McDonald’s on the corner of one of central New Delhi’s biggest streets, queues of hungry young patrons, often four-wide and unruly, snake towards the counters. In another study published last month, the International Federation of the Red Cross focused on the “double-edged scandal” of […]

WASHINGTON, October 6, 2011 (AFP) – The United States said Thursday it has enlisted the World Trade Organization to obtain detailed information on subsidy programs in China and India. US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said that Washington had submitted information to the WTO identifying nearly 200 subsidy programs that China has failed to notify as […]

NEW DELHI, October 4, 2011 (AFP) – India is set Wednesday to launch its long-awaited low-cost computer, a tablet device designed to bring the information technology revolution to tens of millions of students. The touchscreen computer has a seven-inch (18-centimetre) screen, Wi-Fi Internet access, a media player and 180 minutes of battery power, according to […]