Category: South Asia

MUMBAI, September 14, 2011 (AFP) – India’s rupee slid to a near two-year low against the US dollar on Wednesday on worries about the deepening European debt crisis and as global markets tumble. The partially convertible Indian unit weakened to 48.02 rupees to the dollar on growing demand for the US currency from banks and […]

NEW DELHI, September 15, 2011 (AFP) – Bureaucrats in the Indian capital New Delhi will have to pay money out of their own pockets from Thursday if applications for driving licences, birth certificates and other paperwork are delayed. City authorities have set up a website to allow people to check the status of their applications, […]

ISLAMABAD, September 8, 2011 (AFP) – Pakistan and Iran on Thursday said a multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline between the two countries was pressing ahead on schedule despite US objections to the project. The two signed an export deal last year for Iran to supply natural gas to its eastern neighbour from 2014, with sales to reach […]

NEW DELHI, September 6, 2011 (AFP) – US auto giant Ford has started construction on a $1 billion manufacturing and engineering complex in India as it bets on the country to help drive global growth, a company statement said Tuesday. The Detroit firm still has a long way to go to make the region a […]

NEW DELHI, September 7, 2011 (AFP) – For advertising executive Govind Nair, working in India’s outsourcing industry for a California telecoms firm means burning the candle at both ends for his customers. “They try to be considerate. They know there’s a 12-and-a-half-hour time difference between India and San Francisco but we still end up getting […]

NEW DELHI, September 5, 2011 (AFP) – Supply of cheap copycat drugs for the developing world could be blocked if Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis wins a challenge to India’s patent law, medical charity MSF said on Monday. “We couldn’t afford to treat them all without these generic drugs,” said Joanna Keenan, spokesman for the Geneva-based […]

NEW DELHI, September 5, 2011 (AFP) – The struggling decade-old Doha Development Round of free-trade talks must not be allowed to collapse, India’s trade minister said on Monday. The call came as failure threatens the negotiations on expanding the global free trade system by cutting subsidies and barriers for farm produce and reducing import tariffs […]

NEW DELHI, September 6, 2011 (AFP) – India’s cabinet has cleared a new land acquisition bill to be introduced in parliament Wednesday, aimed at addressing the concerns of farmers whose land is purchased for industrial development. The bill, adopted by the cabinet late Monday, seeks to give farmers fairer prices for their land — a […]

THIMPHU, September 5, 2011 (AFP) – The isolated kingdom of Bhutan is one of the most expensive holiday destinations in the world and a haven for celebrities and the well-heeled. In 2012, it will become even more costly. By doing a better job of marketing Bhutan overseas and increasing flight links, tourism officials hope more […]

WASHINGTON, September 2, 2011 (AFP) – Gibson Guitar Corp. renewed its plea of innocence on Friday after US agents raided its Tennessee plants and seized rare ebony wood from India used to make some of the world’s most coveted guitars. “We were not engaged in smuggling,” chief executive Henry Juszkiewicz told CNN television. “We have […]

MUMBAI, September 1, 2011 (AFP) – French auto giant PSA Peugeot Citroen on Thursday signalled its return to India, announcing a new assembly plant in the west of the country as part of wider plans to sell more cars outside Europe. Europe’s second-largest car maker said it had signed a deal with the state government […]

PUNE, August 31, 2011 (AFP) – It’s Friday night at a microbrewery pub in Pune, western India, and Swapnil Dakshindas and his friends don’t know which beer to choose. The barman pours four different brews, fermented in giant steel vats just next door, for them to try. “It’s fresh, has no preservatives and I know […]