Category: South Asia

SLAMABAD, June 21, 2011 (AFP) – Pakistan on Tuesday announced the arrest of an army brigadier accused of having contacts with a banned militant group. The information was released seven weeks after US Navy SEALs found and killed Osama bin Laden in the military town of Abbottabad, reviving disturbing questions about ignorance or complicity within […]

GENEVA, June 18, 2011 (AFP) – Switzerland’s Pilatus Aircraft is about to sign a record deal to supply 75 of its successful PC-7 trainers to the Indian Air Force for 850 million francs ( billion), a press report said Saturday. The daily Le Temps, which described the contract as the biggest in the company’s history, […]

MUMBAI, June 16, 2011 (AFP) – India’s central bank on Thursday raised its key short-term interest rates by 25 basis points — its 10th hike in 16 months — in a bid to tame high inflation stuck at “uncomfortable levels.” The Reserve Bank of India raised its repo rate — at which it lends to […]

CHICAGO, June 8, 2011 (AFP) – A Pakistan-born Chicago businessman was part of the “inner circle” of terrorists who plotted the 2008 Mumbai attacks, US prosecutors said in closing arguments Tuesday. Tahawwur Rana’s trial was closely watched as it touched on Pakistani military intelligence collusion with terrorism — a hugely sensitive subject since the killing […]

DHAKA, June 5, 2011 (AFP) – Thousands of riot police and elite paramilitary forces were deployed in the Bangladeshi capital Sunday after violence ahead of a nationwide strike to protest changes to the country’s electoral system. At least 12 buses were set on fire overnight and 40 people were arrested, police said, just hours before […]

NEW DELHI, June 2, 2011 (AFP) – India, reeling from a telecom graft scandal that has forced the resignation of one minister, is conducting an investigation into the actions of his predecessor in the job, police said Thursday. India’s top federal police agency said it was conducting a “preliminary investigation” into the activities of former […]

CHENNAI, June 2, 2011 (AFP) – Science fiction film “Endhiran” was made in the south Indian language Tamil, but it pulled in huge profits from across the country and abroad — stoking global ambitions for “Kollywood”. Named after the Kodambakkam district of Chennai where many studios are based, the Tamil film industry aims to match […]

NEW DELHI, May 30, 2011 (AFP) – India is expected to post economic growth of more than eight percent when it reports data for the fiscal fourth-quarter on Tuesday, despite a series of rate hikes that have hit industrial output. Asia’s third-largest economy is estimated to have expanded 8.2 percent from a year earlier in […]

MUMBAI, May 29, 2011 (AFP) – India’s pilgrimage centres are fast becoming hot-spots for hotel chains, as both domestic and international groups look to plug a gap in the market for quality accommodation. Devotees flocking to so-called “temple towns” such as Shirdi in western Maharashtra state, the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in Punjab and […]

NEW DELHI, May 28, 2011 (AFP) – India’s prime minister Saturday said there appeared little hope that an emerging nation candidate would be chosen to head up the International Monetary Fund in the current contest. The Indian premier’s comments came a day after France announced that the country’s finance minister Christine Lagarde would visit India […]

PIMPRI, May 27, 2011 (AFP) – Mumbai-based Tata Motors opened its first Indian factory on Friday for Land Rovers, the formerly loss-making British brand aiming to make inroads in the booming South Asian market. A Freelander 2 sports utility vehicle was the first to roll out of the plant on the outskirts of Pune, some […]

May 26, 2011 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund and the Indian Ocean tourist paradise of Maldives had reached a new 3-year deal to fix government finance and stabilize the country and its currency. Maldives is struggling with a large budget deficit partly due to large civil service salary bill, which it was unable to […]