Category: South Asia

LONDON, May 7, 2011 (AFP) – Indian-born steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal has seen his fortune fall by some £5 billion ( billion, 5. 7 billion euros) in the past year but remains the wealthiest person in Britain, it was revealed Saturday. The fortune of the London-based head of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel maker, fell […]

NEW DELHI, May 7, 2011 (AFP) – India said Saturday it would start to supply some 250 megawatts of power to neighbouring Bangladesh by 2013 as it moves to cement relations between the South Asian neighbours. The step is part of a drive by the two countries for closer ties. “Work on the transmission line […]

May 6, 2011 (AFP) – Hundreds of anti-government protesters took to the streets of The Maldives for a sixth consecutive day Friday to demonstrate against soaring prices and demand that President Mohammed Nasheed resign. Eyewitnesses said more than 500 people gathered in Republican Square in the capital Male after Friday prayers to protest against economic […]

NEW DELHI, May 6, 2011 (AFP) – The top economic adviser to India’s prime minister has cut his estimate for economic growth in the current fiscal year by half a percentage point to 8. 5 percent, citing inflationary pressures. The Indian government has targeted 9.0 percent growth for the year to March 31, 2012, but […]

NEW DELHI, May 5, 2011 (AFP) – India’s top mobile phone firm Bharti Airtel said Thursday its fiscal fourth-quarter net profit tumbled 31 percent from a year earlier, weighed by costs from its new Africa acquisition. Net profit fell to 14.01 billion rupees ($314.3 million) in the three months to March from 20. 44 billion […]

May 3, 2011 (AFP) – Anti-government protesters took to the streets of the Maldives for a fourth night on Tuesday, as police baton-charged demonstrators and arrested a senior opposition activist, eyewitnesses said. Police arrested opposition member Umar Naseer on Tuesday night as he led scores of people through the narrow cobbled streets of Male, demanding […]

May 3, 2011 (AFP) – Maldives police on Tuesday used tear gas and batons to break up an anti-establishment protest after a third night of clashes between government and opposition activists turned violent. Police spokesman Ahmed Shiyam said at least six people were arrested after activists started fires on Monday night along the cobbled streets, […]

MUMBAI, May 3, 2011 (AFP) – India’s central bank on Tuesday raised lending rates by a bigger-than-expected 50 basis points, its ninth hike in 15 months to curb inflation, and warned that the move could slow economic growth. The Reserve Bank of India raised its repo — the rate at which it lends to commercial […]

ABBOTTABAD, May 2, 2011 (AFP) – The killing of Osama bin Laden by US forces at a palatial villa near the capital raised fresh questions Monday over Pakistan’s loyalties in the war against Al-Qaeda. For years, Western officials believed that the world’s most wanted man, with a million price on his head, was hiding in […]

NEW DELHI, May 2, 2011 (AFP) – The killing of Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden near Islamabad is further evidence that terrorists find “sanctuary” in Pakistan, Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram said Monday. “We take note with grave concern that part of the statement in which President Obama said that the firefight in which Osama […]

NEW DELHI, April 27, 2011 (AFP) – When British mobile phone giant Vodafone paid $11.1 billion to buy an Indian cellular operator four years ago, it had high hopes the purchase would offset saturated markets at home. “This kind of deal is what we all dreamed about when we were students,” former chief executive Arun […]

NEW DELHI, April 24, 2011 (AFP) – India’s dreams of attaining double-digit economic growth within the next few years are fading, undermined by high inflation, slow progress on reforms and an uncertain global outlook. While hundreds of millions of Indians are still mired in poverty, the step-change in growth has transformed living standards for many […]