Category: South Asia

DHAKA, March 7, 2011 (AFP) – Bangladesh will create a $700 million mutual fund, the country’s biggest ever, in a bid to stabilise the highly volatile Dhaka stock exchange, the head of a state-owned investment bank said Monday. The plan is part of the government’s drive to restore calm to the market, after sharp falls […]

DHAKA, March 7, 2011 (AFP) – Bangladeshi Nobel laureate and micro-lending pioneer Muhammad Yunus claimed Monday his ousting from a high-profile bank job was a government power grab, as he awaited a court verdict on his dismissal. The 70-year-old — who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for pioneering the concept of small cash […]

MUMBAI, March 7, 2011 (AFP) – The head of one of India’s top real-estate companies resigned on Monday after being arrested as part of a probe into a telecom graft scandal that is sending tremors through the corporate world. Shahid Balwa is in jail after being arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last […]

MUMBAI, March 6, 2011 (AFP) – Abhijit is fiercely proud of his Kawasaki Bajaj motorbike and considers himself a company loyalist. “Motorbikes are the best for urban travel. They’re economical and easy to park,” the Mumbai sales executive in his 30s told AFP. But while Abhijit, who uses only one name, wants to upgrade to […]

NEW DELHI, March 3, 2011 (AFP) – Soon after he exposed how bricks were bought for six times their value for roads that were never built in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Amarnath Pandey was shot near his home. The bullet, which he believes was fired by contractors who were benefiting from the […]

MUMBAI, March 1, 2011 (AFP) – India’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki reported on Tuesday a 15.5-percent rise in sales in February. Total sales rose to 111,645 cars in the month from 96,650 a year earlier, said Japanese-owned Maruti, which dominates the Indian market with a 45-percent share. Passenger and commercial vehicle sales have been […]

NEW DELHI, February 28, 2011 (AFP) – India’s government intends to raise 400 billion rupees ( billion) by part-privatising state-owned companies in the next fiscal year, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Monday. Part-privatisations of miner Manganese Ore Ltd and electricity transmission group Power Grid were also a success, but earlier issues by state-run iron-ore miner […]

NEW DELHI, February 24, 2011 (AFP) – US-based Dunkin’ Donuts, one of the world’s largest coffee and baked goods chains, is set to enter India after striking a franchise deal, the company’s Indian partner said Thursday. The announcement came barely a month after US rival Starbucks unveiled a similar partnership with the giant Indian conglomerate […]

NEW DELHI, February 22, 2011 (AFP) – India’s premier on Tuesday bowed to opposition pressure to set up a cross-party probe into the government’s tainted 2008 sales of telecom licences which cost the country up to billion. Observers say the ruling Congress party’s woes have led to policy drift with important economic reform legislation put […]

WASHINGTON, February 17, 2011 (AFP) – The United States on Thursday urged its citizens to be extra vigilant about terror risks if they are in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka during the cricket World Cup. “While the US government has no specific threat information regarding the Cricket World Cup, large, high-profile events of this nature […]

TOKYO, February 16, 2011 (AFP) – Japan and India signed a free trade pact Wednesday under which the high-tech nation and the South Asian giant pledged to scrap tariffs on 94 percent of goods within a decade. But Japan — the only country to have suffered atomic bombings, and a key voice in global denuclearisation […]

NEW DELHI, February 13, 2011 (AFP) – India is set for scorching growth this year but concern is mounting about its longer-term outlook, with the central bank seen hiking interest rates further and corruption scandals worrying investors. The stock market has already dropped some 17 percent this year, hit by fears that economic growth will […]