Category: South Asia

NEW DELHI, March 26, 2011 (AFP) – India’s prime minister has reaffirmed his Congress-led government’s commitment to economic reforms as the administration battles a host of corruption scandals. Economic liberalisation had “ended old opportunities for corruption and favouritism… but human ingenuity and the desire to make a quick buck are such that the greedy are […]

NEW DELHI, March 24, 2011 (AFP) – India’s fake pilot scandal began unravelling when a female captain landed her packed airliner on the nose instead of the rear wheels as she touched down in the holiday hotspot of Goa. Parminder Kaur Gulati, flying for the fastest-growing airline in the booming Indian sector, IndiGo, was investigated […]

NEW DELHI, March 24, 2011 (AFP) – Two of the world’s richest men, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, took their charity roadshow to New Delhi on Thursday where they hope to coax their Indian peers to part with some of their wealth. Buffett, 80, and Gates, 55, who are close personal friends, were to meet […]

NEW DELHI, March 16, 2011 (AFP) – India is set to raise borrowing costs on Thursday for an eighth time in just over a year as it struggles to bring down an inflation rate that is the highest of any major Asian economy. “We maintain the bank will increase rates by 25 basis points,” said […]

MUMBAI, March 9, 2011 (AFP) – Car sales in India jumped nearly 23 percent in February from a year earlier, industry data showed Wednesday, as customers snapped up new models in a booming auto market where loans are cheap. The Indian market, Asia’s third-largest, is projected to triple over the next decade to six million […]

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 […]