Category: South Asia

NEW DELHI, December 24, 2010 (AFP) – Food and politics have always been closely intertwined in the developing countries of South Asia, but when national taste buds are at stake the relationship can become especially volatile. A shortage of onions in India, a dearth of coconuts in Sri Lanka and the soaring price of cooking […]

NEW DELHI, December 22, 2010 (AFP) – The Indian government, facing mounting public anger over soaring onion costs, on Wednesday scrapped tax on imports of the vegetable to try to rein in prices of the ingredient. The government has been feeling the heat over inflation as the opposition BJP has seized on the issue to […]

MORABANDAR, December 22, 2010 (AFP) – The Elephanta Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site off the coast of India’s financial capital Mumbai, draw hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. Local people could sell back surplus energy to the grid, he added, while the government should provide subsidies, as it does to the coal industry […]

NEW DELHI, December 20, 2010 (AFP) – India suspended exports of onions, a key food staple, on Monday after prices of the vegetable soared, adding to the government’s inflation woes. Prices of onions — commonly used to add flavour to Indian food — have surged in the past few days to up to 80 rupees […]

HATIBANDHA, December 19, 2010 (AFP) – Every year, Bangladesh’s garment sector produces billions of dollars worth of high-street clothes for major western brands — and generates mountains of fabric offcuts in the process. While an informal recycling sector has sprung up to deal with the scraps of leftover jeans and T-shirts churned out by the […]

ISLAMABAD, December 18, 2010 (AFP) – China and Pakistan are set to conclude another 10 billion dollars’ worth of deals on Saturday, the latest signings on a trade focused trip to South Asia for Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. Business leaders are scheduled to formalise deals at Islamabad’s five-star Marriott Hotel, where a devastating suicide truck […]

NEW DELHI, December 12, 2010 (AFP) – India’s seven-billion-dollar microfinance industry could be thrown into crisis by a bill that seeks to regulate lending to the poor more tightly, a lobby representing the sector has warned. The sector is also under fire in neighbouring Bangladesh where the micro lending model was pioneered, with Prime Minister […]

NEW DELHI, December 10, 2010 (AFP) – An Indian court ordered state-run Air India on Friday to rehire an airline hostess that the carrier had sacked nearly a decade ago for being overweight. Dismissed overweight women have previously unsuccessfully challenged Air India’s policy in Indian courts, which upheld clauses in the group’s employment contracts. Neepa […]

DHAKA, December 9, 2010 (AFP) – Bangladesh has announced a sweeping deregulation scheme for its power sector in a bid to ease the country’s crippling electricity shortages, a senior government official said. Foreign investors will now be allowed to set up power plants without winning a government contract and to sell on the national grid, […]

MONTREAL, December 9, 2010 (AFP) – India’s SpiceJet has ordered 15 Bombardier Q400 NextGen regional aircraft valued at 446 million US dollars, the Canadian company announced Thursday. Gary Scott, president of Bombardier’s commercial aircraft division, said he expects India to buy up to 600 aircraft in the 20 to 149 seat category over the next […]

DHAKA, December 8, 2010 (AFP) – Riot police took to the streets of the Bangladeshi capital on Wednesday to control thousands of angry investors protesting over a dramatic fall in shares on the national stock exchange. Protesters burnt office furniture in front of the Dhaka Stock Exchange building and brought traffic in the centre of […]

NEW DELHI, December 9, 2010 (AFP) – The Indian government won headlines around the world when it unveiled a prototype 35-dollar tablet computer in July, but questions are now growing over whether the project is just a pipe dream. “The One Laptop per Child Association in the US was difficult to comprehend and there was […]