Category: South Asia

MUMBAI, October 20, 2010 (AFP) – India’s 3. 5-billion-dollar sale of shares in state-run Coal India was doubly oversubscribed a day ahead of the close of the country’s biggest ever stock offer, stock exchange figures showed Wednesday. Bids had been received for 1.29 billion shares — 2.05 times the number up for grabs. Coal India’s […]

DHAKA, October 12, 2010 (AFP) – A flurry of cooling measures has failed to end a record-breaking bull run at Bangladesh’s main stock market, with regulators now warning of an imminent crash that could devastate the broader economy. The main Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) general index has hit new highs nearly every day for the […]

KABUL, October 10, 2010 (AFP) – Scarred by decades of war, social problems and poverty, more than 60 percent of Afghans suffer from stress disorders and mental health problems, officials warned Sunday. The population of Afghanistan is estimated at roughly 28 million. “This is a major problem,” Suraya Dalil, Afghanistan’s acting public health minister, told […]

MOSCOW, October 9, 2010 (AFP) – Russia’s ailing defence industry has received one of its biggest boosts in years with a huge fighter jet deal with India, but much of the sector remains stuck in a Soviet-era time warp, analysts said. Moscow is in the race for a contract to supply New Delhi with 126 […]

NEW DELHI, October 3, 2010 (AFP) – “It’s a dream come true,” squealed 16-year-old Shikha Saini as she patiently queued to enter the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, venue of Sunday’s lavish opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. A wearying, marathon walk up to the main entrance more than three hours ahead of the start of the […]

NEW DELHI, October 2, 2010 (AFP) – India is seeking to find an “appropriate” means to monitor messages and corporate emails sent through Blackberry smart phones, a top government official has said. India and countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have sought access to monitor the services as they fear heavy […]

KABUL, September 18, 2010 (AFP) – Afghanistan was voting for a new parliament on Saturday against a backdrop of rebel attacks and a full security alert following Taliban threats to derail the high-stakes election. Insurgents fired rockets in Kabul and other parts of the country and set off a bomb at a polling station, with […]

MUMBAI, September 13, 2010 (AFP) – India’s main stock market on Monday crossed the key 19,000 points marks to its highest level for more than two years, boosted by optimism about growth in Asia’s third largest economy, dealers said. The 30-share Sensex hit a day’s high of 19,095. 74 in morning trade, before retracing marginally […]

NEW DELHI, September 12, 2010 (AFP) – India is expected to hike interest rates this week for a fifth time in six months after a surge in industrial output strengthened the case for another dose of monetary tightening, economists say. Although India has been the most aggressive in the Asia-Pacific region in raising rates to […]

NEW DELHI, September 8, 2010 (AFP) – Barely one percent of rural Indians use the Internet, a new study has calculated, despite a rapid recent boom in web access across the country. About 5.4 million of an estimated 570 million rural Indians are active Internet users, said the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). […]

NEW DELHI, September 7, 2010 (AFP) – China is seeking to expand its influence in South Asia and gain a “foothold” in the region, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in remarks published Tuesday. “China would like to have a foothold in South Asia and we have to reflect on this reality,” Singh was quoted […]

NEW DELHI, September 8, 2010 (AFP) – Almost one-third of Indians are “utterly corrupt” and half are “borderline”, the outgoing head of the country’s corruption watchdog has said, blaming increased wealth for much of the problem. Pratyush Sinha, who retired as India’s Central Vigilance Commissioner this week, said the worst part of his “thankless job” […]