Category: South Asia

MUMBAI, November 6, 2010 (AFP) – President Barack Obama announced Saturday 10 billion dollars in trade deals with India to create 50,000 US jobs, on a visit that began with an emotional tribute to victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Kicking off a four-nation Asian tour weighted towards prying open new markets for US goods, […]

October 30, 2010 (AFP) – The Maldivian government has apologised to a European couple abused as “swine” and “infidels” during what was supposed to be a romantic renewal of wedding vows in the Indian Ocean archipelago. Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed “personally apologised” to the couple in a telephone conversation on Saturday afternoon, his office said […]

Oct 29, 2010 (LBO) – Maldives Islands will issue ‘strict guidelines’ on tourist weddings following an incident where resort staff mocked a foreign couple who were renewing their wedding wows at a beach ceremony. Maldives’ President Mohamed Nasheed had expressed disgust at the incident in a radio address and described the behaviour of those involved […]

NEW DELHI, October 28, 2010 (AFP) – Asia’s largest prison, Delhi’s Tihar Jail, has taken its first step into online retailing, offering goods over the Internet made by inmates including murderers and kidnappers. Tihar, notorious for its overcrowding and tough criminals, is home to a bakery which produces 13 kinds of biscuits and a vast […]

NEW DELHI, October 26, 2010 (AFP) – Arms-hungry India is expected to hand out a raft of military deals worth billions of dollars during an upcoming rush of presidential visits from the United States, France and Russia. The biggest-ticket item is the scheduled signing of an estimated 30 billion-dollar stealth fighter co-production agreement when Russian […]

NEW DELHI, October 24, 2010 (AFP) – India’s biggest lender to the poor, SKS Microfinance, was the toast of investors when it staged a hugely successful public share offer three months ago. Now SKS, India’s only listed microfinancier, faces an unwelcome spotlight as it and other small-scale lenders come under scrutiny over high interest rates, […]

October 24, 2010 (AFP) – Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari will visit Sri Lanka next month in a bid to boost trade and security cooperation, an official said Sunday. Zardari will be accompanied by foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and a group of Pakistani businessmen, a foreign ministry official said. “The two days of meetings […]

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 […]

PARIS, October 20, 2010 (AFP) – South Asia is the world’s most climate-vulnerable region, its fast-growing populations badly exposed to flood, drought, storms and sea-level rise, according to a survey of 170 nations published on Wednesday. Of the 16 countries listed as being at “extreme” risk from climate change over the next 30 years, five […]

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 […]