Category: South Asia

JAKARTA, August 3, 2010 (AFP) – South Asia is lagging behind the Asia-Pacific region in poverty and hunger reduction, and is in danger of missing these key targets in the UN’s millennium development goals, a UN official said Tuesday. Ministers from around the region gathered at a review of the millennium goals (MDGs) heard that […]

DHAKA, July 31, 2010 (AFP) – Bangladeshi police fired rubber bullets Saturday in a bid to subdue garment workers who rioted for a second day in protest against low pay as unrest spread to areas outside Dhaka, police said. Workers fought pitched street battles with riot police in the manufacturing hub of Ashulia, north of […]

NEW DELHI, July 29, 2010 (AFP) – The real jewel in Britain’s actual crown will not be returning to India, Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday, as he ruled out any repatriation of the famed Kohinoor diamond. The 105 carat gemstone set in the coronation crown of the British royals was mined in the southern […]

DHAKA, July 30, 2010 (AFP) – Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers blocked highways, attacked factories and looted shops in Dhaka on Friday, police said, after rejecting the terms of a government wage hike. An estimated 5,000 workers, who stitch clothes for leading Western brands, blocked the city’s main Tejgaon link road and attacked dozens of […]

MUMBAI, July 28, 2010 (AFP) – Billionaire investor George Soros is close to sealing a 40-million-dollar deal to buy Dubai Holding’s 4. 0 percent stake in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the Financial Times reported Wednesday. If the purchase goes through, it would be the latest in a series of strategic foreign investments in India’s […]

MUMBAI, July 27, 2010 (AFP) – India’s central bank is expected to raise interest rates on Tuesday for the fourth time this year in an attempt to tame the highest inflation among the Group of 20 economic powers. The Congress-led government has been under constant attack from opposition parties for its inability to protect the […]

MUMBAI, July 26, 2010 (AFP) – Shares in India’s biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki plunged more than 10 percent on Monday after it reported a surprise 20-percent fall in quarterly net profit over the weekend. The shares of the New Delhi-based company, which is majority-owned by Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp, were down by nearly 11 percent, […]

NEW DELHI, July 24, 2010 (AFP) – India’s biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki reported Saturday quarterly net profit fell by a surprise 20 percent as the company was pummelled by a surge in raw material costs. Maruti, majority-owned by Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp, said net profit during the fiscal first quarter slid to 4. 65 billion […]

NEW DELHI, July 24, 2010 (AFP) – An Indian state seen as a bastion of an increasingly deadly Maoist revolt said Saturday it was seeking one billion dollars to counter the left-wing insurgency with a development surge. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh told federal and state planners that the funds would be spent to rapidly […]

July 23, 2010 (LBO) – The Indian Ocean island of Maldives said it welcomed help from international community to resolve an internal political deadlock stemming from a battle between the president and parliament. “We are extremely grateful to our friends and partners in the international communities (sic), who are trying to help us resolve the […]

ISLAMABAD, July 19, 2010 (AFP) – US Secretary of State Clinton on Monday announced a raft of major aid projects focused on water and energy for Pakistan. The aid is a key part of the effort by the US administration to engage more fully with Pakistan, which has long seen Washington as interested only in […]

SINGAPORE, July 19, 2010 (AFP) – Oil prices dipped in Asian trade Monday as sentiment was dampened by weak US economic data that spurred concerns of slow demand in the world’s largest energy consumer, analysts said. “There is still some negative sentiment, but at the moment (the price) hasn’t fallen precipitously. Given the data flow, […]