Category: South Asia

NEW DELHI, August 13, 2010 (AFP) – India’s showdown with BlackBerry could reportedly widen to encompass Google and Skype after the government threatened to cut off core features of the popular smartphone on security grounds. Research In Motion, the BlackBerry’s Canadian maker, gave no immediate indication that it would accede to the latest pressure from […]

NEW DELHI, August 10, 2010 (AFP) – India’s home ministry plans to meet mobile operators on Thursday to discuss allowing security agencies access to encrypted BlackBerry messages, a government official said. Indian law stipulates phone companies have the responsibility to ensure that intelligence agencies can lawfully monitor data handled by them. “The meeting will be […]

DHAKA, August 7, 2010 (AFP) – India gave Bangladesh a billion-dollar soft loan Saturday, the biggest credit package New Delhi has ever earmarked for any nation, highlighting warming ties between the neighbours, officials said. Ties were chilly between the South Asian neighbours from 2001 to 2006 when Bangladesh was ruled by an Islamist-allied government and […]

NEW DELHI, August 7, 2010 (AFP) – India’s leading sport utility vehicle maker Mahindra and Mahindra announced Saturday plans to bid for a majority stake in cash-strapped South Korea’s Ssangyong Motor Co as the firm seeks to go global. Mahindra’s board of directors approved the bid at a board meeting Saturday after the company carried […]

KUALA LUMPUR, August 4, 2010 (AFP) – Malaysia said Wednesday it was confident of halting the flow of illegal migrants to Australia, after introducing tough penalties for smugglers using the country as a transit point. Malaysia can now impose harsh sentences including jail terms of up to 20 years, and fines of up to 1.0 […]

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, […]