Category: South Asia

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, […]

July 17, 2010 (AFP) – The United States on Saturday urged the Maldives to accept international offers of mediation to resolve a political crisis that has led to angry street demonstrations. Their intervention prompted Nasheed to reappoint his 13-member cabinet last Tuesday, a week after they resigned en masse. But the mediation has done little […]

KATHMANDU, July 13, 2010 (AFP) – Nepal’s Supreme Court is set to rule Wednesday on an appeal by a Frenchman linked to a series of grisly backpacker killings across Asia in the 1970s who is contesting his murder conviction. Charles Sobhraj, a balding 65-year-old dubbed the “Bikini Killer,” could walk free if the court overturns […]

NEW DELHI, July 14, 2010 (AFP) – India has accused Pakistani intelligence services of overseeing the 2008 militant attacks on Mumbai, a report said Wednesday ahead of a major meeting between the rival nations. Home Secretary G. K. Pillai told the Indian Express newspaper that the level of involvement of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had […]

NEW DELHI, July 14, 2010 (AFP) – India’s double-digit inflation edged higher in June, touching an annual rate of 10. 55 percent, official data showed Wednesday, stoking pressure for another interest rate hike this month. April’s inflation reading was revised higher to 11.23 percent — a 19-month peak, the data showed. But the central bank […]

DHAKA, July 12, 2010 (AFP) – Bangladesh’s elite security forces said Monday they had made a major breakthrough in the fight against extortion with a raid on town where nearly every resident was involved in racketeering. A series of raids on Lundhi, 90 kilometres (60 miles) south of the capital Dhaka and home to 2,000 […]

SYDNEY, July 9, 2010 (AFP) – Australia’s new prime minister Julia Gillard appeared Friday to be backing away from a controversial proposal to process asylum seekers bound for its shores in impoverished East Timor. Gillard Tuesday launched her bid for a regional processing centre with assurances she had discussed the plan with East Timor’s President […]

FARIDPUR, July 7, 2010 (AFP) – Whenever Bangladeshi brothel owner Rokeya, 50, signs up a new sex worker she gives them a course of steroid drugs often used to fatten cattle. For older sex workers, tablets work well, said Rokeya, but for younger girls of 12 to 14 — who are normally sold to the […]