Category: South Asia

MARKAPAR, November 9, 2009 (AFP) – In a rural Maoist stronghold in central India, off limits to the police and government officials, people are queuing for photos they hope might save their lives.Indian security forces are set to launch a major offensive against Maoist rebels whose insurgency has escalated across the country, posing a challenge […]

NEW DELHI, November 8, 2009 (AFP) – India is still adding a staggering 15 million new mobile phone connections a month but the world’s fastest-growing cellular market has hit rough waters.A cut-throat price war is hammering down call charges, putting pressure on telecom companies’ earnings and share prices, and threatening a bruising shakeout in a […]

NEW DELHI, October 29, 2009 (AFP) – India’s annual inflation rate has picked up pace, official data showed Thursday, setting the stage for higher interest rates in the months ahead.The wholesale inflation rate rose to 1.51 percent in the week to October 17 from 1.21 percent the previous week, according to the Wholesale Price Index, […]

MUMBAI, October 27, 2009 (AFP) – India’s central bank kept key short-term interest rates unchanged at their record lows on Tuesday, saying its priority was helping a recovery take root while keeping an eye on inflation.The repo, the rate at which the central bank lends to commercial banks, remains at 4.75 percent, while the reverse […]

ISLAMABAD, October 26, 2009 (AFP) – Pakistan’s military said Monday that the death toll in a major military assault on the Taliban rose to 227, reporting heavy losses in the battle to control a village en route to a Taliban bastion.Nineteen militants were killed during the last 24 hours, a military statement said, bringing the […]

NEW DELHI, October 24, 2009 (AFP) – India’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki reported Saturday that its quarterly net profit had soared 93 percent year-on-year, amid signs pointing to a reviving domestic economy. Maruti, majority owned by Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp, reported net profit of 5.7 billion rupees (123 million dollars) in the second financial […]

NEW DELHI, October 24, 2009 (AFP) – India said Saturday a long-delayed auction of radio bandwidth for third generation (3G) telecommunications services will start in January and will be open to foreign companies.The Central Bureau of Investigation alleged in a statement “a criminal conspiracy between certain officials” of the ministry and “private persons/companies and others […]

NEW DELHI, October 23, 2009 (AFP) – India’s telecom minister Friday denied any corruption in the awarding of new licences to telecom companies in the country last year after a raid by federal police on his ministry.India’s federal criminal investigation agency raided the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Thursday on suspicion that mobile phone network […]

MUMBAI, October 23, 2009 (AFP) – Indians spent nearly 2.0 billion dollars buying gold last week during Hindu festivities, an increase compared with 2008 despite record prices, the World Gold Council said on Friday. The World Gold Council (WGC) said gold sales rose 5.7 percent to 56 tonnes from a year earlier in the week […]

HUA HIN, October 24, 2009 (AFP) – Asian leaders discussed plans at a summit Saturday to “lead the world” by forming an EU-style community, as regional giants China and India tried to cool a simmering border spat.Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama pressed his regional counterparts to move towards the creation of an East Asian bloc […]

NEW DELHI, October 22, 2009 (AFP) – The world’s cheapest car, the Nano, launched by Indian maker Tata earlier this year, faces possible checks after owners complained of fires apparently caused by short circuits.But Tata Motors said it would not order a recall of the Nano, at least 7,500 of which have been delivered since […]

SYDNEY, October 22, 2009 (AFP) – Australia could be set for a decades-long commodities boom fuelled by rocketing demand from China and India, a senior official said in the country’s latest upbeat economic assessment. Treasury secretary Ken Henry also said a return to full employment was a “conceivable possibility” in the coming years, with major […]