Category: South Asia

October 5, 2009 (AFP) – Ministers in the Maldives have taken diving lessons ahead of an underwater cabinet meeting that will highlight the threat global warming and rising sea levels pose to the low-lying atoll nation.President Mohamed Nasheed will chair the meeting on October 17 ahead of the world climate change summit in Copenhagen in […]

NEW DELHI, October 6, 2009 (AFP) – So what’s next for Indian telecoms tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal after the collapse of his proposed mega-merger deal with South African flagship cellular operator MTN?Plenty, say analysts. The 51-year-old chairman of India’s top mobile phone Bharti Airtel — who calls himself a business “junkie,” always hungering for new […]

NEW DELHI, October 5, 2009 (AFP) – More than 400,000 Indian babies die every year from preventable causes within 24 hours of their birth, despite the country’s recent rapid economic development, a report said Monday. India accounts for a fifth of all newborn deaths worldwide, according to the major report published by charity Save the […]

NEW DELHI, October 4, 2009 (AFP) – Air India said on Sunday it was investigating allegations of a mid-air brawl in which pilots and cabin crew were reported to have exchanged blows in front of startled passengers.The Times of India reported that crew members threw punches and hurled abuse at each other on the flight […]

NEW DELHI, October 4, 2009 (AFP) – Ambika Biswas looks at her grocery bag and winces.She is buying food for her family in one of New Delhi’s cheapest markets — yet her grocery costs are far higher than last year. Her maid’s income of 5,000 rupees (104 dollars) a month supports her two teenage children […]

NEW DELHI, September 29, 2009 (AFP) – Shares of Bharti Airtel rose nearly two percent in morning trade Tuesday ahead of an expected announcement by the top Indian mobile firm and South Africa’s flagship group MTN on a possible tie-up.Shares of Bharti Airtel were up 1.75 percent or 7.25 rupees at 421.60, a day ahead […]

NEW DELHI, September 29, 2009 (AFP) – Air India said on Tuesday that about half of its international flights had been cancelled due to a strike by pilots and announced a suspension of new bookings.Nine out of 21 international flights and 37 out of 177 domestic flights were scrapped, spokesman Jitender Bhargava said, after pilots […]

NEW DELHI, September 29, 2009 (AFP) – India on Tuesday said it was dropping a graft case against an Italian involved in the arms scandal that ended Rajiv Gandhi’s premiership 20 years ago, the Press Trust of India reported. Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium told the supreme court the case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi would […]

NEW DELHI, September 28, 2009 (AFP) – Debt-ridden Air India cancelled around 40 flights on Monday as management and striking pilots of the state-run carrier met to negotiate an end to three days of stoppages over a slash in bonuses.But senior pilots’ representative V.K. Bhalla told the Press Trust of India news agency that talks […]

NEW DELHI, September 26, 2009 (AFP) – State-owned Air India said several flights were disrupted Saturday after some senior pilots reported sick in protest at a decision by the airline to slash productivity bonuses.The protest by the non-unionised executive pilots, classified as airline management, comes as India’s biggest religious festival season of the year gets […]

DHAKA, September 23, 2009 (AFP) – US energy group Chevron has made the biggest gas discovery in at least a decade in energy-starved Bangladesh, almost doubling the size of a field it is drilling there, a government official said Wednesday.The US firm has told authorities its Bibiyana gas field in Sylhet, northeastern Bangladesh, contains 6.6 […]

NEW DELHI, September 22, 2009 (AFP) – India’s top mobile firm Bharti Airtel has offered a range of new concessions to South Africa’s MTN in order to seal a tie-up, a report said Tuesday.“Bharti Airtel is making a slew of last-minute concessions to sew up a deal with MTN as it awaits a political push […]