Category: South Asia

MUMBAI, September 11, 2009 (AFP) – India’s second-largest private airline, Jet Airways, on Friday cancelled 171 flights, including 16 on international routes, as a stand-off between pilots and management entered a fourth day.But the further grounding of planes came amid hopes of an end to the dispute, as pilots prepared to meet bosses and India’s […]

MATARAM, September 11, 2009 (AFP) – Indonesia has detained 56 Afghan migrants off the eastern island of Lombok who were attempting to travel by wooden boat to Australia, a navy official said Friday. The migrants’ boat was intercepted in the waters near Papakan island east of Lombok last night, local navy official Colonel Nanang Eko […]

NEW DELHI, September 10, 2009 (AFP) – India is set to host its inaugural men’s fashion week from Friday, which observers say is a long overdue nod to a growing and lucrative market often overshadowed by women’s clothes.The event in the capital New Delhi hopes to capture the interest of India’s millions of young males, […]

MALE, September 7, 2009 (AFP) – The Maldives, whose fight against rising sea levels has become a cause celebre for environmentalists, said Monday it would have to skip UN climate change talks in Copenhagen this year to save money.Some campaigners said the negotiations would be weakened if the Maldives were missing, given their vocal campaigning […]

TOKYO, September 5, 2009 (AFP) – Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp.plans to build a new plant in India in 2011 in a bid to meet growing demand for cars in the country, a newspaper reported on Saturday. The manufacturer of small cars and motorcycles plans to invest about 30 billion yen (323 million dollars) in construction […]

WASHINGTON, September 5, 2009 (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund on Saturday hailed India’s pledge to buy 10 billion dollars worth of IMF bonds, as top emerging economies pressed for a greater say in running the global economy.“I welcome the announcement by India of its intention to support the Fund’s lending capacity through the purchase […]

MUMBAI, September 6, 2009 (AFP) – India’s low-cost airlines are set to go from strength to strength as they grab market share from ailing premier carriers such as Air India, whose debts and losses continue to pile up, experts say.Big airlines such as Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Air India are being hit by falling revenues […]

KATHMANDU, September 3, 2009 (AFP) – As a child, she was worshipped as a “living goddess” in Nepal after she proved her bravery in an ancient ritual by not crying at the sight of a sacrificed buffalo.But now Rashmila Shakya, 29, meets friends in cafes, listens to Bollywood music — and is building a promising […]

MUMBAI, September 1, 2009 (AFP) – India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India, majority-owned by Japan’s Suzuki Motor, announced record exports Tuesday in August, led by strong sales across European markets.Maruti’s exports nearly tripled to 14,847 vehicles during the month, from 5,795 a year earlier, helped by its A-star hatchback launched last November. “Data showed the […]

NEW DELHI, August 31, 2009 (AFP) – India’s economy expanded by 6.1 percent in the three months to June, picking up pace from the previous quarter as the country emerged from the global downturn, official data showed Monday. The quarterly growth figure was up from the 5.8 percent growth posted in the March quarter, but […]

LUKLA, August 30, 2009 (AFP) – Over two decades, Funuru Sherpa has watched the lake above his native village of Dengboche in Nepal’s Himalayas grow, as the glacier that feeds it melts. The 29-year-old, who runs a busy Internet cafe for tourists visiting the Everest region, remembers his grandfather telling him that 50 years ago […]

DHAKA, August 30, 2009 (AFP) – Bangladeshi migrant workers spend an average of 2,300 US dollars securing employment abroad — the equivalent of more than 18 months’ work in their new job, the World Bank said in a report. The World Bank survey calculated they send home on average 1,480 dollars a year and that […]