Category: South Asia

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 […]

NEW DELHI, August 27, 2009 (AFP) – India could record a 15 to 20 percent crop shortfall due to widespread drought caused by a bad monsoon, the finance minister said Thursday.Some 252 out of India’s 626 districts have been hit by drought as a result of the weak June-to-September monsoon that is running at 26 […]

SAN FRANCISCO, August 24, 2009 (AFP) – Microsoft on Monday unveiled software that lets Twitter, Facebook and other hot Internet services be delivered to low-cost “feature phones” common in developing countries.The US technology giant will debut OneApp in South Africa and hopes to swiftly roll it out in India, China and other countries where millions […]

NEW DELHI, August 25, 2009 (AFP) – Oil entrepreneur Bill Gammell took a big gamble 12 years ago — and his winnings look set to start rolling in as Cairn Energy, the company he heads, begins to pump oil from under western India.Cairn aims to draw 175,000 barrels of oil per day — accounting for […]