Category: South Asia

NEW DELHI, August 19, 2009 (AFP) – German automobile giant Volkswagen AG, seeking to tap into India’s fast-growing vehicle market, said Wednesday it hopes to sell 100,000 cars by 2014 in the country.Europe’s largest car manufacturer said it would accelerate its sales in India using the planned launch next year of its popular mass-market Polo […]

NEW DELHI, August 19, 2009 (AFP) – The head of Nokia, the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, said Wednesday that the Finnish company aims to expand in India by offering lower-cost handsets.“India is our second-largest market. We aim to remove the affordability barrier,” chief executive and president Olli-Pekka Kallsvuo told reporters, without specifying the […]

NEW DELHI, August 19, 2009 (AFP) – India said Wednesday it would step up its food distribution programme for the poor as a widening drought threatened to cut rice production by 10 percent and sharply reduce sugar supplies.Agriculture and Food Minister Sharad Pawar also said the government would consider releasing wheat and rice from its […]

LONDON, August 18, 2009 (AFP) – Britain should review all arms export licences to Sri Lanka in the wake of the recently-ended war with Tamil Tiger rebels, lawmakers said Wednesday.Ministers should also provide full details of what British arms were used by Sri Lankan forces during the conflict, the Committees on Arms Export Controls said […]

MELBOURNE, August 19, 2009 (AFP) – Attacks on overseas students and dodgy education providers risk “poisoning” international attitudes to Australia and souring relations with China and India, a major think tank said Wednesday. The crisis facing Australia’s international education sector could also destroy the country’s third-largest export earner, worth more than 12 billion US dollars […]

NEW DELHI, August 16, 2009 (AFP) – Crops are shrivelling as India faces the spectre of drought but economists say they are still upbeat about the country’s economic prospects. They are banking that a strong industrial performance will help offset the impact of the worst monsoon in years in Asia’s third largest economy. Analysts have […]

ISLAMABAD, August 14, 2009 (AFP) – Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari unveiled political reforms in the country’s tribal belt Friday in a bid to extricate the lawless region from the grip of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.Pakistan’s seven federally administered tribal areas (FATA) have become a stronghold for hundreds of extremists who fled after the US-led […]

Aug 13, 2009 (LBO) – The Maldives is introducing laws to attract foreign investors such as those from Sri Lanka with whom the archipelago’s trade is growing and shifting towards services, the Maldivian envoy to Colombo said. High commissioner Ali Hassen Didi said the two countries have had close trade links for decades and shared […]

PORT BLAIR, August 10, 2009 (AFP) – A huge 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck off the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday, triggering panic as people fled their homes amid initial warnings of a possible tsunami.A tsunami alert issued for India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh was later cancelled by the Pacific Tsunami Warning […]

MELBOURNE, August 11, 2009 (AFP) – Energy giant Exxonmobil’s Australian arm has signed a gas supply contract with India’s Petronet worth 25 billion dollars (21 billion US) over 20 years, Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said Tuesday.Ferguson said the liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal heralded a new trading partnership between Australia and India. “I hope this […]

NEW DELHI, August 10, 2009 (AFP) – Indian car sales jumped for a sixth straight month in July, climbing an annual 31 percent, as new launches and cheaper finance boosted demand, industry figures showed Monday. Domestic passenger car sales rose to 115,067 units in July from 87,901 units a year ago, the Society of Indian […]

MELBOURNE, August 10, 2009 (AFP) – “Dubious” Australian colleges are ruining the future prospects of young Indian students and trashing the country’s reputation abroad, India’s foreign minister said in comments published Monday.S.M. Krishna, visiting Australia to express concern over a wave of street assaults on Indian students, said there was concern in New Delhi about […]