Category: South Asia

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 […]

MUMBAI, August 9, 2009 (AFP) – The traditional image of finishing schools is of the Swiss Alps, where elegant young ladies from well-to-do families learn to walk, talk and make conversation before entering polite society. Now India is looking to the model for the three million or so graduates it produces every year to refine […]

KATHMANDU, August 9, 2009 (AFP) – When Anita Gimmi was unable to find work in her native Nepal last year, she borrowed 1,300 dollars and travelled to Qatar to take up a two-year contract with a cleaning company there.Less than a year later, the 26-year-old has been forced to return home still heavily in debt […]

SYDNEY, August 8, 2009 (AFP) – Australia announced a sweeping review of its international education sector Saturday, as India’s foreign minister prepared to meet with students rattled by a series of attacks and study scams. Education Minister Julia Gillard said former Liberal MP and diplomat Bruce Baird would head the review, which was aimed at […]

BANGKOK, August 7, 2009 (AFP) – Thailand’s government on Friday rejected Sri Lankan state media claims that the new leader of the defeated Tamil Tiger separatist group had been arrested in Bangkok. Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said Selvarasa Pathmanathan, better known as K.P., had instead been arrested in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. “The National […]