Category: South Asia

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 […]

NEW DELHI, August 6, 2009 (AFP) – These are tough times for India’s flagship outsourcing industry whose skilled, low-cost workforce helped plant the country on the global business map.With the world in the grip of the worst economic slump since the 1930s, revenue growth from outsourcing — subcontracting work to a third-party company — is […]

August 6, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s state television on Thursday announced that the new head of the remnants of the Tamil Tiger rebels had been arrested in Thailand. Pathmanathan, an overseas-based leader who took over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) following the killing of its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran in mid-May, was also […]

GLASGOW, August 3, 2009 (AFP) – Scotland is known around the world for bagpipes, Scotch whisky, haggis and tartan kilts. But now it is trying to protect a less obviously Scottish treasure: chicken tikka masala.A chef from Glasgow claims he invented the curry dish, and is pressing the European Union to give it “Protected Designation […]