Category: South Asia

MELBOURNE, May 24, 2009 (AFP) – The Australian navy intercepted a refugee boat with 77 people aboard Sunday off the country’s northwest coast, Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus said. The boat is the 13th suspected people-smuggling craft to have been stopped in Australian waters or to have made landfall since January, prompting criticism from the […]

NEW DELHI, (Asia Pulse) – Foreign Institutional Investors’ (FIIs) inflow into the Indian stock markets has crossed the US$3 billion mark (over Rs 15,725 crore) so far this year, with as much as US$2 billion coming in just five trading sessions. Since the beginning of new fiscal year, FIIs have started putting money in domestic […]

NEW DELHI, May 21, 2009 (AFP) – India on Thursday asked Sri Lanka to provide the death certificate for Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, a foreign ministry official told AFP. The separatist rebel chief, who was reported killed by Sri Lankan forces earlier this week, was wanted in India for planning the 1991 assassination of […]

May 21, 2009 (LBO) – The Indian Ocean tourist paradise of Maldives has joined the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN agency which deals with labour issues said.The membership started on May 15, with president Mohamed Nasheed accepting obligations under the constitution of the ILO. “We warmly welcome the Republic of Maldives to the ILO […]

MUMBAI, May 20, 2009 (AFP) – The newly elected Congress-led government needs to move swiftly and decisively to restore blistering economic growth in India, even if that means higher inflation, industry leaders here say. As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh prepares for a second term of office, business executives said they hoped the government would announce […]

GENEVA, May 19, 2009 (AFP) – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he will visit Sri Lanka on Friday and called for immediate progress on reconciliation following the government’s declaration of victory over Tamil Tiger rebels.“We urgently need to treat the wounds of a war that has alienated the communities in the island for almost […]

MUMBAI, May 19, 2009 (AFP) – A new wave of reform-minded candidates are taking stock after the Indian general election, following high-profile campaigns that failed to translate into votes at the ballot box. “This is going to take some time to change,” he told AFP.“People are definitely talking about better people in parliament, not only […]

NEW DELHI, May 17, 2009 (AFP) – India’s Congress Party began the task of forming a government Sunday after steering its ruling alliance to a second term in office with a resounding win over its Hindu nationalist rivals.Senior alliance leaders met to formulate strategy and to choose which parties it might approach about securing a […]

NEW DELHI, May 15, 2009 (AFP) – India’s top mobile phone company Bharti Airtel announced Friday it had crossed the 100-million subscriber mark and expected to double that number within the next three years. The New Delhi-based company announced a 26 percent jump in net profit for last year to 84.69 billion rupees (1.68 billion […]

NEW DELHI, May 16, 2009 (AFP) – India’s ruling Congress-led alliance was set to return to power after taking a clear and commanding lead Saturday in vote counting from the country’s marathon general elections.Congress spokeswoman Ambika Soni said party leaders and their allies would meet later in the day to discuss how they would go […]

NEW DELHI, May 12, 2009 (AFP) – Millions of voters cast their final ballots Wednesday in India’s marathon election, with analysts predicting the emergence of a shaky coalition government that will struggle to survive a full term.The fifth and final phase of voting in seven states wraps up the world’s largest democratic exercise that began […]

NEW DELHI, May 13, 2009 (AFP) – Voting in India’s marathon elections ended Wednesday, with exit polls giving the ruling Congress party and its allies a slight edge over the opposition bloc led by the Hindu nationalist BJP. Neither grouping was seen as getting close to the 272 seats required to secure a parliamentary majority. […]