Category: South Asia

KARACHI, April 21, 2009 (AFP) – Pakistani expatriate workers wired home a record 739.4 million dollars last month, but experts warn job losses from the global credit crunch could soon slash remittances and rock the economy.Pakistanis working overseas sent 5.66 billion dollars home during the first nine months to March 31, 20 percent up on […]

BANGALORE, April 20, 2009 (AFP) – India put an Israeli-built spy satellite into orbit Monday, aimed at boosting its defence surveillance capabilities in the aftermath of the Mumbai militant attacks. The satellite, which can see through clouds and carry out day-and-night all-weather imaging, has been a long-standing demand of the Indian military. Its acquisition was […]

TOKYO, April 17, 2009 (AFP) – The United States will give Pakistan one billion dollars in aid over two years, the US envoy Richard Holbrooke announced Friday as an international donors’ conference opened in Tokyo. Holbrooke “announced the United States’ intent to provide support to the government of Pakistan totalling one billion dollars over a […]

NEW DELHI, April 16, 2009 (AFP) – Indians voted in their tens of millions Thursday as month-long general elections — the world’s largest democratic exercise — kicked off with little hope of a clear winner at the end of it all.From the southern tropical state of Kerala to the Himalayan foothills of Kashmir in the […]

NEW DELHI, April 15, 2009 (AFP) – With a combined age of 157, the two men vying for the post of India’s prime minister are having a high old time lobbing ageist stones at each other from their respective glasshouses. Incumbent Manmohan Singh, 76, of the ruling Congress Party and 81-year-old L.K. Advani of the […]

NEW DELHI, April 15, 2009 (AFP) – India braced Wednesday for marathon elections expected to throw up an unstable coalition government at a time when the country needs strong leadership to pull through an economic downturn. Neither of the two main national parties — the incumbent Congress and the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) […]

BRUSSELS, April 14, 2009 (AFP) – The EU presidency on Tuesday welcomed the Sri Lankan government’s two-day pause in its offensive against Tamil rebels, but called for a longer halt amid grave concerns over civilian safety. The EU statement stressed that both sides of the conflict should respect human rights and international humanitarian law. The […]

DHAKA, April 13, 2009 (AFP) – Export growth for Bangladesh’s crucial garments sector has ground to a halt as a result of the global financial crisis, threatening to pull down the rest of the economy, experts said. Clothing manufacture underpins impoverished Bangladesh’s industrial activity, accounting for 80 percent of overseas sales and pulling in 11 […]

NEW DELHI, April 13, 2009 (AFP) – A professor dubbed “the love guru” is contesting India’s elections on an unusual platform — more freedom for lovers and standing up to vigilante groups who frown on public displays of affection. Matuk Nath Choudhary, who is standing in the Bihar state capital of Patna, is promising that, […]

PATTAYA, April 12, 2009 (AFP) – The dramatic cancellation of an Asian summit after rampaging Thai protesters stormed the venue has set back a regional effort to tackle the global economic crisis, analysts said.The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was to have hosted two days of talks with the leaders of China, Japan, South […]

April 07, 2009 (LBO) – Britain has renewed its call for a humanitarian ceasefire in Sri Lanka and urged Tamil Tiger rebels to release civilians being held as a human shield. Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, has commented on the situation in Sri Lanka following worrying reports of fighting in civilian concentrated areas within the country, […]

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2009 (AFP) – For the United States, much may be riding on an unlikely relationship between America’s highest ranking military officer and Pakistan’s powerful army chief.Over cups of tea and the occasional cigar, the avuncular American admiral and the reserved general talk about terrorist threats and sensitive military operations in a region […]