Category: South Asia

DHAKA, May 5, 2009 (AFP) – Bangladeshis working abroad sent home more money in April than in the same month last year, an official said Tuesday, despite warnings that remittances would take a hit from the global slowdown. Bangladesh Bank executive director Khandakar Muzharul Haque told AFP that 857 million dollars were sent back last […]

April 29, 2009 (AFP) – The foreign ministers of Britain and France said Wednesday they had failed to secure agreement on halting Sri Lanka’s military campaign and getting humanitarian access to war-trapped civilians.“We tried very hard — we insisted and we insisted — but it is up to our friends to allow it or not,” […]

April 29, 2009 (AFP) – The foreign ministers of Britain and France said on Wednesday they had failed to persuade Sri Lanka to end its offensive against Tamil rebels and allow aid in for civilians trapped by the fighting.“We tried very hard — we insisted and we insisted — but it is up to our […]

MUMBAI, April 29, 2009 (AFP) – India’s top mobile phone company Bharti Airtel reported Wednesday that fourth-quarter net profit jumped 21 percent year on year, boosted by a rise in the number of cellular phone users.For the full year, the New Delhi-based company announced a 26 percent jump in net profit to 84.69 billion rupees […]

April 26, 2009 (AFP) – UN humanitarian chief John Holmes on Sunday appealed to Sri Lanka to halt their military offensive against the Tamil Tigers in order to allow aid workers to help civilians trapped in the war zone.Holmes, the under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, told government leaders that months of fierce fighting had taken […]

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 […]