Category: South Asia

NEW DELHI, September 5, 2011 (AFP) – Supply of cheap copycat drugs for the developing world could be blocked if Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis wins a challenge to India’s patent law, medical charity MSF said on Monday. “We couldn’t afford to treat them all without these generic drugs,” said Joanna Keenan, spokesman for the Geneva-based […]

NEW DELHI, September 5, 2011 (AFP) – The struggling decade-old Doha Development Round of free-trade talks must not be allowed to collapse, India’s trade minister said on Monday. The call came as failure threatens the negotiations on expanding the global free trade system by cutting subsidies and barriers for farm produce and reducing import tariffs […]

NEW DELHI, September 6, 2011 (AFP) – India’s cabinet has cleared a new land acquisition bill to be introduced in parliament Wednesday, aimed at addressing the concerns of farmers whose land is purchased for industrial development. The bill, adopted by the cabinet late Monday, seeks to give farmers fairer prices for their land — a […]

THIMPHU, September 5, 2011 (AFP) – The isolated kingdom of Bhutan is one of the most expensive holiday destinations in the world and a haven for celebrities and the well-heeled. In 2012, it will become even more costly. By doing a better job of marketing Bhutan overseas and increasing flight links, tourism officials hope more […]

WASHINGTON, September 2, 2011 (AFP) – Gibson Guitar Corp. renewed its plea of innocence on Friday after US agents raided its Tennessee plants and seized rare ebony wood from India used to make some of the world’s most coveted guitars. “We were not engaged in smuggling,” chief executive Henry Juszkiewicz told CNN television. “We have […]

MUMBAI, September 1, 2011 (AFP) – French auto giant PSA Peugeot Citroen on Thursday signalled its return to India, announcing a new assembly plant in the west of the country as part of wider plans to sell more cars outside Europe. Europe’s second-largest car maker said it had signed a deal with the state government […]

PUNE, August 31, 2011 (AFP) – It’s Friday night at a microbrewery pub in Pune, western India, and Swapnil Dakshindas and his friends don’t know which beer to choose. The barman pours four different brews, fermented in giant steel vats just next door, for them to try. “It’s fresh, has no preservatives and I know […]

MUMBAI, August 31, 2011 (AFP) – India’s largest car maker by sales Maruti Suzuki said it restarted production at one of its plants on Wednesday after locking workers out in a dispute over alleged sabotage earlier this week. “Maruti started assembly operations in Manesar, rolling out the first Swift car since production halted on Monday, […]

MUMBAI, August 29, 2011 (AFP) – India’s central bank on Monday outlined proposals to allow more private players in the banking sector to foster greater competition and widen the availability of banking services. India’s state-run banks dominate the sector and inefficient practices and bloated workforces have brought calls for more private sector capital to reinvigorate […]

CHENNAI, August 30, 2011 (AFP) – Judges in Chennai on Tuesday delayed by two months the execution of three men convicted of the 1991 assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. The three men were due to be hanged on September 9 at a jail in the southern state of Tamil Nadu after India’s […]

KARACHI, August 29, 2011 (AFP) – Murder gangs rooted in Karachi’s boiling cauldron of ethnic politics are waging a savage fight for power and space in Pakistan’s financial capital, threatening to destabilise the entire country. At one of Karachi’s overflowing morgues, Amir Ali, clutching a photograph of his missing brother on his wedding day, searches […]

NEW DELHI, August 28, 2011 (AFP) – Indian anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare ended his 13-day hunger strike on Sunday triggering wild celebrations among supporters after parliament agreed to consider his demands. Hazare’s fast at an open-air venue in New Delhi attracted tens of thousands of people every day as a nationwide protest movement emerged to […]