Asian Lite News Archive

Category: Asia News

  • London to host Regional Pravasi Meet

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    Ragasudha Vinjamuri writes on the forthcoming regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) in London  The High Commissioner of India to the UK Mr Ranjan Mathai announced the decision of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) to hold the eighth Regional Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention in London this year. The Convention shall be held over two days…

  • Asian parents urged to engage with children  

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    Senior politicians, academics, religious leaders from the Muslim community have appealed to the Asian families to engage with their children to stem the radicalisation of the younger generation. Afzal Khan, former Manchester mayor and  Labour’s newly elected MEP from North West, said some of the Asian parents are not even devoting enough quality time to…

  • Develop satellite for SAARC nations: Modi

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    Stressing that space technology is for the common man and not just for the elite, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday urged Indian space scientists to develop a satellite for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations. Speaking here after witnessing the successful launch of five foreign satellites by an Indian rocket – Polar…

  • HEAVY STUFF FOR A MONDAY MORNING

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    Daily Dose by Bikram Vohra “Leave the ones going away from the wicket,’ said this famous cricketer, “And just block the ones that are coming on the stumps.” Every now and again he would repeat the advisory. Don’t knock it till you have tried it. Not just good advice for cricket but also for life.…

  • Sachin, Dravid play in London

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    Indian cricket legends Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid will appear in a historic match at Lord’s in London on 5th July Saturday. This will be Sachin’s first competitive match since his retirement. He will captains an MCC side against the Rest of the World in a fixture commemorating the 200th anniversary of Thomas Lord’s ground. Sunday…

  • Baroness Warsi at Sarajevo

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    Baroness Warsi represents the UK Government at the commemoration of the start of First World War in Sarajevo.  Senior Foreign Office Minister Baroness Warsi participated in centenary commemorations marking the outbreak of the First World War during a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Baroness Warsi represents the UK at the concert in the restored Sarajevo…

  • Ansari recalls India, China Bhai, Bhai

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    Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari says world needs genuine multilateralism Calling for a new paradigm of global action, India Saturday asked countries across the globe to work together to develop a framework for genuine multilateralism and seek common and fair solutions for challenges that transcend national borders. “Our destinies are intertwined. Our quest is, should be,…

  • Pakistan arrests 250 for plane attack

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    Pakistani police have held 250 people suspected to be involved in a gun attack on a plane Tuesday that killed one passenger and injured two crew members, a media report said Thursday. A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Airbus A-310, carrying 196 passengers and 10 crew members from Riyadh, came under fire while landing at Peshawar’s…

  • INTERVIEW: Dr Shashi Tharoor

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    Ranjana Narayan talks to Dr Shashi Tharoor MP, former Deputy secretary general of UN and a former minister of India.  Dr Tharoor feels Modi’s style of governance would soon bring out the “strengths and limitations of one-man rule”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image as a decisive leader, of a “man on a white stallion”, may have…

  • SPECIAL REPORT: Civil nuclear power

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    Biswajit Choudhury reports from Obninsk in Russia on the  60th anniversary of civil nuclear power It might have had a mere 5 MW capacity but it was on June 26, 1954, that Soviet scientists connected the world’s first nuclear power plant here to an electricity grid. The Obninsk plant, which was visited by India’s first prime minister…

  • Pakistan rejects Afghan claims

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    Pakistan refutes Afghan claim on cross-border incursions Pakistan rejected as “baseless” the remarks by the Afghan foreign ministry that Pakistani troops have intruded into its territory and killed security personnel and civilians. Kabul was demanding a response to the Pakistani firing that killed three soldiers and eight civilians in eastern Kunar province this week, the…

  • Education, education, education!

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    Prantick Majumder focus on a group of women who are gaining educationto uplift their communities  How do you help your backward community living in remote, virtually inaccessible villages to progress if most of them are uneducated? Simple, finish your own studies, train as teachers and then use your knowledge to spread the cause in your home –…

  • China to improve ties with Dhaka

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    Subir Bhaumik  says while India plays politics, Beijing woos Dhaka  Competitive radicalism between political parties has again denied India a chance to take forward its relations with Bangladesh. If the BJP’s opposition, coupled with that of Trinamul Congress and Asom Gana Parishad, prevented the Congress from formalizing the land boundary agreement and signing the Teesta water…

  • Pakistan, Nawaz to taste ‘Arab Spring’

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     Cleric Qadri to launch what he vows will be “Pakistan’s Arab Spring — a people’s revolution” Pakistan is heading for another phase of chaos as Canada-based preacher turned politician Tahirul Qadri arrived at Benazir Bhutto International Airport near Islamabad on Monday. The authorities, fearing an escalation of unrest, diverted the commercial flight to the eastern…

  • Biokon’s Kiran bags Top Prize

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    India’s biotechnology queen and Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has been awarded the coveted Global Economy Prize for business by the Kiel Institute in Germany during its centenary celebrations. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is the first Indian woman and fourth Indian to be conferred this prize,” the Bangalore-based biotech company said in a statement. The German institute is…

  • Lanka told to probe violence

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    Human Rights Watch asks Lanka to probe anti-Muslim violence The Sri Lankan authorities should urgently investigate deadly violence against Muslims by Buddhist hardliners, Human Rights Watch said. The violence, which began June 15 after a rally led by the Buddhist Bodhu Bala Sena (BBS), left at least four Muslims dead, 80 injured, and numerous homes…

  • UK team to join Ganga cleaning

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    Experts who cleaned up the Thames in London will help India’s new government to clean the river Ganges of decades of accumulated toxic pollution and waste, The Sunday Times reported.. Restoring the river to its former beauty was one of the first public pledges made by the newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It emerged last…

  • ASIA – News N Pics – Nepal fest

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  • Pakistan faces new crisis

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    Sahana Ghosh says Pakistan is facing fundamental challenges to its capacity With Sunni militants advancing on Iraqi capital Baghdad and the twin attacks on Karachi airport, an Indo-Canadian author and expert on South Asian politics says Pakistan’s fight against insurgent groups is getting harder while the country is “not that effective” in confronting them, given…

  • Lanka to tame extremists

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    Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa orders crackdown on extremists Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has instructed the police to take action against any individual or organisation attempting to spread hatred among religions or races. In a message, the president warned that peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka following the end of the war was at…

  • EXCLUSIVE: Underwater Football

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    Divers play football as an added attraction for football fans following the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil inside the Manila Ocean Park in Manila, the Philippines

  • PICS – Pakistanis flee tribal region

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    As the paksitani army intensify attack on militants, about 100,000 flee northwest tribal region of Pakistan.  The military launched the operation Sunday night, saying it was targeting militants who have long used the region as a base from which to launch attacks targeting security forces and civilians. But a curfew put in place Saturday prevented residents…

  • Bird flu is staging a comeback

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    The ‘danger zones’ in Asia which are vulnerable to a deadly bird flu have been mapped by scientists. The region includes  Bangladesh, north India and Vietnam. The virus, called H7N9, has infected 433 people mostly in China and has killed 62. The study, published in Nature Communications, showed parts of Bangladesh, India and Vietnam could easily sustain…

  • Karzai rejects return of Taliban

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    Afghan President Hamid Karzai has dismissed the possibility of Al-Qaeda linked groups making a comeback in his country in a similar way to Iraq, BBC reported. Asked by the BBC’s Lyse Doucet in Kabul whether what was happening in Iraq could happen in Afghanistan, the president replied: “Never, not at all.” The outgoing president said that…

  • Tourism to unite South Asian

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    Saroj Mohanty says India pitches tourism for South Asian integration  After talks with the Bhutanese leadership, Prime minister Narendra Modi proposed developing a tourism circuit combining India’s Northeast region and the Himalayan nation. This came weeks after he conferred with other South Asian leaders and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj spoke about some “new initiatives”…

  • Training for journalists in London

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    The Thomson Reuters Foundation, London, the charitable arm of Reuters, will be running a seminar in London for journalists from across the world. We have been asked to alert journalists about this seminar and encourage them to apply to take part. The seminar, held on 22 – 24 October 2014, will focus on how to cover…

  • Pakistan justifies military operation

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    Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Monday said the government’s decision to initiate a full-scale operation in North Waziristan tribal region was justified. He said during a speech delivered in the National Assembly Monday that the operation would continue until terrorism is eliminated from the country, Dawn online reported. Sharif added that the government had tried…

  • Pak air strike kills over 100 militants

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    Over 100 militants were killed and eight hideouts destroyed in a predawn airstrike launched by the Pakistani army in the country’s northwestern tribal area of North Waziristan, the media reported Sunday. Abu Rehman, an Uzbek militant group leader who is believed to be the mastermind of the last Sunday attack on Karachi airport, was also…

  • India adds aircraft carrier

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    Prime Minister Modi dedicates India’s most powerful warship  INS Vikramaditya  to the nation saying it’s giant step towards nation’s security Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday dedicated to the nation INS Vikramaditya, India’s largest and most powerful aircraft carrier, marking his first visit to a military facility after assuming office last month. He described it as a “giant…

  • PROFILE – Writer T.V.Paul

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    Asian Lite profiles TV Paul,  an Indo-Canadian academic and the author of The Warrior State. Paul says Pakistan’s leaders lack vision, obsessed with India Pakistan’s failure to utilise foreign aid for socio-economic development has contributed to its sorry plight and such is the obsession of its political elite with military security that the country hasn’t developed even…

  • Law to stem Forced marriages

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    Kaliph Anaz reports that forced marriage becomes a criminal offence in the UK from Monday, the 16 June 2014. It is a punishable offence by up to seven years in jail Forced marriage is a crime where one or both spouses do not, or cannot, consent to the marriage and duress is involved. This can include physical, psychological,…

  • China set to boost growth

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    China has announced new measures aimed at bolstering its economic growth. These include plans to build railways, roads and airports along the Yangtze River – which connects China’s less developed inland provinces to Shanghai.China says development of a multi-tier transport system along Yangtze river will help integrate lesser developed region with developed ones, says a…

  • Musharraf can travel abroad

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    A Pakistan court Thursday accepted former military ruler Pervez Musharraf’s request to leave the country, media reported. The Sindh High Court ruled that Musharraf’s name should be removed from the exit control list, which has barred him from travelling out of Pakistan, Dawn online reported. A two-judge bench of the high court issued the ruling…

  • Drone strike kills 10 in Pakistan

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    At least 10 people were killed in a second US drone strike in Pakistan’s North Waziristan province, increasing the toll to 16 since Wednesday’s attack, media reported Thursday. According to officials, the drone targeted a house near Miranshah and fired eight missiles, The News International reported. The first US drone attack Wednesday killed six suspected…

  • China to scrap 6 mn vehicles

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    China plans to take six million high-emission vehicles off the road this year to reduce pollution, say media reports. More than 2.4 million vehicles will be taken off roads in the municipalities of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province, along with another four municipalities and provinces along the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta, China…

  • More bodies found at Karachi airport

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    At least seven bodies were recovered Tuesday from Karachi-based Jinnah International Airport’s cold storage facility in Pakistan, media reported. A terror attack on the airport Sunday night killed 23 people including 10 militants, Dawn online reported. The rescue operation followed by the attack, continued for nearly 28 hours. According to officials, the rescue workers broke…

  • Pakistan’s nukes safety good:US

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    Condemning the deadly militant attack on Karachi airport that left 28 dead, the US has offered Pakistan assistance in investigating the crime, but at this point was not concerned about the safety of Islamabad’s nuclear arsenal. “We have offered assistance to the relevant Pakistani authorities investigating this crime,” State Department spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters…

  • Modi brought winds of change: China

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    China pushed for increased economic cooperation with India and to be included in the country’s burgeoning infrastructure and manufacturing story through investments as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Monday touched base with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and said the new Indian government has “brought a new wind of change”. Wang, who has come as…

  • Karachi toll rises to 23

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    At least 23 people, including 10 terrorists, were killed at Pakistan’s Jinnah International Airport in Karachi after it came under attack Sunday night, a leading Pakistani daily reported. The entire airport has been cleared and all terrorists have been killed, a Pakistan Army spokesperson was quoted as saying by The Dawn. Major General Asim Bajwa, spokesperson…

  • India & China hold first major talks

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    Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in the national capital on Sunday morning and is holding talks with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. This is the first contact between the two governments after the Indian general elections. Wang Yi will also meet President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday. The details of Chinese…

  • Life inside the Philippines prison

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    Helen Cook writs on drugs, sex and corruption in Philippines’ largest prison Drugs, sex, internet and even electric mopeds are few of the luxuries enjoyed by some of the prisoners in exchange for bribes in Bilibid, the biggest prison in Philippines, a scandal in which the director of the prison and 12 guards have been…

  • Abdullah campaign pegs on peace

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     Afghan presidential contender Abdullah Abdullah said his government will ensure lasting peace in addition to bringing good governance and job opportunities if he wins the upcoming runoff.“Once again, I promise to Afghans, that we will ensure every youth has access to quality education that could secure them a place in a globalised and highly competitive…

  • Teesta water share should be fair: Hasina

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    Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said her country needs Teesta river water and it is India’s duty to ensure a fair share of it, a media report said. “It is the Indian government’s responsibility. This is not my headache, but theirs. Talks will continue. I need that water,” Hasina said, reported bdnews24.com. In a press…

  • Pakistan hails Obama’s Afghan withdrawal

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    Pakistan on Wednesday welcomed US President Barack Obama’s plan of withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan, noting that the country stressed the importance of a responsible withdrawal and “cautioned against the creation of a security vacuum”. The statement came hours after President Obama said that the US plans to pull out all forces from Afghanistan by…

  • SAARC pin big hopes in Modi

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    Member nations of the South Asian regional grouping Saarc lay big hopes in the new Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with their respective media Wednesday reflecting the region’s collective optimism over India’s new leadership. Prospects of peaceful times and improved bilateral relations were the main theme in media reports following Modi’s meetings Tuesday…

  • Call to empower health workers

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    Though India has made “profound” progress in inching closer to the Millennium Development Goal 2015 (MDG) of a 75 percent reduction in the maternal mortality ratio (MMR), thrust should be on information technology (IT)-enabled interventions aiding non-physician workers at the grass-roots to ensure continuance post-2015, say experts. In 2000, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were…

  • Sharif promises peace

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    Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Tuesday that he desired to take forward the peace process he had initiated with then Indian leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Sharif told his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at a meeting here that “I intend to pick up the threads of the Lahore peace declaration” of 1999. He told the…

  • PM Modi takes charge

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally took charge of his office on a pleasant Tuesday, and his very first act was to announce ex-gratia to victims of a train disaster in Uttar Pradesh. Modi, who took oath as prime minister Monday evening, drove from the Gujarat Bhavan where he is staying to reach the Prime Minister’s…

  • I’m carrying message of peace: Sharif

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    “I am carrying the message of peace,” said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who left for India Monday to attend the oath taking ceremony of Indian Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi, media reported. “I’m carrying the message of peace and will discuss all matters with the Indian leadership. Dialogue process is the only way to resolve…

  • Lanka to release all Indian fishermen

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    Sri Lanka Sunday ordered the release of all Indian fishermen as a goodwill gesture to mark Indian Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony, the President’s Office said. Modi will take oath as the new Indian Prime Minister Monday and Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa is among the guests invited for the event despite strong protests…