In Friday's South Asia papers

12 June 2009 05:00  [Source: ICIS news]

THE TIMES OF INDIA

Front page

Indians in Australia say Lebanese youths behind attacks
Indian students on Thursday alleged that Lebanese youths were behind the attacks on them here as they took to streets for the third consecutive night protesting against racial attacks.

CBI cracks down on India’s corrupt babudom
India regularly features in the list of most corrupt nations in the world and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has revealed just why.

Business

Bengal FM backs Pranab on GST
Asim Dasgupta, finance minister of Left-ruled West Bengal, strongly backed finance minister Pranab Mukherjee at a pre-Budget meeting of state finance ministers here on Thursday when he said that all issues on the government’s ambitious Goods and Services Tax (GST) would be sorted out with states and the new tax regime would be rolled out as per schedule on 1 April, 2010.

India may take drug seizure issue to WTO
India is considering taking the issue of seizures of drug consignments by European customs to the dispute settlement body (DSB) of the World Trade Organisation.

THE ECONOMIC TIMES

Front page

Finmin may not scrap STT just yet
Investors expecting the government to scrap securities transaction tax (STT) in the next month’s Budget are in for disappointment.

AI may cut fares up to 25% on select routes
Air India may cut passenger fares up to 25%, matching its full service rival Jet Airways and low-cost Spice Jet, which have already cut fares in certain sectors.

THE BANGLADESH TODAY

Front page

Tk1,13,819 crore national budget for 2009-2010
Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith presented a Tk1,13819 crore national budget for 2009-2010 in parliament on Thursday with special emphasis on implementing the ruling Awami League’s election pledge - ‘Charter of Change’.

Budget aims at fulfilling election pledges: Finance Minister
Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said the new national budget is not just a statement of income and expenditure of the government rather it is an instrument through which we would ensure growth, poverty reduction and achieve the macroeconomic fundamentals as per the earlier election pledges of the Awami League-led grand alliance government.

Business

Tk100 crore allocated to ICT sector
The government has allocated 100 crore in the proposed budget for 2009-2010 fiscal year to meet the emergency expenditure in the ICT sector.

Oil data says recession waning in leading economies: IEA
Oil may be sending a message that the recession is easing up in advanced economies, the IEA said on Thursday, raising its estimate for global demand for the first time for many months.

DAILY MIRROR

Front page

Expedite Sethu project: Karunanidhi tells Indian Centre
Exerting more pressure on the Centre in India to implement the Sethusamudram project, Tanil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Thursday renewed his appeal to the Indian government to speed up the execution of the project located between India and Sri Lanka.

Crucial for Sri Lanka to honour its promises: Ban
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has reiterated how important it is for the Sri Lankan Government to follow up on the commitments it made last month after ending its military operation against the LTTE, and said he is writing to the country’s President on the matter.

Business

World Economic Forum on Africa opens
Africa must seize the opportunity to turn the current economic crisis to its own advantage and reshape global institutions long dominated by the West, political and business leaders said at the annual World Economic Forum on Africa.

Airline CEOs talk of mixed sentiments at IATA
Airline bosses who gathered in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur painted a grim picture of the future for the industry this year, filled with uncertainty.

DAWN

Front page

Senior cleric among 47 killed in Hangu and Orakzai
Military jets and helicopter gunships launched a series of strikes on seminaries and militants camps in both areas.

US wants India to trim Jalalabad mission
Senior US diplomat William Burns gave Indian officials a wish-list on Thursday that aims to revive India-Pakistan peace talks, assures New Delhi of its vital role in Washington’s strategy in the region, and retrieves the hope for Kashmiri people to shape their own destiny.

Business

Shocks batter economy, restrict growth to 2%
Economic Survey blames global recession and domestic security crisis as most government targets are missed.

Remittances cross $7bn in 11 months
Overseas Pakistanis sent an average of $643.3m a month, almost 20% more than in the same period last year.

BUSINESS RECORDER

Front page

US House passes bill to triple aid to Pakistan
The US House of Representatives on Thursday approved tripling US aid to Pakistan to about $1.5bn a year for each of the next five years in a key part of a strategy to combat extremism with economic and social development.

Finance and insurance sector records negative 1.2% growth
Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tarin said on Thursday that finance and insurance sector registered a negative growth of 1.2% in ongoing fiscal year ie 2008-2009 whereas real GDP growth stood at 2% against 4.1% last year.

Business

Punjab budget outlay likely to be around Rs445bn
The Punjab government is expected to set aside Rs165-170bn for both ongoing and the new projects to be executed under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) and the total Punjab budget outlay is expected to be around Rs445bn against the previous Rs389.06bn.

NWFP faces budget deficit of Rs11bn
The provincial government of NWFP is facing a budget deficit of Rs11bn as federal government had delayed the payment of Rs4bn to the province.

By: Staff Reporter
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