In Thursday's South Asia papers

28 August 2008 05:30  [Source: ICIS news]

THE TIMES OF INDIA

Front Page

Jammu encounter: All three militants killed
Security forces on Wednesday killed the last of the three terrorists holed up in the residential building in Chinore in a crowded area on the city's outskirts, 20 km from the international border, ending a 19-hour hostage drama and gunbattle.

Coming: Massive evacuation in Kosi-hit areas
The fury of Kosi, which struck east Bihar with a vengeance last Monday, may trigger one of the world's biggest human evacuations ever. The exodus should continue over the next several weeks with the scared population spread over six districts finally veering round to timely escape as the only option.

Business

First Nanos from Uttarakhand?
Tata Motors appears to have started working on a Plan B for the Nano. It is gearing up to roll out a couple of thousand units a month from its Pantnagar plant in Uttarakhand, according to vendor sources.

Sun wins court battle against Taro
An Israeli court has ruled in favour of Sun Pharma, rejecting the Israel-based company Taro's contention of conducting a "special tender offer" for its shareholders and, thus holding the domestic company's open offer valid.

THE ECONOMIC TIMES

Front Page

Investors find safe haven in small savings
The tide appears to have turned yet again for small savings schemes. The stock market downturn seems to have prompted investors to seek a ‘safe investment haven’ in the Public Provident Fund (PPF), besides postal savings and deposits.

M&M in talks with Italian 2-wheeler major Malaguti Moto
Mahindra & Mahindra is sniffing around for deals but this time it’s in the two-wheeler segment. The utility and tractor major, which recently picked up Kinetic’s two-wheeler business for Rs1.2bn, is reportedly in talks with Italian motorcycle and scooter maker Malaguti Moto for a possible takeover.

THE BANGLADESH TODAY

Front Page

HC grants Tarique bail in 11 cases out of 12
BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Tarique Rahman will be released anytime as the government has started taking the issue seriously and the High Court also granted him bail in almost all cases.

EC preparing to hold UZ polls tentatively on Oct 23
The Election Commission (EC) is taking preparations with a tentative date on October 23 for holding the upazila polls as per its earlier announcement, but the EC is yet to finalise in how many upazilas the elections will be held.

Business

OMS operation receives lackluster response
The open market sale (OMS) of rice at a subsidized rate, which started on 20 August last, has failed to make any visible impact on the market and generated little interest among the consumers and dealers on account of poor quality rice, slight difference of price between OMS and retail markets and insignificant profit, officials and operators said.

Japan-Bangladesh sign $680m loan cancellation agreement
The governments of Bangladesh and Japan exchanged have signed a debt cancellation agreement to the tune of $680m, equivalent to 73,861,500,055 Japanese yen or Taka 4,600.

DAILY MIRROR

Front Page

LTTE area leader & another killed in Trinco
Two LTTE memebers including an area leader named ‘Vineethan’ were killed following a combined attack by Army and Air Force at Velankulama, North of Trincomalee on Thursday morning.

Magistrate slams police negligence
The Anuradhapura Chief Magistrate took the police to task yesterday, for negligence during the attack on the house of UNP Anuradhapura District organiser Dr Rajah Johnpulle. Anuradhapura Police Headquarters Inspector (HQI) MRP Sarath Prema admitted in court that the police were present at the scene when Dr Rajah Johnpulle’s house was set on fire.

Business

Asia’s bad debts unlikely to hover over?
The Asian region, which is facing a problem of bad debt similar to its counterparts, is not expected to deteriorate to their levels. "We remain cautiously optimistic for Asia," in terms of the impact of bad debts, HSBC Senior Executive Strategy, Propositions and Channels, Asia-Pacific Commercial Banking Subir Mehra during his visit to Sri Lanka told the Daily Financial Times yesterday.

Building on the nation’s human capital
"We should calculate future risks and structure human resources to mitigate the loss and we have to be creative and innovative in order to mitigate these risks," CIMA Sri Lanka President, Gowri Shankar said on Tuesday. She made this observation while briefing the media on the visit of world renowned HR Guru, Dave Ulrich to Sri Lanka.

DAWN

Front Page

Clashes erupt in S Waziristan: 23 Taliban killed; curfew in Wana
At least 23 Taliban and two soldiers were killed, while 20 militants and seven soldiers were injured on Wednesday after clashes broke out in different areas of South Waziristan.

Swat militants’ positions shelled
Fresh tension gripped the Swat Valley after militants blew up four private transport offices at the Matta general bus stand and security forces, backed by helicopter gunships and artillery, shelled suspected militant hideouts on Wednesday.

Business

ADB sets poverty line afresh at $1.35
The Asian Development Bank has carried out for the first time a thorough sensitivity analysis of internationally comparable poverty estimates, and says the new poverty line, called the ‘Asian Poverty Line’, is roughly $1.35 a day.

KSE 100-share index loses 392 points
The share market on Wednesday ran into deeper recession on panic-selling spurred by reports of margin calls on some of the leading brokers who reportedly failed to meet their clearing obligations owing to sustained downward drift for the last couple of weeks. News from the political front were also not that encouraging.

BUSINESS RECORDER

Front Page

Lawyers to stage two-hour protest across country
The legal fraternity is all set to stage a two hour sit-in across the country on Thursday to press the government for the reinstatement of deposed judges amid the end of patience by the sacked judges who took oath and detached themselves from a movement striving for their reinstatement.

10 dead in police vehicle blast
At least 10 people killed among police officers and several injured in suicide blast at police vehicle here on Thursday morning.

Business

Economic team grilled by World Bank chief
World Bank President Robert Zoellick is said to have grilled Pakistan's economic team headed by the Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Economic Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar, for presenting what he believed exaggerated statistics of the country's economy to seek project and programme loans, well-placed sources told Business Recorder.

Cabinet decides to impose 50% additional duty on luxury items
The Federal Cabinet has decided to impose 50% additional duty on import of luxury items, including non-essential food items, aimed at reducing the soaring import bill. The exact number of items to be additionally taxed by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is yet to be finalised, but the list may have around 350 items.

ICIS Copyright © Reed Business Information 2009

Author: Staff Reporter
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