In Friday's South Asia papers

14 November 2008 05:00  [Source: ICIS news]

THE TIMES OF INDIA

Front Page

First phase of polling begins in Chhattisgarh
Polling to elect 39 of Chhattisgarh's 90 legislators in the first of the two-phase assembly elections began on a dull note on Friday, while a gun battle between paramilitary forces and Maoist rebels in Dantewada district of the insurgency-hit Bastar region.

Terror 'guru' had high contacts
Dayanand Pandey, alias Sudhakar Dwivedi alias Swami Amritanand Dev Teerth Maharaj, who was arrested in Kanpur for alleged involvement in the Malegaon blast, comes through as an ambitious man who rose quickly in the past few years and had quite a few contacts among politicians, retired bureaucrats and Armymen.

Business

FM assures more loans for realty
FM Chidambaram assured real estate developers that government will impress upon banks to accelerate lending to realty, which is facing one of the worst slowdown in the recent times.

Number portability to be a reality soon
It will soon be possible for Indian consumers to change their telecom service provider without changing their telephone number.

THE ECONOMIC TIMES

Front Page

Stocks set to rally tracking global cues, inflation
With positive global cues and inflation easing to single-digit, Dalal Street is set to party on Friday.

Honda sells 98 Hybrids a day after price cut
Honda Siel cars India sold 98 Civic Hybrid cars on a single day on Thursday, much more than what it managed in the entire five months since the premium hybrid’s launch in India, thanks to a whopping Rs 8 lakh, or 40%, price cut.

THE BANGLADESH TODAY

Front Page

HC declares TAC Ordinance 2008 illegal
The High Court on Thursday declared Truth and Accountability Commission Ordinance 2008 and constitution and functioning of Truth and Accountability Commission (TAC) illegal and unconstitutional.

Case filed for declaring 36 persons war criminals
A case was filed on Thursday with a plea for declaring 36 persons, including the entire hierarchy of Jamaat-e-Islami, "war criminals" for their role against the country's liberation war way back in 1971.

Business

Leaders strike consensus to work together
The leaders of BIMSTEC emerged from their summit meet here Thursday with a unanimous decision to work jointly to tackle the challenges like global financial crisis, concerns over energy and food security and climate change now confronting the entire world community.

DSE tumbles again as investors take quick profit
The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) tumbled again on Thursday after gaining sharply on the day before as investors took profit on maturity of their shares bought in the sluggish market.

DAILY MIRROR

Front Page

'32214">'Two more TMVP cadres killed
Two more TMVP cadres were shot dead by suspected LTTE gunmen in Karadiyanaru last night. At least 20 TMVP cadres have been killed over the past few months.

'32213">'Man who gave birth is pregnant again
The "pregnant man" who gave birth to a daughter earlier this year is expecting a second child, according to US reports.

Business

'32157">'CPC hedges on its hedges?
At a swiftly-organized press conference on Monday that was organized in the wake of mounting public interest, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) Chairman Asantha De Mel took great pains to explain the situation regarding the oil price hedging issue that has involved several institutions since the Financial Times comprehensively broke the story last week in our ‘Special Report’.

'32156">'Sri Lanka scores poorly in ease of paying tax ranking
Sri Lanka has been ranked near the bottom of a new global ranking on paying taxes, making it one of the most difficult countries for business to pay their dues. The island has achieved an overall ranking of 164 out of 181 economies covered by the report produced jointly by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the World Bank-IFC which evaluates the relative ease of paying taxes.

DAWN

Front Page

World must combat bigotry: Zardari
President Asif Ali Zardari told world leaders on Thursday that Islamophobia and anti-Semitism were both forms of bigotry which must be combated.

Tarin hopeful of getting $5-6bn from IFIs: ‘IMF conditions already part of budget’
The Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance, Mr Shaukat Tarin, told the Senate on Thursday that Pakistan was likely to get $5-6 bn from the World Bank and other international financial institutions by December.

Business

Interest rate hike to hit industry, say businessmen
Pakistan’s industrial landscape may soon be marked with dead and sick units and there would be massive unemployment because of the "devastating impact" on businesses from increase in interest rate on bank loans.

Banks warned against changing spreads on loans
Banks and Development Financial Institutions (DFIs) have been found increasing the interest rate fixed at the time of loan agreement.

BUSINESS RECORDER

Front Page

Hatred of Islam leads to injustices against Muslims: Zardari
President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday said that the world community should commit itself to eliminating the root causes of extremism and terrorism, giving all people in all societies renewed faith in their countries, in their laws, and in the futures of their children. He said this while addressing the special session of the United Nations Interfaith Dialogue in New York City on Thursday.

Nato commander briefs MPs on border situation
Nato Commander General David McKiernan said on Thursday that we are collecting authentic information for strikes on the al Qaeda and Taliban hideouts in the tribal belt. In a briefing in US embassy, the Nato commander told Pakistani parliamentarians about the situation in the border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Business

'837894&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=">'Country to miss growth target by 1.5 percent in fiscal year 2009

The State Bank of Pakistan on Thursday projected that the country will miss its Gross Domestic Products (GDP) target by 1.5 percent in FY09 and expected that the growth would be some 4 percent, the lowest in last six years. The country is witnessing over 6.5 percent GDP growth rate since FY03 and during FY08, the country's economy registered a growth of 5.8 percent.

'837929&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=">'China agrees to provide $500 m, Tarin tells Senate
China has agreed to extend financial assistance of $500 m to Pakistan, said advisor to the Prime Minister on finance Shaukat Tarin while concluding debate on current economic situation in the Senate Thursday.

ICIS Copyright © Reed Business Information 2009

Author: Staff Reporter
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