Lusaka (Zambia), Jan 8 - Tata Africa will double its turnover in the next two years to $1 billion, the head of the diversified operations that range from vehicles to floriculture to information technology said here.

He said that partnership between public and private sectors companies could be a way forward to go to a higher level in investment in the continent. now account for a turnover of $500 million. "But, we expect this to increase to $1 billion in the next two years," Raman Dhawan, managing director, Tata Africa Holdings, told IANS.

Lusaka (Zambia), Jan. 7 : Zambia’s first President, Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda, on Thursday said that during his nearly six-decade-long career in politics, he had been greatly inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, India’s Father of the Nation, adding that he had followed with keen interest Gandhi’s method of non-violence in the struggle against injustice.

Lusaka (Zambia), Jan. 7 (ANI): India and Zambia must aim at a collective effort to give value addition to the over four-decade-long bilateral relationship, said former Zambian President Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda on Thursday. Interacting with visiting Indian Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari and the Indian delegation, 85-year-old Kaunda said:

Lusaka (Zambia), Jan. 7 : Former Zambian President Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda on Thursday sought Indian assistance in providing his country with drugs, particularly for combating the HIV-AIDS pandemic effectively.

Issuing the appeal during an interaction with visiting Indian Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari at his residence here, Kaunda said: “India has made significant advances in the development of drugs. I wish to appeal for assistance to us in this region, so that we can fight the AIDS pandemic effectively.”

Lusaka, Jan. 7 (ANI): Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari left Zambia from here on Thursday afternoon for Malawi after completing a three-day official visit that included meetings with the Zambian leadership and the signing of several agreements for providing a Line of Credit and a grant to this African nation.

Lusaka (Zambia), Jan. 7 : Indian media persons accompanying Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari on his three-day visit to Zambia were given an African safari treat on Wednesday afternoon after attending a series of official engagements in capital Lusaka.

Lusaka (Zambia), Jan. 7 : Visiting Indian Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari on Wednesday called on his Zambian counterpart George Kunda at the Vice-President''s office.

Following a one-on-one meeting during which they reportedly discussed issues of bilateral, regional and multilateral importance, the two leaders proceeded to a boardroom for the signing of a bilateral pact.

Lusaka (Zambia), Jan 7 - India's 'people's car' will certainly drive down the roads of Africa, with the Tata group conducting research on the rules and regulations of the different markets in this vast continent.

"(Tata) Nano is definitely the future in Africa," Raman Dhawan, managing director of Tata Africa Holdings Ltd, told IANS in an interview here.

Tata Africa Holding is the main promoter company for the Indian conglomerate Tata Group's businesses in Africa, where it has a presence in 10 countries.

Lusaka, Jan 5 : Botswana's diamonds are of "direct interest" to India, Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari said as he began his three-nation Africa tour Tuesday.

"Botswana is the world's first or second largest diamond producer. This is of direct interest to us, as we have a large and prosperous diamond cutting industry in Gujarat," Ansari told reporters onboard the Special Aircraft from New Delhi to Lusaka.

Lusaka (Zambia), Jan. 5 (ANI): Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari arrived here on a three-day visit a little after 4 p. m. on Tuesday evening. Zambia’s Vice-President George Kunda and his wife Ireen Kunda, besides India’s High Commissioner to Zambia Ashok Kumar and his wife Jasvinder Kumar received Vice-President Ansari at Lusaka International Airport.

Lusaka, Jan 5 : Indian Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari arrived in this Zambian capital Tuesday on the first leg of his three-nation African tour aimed at renewing old ties with the leadership of these countries.

The Boeing-747 special aircraft carrying the vice-president landed at the lush green Lusaka International Airport at 3.30 p. m. and was greeted by colourful dancers.

Ansari, his wife and the high-level Indian delegation were received by Zambian Vice President George Kunda. Zambia has a population of 12.5 million and an area one-fourth of India's size.

Lusaka  - The Zambian government has abolished an anti-corruption body formed by late president Levy Mwanawasa to prosecute his predecessor Frederick Chiluba and members of his graft-plagued administration, state media reported Friday.

Vice President George Kunda announced that the Task Force on Corruption would be fused into the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the state-run Zambia Daily Mail reported.

Kunda explained the move by saying the Task Force has executed its mandate because most of the cases it had prosecuted had been through the courts.

Lusaka - The political opposition in the southern African country of Zambia has warned investors bidding for the country's telecommunications company it will re-nationalize the company if elected in 2011, local radio reported Friday.

The opposition Patriotic Front and United Party For National Development (UPND) opposes the privatization of the Zambia Telecommunications Company (Zamtel), saying the company should be recapitalized instead of sold.

Lusaka - Zambia's president Rupiah Banda has fired the country's top anti-corruption official for pursuing the prosecution of former president Frederick Chiluba, a statement released by the cabinet office said Wednesday.

Maxwell Nkole, Chairman of the Task Force on Corruption, had last week instructed prosecution lawyers to appeal against the acquittal of former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba on theft charges relating to some 500 million dollars.

Chiluba was acquitted on August 17.

Lusaka - A Zambian court Monday aquitted former Zambian president Fredrick Chiluba on charges of corruption but his co- accused Faustin Kabwe and Aaron Chungu, directors of a Zambian firm Access Financial Services Limited (AFSL), were found guilty.

Chiluba was facing criminal charges of stealing 500,000 dollars from Zambian coffers.

High Court judge Jones Chinyama read out a 445-page ruling and in addition reviewed statements of 35 witnesses in dismissing the case.

He said the prosecution failed to prove suspicions that Chiluba stole government money which eventually ended up in an account managed by AFSL.

Lusaka - The trial of a leading Zambian journalist charged with circulating obscene material after distributing photographs of a woman outside a hospital giving birth unaided whilst medical staff were on strike was due to get underway in Lusaka on Wednesday.

Chansa Kabwela, 29, a news editor at the private The Post newspapers, distributed the photos of the woman giving birth in the car park outside Lusaka's University Teaching Hospital in June. The baby did not survive the birth.

Kabwela has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which carry a minimum sentence of five years.

Lusaka  - A leading Zambian journalist was hauled before court Tuesday for circulating photographs of a woman giving birth in a hospital car park during a medical workers' strike.

Chansa Kabwela, news editor at the private The Post newspapers, was arrested Monday and charged with circulating obscene material for distributing the photographs of the woman giving birth outside Lusaka's University Teaching Hospital. Kabwela pleaded not guilty.

Lusaka - At least eight miners died in Zambia Thursday after being trapped in a rockfall at a mine in the Copperbelt region, less than a month after a fire killed scores of illegal miners in South Africa, state media reported Thursday.

The miners who died Thursday were also suspected to be working illegally.

The accident took place in a disused shaft belonging to Zambia's largest cobalt producer, Chambishi Metals. The miners were believed to be hunting for leftover cobalt and copper deposits.

Lusaka - Zambia's two main opposition political parties have merged in a bid to remove the ruling Movement for Multi Party Democracy (MMD) from power in 2011 presidential and parliamentary elections, private media reported Friday.

The copper-rich southern African country has been ruled by the centrist MMD of President Rupiah Banda for 17 years.

Lusaka  - Zambia's President Rupiah Banda has defended himself against accusations of being soft on corruption, following allegations that several members of his government had embezzled public funds, state media reported Friday.

Opposition parties and civil society groups have accused Banda of shielding high-profile figures mentioned in a report by the auditor general as having abused public funds.

The report did not name people but talked about senior officials in government departments.