With pronouncements of ideas of introducing eight new models of automobiles in India and founding a pick-up truck plant in Thailand with a joint worth $350 million with its partner Mazda Motor Corporation, Ford Motor Company is advancing its presence into the continent of Asia.

The company expects to attribute 70% of its profits in the next ten years to the Asian Continent particularly India and China.

It has been reported that as Red Shirt protests continue with deadly ramifications, Thailand's prime minister says he won't hold national elections until next year.

The Wall St. Journal reported on Monday that the Red Shirt activists are calling for the ouster of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who came to power in a 2008 parliamentary vote allegedly backed by military leaders and the Thai royalist establishment.

According to the media reports, a man picking through trash was seriously hurt early on Friday when a hand grenade left in a dumpster near a Bangkok shopping center exploded.

The Bangkok Post has reported that the bombing was the second this week in the Thai capital. One person was killed Sunday in an explosion at a bus stop.

The scavenger was hospitalized. Police did not release his name.

Working under the One Ford strategy, the slowdown has certainly been a very good lesson for Ford as the company is now relying mostly on the best cost countries to make sure that it is able to stay afloat in the global marketplace.

In fact, the auto major has recently said that it will invest a whopping amount of $450 million in Thailand, with a view to build a new manufacturing plant, with the bulk of the output destined for export markets.

The company also mentioned that the plant will be used to cater to the expansion made in the APAC region in the past few years.

Leading carmaker Ford India has informed that the company has started exporting petrol engines. The Chennai unit of Ford will export these petrol engines to Thailand.

According to company officials, the company is looking forward to export them to the other regions of the world.

The Asia-Pacific and African regions are the main focus of the firm, but it is also targeting to export its engine all across the globe.

It is considering amnesty for demonstrating Red Shirts who violated the emergency decree set by the government, Thailand has said.

The Bangkok Post reported on Sunday that Tharit Pengdit, chief of the Department of Special Investigation of the Center for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation, is looking into drafting a special law pardoning demonstrators not facing terrorism charges resulting from two months of rallies in which 89 people were killed and almost 2,000 injured.

A party official said on Friday that Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government survived a no-confidence vote but some of his Cabinet members did not.

The Bangkok Post has reported that Nipit Intarasombat, an executive member of Abhisit's Democrat Party, said the party has resolved to replace four Cabinet members. The decision was reached at a meeting of the executive committee led by Abhisit and attended by 16 of the 19 members, Nipit also said.

The country would suffer at least a $1.5 billion hit to its economy because of the more than two months of violent protests, the Thai Finance Ministry has said.

The estimate came as Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva called for a national reconciliation.

Abhisit said, "We recognize that, as we move ahead, there are huge challenges ahead of us, particularly the challenge of overcoming the divisions that have occurred in this country." He added he was beginning "an independent investigation of all the events that have taken place during the protest."

Thailand's capital Bangkok is no more an ideal destination for the tourists. It has turned into a battlefield from a calm and quite tourist heaven. The anti government red shirt protesters refused to calm down without re-election.

The protesters have boycott the previous election alleging corruption issues. Their demand is still the same. They want the Prime Minister to step down. The authorities of Bangkok have extended the curfew for three more nights because of the army assault on red shirt protesters yesterday. The curfew will be on in 23 provinces.

The Thai government has asked women, children to leave the protest site immediately. The government has given them a deadline to vacant the place. In an official announcement, it has ordered the women, children, the elderly and other unarmed protesters to leave Bangkok's main commercial district. According to military spokesman the security forces have planned to allow neutral organizations like Red Cross into the protest area.

It has been reported that Thai protesters ignored official orders to clear Bangkok's business district Tuesday and the government declared the day a holiday to promote public safety.

There were reports of renewed clashes Monday between protesters and government forces. A U. N. official appealed to protesters and the government to begin talks to prevent further loss of life.

It has been reported that the Bangkok Post, in an editorial Tuesday, condemned the anti-government protest in Thailand for the violence and disruption of life in Bangkok.

The Red Shirt protesters' demonstrations since March, demanding the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and new elections, showed no sign of ending Tuesday. Escalating clashes between them and Thai security forces have left dozens dead and injured.

Police has said that thousands of Red Shirt protesters Monday ignored a government demand they cede the downtown Bangkok territory they've held since March.

The Bangkok Nation reported, quoting a hospital spokesman, that the stalemate continued after a renegade general supporting the protesters died of a bullet wound, officials said. Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdipol, also known as Seh Daeng, died at Vajira Hospital Monday of a head wound from a sniper bullet suffered last week.

Thai security forces have confirmed that at least eight people have been killed in a live firing zone in down town Bangkok. With this the death toll in Saturday's fatality has gone up to 25.

Due to protesters' violent explosion more than 150 peoples have been wounded. The Prime Minister of Thailand Vejjajiva has said that a small group of protesters among the opposition 'Red Shirt' is trying to start a civil war. The Prime Minister has also warned that public life is in danger due to the protest. People are not safe as long as this protest is on in the country, he added.

Thai officials said on Sunday that an "intense and fierce" gun battle has broken out between anti-government Red Shirt protesters and the military in Bangkok.

CNN has reported that the Bangkok metropolitan area and 21 other provinces have been placed under a state of emergency.

According to the media reports, three police officers were shot Friday night in Bangkok, killing one, near an area where protesters against the Thai government were camped.

The Bangkok Post reported A bystander was also injured. The shooter was on a motorcycle, Witnesses said.

A grenade exploded in the same neighborhood early on Saturday, injuring five police officers and three soldiers.

Officials have notified that members of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's party approved his plan Thursday to dissolve Parliament and hold an early election.

It has been reported that the Democrat Party's members of Parliament held a meeting to discuss the road map Abhisit hopes will end weeks of deadly political violence, the Bangkok Post reported. Abhisit has proposed a Nov. 14 election with Parliament dissolved several weeks before that date.

Protesters' demands to dissolve the government within 30 days are "out of the question," Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Sunday.

The New York Times has reported that speaking in a televised address, Abhisit said he was trying to work toward a peaceful solution to the country's political crisis, which has seen protesters known as red-shirts occupy sections of Bangkok for more than six weeks.

Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal has stormed in to the second round of the Yonex Sunrise Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) after defeating Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand in the first round on Wednesday.

Saina, the World no. 6, thrashed her Thai opponent in straight sets by 21-10 21-13 in just half an hour in the opening round at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi. Saina started the match with a bang as she took
11-0 lead in the first set.

Speaking to the media, Saina said that she was expecting a tough challenge from her opponent as the last match between them was very close but she played well to get past Porntip.

After Tata Motors announced the launch of Nano last year, the world's cheapest car is making a lot of noise in the Indian marketplace. The company hasn't even reached the mass-volumes stage so far but the product has been an instant hit in the Indian market.