Category: Other
Sri Lanka poultry group in profits amid revenue drop
Nov 14, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Grain Elevators group, which has operations in feed-milling said it returned to profits in the September 2013 quarter helped by lower soya prices despite a drop in sales.Three Acre Farms had also exported parent day old chicks and hatchable eggs to the region, helping boost margins. The […]
License Debate
Nov 13, 2013 (LBO) – A debate over the legality of casinos in Sri Lanka is heating up with ministers of the administration and opposition legislators trading charges and counter chargers.At least four casinos are now operating under a de facto arrangement where an annual levy had been paid to the state revenue office under […]
US warns Maldives president after vote blocked
MALÉ, November 12, 2013 (AFP) – The United States stepped up its criticism of the embattled Maldives on Tuesday, warning caretaker president Mohamed Waheed that a decision to remain in office after his mandate expired was endangering democracy.The US State Department said Waheed’s move to continue to govern after his time in office lapsed at […]
US rebukes Maldives top court as election suspended again
MALÉ, November 10, 2013 (AFP) – The United States sharply rebuked the Maldives’ top court after it suspended a presidential election runoff scheduled for Sunday, blocking a vote for the third time in two months.“Efforts by the Supreme Court to repeatedly and unduly interfere in the electoral process subverts Maldives’ democracy and takes decision-making out […]
Elections chief says Maldives run-off on track
MALÉ, November 9, 2013 (AFP) – The Maldives’ presidential run-off will be held Sunday, but with a five-hour delay, the chief elections commissioner announced as the second-placed candidate asked for more time to prepare.The court has begun hearing the case.Ibrahim says he wants more time to tell his supporters which of the two candidates they […]
Political chaos as Maldives Supreme Court suspends run-off vote
MALÉ, November 10, 2013 (AFP) – Presidential elections in the Maldives were thrown into disarray on Sunday after the Supreme Court suspended a run-off vote, denying former president Mohamed Nasheed the chance to return to power 21 months after he was ousted. Despite growing international concerns over the Indian Ocean atoll nation’s failure to elect […]
Troubled Maldives holds make-or-break vote
MALÉ, November 9, 2013 (AFP) – Voting got underway in the Maldives Saturday in its third bid to choose a president and end unrest sparked by the toppling of their first freely-elected leader 21 months ago.“God willing, we will win this election in one round,” he said at a rally in the capital Male. Nearly […]
Crisis-hit Maldives to vote again with democracy in doubt
COLOMBO, November 7, 2013 (AFP) – The Maldives faces a final chance to avoid a constitutional crisis and secure its five-year democracy this weekend when it makes a third attempt to hold a long-delayed presidential election.He held a meeting with all three candidates on Wednesday, with a statement saying it was “a very crucial period” […]
India mission to Mars blasts off successfully
NEW DELHI, November 5, 2013 (AFP) – India’s first mission to Mars blasted off on Tuesday as the country aims to become the only Asian nation to reach the Red Planet with a programme showcasing its low-cost space technology.A study of data from Curiosity published in September found the rover had detected only trace elements […]
Fears
COLOMBO, November 4, 2013 (AFP) – A media rights group Monday expressed fears for the safety of journalists in Sri Lanka after Colombo grilled two Australian activists and seized computer data before kicking them out.The Free Media Movement (FMM) said it expected a crackdown by the authorities following last week’s questioning of the two International […]
More Equal
LONDON, November 3, 2013 (AFP) – Britain is scrapping a plan to force visitors from six “high-risk” countries to pay a cash bond of £3,000 (US ,800, 3,500 euros), the interior ministry said on Sunday.Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, told BBC television in September that he was “absolutely not interested in a bond […]
Expelled
COLOMBO, November 1, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lankan authorities on Friday wiped all the data from the computer of an Australian media rights activist as she and a colleague were kicked out of the country, a local rights group said.Jacqui Park and fellow Australian Jean Worthington were packed onto a plane that flew out of […]