Category: Other
Maldives reject foreign pressure over vote hold-up
COLOMBO, October 2, 2013 (AFP) – Outgoing Maldivian president Mohamed Waheed vowed on Wednesday to resist international pressure to hold swift elections after the Supreme Court suspended a presidential run-off due last weekend.Waheed, in an address to the nation of 350,000 Sunni Muslims, said the court’s decision had plunged the country into “chaos”, but said […]
Decent Conditions
KATHMANDU, September 27, 2013 (AFP) – Rights groups urged South Asian governments Friday to demand proper protection for their migrant workers amid outrage over the deaths of dozens of Nepalis on projects linked to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.While Nepal’s government said it would not try to halt the flow of migrant workers after […]
Rare Canadian desert shrinking as vegetation takes over
WINNIPEG, September 27, 2013 (AFP) – As desertification creeps into parts of the world, a rare stretch of sand in Canada’s vast western plains is oddly doing the reverse — slowly sprouting with vegetation. Tufts of prairie grasses are emerging throughout Spirit Sands, a stretch of dunes steeped in local lore in a popular nature […]
Confusion over Maldives election as officials clash
COLOMBO, September 27, 2013 (AFP) – The Maldives’ Election Commission sparked confusion on Friday over whether elections originally scheduled for this weekend but suspended by the Supreme Court would go ahead on the troubled Indian Ocean archipelago. Nasheed, 46, won the first round comfortably with 45.45 percent of the vote and faced a run-off contest […]
Underpant protests as Maldives crisis deepens
MALÉ, September 27, 2013 (AFP) – Police in the Maldives said Friday they had arrested 14 protesters involved in hanging white underpants outside a courthouse as a constitutional crisis over stalled elections on the honeymoon islands deepened. Supporters of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) been begun displaying white briefs in public to taunt Supreme […]
Teaching Proposals
By Nisha Arunatilake Sept 27, 2013 (LBO) – Despite impressive performance in access to education, issues of quality of education, access to higher levels of education and relevance of education has challenged the education sector in the recent past. School based recruitments will help to alleviate another pressing issue in the sector: the inefficient placement […]
Corporate Code
Sept 26, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s chartered accountants and the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a revised ‘Code of Best Practice on Corporate Governance.’ “Good corporate governance is fundamental to an organization’s competitiveness, growth and most importantly its sustainability,” The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) said in a […]
Global panel to make economic case on climate change
NEW YORK CITY, September 24, 2013 (AFP) – Mexico’s former president Felipe Calderon said that climate action can boost both developed and emerging countries as he led a new commission bringing together government and business leaders.In an initiative being launched Tuesday on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly, Calderon will chair a report […]
Protests as Maldives Supreme Court suspends elections
MALÉ, September 23, 2013 (AFP) – The Supreme Court of the Maldives on Monday suspended presidential elections due this weekend following a legal challenge, sparking protests and fears of fresh instability in the troubled Indian Ocean archipelago.“The Elections Commission got the opportunity to argue out their case and establish the credibility of the process,” he […]
Chinese tourists, diplomats make a splash in the Maldives
MALÉ, September 23, 2013 (AFP) – The travellers pouring off flight LV199 from Shanghai into the international airport of the Maldives, many dressed in designer labels, are an unmissable sign of China’s interest in the far-flung archipelago.His half-brother, long-time autocrat Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled until 2008, was saved from a coup by late Indian […]
Factories ablaze as Bangladesh garment workers protest
DHAKA, September 23, 2013 (AFP) – Angry Bangladeshi garment workers blocked roads, set factories alight and clashed with police for a third day on Monday as protests demanding a minimum monthly wage of $100 spread outside the capital. Thousands of workers also attacked a camp of a reserve police force 40 kilometres (25 miles) north […]
Tata-Singapore tie-up seen reaffirming India aviation potential
NEW DELHI, September 21, 2013 (AFP) – A new Indian airline planned by the giant Tata Group and Singapore Airlines reaffirms the nation’s longterm potential as an aviation market, despite the sector’s current financial turbulence, analysts say. Tata Sons, the holding company of tea-to-software conglomerate Tata Group, and SIA said this week they were setting […]