Category: Other
Rescuers race against time as India monsoon toll nears 600
DEHRADUN, June 22, 2013 (AFP) – Relief teams were racing against time Saturday to rescue tens of thousands of stranded people in rain-ravaged northern India as the death toll from flash floods and landslides neared 600.Rescue workers who managed to reach those stranded were racing to cut down trees and clear vegetation to allow military […]
‘s Elpitiya Plantations boost tea yields, diversifies crop
June 21, 2013 (LBO) – Elpitiya Plantations Plc, a unit of Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence group said it had boosted tea yields and diversified into cinnamon oil palm and oil milling, allowing it to boost profits.In the year to March 2013, 11 percent of its 2.8 billion rupees in revenues came from palm oil as […]
Casino Watch
June 21, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will look into the possibility of setting up a casino regulator, a government minister said responding to a call by a legislator of the island’s main opposition.“We respect that idea,” information minister Keheliya Rambukwelle told reporters Thursday at a weekly news briefing to announce cabinet decisions. “Let’s see […]
Work Practices
June 20, 2013 (LBO) – A minimum age for employment may be raised to 16 years from 14 if proposals in a national policy on youth are adopted, officials said. Sri Lankan children however have had problems, especially in the past, where school-going age children in poor families were taken out of school and sent […]
Sri Lanka former war-zone agri produce on show
June 19, 2013 (LBO) – Farmers in Sri Lanka’s former war zones in the North and East are cultivating more land but need modern technology to improve yields, officials who are organizing a trade show to link them to buyers said.Under tariff protection, where prices are higher than the rest of the world, there is […]
‘s inflation cools but rate cut unlikely
NEW DELHI, June 14, 2013 (AFP) – India’s inflation cooled to a more than three-year low in May, data showed Friday, but the rupee’s plunge will likely stall any interest rate cut to kickstart the ailing economy.The Wholesale Price Index, India’s most most closely watched inflation gauge, dropped to 4.7 percent in May on an […]
Sri Lanka fishermen will be safer with vessel monitoring system: minister
June 14, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is expecting to have a vessel monitoring system operating within five months which will provide up to date weather information to fishermen and reduce loss of life, fisheries minister Rajitha Senaratne said.But warnings will be disseminated through the ‘Sayura’ a fishermen’s radio channel and other media, Senaratne said. […]
Sri Lanka mulls safety rules on fishermen as monsoon kills 54
June 11, 2013 (AFP) – The death toll in Sri Lanka from strong monsoon winds and heavy rains rose to 54, as the government announced on Tuesday new safety requirements for small fishing boats.The minister said small boats which usually go out to sea at night and return at dawn were not regulated and did […]
Sri Lanka rice second highest for toxic metal in 12-nation study: report
June 10, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has come second after Bangladesh for concentrations of cadmium in a listing of 12 countries where rice was tested for toxic metals, a media report said.Cadmium had been linked to a mysterious kidney disease of which the original are still not conclusively known (chronic kidney disease of unknown […]
‘s rupee hits record low against the dollar
MUMBAI, June 10, 2013 (AFP) – India’s rupee hit a record low of 57.54 against the dollar on Monday on growing demand for dollars among oil importers, while the greenback was also boosted by upbeat US jobs data.The partially convertible rupee hit its previous low of 57.32 against the dollar on June 28 last year.On […]
‘s Watawala in bottom of-the-pyramid tea push
June 10, 2013 (LBO) – Sunshine Holdings Plc, which has the second largest share in the branded tea market, will expand into the bottom-of-the-pyramid segment, with its new third brand, officials said.The firm now had a third of a 10 million kilo branded tea market.Sri Lanka’s total domestic tea consumption is estimated at around 26 […]
Sri Lanka monsoon death toll climbs to 31
COLOMBO, June 10, 2013 (AFP) – Naval boats and helicopters scoured seas off Sri Lanka Monday for dozens of missing fishermen, as the confirmed death toll from heavy monsoon rain and strong winds rose to 31, an official said.The bodies of 30 fishermen plus one victim on land have so far been recovered while another […]