Category: Other
Bill Rumpus
Oct 30, 2011 (LBO) – At least two listed companies in Sri Lanka have been named among several dozen, in a secretly hatched law to expropriate assets of firms deemed by the state as ‘underperforming’ or ‘underutilized’, a media report said. The two listed firm named in the secret law in Hotel Developers (Lanka) Plc, […]
BlackBerry puts monitoring centre in India: report
MUMBAI, October 28, 2011 (AFP) – Research In Motion (RIM) has set up a facility in Mumbai to help the Indian government conduct surveillance checks on the company’s BlackBerry services, the Wall Street Journal said on Friday. The financial daily quoted unnamed people familiar with the matter who said the Canadian firm opened the centre […]
India to open rival bids for $12 bn fighter deal
NEW DELHI, October 28, 2011 (AFP) – India’s Defence Ministry has invited the two rivals for a $12 billion jet fighter contract — France’s Dassault and the European Eurofighter consortium — to unveil their bids next week. The Dassault group is hoping to secure the contract for 126 jets, one of the largest military contracts […]
Land Concerns
Oct 28, 2011 (LBO) – A citizens group has raised concerns about a new process of resolving and proving ownership of land in former war zones, outside established procedures and the court system. In July 2011, Sri Lanka’s Commissioner General of Lands had issued a circular Regulating the Activities Regarding Management of Lands in the […]
”
PERTH, October 28, 2011 (AFP) – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II Friday invoked an Australian Aboriginal proverb which notes “we are just passing through”, as she called for enduring results from a Commonwealth summit. Dressed in a powder blue silk jacquard dress and coat with navy trim adorned with a brooch which previously belonged to her […]
Sri Lanka tea crops seen improving
Oct 27, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production is expected to revive with the return of weather conditions conducive to growing tea with demand also improving at the Colombo auctions, brokers said. Brokers Asia Siyaka Commodities said low grown teas, which make up the bulk of the crop, “met with improved widespread demand” at […]
Sri Lanka exporter targets domestic flower market
Oct 27, 2011 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan horticulture exporter said it has begun targeting a growing domestic market for cut flowers and horticulture. Hayleys Agriculture, a division of the listed Hayleys group, said it had begun appointing agents and distributors and can double production at its 18 hectare facility in the central hills of […]
Baited Breath
Oct 27, 2011 (LBO) – A court decision is expected shortly on a proposed law in Sri Lanka to expropriate assets of citizens which are deemed as ‘underutilized’ by the state about which little information is publicly known, reports said. Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror newspaper has said that an “Act to provide for the vesting […]
Profile
NEW YORK, October 27, 2011 (AFP) – Rajat Gupta, who stands accused of insider trading, was a pillar of New York society, courted by charities, corporations and wealthy individuals seeking ways and means to make even more money. But just as his friends and influence grew exponentially during a dizzying climb to the top of […]
Insider Case
NEW YORK, October 27, 2011 (AFP) – Ex-Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta turned himself in Wednesday to the FBI, and then pleaded not guilty in court to massive securities fraud before being freed on $10 million bail pending trial. The indictment of the biggest fish yet in a growing insider trading scandal reverberated around Wall […]
India looks to factories to create 100 mln new jobs
NEW DELHI, October 25, 2011 (AFP) – India’s government approved Tuesday a policy to boost the nation’s underdeveloped manufacturing sector, aiming to slash red tape and create special zones for firms in a drive to create 100 million jobs. Manufacturing accounts for just 16 percent of India’s agriculture-dependent economy, which is “a cause of concern,” […]
Refugee Death
SYDNEY, October 26, 2011 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan man died in Australian immigration detention, officials said Tuesday, with refugee advocates claiming he killed himself with poison after being refused permission to attend a Hindu festival. An immigration spokesman said the man died shortly after midnight at Sydney Immigration Residential Housing — a family compound […]