Category: Other
Indian Ocean sea level rise; contrary research heard in India: report
Oct 16, 2011 (LBO) – A researcher who is questioning claims and forecasts on sea level rises connected to man made climate change, has got a hearing in India at a conference, a media report said. said Nils-Axel Morner, a Swedish academic had disputed claims of Indian Ocean sea level increases. Morner is a key […]
Sri Lanka freight group expands recycling business
Oct 13, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Expolanka Holdings has expanded and renamed its recycling subsidiary and also intends to venture into recycling electronic waste or ‘e-waste’. Group unit Neptune Papers has been rebranded as Neptune Recyclers and has moved into recycling plastic, polythene and scrap metal in addition to its existing waste paper business, […]
Sentence
NEW YORK, October 13, 2011 (AFP) – Disgraced star Wall Street hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam was sentenced Thursday to 11 years behind bars in the heaviest US sentence for insider trading, although far below what prosecutors had sought. New York federal Judge Richard Holwell also ordered the Sri Lankan-born founder of the Galleon Group […]
Bangladesh launches $130 laptop for schools
DHAKA, October 11, 2011 (AFP) – Bangladesh on Tuesday unveiled a $130 locally made laptop that it hopes will help bridge the digital divide in the impoverished South Asian country. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina unveiled the Doel — or magpie — laptops at a ceremony in the capital Dhaka, saying the computer, made by state-owned […]
” of dirty tricks
MANILA, October 10, 2011 (AFP) – The World Health Organization’s chief on Monday urged governments to unite against “big tobacco”, as she accused the industry of dirty tricks, bullying and immorality in its quest to keep people smoking. This covers an area with a population of 1.6 billion people, including China, Australia, Japan, South Korea, […]
‘s Tata Coffee shares surge on Starbucks tie-up report
MUMBAI, October 10, 2011 (AFP) – Shares in India’s Tata Coffee soared nearly 10 percent on Monday after media reports that a proposed tie-up with giant US chain Starbucks will be announced soon. Tata Coffee, a grower and supplier of high-quality Arabica beans, jumped 9.8 percent intraday to a day’s high of 881. 75 rupees […]
Western fast food, waistlines surge in India
NEW DELHI, October 9, 2011 (AFP) – Every lunchtime at a McDonald’s on the corner of one of central New Delhi’s biggest streets, queues of hungry young patrons, often four-wide and unruly, snake towards the counters. In another study published last month, the International Federation of the Red Cross focused on the “double-edged scandal” of […]
Legal Status
NEW YORK, October 9, 2011 (AFP) – Raj Rajaratnam, convicted in the biggest US insider trading case for years, faces a sentence of up to 24 years prison next week at the close of a case seen as making an example of the hedge fund tycoon. The sentencing hearing on October 13 before federal Judge […]
Climate talks inch ahead on aid despite discord
PANAMA CITY, October 8, 2011 (AFP) – Climate negotiators said Friday they made progress on laying out ways to help poor countries but deep differences remained on core issues ahead of a make-or-break talks in South Africa. With scientists warning that the planet is far behind on meeting pledges to control climate change, officials from […]
Indian Ocean tsunami alert system to be tested on Oct 12
PARIS, October 6, 2011 (AFP) – Nearly two dozen countries next Wednesday will take part in a full-scale test of the Indian Ocean’s tsunami alert system, using the 2004 Sumatra quake as the basis for the exercise, UNESCO said on Thursday. Exercise IOWAVE 11 will re-enact the seismic events of December 26, 2004, simulating a […]
US seeks WTO action on China, India subsidies
WASHINGTON, October 6, 2011 (AFP) – The United States said Thursday it has enlisted the World Trade Organization to obtain detailed information on subsidy programs in China and India. US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said that Washington had submitted information to the WTO identifying nearly 200 subsidy programs that China has failed to notify as […]
Sri Lanka tea estate gets govt nod for tie up
Oct 06, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Bogawantalawa Tea Estate, a listed firm said it has received approval from the state to transfer management of three factories and land to the domestic arm of a US based tea marketing firm. Bogawantalawa Plantations said in a stock filing that it had received the nod from the […]