Category: Other
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 […]
Sri Lanka value added tea exports cleared by Syria
Oct 06, 2011 (LBO) – Syria has lifted an import ban on value-added tea exports from Sri Lanka which had raised fears it could sharply reduce earnings from the island’s main export product. “There’s now no ban by Syria,” said Hasitha De Alwis, director promotions of the Sri Lanka Tea Board. “The ban on smaller […]
India to launch $45 tablet computer
NEW DELHI, October 4, 2011 (AFP) – India is set Wednesday to launch its long-awaited low-cost computer, a tablet device designed to bring the information technology revolution to tens of millions of students. The touchscreen computer has a seven-inch (18-centimetre) screen, Wi-Fi Internet access, a media player and 180 minutes of battery power, according to […]
Asia leads world in child-labor products: US report
WASHINGTON, October 4, 2011 (AFP) – India, Bangladesh and the Philippines lead the world in the number of products made by child workers, a US government stock-taking of the global scale of underaged labor revealed Monday. Some 130 types of goods — from building bricks and soccer balls to pornography and rare ores used in […]
Sri Lanka value-added tea exports fall
Oct 04, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s value-added tea exports have fallen in recent months in what a tea broker described as a “disturbing trend” as the country is trying to coax its main export up the value chain. Tea bags rose to a “healthy” nine percent in the quarter from six percent a year […]
‘s rupee a victim of global turmoil
NEW DELHI, October 2, 2011 (AFP) – India’s rupee has slid nearly 10 percent in three months against the dollar, a consequence of global economic uncertainty that will stoke already high inflation in Asia’s third-biggest economy. The rupee’s tumble makes import prices of everything from oil, fertilizers to food staples such as pulses, fuelling near-double-digit […]
Lawlessness
Oct 02, 2011 (LBO) – Five police officers have been arrested in Sri Lanka after thousands of angry citizens surrounded a police station seeking justice, where a suspect had died in custody, a media report said. Sri Lanka’s The Sunday Times newspaper said an estimated 3,000 civilians had surrounded a police station in Dompe in […]
Sri Lanka volunteers combat rabies
Oct 01, 2011 (LBO) – Volunteers in Sri Lanka are teaming up to combat rabies spread with free vaccinations which can save lives and also make a dent in 500 million rupees spent each year to treat dog bite victims. Dozens of volunteers teamed up on a hot Sunday afternoon to offer free rabies vaccination […]
Zany scientists honored in alternative Nobels
NEW YORK, September 29, 2011 (AFP) – In the ultimate accolade for the world’s mad scientists, spoof Nobel prizes were awarded Thursday for studies into beetle sex, yawning, the desperation of people dying to urinate, and other daffy investigations. The annual Ig Nobel prizes, now in their 21st year, were given out at Harvard University […]
Sri Lanka tea estates still making heavy losses
Sept 30, 2011 (LBO) – Tea estates in Sri Lanka’s central hills have had no respite from a market downturn and continue to incur losses of 150 rupees a kilo owing to lower prices and crops, a broker said. However, despite lower crops in recent months, an anticipated recovery in production in the last quarter […]
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NEW DELHI, September 30, 2011 (AFP) – India’s workaholic Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has not taken a holiday since he took the top job in 2004, according to a new in-depth profile published this week. The 12,000-word study in current affairs journal The Caravan of 79-year-old Singh, under fire for a series of debilitating scandals […]
Sri Lanka waters among most dangerous for sea turtles: study
MANILA, September 29, 2011 (AFP) – The waters around India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are home to the world’s most endangered sea turtles, according to a study released Thursday aimed at setting a blueprint for global conservation. While it was well known that almost all sea turtle species face extinction, the study by 30 scientists […]