Category: Other
‘s economic boom fuels booze bonanza
PUNE, August 31, 2011 (AFP) – It’s Friday night at a microbrewery pub in Pune, western India, and Swapnil Dakshindas and his friends don’t know which beer to choose. The barman pours four different brews, fermented in giant steel vats just next door, for them to try. “It’s fresh, has no preservatives and I know […]
‘s Maruti Suzuki
MUMBAI, August 31, 2011 (AFP) – India’s largest car maker by sales Maruti Suzuki said it restarted production at one of its plants on Wednesday after locking workers out in a dispute over alleged sabotage earlier this week. “Maruti started assembly operations in Manesar, rolling out the first Swift car since production halted on Monday, […]
Compounded
Aug 30, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s securities watchdog has fined Environmental Resources Inc and several officers, over a disclosure related offence, market sources said. Sri Lanka’s Securities and Exchange Commission earlier sent the firm a notice of action, over a disclosure related matter. Under Sri Lanka’s securities law, a person charged with securities fraud […]
India proposes to allow more private banks
MUMBAI, August 29, 2011 (AFP) – India’s central bank on Monday outlined proposals to allow more private players in the banking sector to foster greater competition and widen the availability of banking services. India’s state-run banks dominate the sector and inefficient practices and bloated workforces have brought calls for more private sector capital to reinvigorate […]
‘s killers
CHENNAI, August 30, 2011 (AFP) – Judges in Chennai on Tuesday delayed by two months the execution of three men convicted of the 1991 assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. The three men were due to be hanged on September 9 at a jail in the southern state of Tamil Nadu after India’s […]
Karachi bloodshed threatens havoc for Pakistan
KARACHI, August 29, 2011 (AFP) – Murder gangs rooted in Karachi’s boiling cauldron of ethnic politics are waging a savage fight for power and space in Pakistan’s financial capital, threatening to destabilise the entire country. At one of Karachi’s overflowing morgues, Amir Ali, clutching a photograph of his missing brother on his wedding day, searches […]
Indian anti-graft activist ends 13-day fast
NEW DELHI, August 28, 2011 (AFP) – Indian anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare ended his 13-day hunger strike on Sunday triggering wild celebrations among supporters after parliament agreed to consider his demands. Hazare’s fast at an open-air venue in New Delhi attracted tens of thousands of people every day as a nationwide protest movement emerged to […]
Sri Lanka investors stumped by low labour productivity in tea estates
Aug 27, 2011 (LBO) – Investors are losing interest in Sri Lanka’s plantations as rising wages without productivity gains are making companies reluctant to invest in the replanting needed to sustain the industry, a business group has warned. Sri Lanka™s competitiveness as a tea producer has declined with each successive wage hike with no commensurate […]
Fugitive Tipster
NEW YORK (AFP) – US regulators have levied a $34.5 million fine against alleged Galleon case insider trading tipster Deep Shah, who is believed to be hiding in India, a court filing showed Wednesday. Shah is the only one who remains at large. The Sri Lankan-born billionaire founder of Galleon Group, Raj Rajaratnam, was convicted […]
Another Step
Aug 25, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will end nearly three decades of emergency rule, President Mahinda Rajapaksa told the island’s parliament, which has to renew the law every month to give extensive arrest and detention powers to authorities over citizens. President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a special address to parliament said lawmakers would not have […]
‘s record
Aug 25, 2011 (LBO) – Although Sri Lanka’s tea crops have fallen in recent months, the island is likely to match last year’s record production with output seen reviving later in the year, a broker said. “Despite a downturn in production in the month of July, tea production is on course to achieve last years […]
Sri Lanka July 2011 tea output falls sharply
Aug 24, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s July 2011 tea production fell sharply from a year ago, owing to erratic weather conditions, reducing total crop for the year so far to slightly below that of the same 2010 period. Sri Lanka Tea Board statistics showed the July 2011 crop fell 11.5 percent to 24.2 million […]