Category: Other
Terror Funding
Sept 23, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s parliament has passed changes to laws against money laundering and terrorist financing, broadening their scope and enabling police to freeze funds. The amendments make the island’s anti-money laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) laws “fully compliant with the international standards,” a statement from the central bank’s financial […]
” to Afghanistan: US
WASHINGTON, September 23, 2011 (AFP) – The US military’s top officer bluntly accused Pakistan on Thursday of “exporting” violent extremism to Afghanistan through proxies and warned of possible action to protect American troops. In a scathing and unprecedented condemnation of Pakistan, Admiral Mike Mullen said the country’s main intelligence agency ISI was actively supporting Haqqani […]
Sri Lanka manufactures lobby to curb rubber farmer trade access
Sept 22, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan rubber products manufacturers are lobbying to double an export cess on raw rubber exports as prices remain high amid strong demand and tight local supply. Manufacturers want the export cess, that had been raised to 12 rupees a kilo only earlier this year, doubled to 24 rupees, according […]
Online Tribute
Sept 22, 2011 (LBO) – Ray Wijewardene, a Sri Lankan aviator and tropical agriculture specialist is being remembered online at www.raywijewardene.net, led by volunteers who want to preserve his legacy. Though a scientist and inventor he was best known publicly for his enthusiasm for aviation and flying small aircraft he had built himself. While in […]
Pushed Back
NEW YORK, September 21, 2011 (AFP) – Sentencing of Raj Rajaratnam, the hedge fund magnate convicted in the biggest Wall Street insider trading case in years, has been postponed until October. A court order Wednesday by New York federal Judge Richard Holwell moved sentencing day from September 27 to October 13. No reason was given. […]
India says poverty begins below 50 cents a day
NEW DELHI, September 21, 2011 (AFP) – India’s economic planning body has said any villager earning more than 50 cents a day is not poor and should not qualify for government welfare — a figure condemned by experts. Those with a daily income of 25 rupees (50 cents) in villages and 32 rupees (65 cents) […]
NASA bus-sized satellite to crash-land this week
WASHINGTON, September 21, 2011 (AFP) – What goes up must come down. But where? That’s the big question when it comes to a 20-year-old NASA satellite the size of a tour bus which is careening toward Earth and set to crash-land later this week. The US Department of Defense and NASA are tracking the six-ton […]
Sri Lanka tea plantations seen making losses
Sept 20, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea crops and prices have fallen below those of last year imposing losses on plantations whose costs also went up with a recent wage hike, a broker has said. The ‘Uva’ quality season when teas grown on the eastern slopes of the island’s central hills yield their best […]
‘s labour unease
NEW DELHI, September 19, 2011 (AFP) – India’s top automaker Maruti Suzuki, already grappling with sliding sales, is in a test of nerves with its factory workers after production was hit by a dispute over alleged sabotage. Output at the Japanese-controlled firm’s Manesar plant in northern India has been thrown out of gear for three […]
Jaguar Land Rover to open engine plant in Britain
LONDON, September 19, 2011 (AFP) – Indian-owned luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover is to open a factory to build low-emission engines in Britain with the creation of up to 750 jobs, the company said on Monday. The £355 million (0 million, 560 million euros) facility will be based near Wolverhampton in central England, with work […]
False Papers
Sept 19, 2011 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan student seeking to study in the United Kingdom was arrested for fraud because she submitted a false education certificate with her visa application, the British high commission said. “They have also have been banned from travelling to the UK for ten years.” “The UK Border Agency referred […]
” for Bangladesh
DHAKA, September 18, 2011 (AFP) – As Abdus Salam Murshedey strolls through his vast garment factory in Dhaka, hundreds of seamstresses stitch shirts for export shipments he says will be boosted by a relaxing of Indian import rules. Murshedey has built his company, Envoy Group, into a multi-million dollar firm with 18,000 employees on the […]