Category: Other
India July inflation eases to 9.22 percent
NEW DELHI, August 16, 2011 (AFP) – India’s annual inflation edged lower to 9. 22 percent in July, official data showed Tuesday, still far above the comfort level of the country’s central bank, which has been raising rates aggressively. Growing fears about the stuttering global economy have fuelled speculation among economists that the bank may […]
Sri Lanka Horana Plantations lose Rs13mn in June Q
Aug 15, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Horana Plantations, a unit of the Ceylon Theatres group said it lost 13. 3 million rupees in the June 2011 quarter despite higher revenues after a wage hike. The firm, which mainly grows tea said revenues rose 12. 9 percent to 492 million rupees and costs also rose […]
Indian PM warns on graft on Independence Day
NEW DELHI, August 15, 2011 (AFP) – India’s embattled premier Monday used his Independence Day address from Delhi’s rain-drenched Red Fort to insist the government was taking “the strictest possible action” against corruption. Manmohan Singh, speaking from a bullet-proof enclosure in torrential monsoon rains, also said that inflation running at nearly 10 percent was a […]
Fraud Network
SYDNEY, August 15, 2011 (AFP) – Five men from Malaysia and Sri Lanka were charged Monday with being members of an international fraud syndicate responsible for attacks on bank card systems across Australia. During raids, police seized items including machines for processing bank payments, laptop computers, numerous mobile phones, cash, false travel documents and a […]
Tough economic times hit Indian property firms
MUMBAI, August 14, 2011 (AFP) – India’s real estate sector, which soared as the country’s economy took off and higher incomes led to increased demand, is facing turbulent times as interest rates push up the cost of home loans. A succession of rate hikes has prompted prospective buyers to delay purchases, with the situation having […]
Sri Lanka poultry firm profit fall 88-pct
Aug 14, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Three Acre Farms, a poultry firm, which is part of the Ceylon Grain Elevators group said profits fell 88-percent to 3. 0 million rupee in the June 2011 quarter from a year earlier, on rising costs and weaker chick prices. “The profit from broiler operation has reduced during […]
‘s elephant census begins despite boycott
MINNERIYA, August 12, 2011 (AFP) – Thousands of workers, soldiers and volunteers fanned out across Sri Lanka on Friday to begin the country’s first national elephant survey despite a boycott by some wildlife groups. Hundreds of conservationists decided not to take part because of fears prompted by comments from a minister that the survey will […]
‘s Religare expands into Africa
Aug 11, 2011 (LBO) – India’s Religare Capital Market Limited (RCML) said a recent purchase of South Africa’s Noah Financial Innovation will be a base for further expansion in to the region. RCML chief executive Martin Newson says the South African acquisition is part of its emerging markets investment banking operations, “both in its own […]
Sentencing Plea
Aug 11, 2011 (LBO) – Lawyers for Raj Rajaratnam, a Sri Lanka born fund manager convicted of insider trading, said he should be dealt leniently because of his failing health, the state exaggerated his crimes and his good deeds. US prosecutors had demand a maximum sentence of 24.5 years and described him as the ‘modern […]
Death Sentence
NEW DELHI, August 11, 2011 (AFP) – India’s president has rejected mercy pleas from three men convicted of the 1991 assassination of then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, paving the way for their execution, an official told AFP on Thursday. “The rejection (of the clemency petitions) happened last week after the president returned from a foreign […]
Lawlessness
Aug 11, 2011 (LBO) – Friday Forum, a Sri Lankan citizens group fighting to re-establish rule of law and liberal democracy, has raised fresh concerns about lawlessness in the island’s north after an elderly Tamil journalist was brutally assaulted. A 30-year war in the island’s north and east ended two year ago. Local elections were […]
Sri Lanka wildlife groups boycott elephant census
Aug 10, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan conservation groups are boycotting an elephant census, and called on the private sector not to support the effort, after a government minister revealed plans to capture up to 300 calves with tusks for domestication. Agrarian and wildlife minister S M Chandrasena was reported as saying that the survey […]