Category: Other
Flowing water on Mars sparks new hunt for life traces
WASHINGTON, August 5, 2011 (AFP) – Scientists have found evidence of flowing salt water on steep Martian slopes, which if confirmed would be the first discovery of active liquid water on the red planet, NASA said Thursday. The data gathered by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has given new focus to the hunt for life forms […]
Rights Activist
July 29, 2011 (AFP) – The body of a prominent Sri Lankan human rights activist missing since February last year has been found, the United Nations said Friday. Pattani Razeek, managing trustee of non-governmental organisation the Community Trust Fund, was exhumed by police on Thursday after a tip-off from two suspects arrested in relation to […]
Sri Lanka can tap Vietnam for aquaculture: minister
July 30, 2011 (LBO) – Vietnam is ready to send experts to Sri Lanka to transfer aquaculture knowledge and techniques to grow seaweed, lobster and sea-cucumber, visiting minister Vu Van Tam said in Colombo. “We can send out technicians or experts to help Sri Lanka,” deputy minister Tam said. “Or we are ready to receive […]
Asia security needs India, Australia says
WASHINGTON, July 28, 2011 (AFP) – Australia’s defense minister on Wednesday urged a greater role in Asia for India, calling the world’s largest democracy a positive force in a region where attention has long been focused on China. Defense Minister Stephen Smith made his appeal in Washington one week after US Secretary of State Hillary […]
Ford announces new $1 billion plant in India
NEW DELHI, July 28, 2011 (AFP) – US auto giant Ford said Thursday it would invest $1 billion to build a second vehicle assembly and engine plant in India as it ramps up production to exploit the country’s burgeoning car market. India has become a battleground for global car manufacturers such as Ford, GM and […]
Sri Lanka former war-torn areas get cold chain
July 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings backed by the US Agency for International Development will build a ‘cold chain’ to bring fishery and agricultural produce from former war torn regions to the market. Sri Lanka’s Hayleys group and USAID are also involved in a project to grow and export fruits and […]
India hikes rates by surprise 50 basis points
MUMBAI, July 26, 2011 (AFP) – India’s central bank hiked interest rates by a higher-than-expected 50 basis points on Tuesday, its 11th increase since March 2010, as it struggles to combat near double-digit inflation. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised its repo rate at which it lends to commercial banks to 8.0 percent and […]
A new face for India-Pakistan peace talks
NEW DELHI, July 25, 2011 (AFP) – The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan will hold peace talks in New Delhi on Wednesday overshadowed by triple bomb blasts in Mumbai and intense media interest in Islamabad’s new top diplomat. They will be the first foreign minister-level discussions between the nuclear-armed neighbours and arch-rivals for a […]
Tied Hands
July 25, 2011 (LBO) – The chairman of Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, Ashantha de Mel had “no choice” but to use zero costs derivatives to which went against him when oil price fell “dramatically” in 2008, according to a ruling by a London court. A London court which dismissed a counter claim by […]
Sri Lanka plans inland fisheries expansion
July 25, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is expecting inland fish production to rise 15 percent to 60,000 tonnes in 2011, and is targeting 90,000 tonnes by 2013 backed by a program to push up production, officials said. Rohana Subasinghe, senior fishery resource officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization said Asia accounted for about […]
India closer to opening up $450 bln retail sector
NEW DELHI, July 23, 2011 (AFP) – A top Indian government panel has approved a plan to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country’s vast retail market in what would be one of the country’s biggest economic reforms. “Business confidence will grow. It will definitely benefit the farmers as well as consumers, besides attracting […]
” India still reluctant to lead: analysts
NEW DELHI, July 24, 2011 (AFP) – A US challenge to India to take a more assertive role on the global stage runs counter to a decades-old foreign policy that has nearly always valued diplomatic caution over strategic ambition. “We need to contest the orthodoxy that says, ‘do as little as possible’”. Since independence in […]