Category: Other
India private carrier Jet Airways slips to Q1 loss
MUMBAI, July 22, 2011 (AFP) – India’s largest private sector airline, Jet Airways, has swung to a quarterly net loss from a profit a year earlier, it reported Friday, as rising fuel costs offset a rise in passenger air traffic. India this week lowered its growth forecast for this financial year to 8.6 percent from […]
Sri Lanka mulls compulsory rubber auctions: minister
July 23, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s plantations industries ministry is exploring the possibility of introducing a compulsory auction system for rubber like the tea industry, plantations industries minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said. “The government has decided to investigate the possibility of having a compulsory auction system like what we have in the tea industry also […]
Sri Lanka tea crop steady
July 22, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea crop is steady at the half-year mark although there was a dip in June, with global tea statistics showing a big shortfall in East Africa while output is up in India, brokers said. The production of low grown teas, which make up over half the crop, was […]
Eyeing China, Clinton urges India to take leader role
CHENNAI, July 20, 2011 (AFP) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged India on Wednesday to be more assertive in Asia, reflecting US desire for New Delhi to emerge as a counter-weight to Chinese power. Speaking in the Indian city of Chennai — a southern trading port looking out towards east Asia — Clinton […]
India reveals massive uranium discovery
NEW DELHI, July 19, 2011 (AFP) – A new mine in south India could contain the largest reserves of uranium in the world, a government official said in remarks reported Tuesday, signalling a major boost for the energy-hungry nation. The government has been seeking new supplies of uranium, which is refined into nuclear fuel, but […]
India signs deal to end ethnic unrest in tea hills
NEW DELHI, July 18, 2011 (AFP) – India was to sign a deal Monday to grant autonomy to an ethnic group in the Himalayan tea-growing area of Darjeeling in an effort to end decades of often-violent demands for a homeland. Bimal Gurung formed the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha pressure group in 2007 and rebelled against the […]
‘s Tata group to sell $700 flat-pack house
NEW DELHI, July 17, 2011 (AFP) – The Indian company that launched the world’s cheapest car has unveiled its latest product for the fast-growing nation: a flat-pack house that costs just 0 and can be built in a week. The Nano car drew worldwide attention when it was launched in 2009, but sales figures have […]
Lawlessness
July 16, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s lawlessness and injustice was systematically engineered by the best legal minds in the country over a long period and the island’s minority are not the only victims, a lawyer who has also spoken out against judicial autocracy has said. Kishali Pinto- Jayawardena, lawyer and author, addressing a meeting […]
Sri Lanka, Vietnam to boost agricultural co-operation
HANOI, July 15, 2011 (AsiaPulse) – Vietnam and Sri Lanka have agreed on a number of measures to strengthen bilateral cooperation, especially in agricultural development. During talks between Vietnamese Minister of Agricultural and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat and Sri Lankan Minister of Agriculture Mahianda Yapa Abeywardana in Hanoi on July 13, the two sides […]
Chinese become biggest holidaymakers in Maldives
July 13, 2011 (AFP) – Visit the Maldives and there’s a high chance the fellow holidaymakers at your island retreat will be from China, according to new figures that show the Asian giant as the biggest source of visitors. “The Chinese don’t want the beach like the Europeans. They want activities, like visiting other islands, […]
Sri Lanka to get Bajaj four-wheeler
NEW DELHI, July 15, 2011 (AFP) – Indian motorbike maker Bajaj has abandoned plans to develop an ultra-low-cost car with France’s Renault and its Japanese partner Nissan, according to a senior executive. The companies announced in 2009 that they hoped to bring a ,500 minicar to market in 2012, but there have been suggestions for […]
” blasts that kill 21 in Mumbai
MUMBAI, July 14, 2011 (AFP) – Indian investigators Thursday probed triple bomb blasts that killed 21 people in Mumbai, the nation’s commercial capital which is still emerging from the shadows of the deadly 2008 militant attacks. The strongest of the coordinated explosions hit busy districts in the south of the city, the same area targeted […]