Category: Other
Japan, India sign free trade pact
TOKYO, February 16, 2011 (AFP) – Japan and India signed a free trade pact Wednesday under which the high-tech nation and the South Asian giant pledged to scrap tariffs on 94 percent of goods within a decade. But Japan — the only country to have suffered atomic bombings, and a key voice in global denuclearisation […]
Sri Lanka reservoirs may need larger sluice gates, canals
Feb 14, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s reservoirs including those planned or under construction may have to be re-designed with larger spill gates and canals to evacuate excess water following recent rare floods in quick succession this year, officials said. Sri Lanka’s Mahaweli river valley agency, which controls 12 large reservoirs says its network is […]
Rate rises and graft scandals threaten India growth
NEW DELHI, February 13, 2011 (AFP) – India is set for scorching growth this year but concern is mounting about its longer-term outlook, with the central bank seen hiking interest rates further and corruption scandals worrying investors. The stock market has already dropped some 17 percent this year, hit by fears that economic growth will […]
” that looks back to the future
BANGALORE, February 12, 2011 (AFP) – It would be the ultimate answer to the daily horror of gridlock on the traffic-choked, exhaust-filled roads of Indian cities. Unassumingly parked next to some of the world’s most lethal warplanes, a converted 800cc Maruti hatchback has stolen some of the thunder from the supersonic exhibits at the Aero […]
Sri Lanka whale film planned
Feb 11, 2011 (LBO) – Award winning author Phillip Hoare and underwater videographer Andrew Sutton is working on a film featuring whales in the waters surrounding Sri Lanka and also explore the Island nation, its people and culture. “We are very keen to expand the themes we have been exploring while filming whales into a […]
Sri Lanka rubber producer warns boom unlikely to last
Feb 11, 2011 (LBO) – The boom in rubber prices, that helped prop up profits at Sri Lanka’s Kelani Valley Plantations, is unlikely to last, its chairman Mohan Pandithage has warned, according to a stock exchange filing. The company, the plantation subsidiary of Dipped Products, the rubber manufacturing arm of the Hayleys group, said December […]
Global aviation giants fly to India airshow
BANGALORE, February 9, 2011 (AFP) – Global aeronautical companies laid out their stalls Wednesday in one of the world’s hottest aviation markets, looking for a share of billions of dollars in Indian military and civilian contracts. “Owing to the ongoing modernisation plans of its armed forces, India has become the focal point of global defence […]
Court Day
BERLIN, February 7, 2011 (AFP) – German federal prosecutors said Monday they had charged a man suspected of raising money for the separatist Sri Lankan rebel group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The accused, a 35-year-old German citizen named only as Agilan W., was charged with belonging to a foreign terrorist organisation, prosecutors said […]
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SINGAPORE, February 6, 2011 (AFP) – Asia must prepare for millions of people to flee their homes to safer havens within countries and across borders as weather patterns become more extreme, the Asian Development Bank warns. A draft of an ADB report obtained by AFP over the weekend and confirmed by bank officials cautioned that […]
Bangladesh World Cup war on old cars
DHAKA, February 3, 2011 (AFP) – Bangladesh ordered owners of old cars to spruce up their vehicles ahead of the cricket World Cup Thursday, warning that they will be targeted by mobile courts, an official said. Old and worn-out cars and buses in Dhaka and the southeastern city of Chittagong must “get fit, smarter and […]
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Feb 03, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka earned a record 1. 37 billion US dollars in tea exports in 2010, exceeding that of Kenya, which exported more, owing to higher prices and more valued added shipments, brokers said. The island’s tea export earnings from exporting 314 million kilos were 16 percent more than in 2009. […]
‘s Bharti reports dive in profit, hit by Africa costs
NEW DELHI, February 2, 2011 (AFP) – India’s top mobile phone firm Bharti said on Wednesday quarterly net profit slid 41 percent, hit by costs from its new Africa business and foreign exchange losses, but was upbeat on its future. But Bharti began last month rolling out its ultra-fast third-generation (3G) telecom services which analysts […]