Category: Other
‘s PM concedes to new telecom scam probe
NEW DELHI, February 22, 2011 (AFP) – India’s premier on Tuesday bowed to opposition pressure to set up a cross-party probe into the government’s tainted 2008 sales of telecom licences which cost the country up to billion. Observers say the ruling Congress party’s woes have led to policy drift with important economic reform legislation put […]
Sri Lanka Balangoda Plantations profit, management fee up sharply
Feb 21, 2011 (LBO) – High commodity prices helped Sri Lanka’s Balangoda Plantations managed by the Stassen group turn a profit in the December 2010 quarter with management fees exceeding profits, its accounts showed. The firm made a December 2010 quarter net profit of 35 million rupees against a loss 105 million rupees the year […]
Americans warned to be alert during cricket World Cup
WASHINGTON, February 17, 2011 (AFP) – The United States on Thursday urged its citizens to be extra vigilant about terror risks if they are in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka during the cricket World Cup. “While the US government has no specific threat information regarding the Cricket World Cup, large, high-profile events of this nature […]
Study claims link between human activity and higher rainfall
PARIS, February 16, 2011 (AFP) – Global warming driven by human activity boosted the intensity of rain, snow and consequent flooding in the northern hemisphere over the last half of the 20th century, research released Wednesday has shown. Members of the public interested in lending computing power can find information at climateprediction.net, which is currently […]
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 […]