Category: Other
Age Limit
Jan 26, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has raised the minimum age of those going abroad as domestic workers to 21 years from 18 to mainly to protect young female workers, the government said. “As per the data nearly 50 percent of Sri Lankans migrating for foreign employment are females of which large category goes […]
Sri Lanka Horana Plantation profits up 80-pct in Dec
Jan 25, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Horana Plantations, which grows tea and rubber said profits in the December 2010 quarter grew 80 percent to 135 million rupees, while revenues increased only 5.5 percent to 560 million rupees. The firms produces about 4.0 million kilos of tea a year and 1.6 million kilos of rubber. […]
Prison Riot
January 24, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lankan prison guards opened fire Monday to halt a riot by prisoners protesting against poor conditions, killing at least one inmate and wounding another 20, an official said. Rounds of ammunition were fired as prisoners lit fires at the prison in the town of Anuradhapura, a prison official in […]
Bangladesh orders probe into market slump
DHAKA, January 24, 2011 (AFP) – Bangladesh has ordered a probe into the slump on the Dhaka Stock Exchange and unveiled a series of reforms to restore confidence in the market. The move follows the index’s 30-percent fall since it hit a historic high of 8,918. 51 on December 5, with the crisis being blamed […]
Sri Lanka tea output hits record high in 2010
January 22, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka, one of the world’s biggest producers of black tea, reported Saturday that output hit a record high in 2010, helped by good weather. The total crop for 2010 grew by 13. 1 percent to 329.4 million kilograms (72 4.7 million pounds) from 291.1 million kilograms a year earlier, […]
Sri Lanka to open rice flour factory with state backing
Jan 20, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is opening a rice flour factory with a loan from a state bank re-financed by the central bank, the monetary authority said. The central bank said the monetary “in association with several key stakeholders and two state banks, is currently promoting rice based industries in the country with […]
‘s IndiGo to start overseas flights
NEW DELHI, January 20, 2011 (AFP) – India’s ambitious budget airline IndiGo will start international operations in August, the company said in a statement, a week after it placed a huge order for 180 new aircraft. The aviation ministry has approved IndiGo’s proposal to launch services to Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai and Muscat. “IndiGo is delighted […]
Anti Smuggling
OTTAWA, January 19, 2011 (AFP) – Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews renewed calls Wednesday for tougher measures to curb human smuggling, amid reports the defeated Tamil rebels are regrouping in his country. Toews said “new information” suggests that “syndicated criminal networks are organizing migrant smuggling ventures potentially destined for Canada. ” Without elaborating, he […]
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LONDON, January 18, 2011 (AFP) – Britain has asked India to waive diplomatic immunity for a senior diplomat following reports that he assaulted his wife at their London home, the Foreign Office said Tuesday. Police were called to the home of the envoy, named by media as Anil Verma, last month following reports of a […]
Nobel laureate Yunus in Bangladesh court
DHAKA, January 18, 2011 (AFP) – Nobel peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus appeared in a Bangladesh court on Tuesday in a defamation case dating back to 2007, posing further legal problems for the microfinance pioneer in his homeland. Last week, the government ordered a probe into Yunus’s Grameen Bank, with which he shared the Nobel […]
Sri Lanka mahouts suspended over elephant death
January 17, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main elephant orphanage Monday suspended two mahouts and a curator following the death of a 23-year-old male pachyderm in their care, a senior official said. Elephants are considered sacred animals in Sri Lanka and a judicial inquiry is required before one can be buried. Gunaratne said the centre […]
Sri Lanka to push green jobs
Jan 18, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka labour minsitry and the internatonal labour organisaton is to look for ways to create more ‘green jobs’ and provide skills for workers in environmentally friendly enterprises. “Moving the Sri Lankan economy onto an environmentally sustainable and low carbon development path will change the socio-economic structures of the country […]