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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

‘s

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. […]

Arson Protest

February 1, 2011 (AFP) – Dozens of Sri Lankan journalists took to the capital’s streets Tuesday to condemn an arson attack on an independent website that was blamed by its editor on the government. Reporters, photographers and employees of privately-run media joined a demonstration in central Colombo a day after the arson attack on the […]

Sri Lanka whale watching boats warned to be careful

Feb 02, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s growing whale watching boats will have to develop and follow good practices so that whales will not be disturbed and scared away and the safety of passengers is also assured, a biologist has said. Sometimes boats converged on whales and there was danger of whales being chased. Sri […]

‘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 […]

South Asian scheme launched to fight poaching

NEW DELHI, January 31, 2011 (AFP) – Eight South Asian countries have launched a regional scheme to share information on poaching and wildlife trafficking in a bid to protect dwindling populations of tigers and other rare animals. After talks in Bhutan at the weekend, the countries launched the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN), according […]

Sri Lanka Watawala December quarter profit up marginally

Jan 31, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Watawala Plantations December 2010 quarter profit rose three percent to 189 million rupees from a year ago with group sales stagnant at 1. 7 billion rupees, a stock exchange filing said. Earnings per share for the company, a unit of India’s Tata Tea group, were 0. 80 rupees […]

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