Category: Other
Animal Rights
Dec 14, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan animal lovers and welfare organizations have raised concern over the rounding up of dogs near a popular promenade in Colombo, saying it might violate the president’s ‘no kill’ policy on strays. Just 15 of these have been won. The challenges in going to court include high costs, having […]
Indian microlenders face crisis, warns industry group
NEW DELHI, December 12, 2010 (AFP) – India’s seven-billion-dollar microfinance industry could be thrown into crisis by a bill that seeks to regulate lending to the poor more tightly, a lobby representing the sector has warned. The sector is also under fire in neighbouring Bangladesh where the micro lending model was pioneered, with Prime Minister […]
Court orders Air India to rehire overweight air hostess
NEW DELHI, December 10, 2010 (AFP) – An Indian court ordered state-run Air India on Friday to rehire an airline hostess that the carrier had sacked nearly a decade ago for being overweight. Dismissed overweight women have previously unsuccessfully challenged Air India’s policy in Indian courts, which upheld clauses in the group’s employment contracts. Neepa […]
Nations set up global climate fund
CANCUN, December 11, 2010 (AFP) – Global talks on climate change on Saturday set up a new fund to manage billions of dollars in aid to poor nations in a hard-fought package urging deep cuts in industrial emissions. After two weeks of talks in Mexico and two virtually sleepless final days, more than 190 countries […]
Baby Saga
December 10, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s child protection authorities have traced the biological mother of a six-year-old girl who was suspected to have been sold as an orphan after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, police said Friday. Staff at the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) took custody of the child after neighbours complained that […]
Sri Lanka tea exporters to pack in Iran
Dec 10, 2010 (LBO) – Iran, which restricts import of value-added teas, has offered to let Sri Lankan exporters pack and sell tea in the country under a preferential tariff quota scheme, the government said. Tea is Sri Lanka’s main export to Iran, the island’s sixth largest trading partner with total two-way trade between the […]
Sri Lanka tea prices, output at new highs
Dec 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production is expected to hit a new high this year, exceeding 320 million kilos despite recent shortfalls owing to bad weather, while prices are also at record levels, brokers said. The average tea price at the Colombo auctions up to end-November of 369.38 rupees a kilo was […]
Bangladesh announces power sector deregulation
DHAKA, December 9, 2010 (AFP) – Bangladesh has announced a sweeping deregulation scheme for its power sector in a bid to ease the country’s crippling electricity shortages, a senior government official said. Foreign investors will now be allowed to set up power plants without winning a government contract and to sell on the national grid, […]
SpiceJet orders 15 Bombardier jetliners
MONTREAL, December 9, 2010 (AFP) – India’s SpiceJet has ordered 15 Bombardier Q400 NextGen regional aircraft valued at 446 million US dollars, the Canadian company announced Thursday. Gary Scott, president of Bombardier’s commercial aircraft division, said he expects India to buy up to 600 aircraft in the 20 to 149 seat category over the next […]
Riot police in streets after Bangladesh stocks dive
DHAKA, December 8, 2010 (AFP) – Riot police took to the streets of the Bangladeshi capital on Wednesday to control thousands of angry investors protesting over a dramatic fall in shares on the national stock exchange. Protesters burnt office furniture in front of the Dhaka Stock Exchange building and brought traffic in the centre of […]
‘s 35-dollar computer
NEW DELHI, December 9, 2010 (AFP) – The Indian government won headlines around the world when it unveiled a prototype 35-dollar tablet computer in July, but questions are now growing over whether the project is just a pipe dream. “The One Laptop per Child Association in the US was difficult to comprehend and there was […]
Sri Lanka runs out of chicken as tourists flock to island
December 8, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is set to import chicken for the first time in over two decades as consumption zooms due to a tourist bonanza and rising incomes on the formerly war-ravaged island, a minister said Wednesday. Trade Minister Johnston Fernando said he had ordered the import of 2,500 tonnes of chicken […]