Category: Other
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PARIS, November 4, 2010 (AFP) – Physicists in Scotland said on Thursday they had devised a flexible material that manipulates light, marking a small step towards “invisibility” clothing beloved of science fiction writers and Harry Potter. The work is in the domain of metamaterials, or compounds with a surface that interacts with light thanks to […]
Sri Lanka slashes import taxes on edible oils, potatoes
Nov 01, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has slashed import taxes on vegetable oils, potatoes and onions to encourage imports as local prices rose, a senior finance ministry official said. S R Attygalle, director general fiscal policy, said the import tax on coconut oil has been cut to 15 rupees a kilo or 15 percent, […]
Sri Lanka farm gate coconut prices up 26-pct over two months
Oct 31, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s raw coconuts prices hit another high this week pushing average farm gate prices up 26. 5 percent over the past two months, as import protection remained tight amid higher global prices for substitutes. At Thursday’s auctions in Colombo average prices rose 894 rupees to 33,910 rupees for a […]
Connectivity
Oct 31, 2010 (LBO)- Improved connectivity is an essential precondition for trade in goods and services, hopefully better governed once the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and Sri Lanka is completed and signed. The already large movements of people between the two countries will only grow when multimodal and lower-cost options are restored and […]
” wedding ceremony
October 30, 2010 (AFP) – The Maldivian government has apologised to a European couple abused as “swine” and “infidels” during what was supposed to be a romantic renewal of wedding vows in the Indian Ocean archipelago. Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed “personally apologised” to the couple in a telephone conversation on Saturday afternoon, his office said […]
Garden Path
Oct 30, 2010 (LBO) – Investors in Sri Lanka’s failed high-yield financial firms have lost more money than they should have by delaying liquidation and pressuring someone else to put additional cash to cover their losses, a legal expert has said. Neomal Gunewardene, partner of Nithya Partners, a law firm, said depositors in failed financial […]
Thai Crackdown
BANGKOK, October 30, 2010 (AFP) – Thai authorities have arrested 61 Tamil migrants from Sri Lanka, police said Saturday, in the second such crackdown in recent weeks. After a tip-off, 114 people were rounded up in the southern province of Songkhla on Thursday, but some were freed because they were able to present valid travel […]
Maldives to regulate tourist weddings
Oct 29, 2010 (LBO) – Maldives Islands will issue ‘strict guidelines’ on tourist weddings following an incident where resort staff mocked a foreign couple who were renewing their wedding wows at a beach ceremony. Maldives’ President Mohamed Nasheed had expressed disgust at the incident in a radio address and described the behaviour of those involved […]
Sri Lanka Kelani Valley continues recovery in Sept quarter
Oct 29, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Kelani Valley Plantations made a net profit of 36 million rupees in the September 2010 quarter owing to strong rubber and stable tea prices, a stock exchange filing said. The company is recovering from losses a year ago with the loss in the September quarter of 2009 being […]
Earth-size planets abound in Milky Way: study
WASHINGTON, October 29, 2010 (AFP) – One out of four Sun-like stars in our Milky Way galaxy could host Earth-size planets, making life-bearing systems like ours possibly more common than previously thought, an astronomical study said Thursday. Dubbed the most extensive planetary census of its kind, the NASA-funded study at the University of California, Berkeley […]
Indian inmates take jail business online
NEW DELHI, October 28, 2010 (AFP) – Asia’s largest prison, Delhi’s Tihar Jail, has taken its first step into online retailing, offering goods over the Internet made by inmates including murderers and kidnappers. Tihar, notorious for its overcrowding and tough criminals, is home to a bakery which produces 13 kinds of biscuits and a vast […]
Sri Lanka farmers seen reaping premium from mobile use
Oct 27, 2010 (LBO) – Use of mobile phones has helped Sri Lankan farmers get better prices for their produce and the technology can help reduce poverty, according to a new United Nations study, officials said. “There is an informational dimension to poverty – poor people need lots of information for their livelihoods such as […]