Category: Other
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 […]
137 dead as Indonesia hit by tsunami, volcano
JAKARTA, October 27, 2010 (AFP) – At least 112 people were killed and hundreds remained missing in Indonesia Wednesday after a tsunami triggered by a powerful earthquake smashed into a remote island chain, washing away entire villages. Another 25 people have been killed after the eruption of the country’s most active volcano, as the force […]
Indian arms race offers prizes for presidential visits
NEW DELHI, October 26, 2010 (AFP) – Arms-hungry India is expected to hand out a raft of military deals worth billions of dollars during an upcoming rush of presidential visits from the United States, France and Russia. The biggest-ticket item is the scheduled signing of an estimated 30 billion-dollar stealth fighter co-production agreement when Russian […]
Arbitration
Oct 26, 2010 (LBO) – Arbitration proceedings of disputed oil derivative contracts between Sri Lanka’s state-run run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and Citibank will start in Singapore on November 01, a top official said. Sri Lanka has disputed oil derivative contracts sold to the CPC by Citibank, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank and two Sri Lankan […]
Mercy Plea
October 26, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has appealed for the king of Saudi Arabia to spare the life of a Sri Lankan housemaid convicted of killing an infant, his office said Tuesday. Rizana Nafeek, who was working in the Middle Eastern country, was found guilty of killing a four-month-old baby boy […]
Sri Lanka Sept tea output falls slightly
Oct 25, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production fell slightly in September 2010 compared with a year ago although output for the nine months were much higher than in the same period for 2009, the Tea Board said. Tea production in September fell five percent to 26. 4 million kilos from the previous year, […]
Sri Lanka gets 20 bids for vessel monitoring system
Oct 25, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has received 20 bids from vendors in nine countries for a satellite-based vessel monitoring system tender which will be awarded before the end of the year, fisheries minister Rajitha Senaratne said. “We found choosing the vendor more difficult than we first thought. We have sought seeking expert help […]
India microlenders face heat over rates and debt recovery
NEW DELHI, October 24, 2010 (AFP) – India’s biggest lender to the poor, SKS Microfinance, was the toast of investors when it staged a hugely successful public share offer three months ago. Now SKS, India’s only listed microfinancier, faces an unwelcome spotlight as it and other small-scale lenders come under scrutiny over high interest rates, […]
Pakistan president to visit Sri Lanka: official
October 24, 2010 (AFP) – Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari will visit Sri Lanka next month in a bid to boost trade and security cooperation, an official said Sunday. Zardari will be accompanied by foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and a group of Pakistani businessmen, a foreign ministry official said. “The two days of meetings […]
Golden Key
Oct 24, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will file criminal charges against directors of Golden Key Credit Card Company, an unregulated firm promising high interest rates that collapsed owing 26 billion rupees to investors, a media report said. Another media report by The Sunday Times newspaper said some depositors had filed an affidavit at an […]
Paradise Isle
Oct 22, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has been awarded the record for the world’s “largest cup of tea,” but the stunt earlier this month may have also earned the island some gargantuan and enormously meaningless records. Had it coincided with the height of the monsoon, we could have also claimed the world’s largest cup […]
Coal India IPO twice oversubscribed on day three
MUMBAI, October 20, 2010 (AFP) – India’s 3. 5-billion-dollar sale of shares in state-run Coal India was doubly oversubscribed a day ahead of the close of the country’s biggest ever stock offer, stock exchange figures showed Wednesday. Bids had been received for 1.29 billion shares — 2.05 times the number up for grabs. Coal India’s […]