Category: Other
Dinosaur trove spills more secrets
CUENCA, October 2, 2010 (AFP) – Decades after a mechanical pine-tree digger first unearthed it, an extraordinary trove of dinosaur fossils in central Spain is revealing its secrets. When the digging machine cut a furrow to plant pines in the arid soil near the medieval town of Cuenca in the 1980s, it sliced through more […]
India seeking to intercept BlackBerry messages
NEW DELHI, October 2, 2010 (AFP) – India is seeking to find an “appropriate” means to monitor messages and corporate emails sent through Blackberry smart phones, a top government official has said. India and countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have sought access to monitor the services as they fear heavy […]
Dinosaurs taller than thought: study
WASHINGTON, October 1, 2010 (AFP) – Some dinosaurs may have been at least 10 percent taller than previously thought, US paleontologists said Thursday in a study that found the creatures had large amounts of cartilage. The dinosaurs had thick layers of cartilage in their joints that may have added more than a foot (30 centimeters) […]
Harsh Lessons
Oct 01, 2010 (LBO) – A citizen’s group in Sri Lanka has outlined harsh lessons from the island’s post independent history and suggested ways to a regain lost liberties by re-establishing rule of law. The submission of the ‘Friday Forum’ group was made to a state-appointed ‘Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Commission’ (LLRC) which is looking […]
Value Symbol
Sept 30, 2010 (LBO) – Less than half of Sri Lanka’s listed companies comply with a voluntary good corporate governance code developed by regulators and the body representing chartered accountants, an official said. “We have less than 50 percent of companies not complying with a code that’s not that stringent compared with global codes. “That’s […]
Sri Lanka offers land for agri-business
Sept 27, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is offering 200 acres of land for commercial agriculture on the bank of a major river bordering the island north-eastern region, meeting long-standing requests from businesses for land, a statement said. The offer comes in response to repeated requests from agri-business firms who have been clamouring for land […]
Sri Lanka should use low-yielding cows instead of importing: official
Sept 26, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should make better use of existing stocks of low yielding milch cows in larger privately owned herds rather than importing high-yielding stocks at great cost from abroad, a top official said. There have been attempts in Sri Lanka to import higher yielding cows to improve herd stock and […]
Sri Lanka natural resources seen threatened by weak laws
Sept 24, 2010 (LBO) – Protection of natural resources in Sri Lanka is endangered by the lack of peoples’ right to information and legal confusion created by devolution of power, an expert said. “Unless there’s an effective mechanism put in place and implemented vigorously it is not only poor people’s lifestyles but also natural resources […]
Lesson
September 20, 2010 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan government’s war probe Monday visited the final battleground where Tamil Tiger rebels were annihilated last year, but the international media was barred from reporting proceedings. However, the United Nations has estimated at least 7,000 civilians were also killed in the first four months of fighting while international […]
Detention Protest
SYDNEY, September 20, 2010 (AFP) – A Fijian man died suddenly at a Sydney immigration centre Monday, officials said, with a protest breaking out in the compound after claims he had jumped from a rooftop fearing deportation. Immigration officials said they were helping a police investigation into the “sudden death of a 36-year-old detainee” at […]
‘s end
Sept 20, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to impose a new levy on tea exports to raise funds for marketing and advertising to increase its market share in the highly competitive beverage market, officials said. Upali Dissanayake, additional secretary of the Ministry of Plantation Industries, said the law to enable the collection of the […]
Jail Protest
September 19, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s ex-army chief and opposition leader Sarath Fonseka on Sunday rejected his conviction at a court martial and said he would fight against a proposed three-year jail term. Fonseka, in a statement released through his democratic National Alliance (DNA) party, said he did not accept Friday’s verdict in a […]