Category: Other
India deregulates petrol prices
NEW DELHI, June 25, 2010 (AFP) – India’s government decided to deregulate petrol prices Friday in a bold economic reform that risks a popular backlash as the country struggles with double-digit inflation. The step, which will mean an increase in fuel prices, is part of efforts by the left-leaning Congress-led government to reduce a gaping […]
Sri Lanka tea output up in May
June 23, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka™s tea production in May 2010 rose 12.9 percent to almost 30.3 million kilos as production continued to recover from a downturn the year before, Tea Board data showed. The annual production in 2008 hit a record high of 318 million kilos. Corrected – annual production figure Tea production […]
India eyes double-digit economic growth by 2013
MADRID, June 21, 2010 (AFP) – The Indian economy, Asia’s largest after Japan and China, is accelerating and could reach double-digit growth by 2013, Indian Trade Minister Anand Sharma said Monday during a visit to Spain. “We hope to grow at a rate of between 8.5 percent to 9.0 percent this year and we are […]
‘s Reliance Broadcast signs TV deal with CBS for South Asia
NEW DELHI, June 20, 2010 (AFP) – India’s Reliance Broadcast Network, part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group, has signed a deal with the US-based CBS network to launch TV channels across south Asia, the company said Sunday. The two companies will first launch English-language entertainment channels and at a later stage explore channels in […]
Sri Lanka trade talks mull market access for migrant labour
June 21, 2010 (LBO) – Opening up labour markets in developed countries for migrant workers from South Asian countries like Sri Lanka is of critical importance for the region at world trade talks, an economist said. Many South Asians are working abroad in construction, nursing and health care, and in personal care as domestic assistants. […]
Sri Lanka tea trade calls for limit on new factories
June 21, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea trade has called for a stop to the setting up of new factories unless they are supported by cultivated tea lands to prevent ‘excess capacity’ and competition for green leaf. Avi de Silva, chairman of the Colombo Tea Traders’ Association, said they were concerned about the proliferation […]
Cricket-mad Indian touted as next Deutsche Bank CEO
BERLIN, June 20, 2010 (AFP) – Anshu Jain already captains Deutsche Bank’s cricket team, and a boardroom reshuffle last week means that the Indian big-hitter is now seen as a prime candidate to be chief executive too. Jain, 47, has just been appointed sole head of the German lender’s most powerful division, its corporate and […]
Arsenic in water poisoned 77 million Bangladeshis: report
DHAKA, June 20, 2010 (AFP) – Up to 77 million Bangladeshis have been exposed to toxic levels of arsenic from contaminated drinking water, and even low-level exposure to the poison is not risk-free, The Lancet medical journal reported. Over the past decade, more than 20 percent of deaths recorded in a study that monitored nearly […]
Future of whaling in the balance at global meet
PARIS, June 19, 2010 (AFP) – Pro- and anti-whaling nations face off next week in a battle over the 24-year-old ban on the commercial killing of whales. Gathering in Agadir, Morocco, the 88 countries of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) will tussle over controversial changes to a moratorium that has become an icon of green […]
Sri Lanka seeks to raise rubber output with rain guards
June 18, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to encourage small farmers tapping rubber to use rain guards to reduce production disruption by rain and provide more supplies for industry helped by high prices, an official said. Small farmers are likely to be the main suppliers of rubber in future, he said. Local consumption of […]
Sri Lanka govt pledges more funds from tea export tax
June 17, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s new plantations industries minister has promised to give the tea industry more of the funds collected from a tax on tea exports. Sri Lanka tea exporters have warned that the government’s failure to allocate cess funds collected from tea exports for brand building was eroding their competitiveness as […]
Sri Lanka tea market seen strengthening
June 17, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices seem to have bottomed out and are likely to gradually rise in future sales as crops come down and global demand remains strong, brokers said. Tea prices rose at this week’s Colombo auction as volumes fell and quality improved. “With crop intakes from most plantation regions […]