Sri Lankan, Hawaiian sites added to world heritage list

BRASILIA, July 31, 2010 (AFP) – A region of mountainous forests in Sri Lanka and an isolated archipelago off Hawaii have been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list, officials of the UN cultural and scientific body said Saturday. The World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization decided to add the […]

Bangladesh police, garment workers clash for second day

DHAKA, July 31, 2010 (AFP) – Bangladeshi police fired rubber bullets Saturday in a bid to subdue garment workers who rioted for a second day in protest against low pay as unrest spread to areas outside Dhaka, police said. Workers fought pitched street battles with riot police in the manufacturing hub of Ashulia, north of […]

India wants Kohinoor diamond back. Cameron says no

NEW DELHI, July 29, 2010 (AFP) – The real jewel in Britain’s actual crown will not be returning to India, Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday, as he ruled out any repatriation of the famed Kohinoor diamond. The 105 carat gemstone set in the coronation crown of the British royals was mined in the southern […]

Bangladesh garment workers rampage in Dhaka: police

DHAKA, July 30, 2010 (AFP) – Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers blocked highways, attacked factories and looted shops in Dhaka on Friday, police said, after rejecting the terms of a government wage hike. An estimated 5,000 workers, who stitch clothes for leading Western brands, blocked the city’s main Tejgaon link road and attacked dozens of […]

Sri Lanka Carson oil palm profits down

July 29, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Carson Cumberbatch group net profit for the June 2010 quarter fell 12 percent to 1. 19 billion rupees from a year ago with a lower contribution from its oil palm plantations in east Asia, latest results showed. Revenue of the group, which has oil palm plantations in Indonesia […]

Soros to buy 4.0 percent stake in Bombay bourse: report

MUMBAI, July 28, 2010 (AFP) – Billionaire investor George Soros is close to sealing a 40-million-dollar deal to buy Dubai Holding’s 4. 0 percent stake in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the Financial Times reported Wednesday. If the purchase goes through, it would be the latest in a series of strategic foreign investments in India’s […]

India hikes rates for fourth time this year

MUMBAI, July 27, 2010 (AFP) – India’s central bank is expected to raise interest rates on Tuesday for the fourth time this year in an attempt to tame the highest inflation among the Group of 20 economic powers. The Congress-led government has been under constant attack from opposition parties for its inability to protect the […]

Sri Lanka rubber prices rise on short supply

July 26, 200 (LBO) – Sri Lankan rubber prices rose again at last week’s auction on continued short supply as rain affected tapping but brokers said the shortage might ease if the current dry weather continues. “If the dry weather continues, in the next two weeks we might see increased volumes in the market.” Brokers […]

Shares in India carmaker Maruti plunge on profit fall

MUMBAI, July 26, 2010 (AFP) – Shares in India’s biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki plunged more than 10 percent on Monday after it reported a surprise 20-percent fall in quarterly net profit over the weekend. The shares of the New Delhi-based company, which is majority-owned by Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp, were down by nearly 11 percent, […]

Test Case

July 25, 2010 (LBO) – An arbitration of a disputed derivative contract between an oil distributor in Sri Lanka and a German bank would be a test case on whether such deals would come under bi-lateral investment protection treaties, a media report said. Standard Chartered and Citibank had separately started action for breach of contract […]

”, prices up: estate

July 25, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea growing areas in the hill country is suffering from an ‘acute’ supply shortfall of fuel wood and prices are going up, a plantation company which is expanding its own timber cropping area has said. “With the acute shortage and rapidly increasing prices of fuel-wood in the hill […]

India carmaker Maruti posts surprise quarterly profit fall

NEW DELHI, July 24, 2010 (AFP) – India’s biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki reported Saturday quarterly net profit fell by a surprise 20 percent as the company was pummelled by a surge in raw material costs. Maruti, majority-owned by Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp, said net profit during the fiscal first quarter slid to 4. 65 billion […]

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