Category: Other
Sri Lanka tea prices seen bottoming out
June 04, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices recovered this week after falling sharply in recent Colombo auctions prompting brokers to say the market appears to have bottomed out. Fears that heavy rains could reduce crops in the southern cultivation areas which produce the bulk of national output have also subsided as rains have […]
India, Indonesia worst for red tape in Asia: survey
SINGAPORE, June 2, 2010 (AFP) – India, Indonesia and the Philippines have Asia’s most inefficient bureaucracies, with red tape a constant blight to citizens and deterrent to foreign investment, a survey said Wednesday. Regional financial centres Singapore and Hong Kong have the most efficient bureaucracies, according to the survey of expatriate business executives by the […]
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NEW DELHI, May 30, 2010 (AFP) – Sanjay Malhotra, the owner of an Indian travel company, knows his target market — so he seeks out and recruits gay-friendly guides, taxi drivers and hotel managers. “Nobody who works for me laughs or passes a silly remark if two men are obviously partners. They treat gays as […]
Standard Chartered raises 530 million dollars in India
MUMBAI, May 30, 2010 (AFP) – British bank Standard Chartered on Sunday said it had raised 530 million dollars through a first-of-a-kind sale of shares in India. The lender, which makes most of its profits in Asia, will issue 240 million Indian Depository Receipts (IDRs) at a price of 104 rupees each, the bank said […]
Sri Lanka conservationists in push to restore mangrove eco-system
May 29, 2010 (LBO) – Large swathes of abandoned shrimp farms in a coastal lagoon in Sri Lanka’s western coast could be returned to its former glory as a mangrove eco-systems if an ambitious plan by a conservation charity succeeds, officials said. “When people realized that this is a profitable activity they started, looking for […]
‘s northeastern coastline
SINGAPORE, May 29, 2010 (AFP) – An oil slick from a damaged tanker has spread from beaches on Singapore’s southeastern coastline to a marine nature reserve and other beaches, environment officials said Saturday. “Definitely, where we’re talking about Changi Beach and Chek Jawa, these areas have a high level of biodiversity,” said Louis Ng, executive […]
Australia to start legal action against Japan over whaling
SYDNEY, May 28, 2010 (AFP) – Australia will start legal action to stop Japan hunting whales next week, officials said on Friday, following years of tensions over the annual slaughter in waters near Antarctica. Documents will be submitted to the International Court of Justice in The Hague “early next week”, after repeated threats of proceedings […]
Great Expectations
May 27, 2010 (LBO) – Education is an issue which many of us think we know how to fix, but, nobody is giving us the reigns. Lucky Minister Bandula Gunawardna the education ministry has fallen on his lap. Unlucky Minister BG – expectations about the ministry are high but there is no way that they […]
Boat People
KUALA LUMPUR, May 27, 2010 (AFP) – Sixty-one Sri Lankan asylum seekers held in a Malaysian immigration depot Thursday entered day three of a hunger strike in a desperate effort to win freedom and settlement in a third country. Immigration authorities could not be reached for comment. Activists say Malaysia is often used as a […]
Nissan Motors to sell Micra in India
MUMBAI, May 24, 2010 (AFP) – Nissan Motor said Monday that production its Micra model had started in India and would be on sale from July to compete in the country’s fast-growing passenger car market. Bookings will open Tuesday for the small hatchback, which is being produced by the Indian arm of Japan’s Nissan in […]
Sri Lanka mulls rice surplus
May 24, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is likely to have a surplus of rice as paddy fields neglected owing to war in the north and east return to full production, government and private sector officials said. Unless there is a shift in food consumption patterns, ways to manage the excess production would have to […]
‘s feuding billionaire Ambani brothers call a truce
MUMBAI, May 23, 2010 (AFP) – India’s warring billionaire Ambani brothers, who have battled in court over gas supplies, on Sunday called a truce and scrapped their contentious business pacts signed in 2006. Reliance Industries, led by Mukesh Ambani, and Reliance ADAG, led by Anil Ambani, pledged in a statement to create “an environment of […]