Category: Other
Refugee Move
JAKARTA, April 18, 2010 (AFP) – Indonesia is likely on Monday to move scores of Sri Lankan migrants who have refused to leave their rickety boat for the past six months, the foreign ministry said. “Most probably on Monday…. Wait for the details tomorrow,” foreign ministry official Sujatmiko told AFP when asked about the expected […]
Sri Lanka tea producers say need support for replanting
Apr 17, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s plantations companies needs financial support to replant ageing trees as production costs rose, an industry official said as the state held back proceeds from an industry development levy. Dhamitha Perera, chairman of the Planters’ Association which represents corporate tea producers, said the costs of replanting estates with old […]
Clerical Probe
LA HAYE, April 16, 2010 (AFP) – A Catholic priest in the Netherlands has come under investigation over allegations of child abuse and embezzlement in Sri Lanka, Church officials and the police said Friday. The Rotterdam diocese said in a statement it had contacted the police and dismissed the priest. Rotterdam police spokesman Karel van […]
No Entry
NEW DELHI, April 17, 2010 (AFP) – The ailing mother of Sri Lanka’s slain Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has been denied entry to India for medical treatment, the Press Trust of India reported Saturday. Vallipuram Parvathi travelled from Malaysia to the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Friday night, but was prevented from […]
India inflation nears double-digits, rate hike seen
NEW DELHI, April 15, 2010 (AFP) – India’s inflation rate crept closer to double digits, official data showed Thursday, as analysts forecast another hike in interest rates to contain prices in Asia’s third-largest economy. Year-on-year wholesale price inflation, India’s main cost-of-living measure, edged up to 9.9 percent in March from 9.89 percent the previous month, […]
Caught
MIAMI, April 13, 2010 (AFP) – US police backed by helicopter units swooped on a group of illegal immigrants smuggled in from the Bahamas, arresting 15 from Haiti, Jamaica and Sri Lanka, smuggled in by sea by Cubans, authorities and local media said Tuesday. The Bahamas are a frequent stopover point for human trafficking operations […]
India plans launch sale of 4G mobile services: report
NEW DELHI, April 14, 2010 (AFP) – India plans to hold an auction of ultra-high-speed fourth-generation (4G) mobile phone spectrum soon after completion of 3G access now underway, a report said Wednesday. It will also heat up the battle for customers in the world’s fastest-growing mobile market. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has […]
‘s Tata Tea in joint-venture talks
NEW YORK, April 12, 2010 (AFP) – US soft-drinks and snacks giant PepsiCo and India’s Tata Tea will explore the formation of a joint venture in “healthy” non-carbonated beverages, the companies said in a statement received Monday. “More details will only be available once the definitive agreements for the joint venture are finalized and executed, […]
‘s industrial output posts double-digit growth
NEW DELHI, April 12, 2010 (AFP) – India posted double-digit industrial growth for a sixth straight month in February, data showed Monday, adding to pressure on the central bank to further hike interest rates to tame inflation. Output by factories, mines and utilities grew 15.1 percent year-on-year in February, according to the government figures, lifted […]
Justice
Apr 10, 2010 (LBO) – What makes a nation a nation is above all the justice that prevails within that nation. It is justice that creates the bond between the people. Justice connects one with the other. Justice among the people is the one thing that is common to all in a nation if it […]
Sri Lanka tea price fall hits producer margins
Apr 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices have fallen after hitting record highs at recent auctions, although still higher than last year, squeezing profit margins of producers faced with rising costs, brokers said. While prices of high grown teas made largely by plantations companies fell, those of low grown teas, cultivated mainly by […]
France heads for a long Indian summer
PARIS, April 10, 2010 (AFP) – India is flavour of the month in France with the spotlight swerving from the fairytale world of maharajas to tribal craftsmen in a buildup to a year-long celebration of one of the world’s richest and most diverse cultures. A recent exhibition of priceless autochrome colour photographs nearly 100 years […]