Category: Other
Sri Lanka January tea crop back to normal
Feb 23, 2010 (LBO) – Production of tea, Sri Lanka’s main export crop, showed a return to normal levels in January as the industry recovered from the effects of drought and labour action that sharply reduced output last year. The Tea Board has said it expects annual tea production this year to be more than […]
‘s Maruti recalls 100,000 A-Star cars over fuel leakage
MUMBAI, February 23, 2010 (AFP) – India’s biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India announced Tuesday it has recalled 100,000 of its best-selling A-Star hatchback cars due to a fuel leakage problem. “No problem has been reported by customers. ” The recall covers those A-Stars made between November 2008 and August 2009. The company, the leader in […]
‘s stock frenzy raises fear of new crash
DHAKA, February 21, 2010 (AFP) – In a run-down office in downtown Dhaka, excited investor Mizanur Rahman has just spent his life savings of 3,000 dollars on shares despite knowing nothing about market fundamentals. Everyone in this unofficial trading room, one of hundreds across the country, is glued to a screen showing share price movements […]
Normal Life
February 19, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Friday it plans to release all detained Tamil Tiger child soldiers by the end of May and re-unite them with their families. Government forces defeated the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May last year, ending their 37-year fight for a Tamil homeland in the […]
Bangladesh signs power plant deal with India
DHAKA, February 20, 2010 (AFP) – Energy-hungry Bangladesh has signed a 1. 7-billion-dollar deal with India to build two coal-fired power plants in the country’s south to ease a huge electricity shortage, an official said Saturday. The deal highlights Dhaka’s improving ties with New Delhi under its new secular government led by Sheikh Hasina’s Awami […]
‘s Carrefour says plans 2010 entry into India
NEW DELHI, February 19, 2010 (AFP) – France’s Carrefour, the world’s second largest retailer, said Friday it plans to enter India’s vast retail market in 2010 following years of delays. “Carrefour will develop its activities in India with the start of cash-and-carry activities in 2010,” the company said in a statement emailed to AFP. Cash-and-carry […]
Sri Lankan tea prices stay high
Feb 19, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices eased at the Colombo auctions this week but are still at record highs being much higher than last year both in rupee and dollar terms, brokers said. But the Western quality season, which is during this time of year, has yet to set in because of […]
Sri Lanka coconut exporter mulls acquisitions
Feb 18, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan coconut products exporter Coco Lanka has said it plans to expand and is holding talks with companies it had identified for possible takeover. Finance costs reduced sharply in both the quarter and the nine-month period, the accounts showed. According to a segmental analysis of the business for the […]
Smuggling Route
February 18, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police on Thursday seized 28 kilos (62 pounds) of heroin worth 780,000 dollars in a major blow to smugglers who are believed to be use the island as a drug trafficking route from India. The narcotics were found during a raid early Thursday in the northwestern fishing village […]
Bharti founder hopes to be third time lucky with Africa bid
NEW DELHI, February 17, 2010 (AFP) – Indian telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal is hoping to make it third time lucky as he seeks to gain a presence in Africa, one of the world’s least developed mobile phone markets. After two failed attempts to tie up with South African flagship MTN, the founder-chairman of cellular […]
Sri Lanka seeks lower Russian import duty on tea
Feb 12, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has asked Russia, the biggest importer of Ceylon tea, to reduce import duty on value-added tea exports, a senior minister said. Export Development and International Trade Minister Gamini Peiris said the issue was discussed when Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa held talks with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev […]
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February 12, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear a challenge to the arrest of defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka, as opposition parties stepped up a campaign for his immediate release. The court accepted a petition by Fonseka’s wife requesting that his arrest be ruled illegal, and ordered the state to […]