Category: Other
Asset Sales
Dec 20, 2009 (LBO) – Court appointed officials liquidating assets of Golden Key Credit Card Company, a failed finance firm in Sri Lanka’s Ceylinco group, are planning an auction of assets, and offers have been received for the sale of a hospital, a media report said.The Sunday Island newspaper said several offers have been received […]
Climate leaders: The rhetoric vs. the reality
COPENHAGEN, December 19, 2009 (AFP) – They had been urged to side with the angels but ultimately, base political instinct seems to have prevailed among the world’s most powerful leaders as they sealed a climate pact among themselves, sparking fury elsewhere.From the eve of the 12-day marathon right until its finale, the overwhelming message in […]
Copenhagen deal passed amid condemnation, disappointment
COPENHAGEN, December 19, 2009 (AFP) – A UN conference on Saturday rammed through a battle plan against climate change forged by US President Barack Obama and other top leaders, sidelining smaller states which lashed the deal as a betrayal.After toxic exchanges through the night, the summit chair forced through a deal using a procedural tool […]
Sri Lanka commodity futures exchange mooted
Dec 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should set up a commodity futures exchange and introduce forward contracts to make farmers more efficient and earn more, a policy advocacy group has suggested.“We must use information communications technology to give farmers information on weather, prices, costs and procurement of inputs.” “The forward sale contract system should […]
Sri Lanka seen losing status as tea exporter
Dec 17, 2009 (LBO) – China has overtaken Sri Lanka as the world’s second largest tea exporter, and the island is in danger of losing its position as a major export origin, the Sri Lanka Tea Board has warned.But China and Vietnam are understood to have maintained their usual black tea production and enjoyed the […]
‘s NDTV Imagine for 126.5 million
NEW DELHI, December 17, 2009 (AFP) – Time Warner Inc said Thursday its board had approved the acquisition of Indian entertainment channel NDTV Imagine Ltd.for 126.5 million dollars. The purchase from NDTV Networks Plc will be made through unit Turner Asia Pacific Ventures, Inc.and will see it gain a 92 percent stake in Imagine, and […]
Indicted
NEW YORK, December 15, 2009 (AFP) – The founder of Galleon hedge fund, Raj Rajaratnam, was indicted Tuesday in a multi-million-dollar Wall Street insider-trading probe.Billionaire Rajaratnam and co-defendant Danielle Chiesi were indicted by a federal grand jury in New York on charges of using non-public information from company executives to earn about 20 million dollars […]
Sri Lanka tea factories cut energy costs
Dec 16, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea factories are cutting energy costs under an initiative to make them more competitive in overseas markets given the island’s high cost of electricity, industry officials said.Furthermore, a lot of the machinery in tea factories is old and not energy efficient, officials said.Tea was the first sector selected […]
‘s Bharti to buy Bangladesh mobile operator: regulator
DHAKA, December 16, 2009 (AFP) – Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel is seeking to buy Bangladesh’s fourth-largest mobile phone operator Warid from its Abu Dhabi-based owners, regulators said Wednesday.The Dhabi Group, which fully owns Warid Telecom, has sought approval from the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission for the sale of a 70 percent stake in the […]
‘s green fightback
KAVRE, December 15, 2009 (AFP) – Thirty years ago, Nepalese farmer Badri Prasad Jangam realised that the once thickly-wooded hillside that overlooks his home had been transformed into a barren slope.Decades of deforestation had taken their toll, stripping away the topsoil, affecting vital underground water sources and threatening to bring disaster to a community entirely […]
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NEW DELHI, December 14, 2009 (AFP) – Indians, the world’s biggest buyers of gold, are increasingly opting for branded jewellery, attracting franchisers and foreign groups like Cartier at the expense of traditional retailers.Traditionally, most Indians would go to their small family jewellers, normally located in a congested wholesale market, sit down on cotton mattresses with […]
India inflation hits 10-month high, surprises analysts
NEW DELHI, December 14, 2009 (AFP) – India’s inflation rate jumped to its highest level in 10 months, according to official data Monday, increasing pressure on the central bank to begin reversing aggressive interest rate cuts.The wholesale inflation rate, India’s closest watched inflation measure, increased by 4.78 percent in November from a year earlier after […]