Category: Other
US alerts travelers to threats of attacks in India
WASHINGTON, December 29, 2009 (AFP) – The United States published an alert Tuesday for Americans traveling to India, saying Washington continues receiving reports that militant groups may be plotting attacks in that country.The US State Department on December 9 alerted travelers to possible violence in India’s strife-torn Andhra Pradesh region but did not mention, as […]
‘s 3G auction set for further delay
NEW DELHI, December 29, 2009 (AFP) – India’s long-awaited auction for third generation (3G) mobile telecom services has been delayed again and will miss a January 14 deadline, officials said Tuesday.“It will obviously not be on January 14. We will announce it (a new date for the auction) soon on our website,” an official in […]
Indian minister pans new visa rules on Twitter
NEW DELHI, December 28, 2009 (AFP) – India’s Twitter-loving junior foreign minister has used the microblogging site to criticise his government’s move to tighten rules for long-term tourist visas, his account showed Monday.Shashi Tharoor questioned the logic behind the tougher rules, saying the Islamist militants behind last year’s Mumbai attacks hijacked a boat and entered […]
Sri Lanka readies Ceylon tea intellectual property claim
Dec 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is readying a claim for intellectual property protection for different types of Ceylon tea under global ”Geographical Indicators’ rules that would help market the product, a senior official said.Sri Lanka Tea Board chairman Lalith Hettiarachchi said they are seeking recognition for GI indicators for seven tea growing districts […]
Asia remembers day ocean unleashed its fury
BANDA ACEH, December 26, 2009 (AFP) – People across Asia paused Saturday to remember the day five years ago when an undersea earthquake unleashed a devastating wave that killed more than 220,000 people. A solemn day of prayers and remembrance to mark one of the world’s worst natural disasters was held in Indonesia’s Aceh province, […]
Graft Wave
December 26, 2009 (AFP) – Nearly half a billion dollars in tsunami aid for Sri Lanka is unaccounted for and over 600 million dollars has been spent on projects unrelated to the disaster, an anti-corruption watchdog said Saturday.Berlin-based Transparency International demanded an audit of the money received by the Sri Lankan government to help victims […]
Arms Allegation
SINGAPORE, December 25, 2009 (AFP) – A Singapore opposition party member has been extradited to the United States where he stands accused of trying to supply arms to Sri Lanka’s defeated Tamil Tiger rebels, according to a report Friday.Balldev Naidu, 47, a businessman and co-founder of the Reform Party, was extradited on December 18, the […]
Sri Lanka tea earnings seen holding up despite lower crop
Dec 24, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production this year will be lower than in 2008 because of drought and a strike but earnings should match last year’s as prices have been good, a senior official said. “Prices have been good – at least 10-12 percent more than last year.” Sri Lankan tea prices […]
Sri Lanka farmers get mobile phone trade service
Dec 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s top celco Dialog Telekom is offering a trading platform based on short message services (SMS) that can help farmers to sell their produce and create a forward market for agriculture produce, officials said. Phones that don’t have the unicode function will deliver SMS’s in ‘Singlish’, he said. Singlish […]
Sri Lanka could see tea prices easing next year
Dec 23, 2009 (LBO) – Tea export countries like Sri Lanka could see prices easing next year as better weather improves crops and reduces the global shortfall that drove prices higher in 2009, the Food and Agriculture Organisation has forecast.Tea prices reached a record high in 2009, but should ease next year as weather improves […]
Money Wave
RATHGAMA, December 23, 2009 (AFP) – Billions of dollars were pledged after the 2004 Asian tsunami to help people like Pradeepa Niroshani who waited in vain for money to rebuild her destroyed home. Five years after the disaster, the government in Sri Lanka is under pressure from a leading anti-corruption group to account for nearly […]
India tightens tourist visa rules: official
NEW DELHI, December 23, 2009 (AFP) – India has tightened its rules for long-term tourist visas, officials said Wednesday, in a move that is causing confusion for travellers and will affect thousands of foreigners in the country.Under previous rules, tourists on five or 10-year visas were required to leave the country every 180 days.But many […]