Category: Other
Sri Lanka tea export earnings hit monthly high
Dec 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea export earnings in October hit a record high and average auction prices this year were much higher than in the last two years, although shipments were down owing to production problems, brokers said. The year-to-date average price of tea was also higher at 3.14 dollars a kilo […]
Sri Lanka mulls support for desiccated coconut exporters
Dec 04, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Plantations Industries Ministry is considering giving an export rebate to desiccated coconut product exporters, a senior official said.Duty on edible oil imports was raised to protect coconut oil millers, who were otherwise unable to compete with cheap edible oil imports. Higher demand from coconut oil mills pushes up […]
Speak Out
Dec 03, 2009 (LBO) – UN officials and human rights groups have praised the decision by the Maldives to decriminalise defamation. Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of democracy and good governance. For democracy to be effective, citizens must be able to hold those in power to account without fear of retribution. I commend all […]
In Taiwan, bird catchers turn bird watchers
TAIPEI, December 3, 2009 (AFP) – When Yeh You-chin was a boy half a century ago, he ate migratory birds with relish, but now he is at the forefront of efforts to preserve the feathered visitors to his south Taiwan home. Yeh, the 59-year-old chief of Fangshan township, recently opened an exhibition hall devoted to […]
Sri Lanka sewers to be rebuilt with ADB aid
Dec 03, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to get a loan of 100 million dollars from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to modernise the sewerage system in the capital Colombo and its suburbs.A government statement said the project will improve the urban environment and public health for about 1.5 million urban and suburb residents […]
India food inflation soars 17 percent
December 3, 2009 (AFP) – Food inflation in India soared by over 17 percent in the 12 months ending November 21, official figures showed Thursday, raising pressure on the central bank to tighten monetary policy.Earlier most economists were betting that the first rate rise would come in April. The food price index climbed 17.47 percent […]
Sri Lanka tea farms mull irrigation to counter weather changes
Dec 02, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s plantations need foreign investment for estate and factory modernisation, including irrigation to counter changing weather patterns, said Kumar Jayasuriya, chairman, James Finlay, Colombo. Regional plantation companies running the island’s tea estates could do with foreign investment in irrigating fields, to cope with changes in rainfall patterns which could […]
Terror Funds
Dec 02, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government has identified some 600 bank accounts with links to the Tamil Tiger separatists and is trying to seize assets held by the Tigers, a spokesman said. Defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said Tiger assets and bank accounts were largely held by Kumaran Pathmanadan alias KP, a top […]
Indian police arrest politician in huge fraud probe
PATNA, November 30, 2009 (AFP) – Indian police Monday arrested a regional politician suspected of embezzling up to 650 million dollars during his five years in ministerial posts in an impoverished eastern state, officials said. Madhu Koda was taken into custody in his constituency of Chaibasa, in the state of Jharkhand, on allegations of possessing […]
Strangle Hold
Dec 01, 2009 (LBO) – First, we need to understand that debt markets broadly require three enabling factors, the need (or demand) for debt capital, a source (or supply) of debt capital, and the accompanying intermediary infrastructure that is required to put the two together. As far as the private sector corporate debt market is […]
Sri Lanka Renuka Agri IPO draws over Rs3bn
Nov 30, 2009 (LBO) – A 270 million rupees initial public offer of Renuka Agrifoods, a firm that makes coconut-based food products, received applications worth 3.1 billion rupees, its managers said. Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka, managers to the issue which closed Friday afternoon, the opening day itself, said they received 5,016 applications for 1,386 […]
High investment returns in India outweigh fear of terrorism
NEW DELHI, November 29, 2009 (AFP) – Last week’s one-year anniversary of the Mumbai siege was a reminder of India’s vulnerability to militant attacks.But analysts say high returns for investors in the country this year show they are unfazed by the risks. “The attacks haven’t deterred investors,” said senior Asian economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde at HSBC […]