Category: Other
Sri Lanka flash floods make 58,000 homeless: official
November 19, 2009 (AFP) – Nearly 60,000 people were left homeless in Sri Lanka Thursday following flash floods in the capital Colombo and the suburbs, an official said.“We have a list of over 58,000 individuals who were left homeless in and around Colombo,” Kodipillai said, adding that they were being housed in public buildings. Thousands […]
Sri Lanka Hayleys helps mechanise rice farms
Nov 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hayleys conglomerate said it plans to introduce machines for seeding and transplanting that will help paddy farmers reduce costs and improve yields.It said in a statement that the locally-built machines can halve the costs of sowing, provide up to 15 percent gain in yields and reduce harvesting costs. […]
Sri Lanka Maskeliya Plantations hit by wage hike
Nov 17, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Maskeliya Plantations said it slipped into the red in the September 2009 quarter after costs shot up following a wage hike wrested by estate labour unions. Maskeliya Plantations said half of the wage arrears is to be paid in October 2009 while 25 percent each is payable in […]
Sri Lanka Carson Sept net buoyed by palm oil
Nov 17, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Carson group said net profit for the September 2009 quarter almost doubled from a year ago mainly on strong contributions from its palm oil plantations in east Asia. The company said in a stock exchange filing that September 2009 quarter net profit shot up 93 percent to 609 […]
Sri Lanka coconut exporter seeks funds to expand
Nov 17, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Renuka Agri Foods, part of the Renuka group, said it plans to raise funds through a public offer to expand production and exports and repay debt.The firm, which exports branded coconut products, will issue 120 million shares at 2.25 rupees each to raise 270 million rupees. The shares […]
Sri Lanka links dairy farmers through mobile phone
Nov 17, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to launch a programme that will use mobile phones to help dairy farmers, a government official said.Chitranganie Mubarak, Senior Programme Head – e-Society, of the Information Communications Technology Agency (ICTA), said the ‘e-Dairy project’ is part of the agency’s ‘e-Society programme’ to take the benefits of ICT […]
Research Link
Nov 13, 2009 (LBO) – Intellectual property protection in Sri Lanka is still to weak to encourage companies to do research and develop new crop varieties with better yields, an agri-business company official said. “IP rights laws do not have provision to register agricultural innovations,” said Samantha Ranatunga, chief executive of the listed Chemical Industries […]
Sri Lanka looks to mobile phones to improve farmer livelihoods
Nov 12, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s information technology agency aims to deploy more widely a web-based crop price tracker and use mobile phones to help farmers improve production and marketing, an official said. Chitranganie Mubarak, Senior Programme Head – e-Society, of the Information Communications Technology Agency (ICTA), said the project is part of the […]
South Asian inflation risk from money printing: economist
WASHINGTON, November 11, 2009 (AFP) – Rising inflation is posing a threat to South Asia, with the situation most worrying in the Maldives where a foreign currency black market has emerged, a senior World Bank economist has warned.Noting that the median inflation rate in South Asia was more than twice that of Latin America and […]
Kiwi View
WELLINGTON, November 11, 2009 (AFP) – New Zealand does not want to offer a new home to a group of Sri Lankan asylum seekers involved in a stand-off with Australian authorities, the government said. Coleman confirmed there had been informal talks with Australia over the fate of the Sri Lankans but said there was an […]
No link between global warming and melting glaciers: India
NEW DELHI, November 10, 2009 (AFP) – India’s environment minister said there was no scientific proof to support the idea that the melting of Himalayan glaciers was being caused by global warming, reports said Tuesday.“There is no conclusive scientific evidence to link global warming and Himalayan glaciers,” business daily Live Mint quoted Environment Minister Jairam […]
Sri Lanka agri-business call for easier land access
Nov 10, 2009 (LBO) – A top Sri Lankan farming firm has called for easier access to land for commercial agriculture in the quest to transform subsistence farmers into viable agri-businesses. Samantha Ranatunga, chief executive of the listed Chemical Industries (Colombo), said improvements in the legal, regulatory and policy environment were needed to promote private […]