Category: Other
Flashy Indian brides struggle with high gold prices
NEW DELHI, November 22, 2009 (AFP) – For Indian brides buying jewellery, the bigger the better is the general rule, but record gold prices during this year’s wedding season are forcing many to compromise.India is the world’s biggest consumer of gold, so the rise of local prices to records above 1,000 dollars an ounce is […]
UN Call
November 19, 2009 (AFP) – The United Nations on Thursday stepped up pressure on Sri Lanka to free thousands of war-displaced civilians held in state-run internment camps.“Months after the conflict ended, our main concerns haven’t changed. People are still not given free access to leave these camps on their own free will,” UN humanitarian chief […]
Index
Nov 20, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has slipped five places to 97 in the annual corruption perceptions index in an annual perception survey conducted among 180 countries, by Transparency International, a corruption watchdog.“What we see is a clear indictment on Sri Lanka and the urgent need for major systemic changes to wipe out corruption,” […]
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 tea crop lowest in 10 years
Nov 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production in October 2009 improved from that of the same month last year when the market had crashed but output in the 10-months is the lowest in 10 years, brokers said. “Conditions that prevailed in that year were far from normal,” the brokers said. “The fourth quarter […]
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 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 […]