Category: Other
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
‘s Tata Motors swings to quarterly profit
MUMBAI, November 27, 2009 (AFP) – India’s leading vehicle company, Tata Motors, reported Friday it had swung to a consolidated quarterly net profit, helped by a better performance by its premium car marques Jaguar and Land Rover.Tata Motors’ net profit, including British motoring icons Jaguar and Land Rover, totalled 217.8 million rupees (4.65 million dollars) […]
India gives conditional green light to emission cuts
NEW DELHI, November 28, 2009 (AFP) – Indian Premier Manmohan Singh said Saturday he was willing to commit his country to “ambitious” global carbon emission cuts, provided others shared the burden.Home to nearly 1.2 billion people, India is the only major greenhouse gas emitting nation yet to announce figures on reining in its carbon output, […]
Sri Lanka farmers connect to markets on mobile phones
Nov 27, 2009 (LBO) – A trial Sri Lankan commodity trade matching portal using mobile phones to improve marketing of farmer produce will need private sector investment to be sustainable, an official said. Chitranganie Mubarak, a Senior Programme Head of the Information Communications Technology Agency (ICTA), said the project is part of efforts to use […]
Sri Lanka seeks to expand plantations
Nov 25, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government wants to encourage rubber and coconut cultivation outside traditional areas of production, Plantations Industries Minister D M Jayaratne said.He said there was high demand for land to grow coconut in the east, after the end of the ethnic war made cultivation there commercially viable. The eastern […]