Category: Other
Australia set for decades-long mining boom: top official
SYDNEY, October 22, 2009 (AFP) – Australia could be set for a decades-long commodities boom fuelled by rocketing demand from China and India, a senior official said in the country’s latest upbeat economic assessment. Treasury secretary Ken Henry also said a return to full employment was a “conceivable possibility” in the coming years, with major […]
‘s economy seen growing 6.5 pct this year: panel
NEW DELHI, October 21, 2009 (AFP) – India’s economy has withstood the global financial crisis well and should grow by 6.5 percent this fiscal year, a top government panel forecast Wednesday. The panel, which advises India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on economic policy, put the estimated growth range for the country between 6.25 percent and […]
Chinese ship seized as Somali piracy drifts East
NAIROBI, October 19, 2009 (AFP) – Somali pirates hijacked a Chinese bulk carrier Monday northeast of the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, as the marauding sea bandits hunted their prey ever further from base to wrong-foot naval patrols.According to the European Union’s anti-piracy naval mission (EU NAVFOR), the unnamed ship was seized 550 nautical miles […]
Court Action
Oct 20, 2009 (LBO) – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said one of the accused in its case against senior executives of Singalanka Standard Chemicals charged with falsifying accounts and forging auditors’ signatures has pleaded guilty. The SEC said the court re-issued summons against the first accused, the former chairman of Singalanka Standard Chemicals, […]
Good Faith
Oct 19, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan-born hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam was investigated for allegedly funding Tamil Tiger rebels, but there was no evidence against him, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said Monday.US authorities on Friday charged Rajaratnam, 52, with fraud after saying they had uncovered the biggest ever case of insider-trading by […]
Ethnic Support
VANCOUVER, October 19, 2009 (AFP) – The Canadian Tamil Congress said Sunday its lawyers will represent dozens of illegal migrants arrested on a mystery ship seized off Canada’s West Coast.Detention hearings will begin early this week for as many as 76 migrants from a freighter seized Friday by Canadian military, police and other agencies. The […]
Suspect Donations
Oct 19, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is continuing investigations into financial support given to a Tamil charity with alleged terrorist links by a US hedge fund manager who was arrested for fraud, a senior official said.Sri Lankan Central Bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal told LBO the banking regulator was still investigating contributions made by […]
Repayment Hitch
Oct 18, 2009 (LBO) – A repayment plan proposed for Ceylinco Shriram Capital Management Services, a unit of Sri Lanka’s troubled Ceylinco group has been rejected by customers who put money in the company, a media report said.In Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court where the case relating to Golden Key is being heard, 259 million rupees […]
Maldives leader turns stuntman to fight climate change
MALE, October 18, 2009 (AFP) – Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed, who staged the world’s first underwater cabinet meeting at the weekend, is emerging as the global stuntman in the battle against climate change.Nasheed, 42, dived with his cabinet to the sea bottom Saturday in an effort to press December’s UN summit in Copenhagen to cap […]
Wealthy Donor
WASHINGTON, October 18, 2009 (AFP) – A US-based hedge-fund billionaire charged as part of an insider-trading case was investigated by US authorities for allegedly raising funds for a Sri Lankan separatist group, The Wall Street Journal reported late Saturday. Citing people familiar with the probe, the newspaper said federal agents had uncovered documents showing that […]
‘s richest man wins govt praise for pay cut
NEW DELHI, October 17, 2009 (AFP) – India’s government has praised a decision by India’s richest businessman Mukesh Ambani to take a 66 percent pay cut after it called for firms to avoid “vulgar” executive salaries, a report said Saturday.The minister’s call to rein in executive pay came amid pressure from governments around the world […]
Inside Deals
NEW YORK, October 16, 2009 (AFP) – US authorities Friday charged a billionaire hedge fund manager and five others with insider trading that netted 20 million dollars on trades in Google, Hilton Hotels Corp. and other companies. The case was helped by a cooperating witness, who indicated that Rajaratnam learned, for example in 2007 that […]