Category: Other
Sri Lanka to free military deserters: official
July 24, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is to free some 1,800 jailed military deserters as part of a presidential amnesty, a justice ministry spokesman said on Friday. In 2003, the government moved to legally discharge 51,000 deserters from the security forces. Tens of thousands were killed in Sri Lanka’s decades-old Tamil separatist conflict.The pardon […]
‘s Bharti profits jump 24 pct, still in MTN merger talks
NEW DELHI, July 23, 2009 (AFP) – India’s top mobile company, Bharti Airtel, reported Thursday that first-quarter net profit jumped 24 percent and said it was still in merger talks with South Africa’s flagship MTN cellular group.Bharti said net profit for the three months to June 30 rose to 25.17 billion rupees (526 million dollars) […]
India plans to welcome foreign universities: report
NEW DELHI, July 23, 2009 (AFP) – The world’s leading universities such as Harvard and Yale could soon be allowed to open colleges in India under new legislation proposed by the government, a report said Thursday.India has a severe shortage of higher education institutions and a booming population with more than 30 percent of its […]
Sri Lanka June tea crop down 14 pct
July 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production in June 2009 fell 14 percent to 23.6 million kilos compared with the same month in 2008 mainly because of sharp falls in teas grown in high and medium elevations, brokers said. In the six months to June 2009, the crop was down 23.8 percent to […]
Kalashnikov demand soars with violence in NW Pakistan
PESHAWAR, July 22, 2009 (AFP) – The price of a Kalashnikov assault rifle is soaring as militant groups and private militias mushroom in an increasingly battle-torn northwest Pakistan, arms dealers and buyers say. Civilians too, frightened by the upsurge in violence and citing a lack of government protection, are also forking out to arm themselves […]
Rice researchers say prices depend on US dollar
MANILA, July 21, 2009 (AFP) – A weak US currency is expected to put fresh pressure on rice prices just a year after a global supply crunch caused the cereal to rocket above 1,000 dollars a tonne, the International Rice Research Institute said.The situation “suggests that a falling dollar will keep rice (and commodity) prices […]
” solar eclipse takes on Asian giants
NEW DELHI, July 20, 2009 (AFP) – The world’s most populous nations will gaze skywards Wednesday as the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century lays a carpet of darkness across India and China, from Mumbai to Shanghai.In ancient China, eclipses were often associated with natural disasters or the death of an emperor, and […]
Clinton seeks key defence accord in India talks
NEW DELHI, July 20, 2009 (AFP) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hoped to seal a defence pact boosting US arms sales to India in talks here Monday that should also see agreement on the siting of two US nuclear reactors. On the business end of her five-day visit to India, Clinton met Prime […]
Broader Probe
July 18, 2009 (AFP) – French charity Action Against Hunger (ACF) on Saturday demanded an international probe into the massacre of 17 of its Sri Lankan employees after a government investigation failed to identify suspects. The ACF in a statement accused the Sri Lankan authorities of lacking the will to find those responsible for the […]
Sri Lanka tea prices rise sharply
July 17, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices rose sharply at this week’s Colombo auction as volumes began declining, brokers said. The same type of teas from the Uva central highlands region, whose quality season is about to begin, also rose sharply. “…the initial invoices which reflected the signs of seasonal improvement, gained further […]
‘s cheapest car hits Indian streets
MUMBAI, July 17, 2009 (AFP) – The world’s cheapest car, the Tata Nano, hits the streets on Friday, as the first customer gets the keys to a vehicle that its makers hope will transform travel for millions of Indians.The head of Tata Motors, Ratan Tata, was to deliver the first car in person at a […]
Cell broadcast ideal for Maldives public warning: think tank
July 17, 2009 (LBO) – Cell broadcasting, a messaging system that is found in the two celco networks in the Maldives can be used to send immediate public warning messages to users, a think tank has said. Loss of life was small, but around one-third of the population was affected and property damage was estimated […]