Category: Other
Panic in Mexico, US as killer swine flu fears cross globe
MEXICO CITY, April 27, 2009 (AFP) – World health officials on Monday stepped up the battle against a new swine flu blamed for dozens of deaths in Mexico, after the US declared a public emergency amid signs the disease was spreading. Panic grew in Mexico as citizens heeded government warnings to avoid contact with each […]
” in S.Lanka fighting
April 26, 2009 (AFP) – UN humanitarian chief John Holmes on Sunday appealed to Sri Lanka to halt their military offensive against the Tamil Tigers in order to allow aid workers to help civilians trapped in the war zone.Holmes, the under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, told government leaders that months of fierce fighting had taken […]
Sri Lanka tea prices perk up as rupee weakens
April 23, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices rose sharply at this week’s auctions, propelled by the weakening of the rupee against the dollar and lower quantities, brokers said. They said prices of low grow teas, which make up the bulk of the crop, gained substantially although those from the higher elevations fell because […]
Record Gulf remittances bleak comfort for Pakistan
KARACHI, April 21, 2009 (AFP) – Pakistani expatriate workers wired home a record 739.4 million dollars last month, but experts warn job losses from the global credit crunch could soon slash remittances and rock the economy.Pakistanis working overseas sent 5.66 billion dollars home during the first nine months to March 31, 20 percent up on […]
Sri Lanka rubber regains bounce
April 21, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan rubber prices have bounced back as demand picks up and tapping slows down during the off-season, industry officials said. “So rubber manufacturing companies have got new orders as a result of which they have to buy the natural rubber raw materials from producers. “Also, supply is now lower […]
India launches spy satellite
BANGALORE, April 20, 2009 (AFP) – India put an Israeli-built spy satellite into orbit Monday, aimed at boosting its defence surveillance capabilities in the aftermath of the Mumbai militant attacks. The satellite, which can see through clouds and carry out day-and-night all-weather imaging, has been a long-standing demand of the Indian military. Its acquisition was […]
Losing Proposition
April 18, 2009 (LBO)- During the three decades beginning from 1978, Sri Lanka had recorded on average an annual inflation rate of slightly over 11 percent. During the same period, its annual average economic growth rate amounted to 5 percent. These two macroeconomic numbers have prompted many to argue that inflation does not matter since, […]
US environment agency deems CO2 a health risk
WASHINGTON, April 18, 2009 (AFP) – The US Environmental Protection Agency shifted course Friday by deeming carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases a health risk, in a landmark turnaround that could impact climate change regulation. “After a thorough scientific review ordered in 2007 by the US Supreme Court, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a proposed […]
Convicted
LONDON, April 17, 2009 (AFP) – A London court convicted a man described as the head of the Tamil Tigers in Britain on two terror-linked charges Friday, including supplying bomb-making equipment to the Sri Lankan group. Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar, 52, was found guilty of coordinating supplies of material to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). […]
US to give Pakistan one bln dlrs in aid
TOKYO, April 17, 2009 (AFP) – The United States will give Pakistan one billion dollars in aid over two years, the US envoy Richard Holbrooke announced Friday as an international donors’ conference opened in Tokyo. Holbrooke “announced the United States’ intent to provide support to the government of Pakistan totalling one billion dollars over a […]
India begins voting in marathon election
NEW DELHI, April 16, 2009 (AFP) – Indians voted in their tens of millions Thursday as month-long general elections — the world’s largest democratic exercise — kicked off with little hope of a clear winner at the end of it all.From the southern tropical state of Kerala to the Himalayan foothills of Kashmir in the […]
Indians line up for election marathon
NEW DELHI, April 15, 2009 (AFP) – India braced Wednesday for marathon elections expected to throw up an unstable coalition government at a time when the country needs strong leadership to pull through an economic downturn. Neither of the two main national parties — the incumbent Congress and the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) […]