Category: Other
Sri Lanka expects record tea crop despite year-end drop
Jan 08, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production and exports fell sharply in November 2008 but export earnings in the 11 months were ahead of the year before and a record annual crop is expected, brokers said.Tea production in November 2008 at 24.6 million kilos was the lowest since 1999 as producers cut output […]
Sri Lanka tea output to November 2008 ahead of year before
Jan 07, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production up to November last year was almost 300 million kilos, well ahead of the year before, according to statistics released by the Sri Lanka Tea Board. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 The increase came mainly […]
Pink iguanas discovered on Galapagos Islands
QUITO, January 6, 2009 (AFP) – A team of Ecuadoran and Italian researchers have discovered a unique species of pink land iguanas living on the Galapagos Islands, the scientist who wrote the report told AFP. “It is surprising to have found in the 21st century a find of this magnitude,” said Washington Tapia, head of […]
Sri Lanka expects big coconut crop after heavy rains
Jan 05, 2009 (LBO) – Heavy rains in Sri Lanka last year should ensure an adequate coconut crop for 2009 that would be enough to meet the demands of both domestic consumers as well as export industry, a senior official said.“In the market at present more than 50-75 million nuts remain unsold.There are excess nuts.” […]
Japan registers small tsunami waves after Indonesia quakes
TOKYO, January 4, 2009 (AFP) – Japan’s Pacific coast was lapped by minor tsunami waves Sunday after a string of powerful earthquakes off Indonesia, the country’s meteorological agency said.Waves up to 40 centimetres (1.3 feet) reached the Pacific coasts of islands from the Okinawan chain to the main island of Honshu, the agency said. The […]
Sri Lanka investors wooed by Maldives
Jan 04, 2009 (LBO) – The new government in the Maldives, in move to privatize the economy, is looking at selling state-owned businesses and becoming more investor friendly, the Maldivian leader said on a visit to Colombo. We come here to open the country for business. We are looking at an ambitious decentralization program. We […]
Coral decline warns of ocean changes: Australian scientists
SYDNEY, January 2, 2009 (AFP) – A sharp slowdown in coral growth on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef since 1990 is a warning sign that precipitous changes in the world’s oceans may be imminent, scientists said Friday. Rising sea temperatures are blamed on global warming caused by the build-up in the atmosphere of greenhouse gases such […]
Sri Lanka tea industry hopes for better prices in January
Dec 30, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea market is expected to recover somewhat early next year with a long break in the Colombo auctions and production shortfalls in other origins keeping demand buoyant, officials said. The slowdown in tea exports from African origins is also expected to keep demand buoyant. Tea output in Kenya, […]
Ex-PM Sheikh Hasina wins Bangladesh poll: officia
DHAKA, December 30, 2008 (AFP) – Former Bangladeshi premier Sheikh Hasina Wajed has won a landslide victory in general elections, with her party picking up more than 75 percent of seats, an Election Commission official said Tuesday.Commission spokesman S.M. Asaduzzaman told AFP that votes in 295 of the 299 seats had been counted, and Sheikh […]
Tensions mount as Pakistan shifts troops to Indian border
ISLAMABAD, December 27, 2008 (AFP) – Pakistan has redeployed thousands of troops to the border with India, officials said Friday, in a dramatic escalation of tensions with New Delhi in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.Washington urged the two sides to avoid escalating tensions and said it was touch with both countries. Indian Prime Minister […]
Hope and disappointment four years on from Asian tsunami
LAM TUTUI, December 25, 2008 (AFP) – When the deadly waters of the Asian tsunami smashed into this fishing village in Indonesia’s Aceh province four years ago, not one house was left standing.Now there are too many of them. Recovery has been uneven in the dozen countries hit by the 2004 Indian Ocean disaster, which […]
Sri Lanka desiccated coconut exporters say facing closure with duty hike
Dec 18, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan exporters of desiccated coconut said a recent government hike in edible oil import duty could put them out of business as prices of raw nuts will remain high, making their exports uncompetitive. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 […]