Oil Deal

Dec 15, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court barred a senior official from a state-run petroleum retailer over a case involving derivative deals and said the country’s central bank has to probe and solve the case. Supreme Court asked the central bank to file a preliminary probe report brought to court Monday, with the […]

India denies violating Pakistani airspace

NEW DELHI, December 14, 2008 (AFP) – India on Sunday denied any of its aircraft had intruded into Pakistani air space, as tensions ran high between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours over the Mumbai attacks.Pakistan’s air force said Indian jets flew over the Pakistani-administered part of Kashmir and the eastern city of Lahore, both places […]

Myanmar to hold five-day gems auction: state media

YANGON, December 13, 2008 (AFP) – Military-run Myanmar announced Saturday it would hold an auction of precious gems in Yangon early next year, despite economic sanctions banning their international trade.Europe also intensified economic sanctions on the regime after a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protesters last year, while Washington and human rights groups have urged gem […]

Scientific Research

Dec 12, 2008 (LBO) – A Master Debater has once boasted that he normally employs three ploys to subdue his difficult customers. ˜When I find that my opponent is not easily surmountable, I use mathematics, philosophy and religion to subdue him’, he has confessed. ˜Mathematical equations frighten him, philosophical expressions confuse him and religious sayings […]

India industrial growth crashes into negative terrain

NEW DELHI, December 12, 2008 (AFP) – India’s industrial growth unexpectedly shrank for the first time in 15 years, data showed Friday, hit by the widening global recession that has weakened demand in Asia’s third-largest economy. Industrial production contracted by 0.4 percent in October after expanding by 12.2 percent in the same month a year […]

Major Sumatran quake, tsunami likely in decades: study

SINGAPORE, December 12, 2008 (AFP) – More than one million people on Indonesia’s Sumatra island are vulnerable to a massive earthquake and tsunami potentially more destructive than one which struck four years ago, scientists who released a study Friday warned. The quake and tsunami are likely within the next few decades, they said. On December […]

Sri Lanka tea prices recover slightly after steep fall

Dec 10, 2008 (LBO) – Prices of Sri Lanka’s low grown teas recovered slightly at this week’s auction after plunging for several weeks but it was not clear if they had bottomed out. Teas from the high and mid-grown elevations produced mainly by listed regional plantations companies fell mainly because of lower quality. Forbes & […]

India announces stimulus package to boost growth

NEW DELHI, December 7, 2008 (AFP) – The Indian government on Sunday announced an extra four billion dollars in spending to shield the economy from the impact of the global financial crisis.The government said it would also ensure a substantial increase in expenditure for next year’s budget.“The government has decided to seek authorisation for additional […]

21 new species in danger of extinction: UN convention

ROME, December 5, 2008 (AFP) – Twenty-one animal species, including the cheetah, three dolphin families and an Egyptian vulture, were added to the list of those in danger of extinction by a UN conference that ended Friday. Six other bird species as well as manatees have also been placed on the list of animals benefiting […]

Hedge Management

Dec 06, 2008 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka unit of the Indian Oil Corporation has unwound some oil derivatives it bought earlier in 2008, but is left with 70,000 barrels worth deals that will expire next year, a top official said. Lanka IOC says it is honoring all contracts. Exotic Derivatives Lanka IOC had bought […]

Sri Lanka tea production, exports fall

Dec 05, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production and exports in October fell after prices crashed although export earnings in the first 10 months have exceeded a billion dollars, brokers said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 Tea exports in October had dropped to […]

Sri Lanka raises duty on imported edible oil

Dec 04, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has raised import duty on edible oil by changing it from a 28 percent rate to a specific levy of 40 rupees a kilo, in a bid to keep domestic coconut oil prices high, a government minister said.The Cabinet had also given approval to the ministry of finance […]

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