Category: Other
‘ summit highlights action against terrorism
Aug 02, 2008 (LBO) – South Asian leaders have called for tough action against terrorism at their summit in Colombo this weekend where they are to sign an accord on co-operation in criminal matters. Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh said terrorism continues to “rear its ugly head” in the region. “It remains the single biggest […]
GM posts 15.5 bln dlr loss as US sales skid
WASHINGTON, August 1, 2008 (AFP) – General Motors posted Friday a whopping 15.5-billion-dollar net loss in the second quarter as the US auto giant took hefty restructuring charges and US sales skidded.The bleak earnings reported by the largest US automaker coincided with news of a seventh straight month of US nonfarm job losses that stoked […]
‘t compromise on farmers
NEW DELHI, July 31, 2008 (AFP) – India said on Thursday it was willing to return to the negotiating table to work out a new global trade deal but warned it would not make any compromises that could hurt poor farmers.It also pinned the blame for the talks’ collapse earlier this week in Geneva squarely […]
Chavez nationalizes Bank of Venezuela
CARACAS, August 1, 2008 (AFP) – Leftist President Hugo Chavez on Thursday said he will nationalize the Bank of Venezuela, one of the country’s largest, and has asked the bank’s Spanish owners, Grupo Santander, for a meeting to set a price for the deal. “We’re going to nationalize Bank of Venezuela. I’m calling on (Grupo […]
WTO talks on sticking point continue at technical level: Lamy
GENEVA, August 1, 2008 (AFP) – Talks at a technical level are under way at the World Trade Organization on safeguard issues that ended marathon negotiations on a global trade deal this week, WTO head Pascal Lamy revealed on Friday.He told journalists it was necessary to overcome the safeguard technical issue that had caused the […]
India plans global 3G spectrum auction
NEW DELHI, August 1, 2008 (AFP) – India said Friday it plans a global auction for the airwaves needed to offer high-speed third generation or 3G mobile phone services, a move that could rake in billions of dollars for the government.The long-awaited decision will allow foreign players the chance to enter the world’s fastest-growing mobile […]
Sri Lanka tea export earnings up sharply in first half
Aug 01, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea export earnings hit a new high in the first half of this year compared with the same period in previous years, tea brokers said. Stock brokers said the high prices enjoyed by tea exporters were likely to boost the profits of listed plantations companies, which have drawn […]
Sri Lanka starts small with bio-fuels
Aug 01, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan renewable energy experts have started experimenting with bio-fuel production as an alternative to expensive fossil fuels but are constrained by lack of funds and land for commercial production.A pilot project on bio diesel initiated in Nikaweratiya in the north western province will soon be converted to a community […]
Emerging economies to drive world auto sales to record highs
OTTAWA, July 30, 2008 (AFP) – Auto sales in places like Brazil, India and China are expected to drive world demand to new records despite a sales slump in Europe and the United States, a Canadian bank said Wednesday.Global car sales advanced a mere 1.5 percent in the first half of 2008, undercut by slowing […]
Profit hits 11.68 bln dlrs at ExxonMobil
NEW YORK, July 31, 2008 (AFP) – US energy giant ExxonMobil on Thursday reported a 14 percent jump in quarterly net profits to a record 11.68 billion dollars in results below most forecasts on Wall Street. The second-quarter earnings amounted to 2.27 dollars per share excluding special items compared with an average forecast of 2.52 […]
Shell profits gush on record high oil prices
LONDON, July 31, 2008 (AFP) – Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell said on Thursday that high oil prices helped push its net profit up by a third to 11.556 billion dollars (7.409 billion euros) in the second quarter. Profits rocketed despite flagging production which was hampered by violence at facilities in Nigeria. Output fell […]
Two decades on, South Asian grouping still to prove relevance
July 31, 2008 (AFP) – South Asian leaders are set for a weekend summit in Colombo where they are expected to repeat pious platitudes, highlighting that the 23-year-old regional grouping has little to show by way of economic progress. Observers compare summits to movie productions, but the script has changed little since the first SAARC […]