Category: Other
” golden handshakes
BRUSSELS, May 13, 2008 (AFP) – Eurozone finance ministers are considering ways of discouraging “scandalous” excesses in executive pay, including by closing loopholes for golden hand-shakes, Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said Tuesday.“We believe that the excesses of captains of industries’ (pay packages) that we have seen in several countries … are really quite scandalous and […]
” German president says
BERLIN, May 14, 2008 (AFP) – German President and former IMF head Horst Koehler attacked banks for allowing financial markets to become a “monster” that nearly caused a global collapse, in comments published on Wednesday.“It must by now have become clear to every responsible thinking person in the industry that international financial markets have become […]
Costly Ruling
May 14, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s five-star city hotel Galadari Hotels said Wednesday it had been ordered to pay 101 million rupees in an arbitration hearing but that it would appeal against the ruling.The hotel said in a Colombo stock exchange filing that an arbitrator at the Sri Lanka National Arbitration Centre had delivered […]
Australia boosts skilled migration numbers in budget
SYDNEY, May 13, 2008 (AFP) – Australia will boost its skilled migrant intake 30 percent to record levels in a bid to overcome a shortage of skilled workers, the government said Tuesday.As part of the centre-left Labor government’s first budget, Immigration Minister Chris Evans said an extra 31,000 skilled migrants would be allowed into Australia […]
Sri Lanka Fonterra unit to double yoghurt production
May 13, 2008 (LBO) – Fonterra Brands Lanka is investing 1.2 billion rupees to double yoghurt output and boost local raw milk supplies to cushion against volatile international prices, an official said. “The Sri Lankan yoghurt market has experienced double digit growth in the past five years and consumers now eat more than 12,000 metric […]
China quake buries at least 10,000 people in one city: Xinhua
DUJIANGYAN, China, May 13, 2008 (AFP) – At least 10,000 people remained buried Tuesday in a single city in China’s Sichuan province following a massive earthquake, Xinhua news agency said. The 10,000 were missing in the city of Mianzhu, about 35 kilometres (22 miles) southeast of the epicentre of the 7.8-magnitude quake that struck on […]
Dollar nudges higher ahead of Bernanke speech
TOKYO, May 13, 2008 (AFP) – The dollar was slightly firmer in Asian trade on Tuesday as the market waited for a speech by Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke for fresh leads on the health of the US economy, dealers said. The dollar rose to 103.91 yen in Tokyo morning trade from 103.83 in New […]
France offers to help India modernise railways including fast trains
MUMBAI, May 13, 2008 (AFP) – France will sign an agreement with India to help modernise its massive railway system with a focus on safety, training and technology including fast trains, the French transport minister said Tuesday. “Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français – the French National Railway Company – and the Indian Railways […]
World rice production to hit new record in 2008 : FAO
ROME, May 12, 2008 (AFP) – Rice production in Asia, Africa and Latin America is forecast to reach a new record level in 2008, but world rice prices could remain high in the short term, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said Monday.However the destruction of Myanmar’s food resources by a deadly cyclone could […]
Sri Lanka Pelwatte Sugar losses mount
May 12, 2008 (LBO) – Pelwatte Sugar Industries said its March quarter net loss increased 57 percent pushing annual losses to more than half-a-billion rupees, while revenues fell. . Annual revenuea fell to 1.3 billion from 2.3 billion rupees, with a net loss of 574 million rupees for the year ended March 2008. The firm’s […]
Myanmar needs more aid for urgent needs: relief groups
YANGON, May 12, 2008 (AFP) – Aid groups said Sunday that supplies trickling into cyclone-hit Myanmar were far less than was needed, as the faltering relief effort suffered a new blow with the sinking of a Red Cross boat. The boat, carrying vital supplies of drinking water, rice, and purification tablets, hit a submerged tree […]
China inflation at 8.5 percent in April: govt
BEIJING, May 12, 2008 (AFP) – China’s inflation rate hit 8.5 percent in April, remaining near 12-year highs, the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday. The figure comes on top of 8.3 percent consumer price inflation in March and 8.7 percent in February. China has made inflation control a top priority for economic policy-making this […]