Category: Other
Nepal lifts ban on Everest as Olympic torch summits
KATHMANDU, May 8, 2008 (AFP) – Scores of climbers waiting on the southern Nepalese approach to Mount Everest will be allowed to proceed after the Chinese Olympic torch team made it to the roof of the world, officials said Thursday. “Mountaineers will be allowed to move towards the summit from Friday,” said Prem Rai, Nepal’s […]
‘s growth rewarding amid global risks: Merrill Lynch
MUMBAI, May 7, 2008 (AFP) – India offers one of most rewarding opportunities for growth in spite of recessionary conditions in the United States, wealth management group Merrill Lynch chief executive John Thain said Wednesday.“I do not believe in the ‘decoupling’ theory but India, led by strong local demand, will be relatively less affected by […]
Thailand says Malaysia to buy emergency rice supplies
BANGKOK, May 8, 2008 (AFP) – Thailand said Thursday it would provide 500,000 tonnes of rice to Malaysia in an emergency purchase as the latter’s national stockpile had enough supplies to last only 15 days.Government spokesman Wichainchot Sukchotrat said Malaysian agriculture minister Mustafa Mohamed met with Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on Thursday to discuss […]
” consumers, US trails: study
WASHINGTON, May 7, 2008 (AFP) – Inhabitants of Brazil and India have the world’s most environmentally-sustainable lifestyle and Americans have the least, according to a new study tracking global attitudes towards consumption and the environment. The survey by the National Geographic Society establishes a “Greendex” — an index measuring the economic impact of consumer lifestyle […]
Sri Lanka tea exports to Iran face high duties, packet ban
May 07, 2008 (LBO) – High import duty rates and a ban on packet tea imports by Iran is preventing Sri Lankan tea exporters from better penetrating a potentially lucrative market, industry officials said. Instead, a lot of the Sri Lankan tea that reaches Iran is smuggled over its borders, with Dubai as the region’s […]
Sri Lanka a blue whale watching hot spot
May 07, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka may be one of the easiest places to watch whales, allowing it to become a global top spot to watch blue and sperm whales, a researcher and an eco-tourism specialist have said. “I think Sri Lanka has enormous potential to be a whale destination,” marine biologist Charles Anderson, […]
ECB focuses on inflation as governors meet in Athens
ATHENS, May 7, 2008 (AFP) – The European Central Bank is widely expected to leave its key interest rate unchanged again Thursday, focusing as it is mandated to do on inflation rather than the risk to growth, analysts say.The ECB governing council meets here at a twice-annual event organised in a eurozone capital, hosted this […]
Maldives gets ready for August polls
May 7, 2008 ( LBO) – The Indian Ocean Island of Maldives is in the final stages of wrapping up its new constitution, which will pave the way for the nation’s first multi-party elections this year, officials said Tuesday.Political parties have only been legal on the 1,192 coral islands since 2005 when President Maumoon Abdul […]
UAE urged to limit foreigner visas to six years
DUBAI, May 7, 2008 (AFP) – The United Arab Emirates, whose booming economy functions thanks to millions of foreign workers, has been urged to put a six-year cap on their residency, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday.The internal affairs and defence committee of the consultative Federal National Council (FNC), said the workers should leave the […]
‘s Bharti joins 700-million-dollar cable project linking Britain
BANGALORE, India, May 7, 2008 (AFP) – Bharti Airtel, India’s top mobile-phone operator, said Wednesday it had joined a consortium to build a 700-million-dollar submarine cable system. Bharti signed a construction and maintenance agreement in London for the Europe India Gateway (EIG), the first high-bandwidth, optical-fibre cable system from India to Britain, the company said. […]
Netting Victims
May 07, 2008 (LBO) – Hundreds of Indian victims of the Goldquest scheme are flocking to police to lodge complaints after courts ordered authorities to re-open investigations in to the scheme, media reports said. By Tuesday, more than 600 victims who lost their money in the Goldquest’s multi-level scheme had filed complaints, Times of India […]
Yahoo still open to a takeover offer from Microsoft: report
LONDON, May 6, 2008 (AFP) – Yahoo’s Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang defended his handling of failed takeover negotiations with Microsoft and said he remains open to an offer from the US software giant, in an interview published Tuesday in the Financial Times. Yang told the paper he was willing to negotiate but Microsoft pulled […]