Category: Other
Striking estate workers to go back to work, wage talks to resume
December 18 (LBO) – Striking estate workers have been asked to get back to work, with the Ceylon Workers Congress agreeing to resume wage talks with plantation companies, officials said Monday.“The Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) feels that this situation has gone too far and we cannot wait for others to deliver,” R Yogarajan, Vice President of […]
‘s real estate sector booms, but first-time buyers beware
NEW DELHI, Dec 15, 2006 (AFP) – India’s real estate market is in overdrive as developers snap up land to build malls and housing enclaves, but high prices and opaque rules make it hard for first-time buyers to land a dream home. The sector, worth 12 billion dollars, is growing at 30 percent a year, […]
‘s tea estates
December 14, 2006 (LBO) – Trade union action, wage hikes and high fertiliser prices are proving a volatile cocktail of problems for Sri Lanka’s plantation sector, with dismal predictions for early next year. Green leaf production on Sri Lanka’s tea estates grew a negative 0.7 percent in the third quarter of this year over the […]
Sri Lanka to revise lease agreements between govt. and plantation companies
December 14, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s cabinet has appointed a high level committee to help revise lease agreements currently in place between the government and regional plantation companies.A committee headed by treasury secretary P B Jayasundara will lead the government delegation to hammer out a mutual agreement between the golden shareholder (the government), regional plantation […]
Oil prices may cool in 2007 after record year: analysts
LONDON, Dec 14, 2006 (AFP) – Crude oil prices could head lower in 2007 after striking all-time highs above 78 dollars per barrel this year, as global production catches up with demand and geopolitical risks lessen, experts say. “This year, the main story has been the political risks story,” Global Insight oil analyst Simon Wardell […]
Asian cities face environmental crises: study
MANILA, Dec 13, 2006 (AFP) – Asia’s urban population is expected to grow by 70 percent to more than 2.6 billion over the next 25 years, placing severe strain on services, according to a book jointly published by the Asian Development Bank. “Development in Asia is tied to the growth of sustainable cities,” he added. […]
Finlays Sri Lanka plantation hands over management to private company
Dec 12 (LBO) – Sri Lankan regional plantations company Udapussellawa Plantations is to hand over management of two estates to a newly incorporated private company for a 38-year period, an official said Tuesday. “These estates need a lot of investment into the field operations as well as factories and with the current structure and wages going […]
Asian financial markets face greater volatility in 2007: S and P
SINGAPORE, Dec 12, 2006 (AFP) – Asia-Pacific financial markets will remain generally strong but face greater volatility and higher risks in 2007, Standard and Poor’s said Tuesday. The US-based credit watchdog said in a statement that the regional economic outlook remained positive despite an expected US slowdown next year. But higher financing costs, increased corporate […]
Bank of Ceylon in billion rupee loan deal with Sri Lanka sugar maker Pelwatte
Dec 12 (LBO) – State owned Bank of Ceylon has tied up with Pelwatte Sugar Industries to give farmers over a billion rupees in soft loans and boost production at the country’s largest sugar plantation.Bank of Ceylon said Tuesday that it would give 15,000 sugar cane growers cultivating 150,000 hectares, up to 150,000 rupees each to […]
”
PARIS, Dec 12, 2006 (AFP) – For the companies and individuals inhabiting the web’s ever-evolving ecosystem, three big revolutions have taken place almost unnoticed by outside observers. The first, they argue, was the initial phase — or what they call “Web 1.0” — when corporations like the BBC, Disney and established newspapers set up virtual […]
‘s inflation rate rises to nearly 1,099 percent
HARARE, Dec 11, 2006 (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s inflation spiral rose to 1,098.8 percent last month, up 28.6 percentage points from October, the Central Statistical office said Monday.Last month, Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa predicted a marginal economic growth in the coming year, adding that inflation would dip to 350 percent as he presented the budget for […]
US economic team to pressure China on exchange rates, intellectual property
WASHINGTON, Dec 10, 2006 (AFP) – A stellar cast of US economic leaders heads to China this week to press for the world’s manufacturing workshop to overhaul the desperately one-sided trade between the two nations.Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke will head the US delegation for the inaugural meeting of a […]