Kenyan tea sector recovering from searing drought

NAIROBI, Apr.25 (AFP) – Kenya’s tea sector is rebounding from a searing drought, with production of the country’s largest export shooting up 72 percent between February and March, officials said Tuesday. However, export earnings continue to suffer and the Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) said the huge boost was unlikely to make up for a […]

Copper forges record 7,000 dollars per tonne

LONDON, Apr.25 (AFP) – The price of copper leapt to the highest-ever level here on Tuesday, spurred by massive investment and speculative demand.Three-month copper prices on the London Metal Exchange touched 7,040.00 dollars per tonne — the highest point since copper was first listed in its current format in 1870.The price of copper, used for […]

Eagle Eyes

Apr.04 (AFP) – Counter terrorism and anti-money laundering experts from South Asian nations began training with US experts in Colombo on Tuesday, the US embassy said.Some 40 South Asian regulators and lawmen from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka were attending the study sessions organised by the US department of justice and the Federal Bureau […]

Close Inspection

Apr. 24 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police arrested five Maldivian nationals sparking unconfirmed rumours that the suspects were linked to Al-Qaeda, police and media reports said Monday.The five — two women, two children and a man — were taken into custody at the request of the Maldives government and handed over to the Maldivian high […]

”: experts

KUALA LUMPUR, Apr. 24 (AFP) – Rising demand that has pushed prices for natural rubber to record highs is raising fears world supplies will run short, experts said Monday at an international summit in the Malaysian capital. Growing demand has seen prices rise steadily for over a year, hitting 2.0 dollars per kilogram (2.2 pounds) […]

Red Light

Apr.24 (LBO) – The District Court Monday turned down a request by Malaysian based investor A P Jagaiah to postpone the NDB Bank’s annual general meeting. -LBO Newsdesk Jagaiah sought legal recourse after NDB Bank refused to register 9.36 percent or 5.2 million shares owned by him, the bank said in a statement. In a […]

Guilty

NEW YORK, Apr.24 (AFP) – The former top executive of Computer Associates, Sanjay Kumar, pleaded guilty Monday to participating in a 2.2 billion dollar accounting fraud and obstructing a subsequent investigation. The Sri Lankan-born Kumar, former chairman and chief executive of the software and computer security giant, entered the guilty plea together with the company’s […]

Indian court rules domestic whisky not “Scotch”

NEW DELHI, Apr. 24 (AFP) – An Indian court has ordered domestic whisky makers not to use the words “Scot” or “Scotch” for their distilled brews as it would violate global copyright laws, a lawyer said Monday. These include 53,000 dollars to Cartier, 35,000 dollars to Time magazine and 280,000 dollars to Microsoft — all […]

Surging rubber prices raising ‘alarm bells’: experts

KUALA LUMPUR, Apr. 24 (AFP) – Rising demand that has pushed prices for natural rubber to record highs is raising fears world supplies will run short, experts said Monday at an international summit in the Malaysian capital. Growing demand has seen prices rise steadily for over a year, hitting 2.0 dollars per kilogram (2.2 pounds) […]

E-sex bust

Apr.23 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s immigration authorities have closed an internet-based commercial sex service run by foreign nationals, in the first such operation, officials said. The service run by persons of Ukrainian origin, and solicited clients via the website www.bananaescort.net, ended on April 12, after just two months of operations when sleuths from the Department […]

Maldives fishermen bring police record hashish haul

COLOMBO, Apr. 23 (AFP) – Fishermen in the Indian Ocean tourist paradise of the Maldives gave police their biggest catch of illegal drugs after an accidental discovery of hashish in a lagoon, the Haveeru News Service reported Sunday.Lobster fishermen found the hasish packed in 1,697 plastic bags on the ocean bed, the news agency said, […]

Micro Law

Apr.20 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is drawing up a new law to regulate micro-credit organizations scattered around the county. The legislation will cover thrift units operated by co-operative societies, thrift associations in the Samurdhi income support program of the government and other non- governmental organizations in the sector. “At present no one knows how many […]

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