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James Finlays sees export revenues fall on low value added tea sales
September 01, 2006 (LBO) – James Finalys & Company says its export revenues fell for the six months to June as the firm shipped more low value added bulk tea to overseas buyers. Finlays, one of Sri Lanka’s top tea exporters, also felt the pinch of rising prices at weekly tea auctions, as its island’s key […]
India to increase tea imports as production hit
GUWAHATI, India, Sept 1, 2006 (AFP) – India, the world’s largest tea producer, will boost tea imports to cover growing domestic demand despite an expected production shortfall blamed on a heat wave, officials said Friday. This year, the country is likely to increase tea imports to 25 million kilograms (55 million pounds) from last year’s […]
Cable Landing
September 01, 2006 (LBO) – Lanka Bell, one of Sri Lanka’s privately held wireless telecom operators, is in talks with India’s FLAG Telecom to lay an undersea cable linking both countries. The 25 million dollar deal is due to be inked shortly, with the cable also extended from Sri Lanka to the Maldives. “Once finalised […]
Saving Pluto: The fightback begins
PARIS, Sept 1, 2006 (AFP) – Only a week after Pluto was stripped of its status as a full-fledged planet of the Solar System, rebel astronomers have launched a campaign to have it restored in pomp and glory.A petition already signed by more than 300 professional researchers is attacking the International Astronomical Union (IAU) decision […]
Indian TV viewers to pay 11 cents a channel each month
NEW DELHI, Sept 1, 2006 (AFP) – Millions of Indian television viewers will pay a maximum five rupees (11 cents) a month for each pay channel under a new system to take effect by the end of the year, the telecommunications regulator said. The introduction of the conditional access system or CAS will mark a […]
IMF board agrees to give bigger say to developing countries
TOKYO, Sept 1, 2006 (AFP) – The IMF executive board has agreed to far-reaching reform of the institution to give more influence to dynamic developing economies including China, managing director Rodrigo Rato said.Under the plan, China, South Korea, Turkey and Mexico will all see immediate increases in their fund quotas to reflect the shifting balance […]
Sri Lanka blast kills soldier, wounds four
Sept 1, 2006 (AFP) – A powerful Claymore mine exploded Friday in Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna peninsula, killing one soldier and wounding four more, the defence ministry said.The victims were on foot patrol when they were hit, the ministry said. “Five soldiers suffered injuries and were admitted to hospital,” the ministry said. It added that […]
Red Cross presses for supply line in war-torn Sri Lanka
GENEVA, Sept 1, 2006 (AFP) – The International Committee of the Red Cross on Friday pressed Sri Lanka’s warring parties to allow supplies to reach tens of thousands of increasingly desperate people in the isolated city of Jaffna. Reto Meister, head of the ICRC’s Asia-Pacific operations, said the northern city of around half a million […]
New controls on foreign aid workers in Sri Lanka after killings
COLOMBO, Sept 1, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has enforced new controls on foreign aid workers after 17 local employees of a French charity were murdered, allegedly by security forces, aid officials said Friday. Local and foreign non-government organisations were told to obtain work permits for expatriate staff by Friday, before the deadline was extended […]
Sri Lanka looks for investors to raise US$ 100 million
August 31, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Thursday announced plans to raise another 100 million dollars through a bond issue to pay for ongoing development projects. Prospective investors can send in their applications from Sept 5-12 and those selected have to pay up by Sept 20, the Central Bank said in a public notice. Investors […]
Fine Tuning
Aug 31, 2006 (LBO) – SriLankan Airlines is in talks with regional carriers from India, Pakistan and the Middle East to carry out third party maintenance checks on aircraft, top airline officials said. The national carrier just successfully completed a multiple C check for an Emirates A330-200 aircraft, called the 4C5Y, usually carried out every […]
Half Empty
TOKYO, Aug 31, 2006 (AFP) – The global airline industry is expected to almost halve its losses in 2006 thanks to buoyant economic growth and deep cost cuts, the world’s top airline association said Thursday.The industry is now expected to lose 1.7 billion dollars in 2006, much less than the 3.0 billion loss previously feared […]