Category: Other
‘s Karachi airport
KARACHI, June 8, 2014 (AFP) – Heavily armed militants attacked Pakistan’s busiest airport in the southern city of Karachi Sunday night, killing at least six people as flights were suspended and the army was called in, officials said. Some six militants were also killed in the assault as gunfire, which continued overnight, and two huge […]
Japan to be first stop for India PM Modi: report
TOKYO, June 6, 2014 (AFP) – Japan could be the first foreign destination for new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese media reported Friday, suggesting the trip could happen as early as this month.Coming top of Modi’s travel itinerary would mark a diplomatic coup for Japan, whose Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is looking to boost […]
Court Order
June 05, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s courts have ordered the liquidation of Touchwood, a controversial forestry investment company, but a appeal of the decision is planned, a media report said.Meanwhile recent media reports said trees in some forestry plantations and some investors were attempting to prevent it. Adaderanabiz.lk, a Colombo based business news portal […]
Extinct bat found in Papua New Guinea
SYDNEY, June 4, 2014 (AFP) – A big-eared bat which was thought to be extinct has been found in a forest in Papua New Guinea, highlighting the unique biodiversity of the developing nation, researchers said Wednesday. Until the find the bat, or Pharotis imogene, had not been seen in 120 years. “The species was presumed […]
Flipkart battles Amazon for India e-shopping dominance
NEW DELHI, June 4, 2014 (AFP) – India’s online retailers are bulking up on acquisitions and funding as they battle the world’s biggest Internet shopping giant, Amazon, for supremacy in the hyper-competitive domestic market.Late last month, Flipkart, India’s largest e-shopping portal, announced the takeover of rival Myntra in a deal analysts estimated at 0 million […]
Indian central bank keeps rates steady
MUMBAI, June 3, 2014 (AFP) – India’s hawkish central bank kept key interest rates unchanged Tuesday at its first meeting to set monetary policy since new pro-growth Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office.After meeting in the financial capital Mumbai, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the benchmark repo rate, at which it lends to […]
13 dead as rains lash Sri Lanka
COLOMBO, June 2, 2014 (AFP) – Unusually heavy monsoon rains have flooded Sri Lanka’s capital and neighbouring districts where mudslides killed at least 13 people, officials said Monday. The island’s western and southern regions experienced heavy rains with more than 100 millimetres (four inches) dumped within about one hour on Sunday, an official at the […]
Self Immolation
SYDNEY, June 2, 2014 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan Tamil asylum-seeker has died after setting himself on fire while awaiting a visa decision in Australia, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said Monday.Leorsin Seemanpillai, 29, who was living in Geelong, outside Melbourne, after being granted a temporary visa a year ago, suffered burns to 90 percent of […]
Celebrations as India gets new state of Telangana
HYDERABAD, June 2, 2014 (AFP) – Celebrations erupted in southern India to mark the creation of the new state of Telangana on Monday at the culmination of a separatist campaign stretching back nearly six decades. Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao, who at one stage went on hunger strike as part of the push to create what is […]
Sri Lanka arrests Indian fishermen after Modi talks
COLOMBO, June 1, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy said Sunday it had seized 29 Indian fishermen, the first arrests since President Mahinda Rajapakse and India’s new premier held talks on resolving the thorny issue of poaching. The navy arrested the Indians along with six trawlers off the island’s northwest coast on Sunday, a navy […]
‘s Noorani Estates plans expansion, possible listing
May 30, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Noorani Estates (Pvt) Ltd, a poultry firm that operates under the brand Nelfarms is planning to invest over one billion rupees over three years to expand, with a possible stock exchange listing also on the cards, a top official said.“We are very bullish about the industry,” Noordeen Sethwala, […]
Deport Debate
KUALA LUMPUR, May 28, 2014 (AFP) – The United Nations refugee agency and Human Rights Watch on Wednesday decried Malaysia’s deportation of two Sri Lankan refugees and an asylum-seeker accused of being Tamil Tiger separatists.“Malaysia’s forced return of these refugees to Sri Lanka is no free pass for torture and mistreatment,” Phil Robertson, the rights […]