Category: Other
Modi seeks crowning victory in India election climax
VARANASI, May 12, 2014 (AFP) – Voters headed to the polls Monday in the climax of India’s marathon election, with frontrunner Narendra Modi seeking a crowning victory in the holy city of Varanasi for his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party.“People are tired of false promises, corruption and the same old tape-recorded messages,” Modi said in a […]
Jail Term
May 09, 2014 (LBO) – A revenue official was jailed for 102 years on 34 counts related to a value added tax refund fraud and fined 12 billion rupees (91 million US dollars) along with several businessmen, a report said.The case involved the fraudulent refunds of value added tax involving amounting to 3.9 billion rupees, […]
Talawakelle Plantations, Sri Lanka March net down 60-pct
May 08, 2014 (LBO) – Profits at Sri Lanka’s Talawakelle Plantations Plc, fell 60 percent to 34 million rupees in the March 2014 quarter from a year earlier as margins on tea estates declined and hydro power revenues fell, interim accounts showed.The group reported earnings of 1.44 rupees per share for the quarter. Revenues rose […]
Sri Lanka poultry feed mill group in the red
May 07, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka™s Ceylon Grain Elevators group, which has interests in feed milling and poultry said it lost 7.8 million rupees in the March 2014 quarter as demand for feed fell, though day old chick demand was recovering. But subsidiary Three Acre Farms which sells day old chicks said profits rose […]
Sri Lanka to get New Zealand support for dairy sector
May 5, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is looking at ways to improve its dairy sector with New Zealand following a visit by a delegation which met industry officials in the island, a trade chamber said.New Zealand is a top dairy exporter in the world. Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said a delegation with officials from […]
Court Case
COLOMBO, May 5, 2014 (AFP) – Four of Sri Lanka’s most senior hardline Buddhist monks appeared in court Monday accused of insulting the Koran, in the first such case following a spate of religious hate attacks. Police established a new unit last week to investigate hate crimes in the wake of the violence, which raised […]
Agalawatte Plantations to boost oil palm in Sri Lanka
May 04, 2014 (LBO) – Agalawatte Plantations, a unit of Sri Lanka’s Mackwoods group said it will expand its oil palm cultivation which had become a key contributor to gross profits in 2013, amid declining rubber prices and weather affected tea. Palm oil crop had increased to 7.4 million tonnes in 2012 up from 6.8 […]
‘s Carrefour to quit India: reports
NEW DELHI, May 3, 2014 (AFP) – Carrefour, the world’s second largest retailer, is working on a plan to exit India, media reports said Saturday, amid political uncertainty about the future of multi-brand retail in the South Asian giant.One of the few foreign retailers to commit to India recently is Britain’s Tesco, which has declared […]
Boat People
COLOMBO, May 2, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy Friday arrested 54 would-be illegal immigrants in the first major detection of boat people heading to Australia this year, an official said.A fishing trawler was detected with the passengers, including 11 women and 13 children, off the island’s north-eastern coast of Mullaittivu, navy spokesman Kosala Warnakulasuriya […]
Arrested
May 01, 2014 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan national has been arrested in India over alleged links to Pakistani intelligence, the Times of India newspaper said. The newspaper said Sakir Hussein, 37, was in Puzhal prison after being remanded by a court in Tamil Nadu Tuesday. He had flown in from Sri Lanka on a […]
One dead in bomb blasts at Indian train station: official
CHENNAI, May 1, 2014 (AFP) – Twin bombs planted on a train killed at least one person and wounded nine others in the main southern Indian city of Chennai on Thursday, a railway official said.“At least two people have suffered grievous injuries and seven have minor injuries,” he told reporters in comments aired on Indian […]
Religious Police
COLOMBO, April 28, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka police Monday announced a new unit to investigate religious hate crimes after attacks by Buddhist monks on churches and mosques last year raised concerns about religious freedom.Police Inspector-General N. K. Illangakoon said the new unit would swiftly investigate any complaint relating to “religious matters” on the majority […]