Category: Other
Regional Link
May 10, 2009 (LBO) – India is one of the world’s most dynamic economies and attractive markets with which Sri Lanka continues to have strong relations by reason of proximity and history. India’s relations with Sri Lanka have, for the most part, been friendly and are probably the best that it enjoys with its non-micro-state […]
British actress runs absolutely fabulous Gurkha campaign
LONDON, May 9, 2009 (AFP) – British actress Joanna Lumley’s best-known role used to be as a boozy fashionista in hit comedy “Absolutely Fabulous”, but now she is dominating TV screens as a formidable campaigner for Gurkha soldiers.Lumley — leading a campaign for all Nepalese fighters in Britain’s army to be allowed to settle here […]
Japanese takeover of Indian drug firm costly pill to swallow
NEW DELHI, May 8, 2009 (AFP) – Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo is finding its acquisition of Ranbaxy difficult to digest after US regulatory setbacks and big losses reported by the Indian generics player.Daiichi Sankyo announced its 4.6-billion-dollar acquisition for a 64 percent stake in India’s biggest generic drugmaker by sales last June to gain entry […]
Sri Lanka mulls extending private tea sale curbs
May 07, 2009 (LBO) – Restrictions on private sales of low grown teas outside the main auctions in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, are likely to be extended this year, an official said.The curb are placed in the belief that they help prop up prices, though a ‘private’ sale takes away an equal amount of supply […]
Indian elections enter final stretch
NEW DELHI, May 7, 2009 (AFP) – India kicked off the penultimate round of its marathon general election on Thursday, with the two main parties going head to head in a series of key races that could swing the final outcome. And with the finish line now in sight and no clear winner expected, attention […]
Full Testimony
May 6, 2009 (LBO) – Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told the Joint Economic Committee of the US congress that he expects “economic activity to bottom out, then to turn up later this year.” In contrast to the somewhat better news in the household sector, the available indicators of business investment remain extremely weak. Spending […]
” for Asia
SINGAPORE, May 6, 2009 (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday sharply slashed its growth outlook for Asia, predicting a “long and severe recession” for the region’s wealthier but export-reliant economies. The export-led model of economic growth “may not pay the same dividends as in the past” as households in advanced economies were […]
‘s Tamil south
CHENNAI, May 6, 2009 (AFP) – The head of India’s ruling Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, cancelled two planned election rallies Wednesday in the country’s ethnic Tamil-dominated south, officials said. The state is scheduled to go to the polls next week in the fifth and final phase of India’s staggered month-long elections.Party officials, however, denied the […]
Indian Ocean buoys help predict monsoon: scientists
WASHINGTON, May 4, 2009 (AFP) – Scientists said Monday they had reached the halfway point in a project to set up buoys across the Indian Ocean, helping farmers predict the monsoon in some of the world’s poorest areas.The buoys measure wind, rainfall, temperature and other figures around the Indian Ocean, which has lagged behind the […]
Bangladesh remittances up despite global recession
DHAKA, May 5, 2009 (AFP) – Bangladeshis working abroad sent home more money in April than in the same month last year, an official said Tuesday, despite warnings that remittances would take a hit from the global slowdown. Bangladesh Bank executive director Khandakar Muzharul Haque told AFP that 857 million dollars were sent back last […]
” sweeps African cocoa fields
CANTONDOUGOU, May 5, 2009 (AFP) – The comforting world of chocolate ads could not be further from the harsh reality in the backwoods of the world’s biggest cocoa producer — where rubber is the new crop of choice. In the village of Cantondougou in western Ivory Coast there are no steaming mugs of hot chocolate […]
Monetary Deception
May 01, 2009 (LBO) – In its most recent report on the world economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has compared the ‘Great Depression’ and the current crisis but conveniently ignores the core cause, which is central bank rate manipulation. Predictably, blame is also heaped upon the gold standard for not allowing money to be […]