Vettel cruises to victory in India
NOIDA (Reuters): Red Bull’s double world champion Sebastian Vettel ran away with the inaugural Indian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday for his 11th victory in 17 races this season.
On a dusty and bittersweet afternoon at the new Buddh International Circuit, the 24-year-old German led every lap of the race after starting from pole position. He also set the fastest lap right at the finish.
RWC 2011 as I saw it
THE RWC 2011 is over and long after the last game was played, the discussions about the individual tries, scoring opportunities lost, team selection and refereeing decisions are still in the air.
Some have vowed that they will make it to England for the 2015 games having missed out on the opportunity this year. Maybe the airfares and accommodation will be cheaper and there are other sights to be visited between games, time and finances permitting.
Chinese plane flies on biofuel
Beijing (IANS): Air China Friday conducted the first trial flight of a passenger plane powered by a mix of biofuel and traditional aviation fuel.
The Boeing 747 landed safely at Beijing Capital International Airport at 9:30 a.m. after it burned more than 10 tonnes of biofuel, reported Xinhua.
Analysts believe the successful trial indicates that biofuel will become an alternative energy option for commercial passenger flights in the near future.
After the test, Zhang Hongying, an official with the Civil Aviation Administration of China, proclaimed that biofuel was now ready to be used for commercial flights.
Pakistani industries view trade with India with alarm
ISLAMABAD: Efforts by longtime nuclear-armed foes Pakistan and India to liberalise their restrictive trade regimes have sent jitters across some Pakistani sectors which feel threatened by free trade with the neighbouring economic powerhouse.
Pakistan’s Commerce Ministry is in the process of increasing the number of goods India can export to its neighbour. But some industries like pharmaceuticals feel cheap Indian goods will ravage local producers.
China COSCO reports $ 326 m Q3 loss
Reuters: China COSCO Holdings Ltd., the country’s No.1 shipping conglomerate, last week reported a net loss of 2.07 billion yuan ($ 325.81 million) for the third quarter, amid sliding freight rates and a supply glut.
China COSCO, operator of the world’s largest bulk cargo fleet and a major global container shipper, remained in the red for a third consecutive quarter in July-September after reporting a 2.25 billion yuan loss for the second quarter.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa had an eventful programme in Perth, Australia
President Mahinda Rajapaksa had an eventful programme during the visit to the 22nd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia, which concluded yesterday. Here Reuters photojournalist Ron D’Raine captured Rajapaksa in a deep thought during his participation at Executive Session III of the CHOGM yesterday. The 2011 meeting was under the theme ‘Building National and Global Resilience’. Sri Lanka will host the next summit in 2013.
Population boom heralds big global economic shifts
LONDON (Reuters): Few economists have been as spectacularly wrong as Thomas Malthus, who predicted in 1798 that unchecked population growth would doom the Earth to starvation.
As the number of people on the planet reaches seven billion, his modern-day peers are cautiously confident that the English clergyman will remain synonymous with unwarranted doom and gloom.
Belgian tourist arrivals grow 114.5% up to September
Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the EU Ravinatha Aryasinha has said “Belgian tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka grew by 114.5 per cent during the first nine months of 2011” and that “Sri Lanka has become one of the most preferred destinations in Asia for Belgian tourists”.
The Ambassador added that: “The number of Belgian tourists visiting in this period, which was 7,200, surpassed the previous highest amount of Belgian tourists who visited Sri Lanka in any given calendar year, which was 6,333 in 2006. 5398 Belgian tourists visited Sri Lanka in 2010, compared to 2613 in 2009.
European Commission and Sri Lanka sign aviation agreement
The European Commission last week said that it has signed an aviation agreement with Sri Lanka which will remove nationality restrictions in bilateral agreements.
The ‘horizontal aviation’ agreement will put several provisions in bilateral aviation agreements between Sri Lanka and the 15 European Union member states in line with EU legislation.
APL again named ‘Best Global Ocean Carrier’
International maritime experts recently again named APL the world’s best shipping line, and honoured it for outstanding innovation.
The Singapore-based container carrier received the ‘Global Ocean Carrier of the Year’ award as well as the ‘Innovation IT of the Year’ award at the Containerisation International awards. An eight-strong judging panel selected APL from a field of finalists including Maersk Line, CMA CGM and Hyundai Merchant Marine.
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