Sri Lanka: Free horoscopes for Commonwealth leaders News from Elsewhere...

...as found by BBC Monitoring Published duration 15 November 2013

Sri Lanka is offering visiting Commonwealth leaders free horoscope readings on request, it's reported.

Culture and Arts Minister TB Ekanayake suggests leaders currently in the country for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) can get their horoscopes cast "free of charge" at a newly-opened astrology centre in the upmarket Battaramulla district of Colombo, Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror reports . Battaramulla is one of the Chogm venues.

Sri Lankans from all walks of life follow astrology very closely, and many politicians are said to frequently consult personal astrologers to help them decide the most auspicious day, hour and minute to do anything from facing elections to assuming office.

But there is one possible problem the fortune-tellers may face. "Casting horoscopes for visitors from Asian countries will be easier as they are generally aware of their birth time unlike those from Western countries," Ekanayake tells the Mirror. Knowing one's exact time of birth, as well as the date and location, is considered to be very important for astrological predictions.

The free horoscopes offer is only open to heads of state. Other delegates will presumably have to pay their own way if they wish for guidance from the stars.