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Indonesia detains 56 Afghan migrants: navy official
MATARAM, September 11, 2009 (AFP) – Indonesia has detained 56 Afghan migrants off the eastern island of Lombok who were attempting to travel by wooden boat to Australia, a navy official said Friday. The migrants’ boat was intercepted in the waters near Papakan island east of Lombok last night, local navy official Colonel Nanang Eko […]
”’s Jet Airways enters fourth day
MUMBAI, September 11, 2009 (AFP) – India’s second-largest private airline, Jet Airways, on Friday cancelled 171 flights, including 16 on international routes, as a stand-off between pilots and management entered a fourth day.But the further grounding of planes came amid hopes of an end to the dispute, as pilots prepared to meet bosses and India’s […]
Indian ministers revolt over economy air travel: reports
NEW DELHI, September 11, 2009 (AFP) – Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has backed down after his cabinet revolted against an austerity drive that would have forced ministers to fly in economy class, reports said Friday.Singh faced a barrage of complaints when he chaired his weekly meeting on Thursday over a series of cost-cutting steps […]
Sri Lankan court frees Tiger officials on bail
September 11, 2009 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan court on Friday released on bail two members of the Tamil Tiger rebel group who gave themselves up a month before the military leadership of their movement was wiped out, officials said.Court officials said former Tiger spokesman Velayudam Dayanidi, better known as Daya Master, and a top […]
UN urges Sri Lanka to free its staff, respect human rights
UNITED NATIONS, September 11, 2009 (AFP) – The United Nations on Thursday called on Sri Lanka to respect the human rights of two UN employees who have been held without charge since June on suspicion of collaborating with Tamil separatists. One of them, Charles Raveendran Navaratnam, was working for the UN refugee agency UNHCR in […]
Sri Lanka Central Bank cuts policy interest rates by 50bp
Sept 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank said it had decided to reduce policy interest rates by 50 basis points each from Friday with the repurchase rate to be 8.00 percent and reverse repurchase rate 10.50 percent. It said in a statement its Monetary Board decided to cut rates as inflation was low […]
Sri Lanka gets US$75mn World Bank credit for villages
Sept 11, 2009 (LBO) – The World Bank has approved a 75 million US dollar credit for village infrastructure development in Sri Lanka to expand its ‘Gemi Diriya’ project, the multilateral lender said.It has mobilized resources by promoting savings and village credit, and by linking communities to financial institutions and the private sector. Gemi Diriya […]
Sri Lanka first sovereign bond trades above par: official
Sept 10, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s first sovereign bond which has a coupon above 8.25 percent has started to trade above par in recovering from steep discounts seen before an internal war ended, an official said. Sri Lanka is now evaluating bids from seven international investment banks to float another 500 million US dollar […]
Sri Lanka to issue US$50mn dollar bonds to local market
Sep 10, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is selling 3-year bonds for 50 million US dollars in the local market to qualified investors who can hold dollar assets, the government’s debt office said.The bonds will pay interest based on the 6-month London interbank rate (LIBOR).A 35 million US dollars in bonds are maturing this month. […]
Sri Lanka investors take profit after hotel share rally
Sept 10, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks ended marginally up Thursday as investors took profits on a hotel share rally but trading volumes remained above a billion rupees for the third straight day, brokers said.“Profit taking was seen in stocks like Sampath Bank and the hotel sector.” HDFC Bank closed at 170.50 rupees, up […]