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Sri Lanka rupee touch 114.05 in tom trade; CB T-bill stock Rs162bn
Feb 05, 2009 (LBO) – The US dollar touched 114.05 rupees in active ‘value tomorrow’ dealing with a state bank on the buying side Thursday, despite official intervention at a lower rate on spot trades, dealers said.The spot dollar – which is settled two market days later – is closely watched by authorities, with a […]
Sri Lanka stocks slump
Feb 05, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares slumped Thursday, dragged down by losses in blue chips with trading likely to remain choppy as investors take advantage of market upturns to book profits, brokers said. Brokers said that although military gains against the Tigers could end the war and restore economic stability, the global slowdown […]
Port Bids
Feb 05, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority has issued a long-awaited call for bids for a container terminal in a new deep-draft port being built next to the existing Colombo harbour. Bids will be opened by the Cabinet appointed negotiating committee on behalf of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority on May 19. […]
Sri Lanka Galle literary festival; journeys back in time
Feb 05, 2009 (LBO) – A blond woman in China with an unusual history; airline passengers armed to the teeth, crowded into a rickety Russian plane in Afghanistan, are an unlikely combination to encounter on a single journey.Award winning British travel-writer and novelist Colin Thubron, – one of whose latest works is Shadow of the […]
Darwin at 200: World salutes founder of evolutionary theory
PARIS, February 5, 2009 (AFP) – Two hundred years ago, in a wealthy household in rural England, a child was born who, in a quiet, dogged and utterly peaceful way, was destined to become one of the greatest revolutionaries who lived. Armed just with a pen, Charles Darwin reforged our concept of Nature and humanity’s […]
‘s biggest snake found in Colombia
PANAMA CITY, February 5, 2009 (AFP) – Scientists have found a 60-million-year-old fossil of the world’s largest snake, a 13-meter (42-foot), one-tonne behemoth dubbed Titanoboa, in a coal mine in Colombia, the US Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute said Wednesday. “The discovery of Titanoboa challenges our understanding of past climates and environments, as well as the […]
Sri Lanka combatants must declare truce, evacuate civilians: Canada
Feb 05, 2009 (LBO) – Canada has called for the warring parties in Sri Lanka to declare a truce to evacuate the wounded civilians and for the Tigers to lay down arms. Meanwhile several hundred civilians have crossed over to government controlled areas in recent days. “We continue to believe that the conflict cannot be […]
Sri Lanka offers amnesty to Tamil Tigers: PM
February 5, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is offering an amnesty to Tamil Tiger rebels who lay down arms and surrender to government forces, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake told parliament Thursday.“There are reports that groups of people who took part in terrorist activities in the north (of the island) are ready to give themselves up,” […]
Sri Lanka fighting kills 52 civilians: UN
February 4, 2009 (AFP) – At least 52 civilians were killed in Sri Lanka in shelling in one location on Tuesday, a UN spokesman said Wednesday, as the only hospital in the war zone was evacuated after being hit multiple times.“We have a report that 52 civilians had been killed in a shell attack at […]
Sri Lanka war triggers strike in Indian Tamil state
NEW DELHI, February 4, 2009 (AFP) – Opposition political parties in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu called a general strike Wednesday to protest civilian casualties from the war in nearby Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka’s Tamils share close cultural and religious links with the 55 million Tamils in Tamil Nadu, which is also home to thousands […]