All Blogs
Sri Lanka journalists mourn colleague; condemn killing
Oct 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s media organizations condemned a blast by a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber, which killed a TV journalist and more than 20 others including a former army general-turned politician.Rashmi Mohamed, a provincial correspondent with Sri Lanka’s Sirasa TV, died Monday while covering the opening of an opposition United National […]
Sri Lanka to get $900mn in World Bank aid
Oct 06, 2008 (LBO) – The World Bank will give Sri Lanka 900 million dollars in aid under its new four-year country assistance strategy aimed at achieving more balanced and equitable growth. The World Bank wants to make sure its work is not undermined by corruption and will support efforts to strengthen core governance institutions […]
Sri Lanka and India have talks on Thorium-based nuclear energy: report
Oct 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s science and technology ministry have sounded out India about using the island’s Thorium deposits in nuclear energy, and an Indian team is expected to visit the country to study the idea, a media report said. The Daily Mirror newspaper quoted science and technology minister Tissa Vitharana as saying […]
Honest Broker
Oct 05, 2008 (LBO) – US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s request from lawmakers for 700 billion dollars to bailout Wall Street banks, including one he was formerly chief executive of, Goldman Sachs, has spawned an American version of the Nigerian letter. This is a matter of great urgency. We need blank check. We need funds […]
Housing Woes
Oct 05, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s HDFC Bank, a state-backed mortgage lender, has been downgraded a notch from ‘A-(lka)’ to ‘BBB+(lka)’, on rising interest costs, with the outlook remaining ‘negative’, Fitch Ratings has said. Fitch also downgraded 250 million rupees of senior unsecured debentures due in 2010, 2015 and 2020 it issued in 2005, […]
‘s Tigers face biggest loss in 13-years
October 5, 2008 (AFP) – The widely expected fall of the Tamil Tigers’ political capital would mark the separatists’ biggest loss in 13 years, but analysts believe Sri Lanka’s drawn out ethnic conflict is far from over.Government forces say they are steadily advancing on the town of Kilinochchi in an offensive that began over a […]
”’ delight
LONDON, October 5, 2008 (AFP) – British department store Selfridge’s on Sunday launched a new up-scale chocolate treat — the “Credit Crunch” — for shoppers looking for comfort food amid the international financial crisis. “Although people might be looking to spend a little less at the moment, they still want to treat themselves to the […]
Germany guarantees all private savings accounts: ministry
BERLIN, October 5, 2008 (AFP) – The German government has offered an unlimited guarantee for all private savings accounts, a finance ministry spokesman told AFP Sunday, amid the spreading financial crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said earlier in a statement to reporters: “We tell all savings account holders that your deposits are safe. The federal […]
UAE firms start pumping Kurdish gas over Iraq objections
DUBAI, October 5, 2008 (AFP) – United Arab Emirates-based firms Dana Gas PJSC and Crescent Petroleum announced that they had begun producing gas under a deal with Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region over Baghdad’s objections. The firms said that, following completion of the project’s first phase, they expected to supply 75 million cubic feet (2.25 million […]
”s industrial drive
NEW DELHI, October 5, 2008 (AFP) – A decision by the giant Tata Group to shift a factory building the world’s cheapest car after angry farmer protests has refueled debate about India’s troubled industrialisation push.The company said late last week it was pulling the Nano car project out of West Bengal state, even though the […]