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Sri Lanka becomes top South Asian reformer in 2008: IFC study
Sept 10, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has been rated the top South Asian reformer in an annual business regulation study by the World Bank group, with a new company law and credit information improvements boosting its scores.Singapore led the global rankings on the overall regulatory ease of doing business for a third consecutive year.New […]
Sri Lanka to build premium tourism zone; offers 14 islands
Sept 09, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to offer a new tourism zone for development in Kalpitiya in the country’s north western coast, which has 14 islands in which to build eco-friendly resorts, officials said. Tourism secretary George Michael says the area with 14 islands contains 4,000 acres for development. Galhena said requests for […]
Digital President
Sept 09, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has a ‘digital president’ who is strongly backing the spread of information communications technology (ICT) in the country, International Telecommunications Union (ITU) chief Toure Hamadoun said.Sri Lanka now had 44 percent mobile penetration, which was double that of India. It was the first country in South Asia to […]
Competition
Sept 09, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka incumbent mobile operators say the industry has healthy competition and are denying claims by new rival, India’s Airtel that anti-competitive practices in interconnection are keeping prices high.Sri Lanka’s Dialog, Hutch, Mobitel and Tigo says the country’s mobile penetration reached 38 percent at the end of 2007, which was […]
Full Penetration
Sept 09, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka top celcos firms said they will connect more people by finding ways to lower costs, despite rising inflation and taxes on mobile calls hitting the pockets of poorer sections of society. Anoja Obeysekere, from Sri Lanka’s Dialog Telekom, who is the chairperson of the Asia Pacific GSM Association, […]
Asif Ali Zardari sworn in as Pakistan president
ISLAMABAD, September 9, 2008 (AFP) – Asif Ali Zardari became Pakistan’s president Tuesday and faced immediate pressure to combat the Islamic militant insurgency that has engulfed the nation in the past year, as well as a struggling economy.Zardari, the controversial 53-year-old widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, was sworn in at a closely-guarded ceremony […]
” found in Afghanistan
KABUL, September 8, 2008 (AFP) – An Afghan archaeologist has discovered the remains of an ancient 19-metre-long (62-foot) “sleeping Buddha” in central Afghanistan’s Bamiyan a government official said Monday.Bamiyan, about 140 kilometres (90 miles) northwest of Kabul, is on the ancient Silk Route between Europe and Central Asia. A team led by Zameryalai Tarzi had […]
Sri Lanka claims first kill in air war
Sept 09, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s air force claimed its first kill of a Tamil Tiger aircraft following a guerrilla bombing mission to the frontier town of Vavuniya, in the early hours of Tuesday.The Tamil Tigers are believed to modified operate piston-engined Czech Zlin-143 light aircraft. In the past Tiger aircraft have slipped under […]
‘s Tamil Tigers stage another air attack
September 8, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels Tuesday staged another air strike in the island’s north and carried out a long-range artillery barrage, local residents and officials said.Tens of thousands of people have died since the LTTE launched a separatist campaign in 1972 to carve out a homeland for minority Tamils in […]
Sri Lanka asks aid workers to leave Tiger areas as fighting escalates
September 8, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka asked local and international aid workers to vacate Tamil Tiger-held territory ahead of a major military push to dismantle the rebels’ mini state, a minister said Monday.Aid officials, including UN agencies have reported that about 134,000 people were displaced from their homes in Wanni as a result of […]