All Blogs
Laws hamper media coverage of Maoist story
RAIPUR, India, Feb 17, 2008 (AFP) – As the state at the epicentre of India’s Maoist insurgency battles the rebels, journalists say they too are finding themselves branded as outlaws.A law passed by Chhattisgarh state in 2005 made it a crime to “assist in a meeting” with a member of a banned organisation, or to […]
High inflation oil-subsidizing Iran to spend US3bn importing fuel
TEHRAN, Feb 16, 2008 (AFP) – Iran’s parliament on Saturday approved a three-billion-dollar spending plan to fund diesel and petrol imports during the next Iranian year, the official IRNA news agency reported.MPs approved a budget allowing imports worth up to 30 trillion rials (3.2 billion dollars) in the new year beginning on March 20. Iran […]
Sri Lanka military claims 20 Tiger rebels killed
Feb 17, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan forces killed at least 20 Tamil Tiger guerrillas in clashes in the north of the island at the weekend, defence officials said Sunday.Government forces backed by war planes attacked Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) along the front lines in the north on Saturday, an official said. He […]
Transition
Feb 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s NDB Bank has announced that its Deputy Chief Executive Officer Eran Wickramaratne will succeed Nihal Welikala as the Chief Executive from April 1 after the latter’s retirement. Both are former officers of the Citibank NA, Colombo. Wickramaratne joined NDB in April 1999 and has been closely associated with […]
Sri Lanka dragonflies draw eco-tourists
Feb 16, 2008 (LBO) – An insect with large multifaceted eyes and two pairs of transparent wings on an extended body is luring tourists to Sri Lanka and helping a specialist eco-travel firm earn big bucks. “We had people coming into Sri Lanka just to see dragonflies,” Jetwing Eco Holiday’s chief executive Gehan de Silva […]
Arabian Luxury
Feb 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s State Engineering Corporation (SEC) has clinched a deal to build a $125mn luxury housing project in Qatar, construction minister Rajitha Senaratne said. . SEC will send 1,600 workers to Qatar to build the 345 urban villas and also ship locally made inputs like wall and floor tiles, electrical […]
Ward Rounds
Feb 16, 2008 (LBO) – A ban on representatives of Sri Lanka’s healthcare firms visiting hospitals has been lifted following a presidential order after the industry agreed to follow a code of conduct, an industry body said. Sri Lanka’s health ministry had banned visits by representatives to hospitals as part of a series of regulations […]
India opens massive weapons fair, denies arming for war
NEW DELHI, Feb 16, 2008 (AFP) – A massive defence fair opened in India’s capital Saturday, with hundreds of global weapons firms competing for billions of dollars of sales to one of the world’s largest armies and biggest spenders. Some 450 firms from countries including the United States, Russia, Britain, Russia and Israel are displaying […]
WHO wants tobacco firms to stop smuggling with new treaty
GENEVA, Feb 15, 2008 (AFP) – The World Health Organisation announced Friday that it planned to adopt a new international treaty on the illegal tobacco trade by 2010. The existing FCTC agreement, signed in February 2005, aims to rein in the estimated five million annual deaths caused by smoking, which the WHO says will double […]
US scientists pinpoint 14 top technological challenges
BOSTON, Massachusetts, Feb 16, 2008 (AFP) – The US National Academy of Engineering has announced the grand challenges for engineering in the 21st century that, if met, would improve people’s lives.The list of 14 tasks was unveiled Friday by a diverse committee of experts from around the world, convened at the request of the US […]