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‘s embattled regions
July 21, 2007 (AFP) – Eleven people were killed and three wounded in battles between security forces and Tamil Tiger rebels across Sri Lanka’s north and eastern regions, the defence ministry said on Saturday.Suspected rebels clashed with police commandos in the eastern town of Ampara Saturday, with troops killing six rebels, the ministry said, adding […]
Pricing Practice
July 20, (LBO) – Sri Lankan exporters and importers have called for a regulator to monitor the pricing practices of shipping lines, as freight rates move up and exporters are hit with fees outside the quoted rates. Jayanath Perera, outgoing chairman of the Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council, industry body representing firms engaged in international trade, […]
Seed Cover
July 20, 2007 (LBO) – HNB Assurance, a unit of Hatton National Bank, has tied up with the micro finance arm of Sarvodaya, a non-governmental organization, to launch micro insurance products for rural families.The micro insurance scheme ‘Sathkara’ has already been launched in Galle, Matara, Vavuniya and Batticaloa Sarvodaya societies as pilot projects to educate […]
Bigger Results
July 20, 2007 (LBO) – A Sri Lanka-German initiative to give microfinance to tsunami victims had more than doubled its original target helping more than 2000 small business people and creating 6000 new job opportunities, officials said. At present 1.9 billion rupees is outstanding on 15,331 projects. The bank says the scheme has mobilized over […]
Book Fever
July 20, 2007 (LBO) — Thousands of Harry Potter fans in Sri Lanka have signed up to pick a copy of J.K. Rowling’s seventh, swansong book, amidst tight security, with bookstores sworn to ensure nothing is leaked out before the launch day, a spokesman for the publisher said.Over 10,000 copies of “Harry Potter and the […]
Thailand to push Baht down
BANGKOK, July 20, 2007 (AFP) – The Thai prime minister on Friday agreed on new measures aimed at curbing the baht’s rise, while the central bank governor insisted the country would not return to a fixed exchange rate system.“My government has a clear stance that we want to stablise the currency,” army-installed Prime Minister Surayud […]
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WASHINGTON, July 19, 2007 (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund is revising its economic growth forecasts amid a “global boom,” the IMF chief economist said Thursday, suggesting a bump up in official estimates. “We were criticized for being optimistic at the time of our spring forecast,” Simon Johnson told reporters, referring to an IMF April […]
Asia overtaking US as biggest auto market: GM
CHICAGO, July 19, 2007 (AFP) – Asia is overtaking the United States as the largest market for auto sales, but the US will remain the more lucrative market for the next decade, a senior executive at General Motors said Thursday. Overall industry sales in the Asia Pacific region are expected to surpass North America for […]
Fresh Sri Lanka fighting kills 12
July 20, 2007 (AFP) – Government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels were locked in heavy combat in northwest Sri Lanka on Friday, leaving at least 12 people killed on both sides, the defence ministry said.The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched the pre-dawn attack on army defences in Mannar district, the ministry said […]
Sri Lanka given Japanese aid to clear mines
July 20, 2007 (AFP) – Japan said Friday it was giving 3.2 million dollars to clear land mines in Sri Lanka even as government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels stepped up attacks against each other. The money will go to five international mine clearing charities and help civilians to go back to their homes in […]