All Blogs
Sri Lanka media rights body slams moves to bring back law that curbed critical reporting
June 28, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Free Media Movement (FMM) has expressed shock at attempts to bring back a repealed law which it said was used in the past to silence critical reportage and to persecute editors and journalists. An international media rights mission that was in Sri Lanka this month called on the […]
Ruling Roost
LONDON, June 28, 2007 (AFP) – Ten years after British energy markets were liberalised the customer is king and can put pressure on prices with a click of a computer mouse to change provider.Since Britain first prised open its gas and electricity markets to private households in 1998-1999, the market has settled down and prices […]
‘s Law drives Indian coins into the melting pot
KOLKATA, India, June 27, 2007 (AFP) – Businesses and public transport in India have been hit by a shortage of small change as rupee coins are being turned into razor blades, police said Wednesday. Demand for coins in Kolkata has soared as word spread that 100 one rupee coins could fetch 125 rupees from workshops […]
Sri Lanka rejects treasuries auction; rupee falls to new low
June 27, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka rejected a weekly treasury bills auction Wednesday as the rupee fell to a new life low against the dollar, dealers said.The local currency traded as low as 111.52 against the dollar before picking up to 111.45, after crossing the psychological 111 rupee barrier just two days earlier. The […]
Customs Blog
June 27, 2007 (LBO) – A web logging site for the Sri Lankan and international trading community as well as customs clients has been launched, giving access to new information on tariffs and regulations, officials said. The database holds all of the country’s customs regulations, related laws, taxes and other levies as well as preferential […]
Sell Off
June 27, 2007 (LBO) – Ultrapay Limited, the Australian broadband and mobile wireless services company, has sold the stake it held in Sri Lanka’s Ruhuna Multivision pay tv business, the company said.Ultrapay held the stake in Ruhuna Multivision, which runs Comet Cable, through its subsidiary Chalmway Private Limited. The company says the sale netted 1.2 […]
Broad Sweep
June 27, 2007 (AFP) – About 300 people were detained in Sri Lanka’s capital Wednesday in connection with a foiled bomb attack by suspected Tamil rebels on an oil storage depot, police said.Heavily armed police raided the area in the capital where a 20-kilogram (44-pound) bomb was found on Tuesday inside the fuel tank of […]
Blair era ends, Brown takes over in Britain
LONDON, June 27, 2007 (AFP) – Prime Minister Tony Blair resigned Wednesday, after a decade in power, handing over power to party rival Gordon Brown who has vowed to impose his own style on Britain. “I spoke to him about this on Friday night when he told me that he was going to take it […]
‘s new economic law: buy now or pay double later
HARARE, June 27, 2007 (AFP) – Accountant Shawn Kureva was left cursing his decision to delay buying cement at a Harare hardware store until he had compared prices elsewhere in inflation-ravaged Zimbabwe. “(The) Chronicle can reveal that the British and United States goverments, after failing to incite public revolt against the government of Zimbabwe are […]
Iran petrol rationing spark riot
TEHRAN, June 26, 2007 (AFP) – Angry Iranian youths attacked a petrol station in the capital Tehran on Tuesday, burning a car and pumps after the government announced it was going to begin rationing fuel, witnesses said.However, problems in distributing the cards have delayed implementation of the rest of the plan. Pumping gas into the […]