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Venezuela TV station seizure sends chilling message of totalitarian rule
CARACAS, May 28, 2007 (AFP) – Despite protests by democracy activists, Venezuela’s oldest television network went off the air at midnight Sunday, victim of a fresh push by President Hugo Chavez to tighten his grip over the nation’s media. RCTV screens went black after the station broadcast previously-recorded images of its teary-eyed employees singing the […]
Whatmore in dark over India future
DHAKA, May 28, 2007 (AFP) – Bangladesh’s outgoing coach Dav Whatmore on Monday denied as “mere speculation” reports he had been offered a job with India, saying nothing had been finalised yet.Indian media had reported for the past week that Whatmore, 53, had been offered a one-year contract by the Board of Control for Cricket […]
Jayasuriya delighted to lead MCC against West Indies
May 28, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s former skipper Sanath Jayasuriya said Monday he is delighted to captain the MCC against the touring West Indians.The three-day match which starts on Friday in Durham, northern England, includes Mali Richards, son of West Indian legend Sir Viv Richards, and Irish captain William Porterfield. “I am honoured to […]
Sri Lanka keeps De Mel chief selector despite board
May 28, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s sports minister on Monday extended Asantha de Mel’s term as chairman of cricket selectors despite a call from the governing board of the sport for his dismissal.“I have appointed the same committee for another two months with Asantha as the chief selector,” Gamini Lokuge told AFP. De Mel, […]
Roadside bomb kills seven near Sri Lanka military base
May 28, 2007 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off a roadside blast near an air force base just outside Sri Lanka’s capital Monday, killing at least seven people and wounding 39, police and doctors said.More than 5,000 people have been killed in a new wave of fighting since December 2005 despite a truce […]
Power Foothold
May 28, 2007 (LBO) – The Malaysian firm Tanjong, controlled by billionaire Ananda Krishnan, has taken a foothold in Sri Lanka’s power sector by acquiring an international energy firm with investments in the country, the company said Monday. In a filing at the Kuala Lampur stock exchange Tanjong said it had taken over Globeleq, a […]
Sri Lanka export industry threatened by tax refund delays
May 28, 2007 (LBO) – Delays in making value added tax (VAT) refunds are forcing Sri Lankan exporters to borrow at high cost and threatening export growth, a senior industry official has warned. “The VAT refund is one of the major crises that Sri Lanka’s import-export industry is currently facing,” says Rohan Masakorala, a former […]
Sri Lanka money printing debate takes new turn as controversy erupts over inflation graph
May 28, 2007 (LBO) – A controversy has erupted over a graph published in Lanka Business Online, which shows a co-relation between inflation and central bank credit, or money printed by the Central Bank to finance the budget deficit. . The first shots were fired at an economic policy debate organized by the Chartered Institute […]
Law Club
May 27, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has been re-elected to the United National Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) for a six year period, the foreign ministry said Sunday. The next meeting of the UNCITRAL will be held in Vienna, Austria from June 25 to July 12. Other countries elected to represent the Asian […]
WTO proposes lower tariffs on agricultural products from poor nations
GENEVA, May 26, 2007 (AFP) – The World Trade Organisation on Saturday proposed sharply lowering tariffs on some agricultural products from poorer countries in exchange for them reducing trade protection measures. The WTO’s chief agriculture negotiator, Crawford Falconer, said the new proposal could allow for progress in the stalled Doha round of negotiations aimed at […]