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‘s Hemas Holdings to raise debt for ongoing expansion plans
October 30, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s conglomerate Hemas Holdings Ltd plans to raise a billion rupees in debt next year to fund expansion plans in its leisure, power, health sectors, its CEO Hussein Esufally said. The family controlled conglomerate, which has diverse interest in health and personal care, power generation and transport said its […]
Still Grounded
Oct 30, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s first budget airlines to fly international routes are struggling to get off ground, with approvals pending from Sri Lanka’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Meanwhile, the country’s Civil Aviation Authority denied knowledge of a government sponsored budget carrier, which according to weekend media reports, hopes to start up operations. […]
Kenya tea production up, but still recovering from drought
NAIROBI, Oct 30, 2006 (AFP) – Kenya’s tea production surged eight percent in the third quarter of this year from last but remains below the 2005 cumulative total due to the lingering effects of a killer drought, officials said Monday. Production shot up between July and September to 75 million kilos (165 million pounds million […]
Peeping Toms
SYDNEY, Oct 30, 2006 (AFP) – New high-tech advances were making Internet crimes against children easier for paedophiles to commit and more difficult to detect, experts told a conference in Australia Monday.Faster broadband, DSL and cable connections have contributed to an increase in paedophile activity on the Internet, the 19th Computer Facilitated Crimes Against Children […]
Great Asian failures cause World Cup jitters
MOHALI, India, Oct 30, 2006 (AFP) – The failure of the four Asian teams to make the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy indicated trouble lay in store at the World Cup, experts said Monday. India joined Pakistan and Sri Lanka on the sidelines after being thrashed by world champions Australia by six wickets here Sunday […]
‘s troubled peace bid
GENEVA, Oct 30, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s latest round of peace talks ended in failure in Geneva over the weekend sparking fears of renewed bloodshed in Asia’s longest-running separatist conflict.The Sri Lankan government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) disagreed on key issues that dogged the Norwegian-brokered talks even before they […]
Sri Lanka rebels cut short tour after Swiss talks fail
GENEVA, Oct 30, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s rebel Tamil Tiger negotiators have cut short a planned visit to truce monitors Norway and Iceland, and will return home immediately after Swiss peace talks failed, the top guerrilla leader said Monday.Chief negotiator of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), S.P. Thamilselvan, told AFP they scrapped […]
Rebels keep pressure on troops in north after Sri Lanka talks fail
Oct 30, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military accused Tamil rebels of firing artillery at troops in the embattled Jaffna peninsula Monday after weekend peace talks between the combatants in Geneva failed.The conflict in Sri Lanka is Asia’s longest and bloodiest separatist war, claiming more than 60,000 lives since the LTTE launched its bid for […]
Swiss talks failure pushes Sri Lanka to abyss
GENEVA, Oct 30, 2006 (AFP) – Talks between Sri Lanka’s warring parties here over the weekend failed to buy time to save their troubled truce, diplomats and officials said amid fears of more bloodshed at home.Peace broker Norway was unable to clinch an agreement Sunday on resolving urgent humanitarian needs, political issues as well as […]
Ponzi Track
Oct 29 (LBO) – Police have sought advice from the Attorney General on how to proceed in getting international help to track down two Indian nationals who ran a Ponzi-style pyramid scam in Sri Lanka. The unit was recently disbanded under controversial circumstances sometime after it caused the arrest of several Goldquest activists with the […]