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Phase Out
July 19, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state run transport authority will give private bus owners a financial handout to encourage them to replace run down buses with new ones. The National Transport Commission will give qualified bus owners 96,000 rupees per bus over 12 months little over three percent of the three million rupee […]
Long Call
July 19, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s telecom watchdog Wednesday issued notice against two internet service providers for violating license conditions. The regulator said Lanka Global Online (Pvt) Ltd and Pan Lanka Networking (Pvt) Ltd for not filing their audited financial statements for four-years since 2002. Both firms were given 15 days to comply, Telecommunications […]
Japan to cut foreign aid budget by three percent
TOKYO, July 19, 2006 (AFP) – Japan plans to cut its budget for foreign aid, long a top tool of Tokyo’s foreign policy, by three percent in the fiscal year starting in April 2007 due to financial constraints, officials said Wednesday.Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki and Foreign Minister Taro Aso agreed on the plan over the […]
Shopping an Asian pastime: survey
SINGAPORE, July 19, 2006 (AFP) – Shopping for shopping’s sake has become a “national pastime” for many Asian countries, a global online survey said Wednesday. Seven of the top 10 markets that shop once a week for recreation all hail from the region, the survery by ACNielsen said. The survey of 22,000 Internet users in […]
Indian bloggers angry over blocking of sites after Mumbai blasts
NEW DELHI, July 19, 2006 (AFP) – Indian Internet users, angry at being denied access to popular weblogs, lashed out at the government on Wednesday for banning some websites in the wake of last week’s Mumbai train bombings.There are nearly 38 million Internet users among the 1.1 billion population. “India has clearly joined the Internet […]
Fresh trouble in Sri Lanka Cricket as minister delays decision
July 19, 2006 (AFP) – Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga on Wednesday slammed the sports minister for the delay in naming a committee to oversee the sport in the island nation.Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse had last week, on the request of Ranatunga and other former players, ordered that elections to a deeply divided […]
900 killed in Sri Lanka since December
July 19, 2006 (AFP) – At least 900 people have been killed in a surge of violence in Sri Lanka since December that has left a four-year-old Norwegian-brokered truce in tatters, a monitoring official said Wednesday.Clashes between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels erupted soon after the election late November of President Mahinda Rajapakse. A […]
Sweden bids to save Sri Lanka ceasefire amid surge of violence
July 19, 2006 (AFP) – Sweden Wednesday launched a fresh effort to salvage Sri Lanka’s troubled truce as ceasefire monitors reported at least 900 people killed in a surge of ethnic violence since December.Swedish envoy Andres Oljelund met Sri Lankan officials here and was set to hold discussions with Tamil Tiger rebels ahead of a […]
Two killed, 15 wounded in Sri Lanka blast
July 19, 2006 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off a powerful mine in northern Sri Lanka on Wednesday, killing two security personnel and wounding 15 people, a military official said.The blast hit a bus transporting troops and police in the Jaffna peninsula, military spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe said. “An officer and a soldier were […]
Suspected suicide bomber held in Sri Lanka
July 19, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police have arrested a suspected Tamil suicide bomber and three would-be accomplices in President Mahinda Rajapakse’s home constituency, the defence ministry said Wednesday.The woman, whose identity was not disclosed, had undergone training with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), defence ministry spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said. “We […]