All Blogs
Weighing Odds
May 25, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s excessive holidays, arbitrary salary increases and the government’s reluctance to settle billions to India’s main oil retailer, is turning out to be a stumbling block for Indians to invest here, officials said Thursday. Sri Lanka also wants more shipments of clothes in key categories and a relaxing of […]
Sri Lanka truce monitors seek more manpower, kit
May 25, 2006 (AFP) – The Scandinavian truce monitoring mission in Sri Lanka wants to boost its numbers by at least 25 percent and is outfitting observers with flak jackets and helmets, the mission said Thursday.The request for additional personnel comes after the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said the lives of its observers had […]
Tamil people preparing for war: Sri Lankan rebel commander
May 25, 2006 (AFP) – The Tamil people are preparing for war and nobody can defeat them, a top Sri Lankan rebel military commander was quoted as saying Thursday.Colonel Jeyam, of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was quoted by the pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website at a memorial ceremony for another senior rebel commander who […]
Bomb scare in Colombo as Oslo mounts peace salvage bid
May 25, 2006 (AFP) – Deadly mine attacks and a bomb scare in Sri Lanka’s capital Thursday brought home the challenge faced by a Norwegian envoy who was set to arrive to salvage peace talks and a tattered ceasefire. Peace broker Oslo’s top envoy Erik Solheim, due to arrive Friday for talks with President Mahinda […]
‘s World Trade Centre bans cars on bomb fears
May 25, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s twin-tower World Trade Centre banned vehicles Thursday fearing a car bomb attack by Tamil separatist rebels, police and tenants of the complex said.As part of stepped-up security measures, the 39-storey office complex in the heart of Colombo blocked all vehicles from entering, Colombo’s police chief Pujith Jayasundara said. […]
EU ban on Tamil Tigers will help peace talks: Sri Lankan president
LONDON, May 25, 2006 (AFP) – An impending European ban on the Tamil Tiger rebels will leave the group with little choice but to engage in peace talks, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse said in an interview published here Thursday.The European Union is expected to add the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to its […]
Malaysia’s Proton in talks with China’s Chery
KUALA LUMPUR, May 24, 2006 (AFP) – Malaysian carmaker Proton said Wednesday it is in talks with Chinese manufacturer Chery on a deal to assemble and distribute Proton and Chery models in China, Malaysia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.Proton said in a statement that the two firms would work on a feasibility study over the […]
Sri Lanka launches an electronic trading platform for government bonds
May 24, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Wednesday launched an electronic trading platform for government bonds, which will set the tone for a more vibrant debt market to be developed in the future, traders said. “From a primary dealer perspective, transaction costs come down.We are confident that people can trade even with smaller spreads, thereby […]
Step Pyramid
May 24, 2006 (LBO) – Authorities in Sri Lanka are stepping up a campaign against pyramid schemes, after learning that promoters were targeting school leavers and unemployed youth in rural districts. The Central Bank has already started to publish a series of advertisements in the vernacular Sinhalese language newspapers. Officials say the campaign will be […]
Steady Progress
May 24, 2006 (LBO) – People’s Bank, Sri Lanka’s second-largest state bank in terms of assets, said group net profits for the three-months to March 31 rose 22.1 percent to 926.23 million rupees. The technically insolvent bank said Wednesday that its net profits were up 14.3 percent to 774.19 million rupees during the period under […]