Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lanka at helm of South Asia free trade effort
Aug 26, 2013 (LBO) – South Asian nations have to cut negative lists to improve the people’s trade freedoms, a top regional official had said following a ministerial meet in the Island nation.Ahmed Salem, Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation had said a goal was established at a 2011 regional summit […]
Bollywood Sri Lanka war film pulled in UK, south India
MUMBAI, August 24, 2013 (AFP) – A Bollywood spy thriller set against the backdrop of the Sri Lankan civil war has been pulled from British and some Indian theatres after protests over its depiction of rebel fighters, the movie’s distributors said Saturday. The bloody conflict in Sri Lanka, which cost up to 100,000 lives, erupted […]
UN rights chief in Sri Lanka on fact finding mission
August 25, 2013 (AFP) – The UN’s top rights official begins a fact-finding mission to Sri Lanka on Sunday after the government dropped public hostility towards her and promised access to former war zones.Navi Pillay, who has previously been accused by Colombo of overstepping her mandate, is on a week-long mission that will include talks […]
” Pakistan cricket film hits cinemas
KARACHI, August 23, 2013 (AFP) – A Pakistani film about a boy emulating the fairytale career of cricket star Shahid Afridi hit cinemas Friday despite objections from the player over “obscene” scenes he fears could damage his image. The $1 million Pakistan-made movie “Main Houn Afridi” (“I am Afridi”) tells the story of a young […]
Century
Aug 25, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port has welcomed its 100th roll-on-roll-off car carrier this month when ‘Istra Ace’, a vessel operated by Mitsui OSK Line called at the port.Sri Lanka Ports Authority said it started handling car carriers at the port on June 2012. SLPA chairman Priyath Wickrama said the port has […]
Separate
August 23, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president has bowed to international pressure and relinquished the defence ministry’s authority over the police department, an official said Friday. President Mahinda Rajapakse has created a new ministry for law and order, and placed it in charge of the 80,000-strong police which had been overseen by the defence […]
Threatened
COLOMBO, August 24, 2013 (AFP) – Five armed men held a Sri Lankan newspaper editor at knifepoint as they searched her home on Saturday before police burst in and shot one of the intruders dead, officials said.The latest incident came a day ahead of a fact-finding mission to the island by the UN’s human rights […]
Court Order
COLOMBO, August 23, 2013 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan court Friday lifted a ban on the sale of milk products of New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra which has been under pressure over a global botulism scare. A New Zealand government website says DCD is not toxic and poses no food safety risks but Sri Lanka’s […]
Sri Lanka finds latest New Zealand milk imports free of DCD
Aug 23, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Industrial Technology Institute said stocks of New Zealand milk held at port are free of a chemical contamination according to its tests, and will continue to test other batches of imports.. ITI chief Sirimal Premakumara said dicyandiamide (DCD) contamination was found in two stocks of Anchor branded and […]
”’ rating by Fitch
Aug 23, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Asian Alliance Insurance has been given a ‘B’ insurer financial strength rating with a stable outlook by Fitch. Fitch also gave in a national insurance financial strength and long term credit rating of ‘BBB+(lka)’ with a stable outlook. Fitch expected operational assistance and synergies with its parent Softlogic […]
India rupee slide takes breather, dollar up against yen
TOKYO, August 23, 2013 (AFP) – The dollar’s surge against the Indian rupee took a breather on Friday after hitting record highs for most of the week, although upbeat manufacturing data from around the world helped the greenback against the yen. — Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this article — However, traders remain on edge […]
Cell Talks
Aug 23, 2013 (LBO) – India’s Bharti Airtel is in talks with UAE-based Etisalat to sell its Sri Lanka unit, which is too small to make money in the highly competitive market, a media report said. India’s Economic Times said citing two unnamed sources said Standard Chartered was advising Airtel on the sale and the […]