Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lanka ex-army chief rejects clemency plea: wife
October 1, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s jailed ex-military chief Sarath Fonseka, who fell out with the president after the army’s crushing defeat of Tamil rebels, has rejected a government offer to consider clemency, his wife said Friday. Anoma Fonseka said she met her husband at Colombo’s Welikada prison where the former four-star general began […]
India poised to stage biggest Games
NEW DELHI, October 2, 2010 (AFP) – India raced Saturday to put finishing touches to preparations for the biggest Commonwealth Games, with the start just a day away — hoping to make the event a success story after a shambolic run-up. Western governments have persistently warned of the threat of a militant attack during the […]
Sri Lanka, India trade deal seen helping lure Indian investors
Oct 02, 2010 (LBO) – An upgraded free trade deal between India and Sri Lanka can help the island lure more investment from Indian companies who are increasingly venturing abroad, India’s envoy in Colombo said. The two countries need to have agreements that remove bottlenecks to exports by harmonising their testing, certification, quarantine and customs […]
India seeking to intercept BlackBerry messages
NEW DELHI, October 2, 2010 (AFP) – India is seeking to find an “appropriate” means to monitor messages and corporate emails sent through Blackberry smart phones, a top government official has said. India and countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have sought access to monitor the services as they fear heavy […]
Dinosaur trove spills more secrets
CUENCA, October 2, 2010 (AFP) – Decades after a mechanical pine-tree digger first unearthed it, an extraordinary trove of dinosaur fossils in central Spain is revealing its secrets. When the digging machine cut a furrow to plant pines in the arid soil near the medieval town of Cuenca in the 1980s, it sliced through more […]
Sri Lanka ratings can improve on public sector reforms, lower debt: S&P
Oct 01, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s ratings can improve if the government uses its political strength to reform the public and economic policy which would allow public debt to come down, Standard & Poor’s, a rating agency has said. Following recent electoral victories the government no longer depended on the support of “minority extremist […]
Sri Lanka stocks world top performer: Bloomberg data
Oct 01, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s stocks closed up 2. 1 percent Friday becoming the best performing market in the world, up 110.9 percent so far according to Bloomberg newswires data, beating Mongolia at 109.7 percent. Bangladesh was a distant third at 56.4 percent. Colombo’s benchmark All Share Price Index closed at 7,147, topping […]
‘s ex-army chief begins jail sentence
September 30, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka, who led troops to victory over Tamil rebels to end a decades-long civil war, on Thursday began 30 months in jail after the president confirmed the sentence. Troops escorted the former four-star general to the island’s main Welikada prison, hours after the government announced […]
Sri Lanka, India local currency trade mooted
Oct 01, 2010 (LBO) – Using local currencies to trade between India and Sri Lanka could reduce transaction costs and speed up cargo movements, an expert has suggested. “This could lead to win-win situation for both sides and bring down transaction cost and the time taken.” Under British rule the Indian rupee, then specie based […]
Sri Lanka eco-friendly apparel making gives edge: Marks & Spencer
Oct 01, 2010 (LBO) – Eco-friendly, energy and material-efficient apparel manufacture is giving Sri Lanka an edge over competition despite the loss of European trade concessions, Marks & Spencer, a UK-based retailer said. M&S sells about 4.0 billion Sterling pounds of clothes a year and 21 percent of its products were bought from Sri Lanka, […]
Dinosaurs taller than thought: study
WASHINGTON, October 1, 2010 (AFP) – Some dinosaurs may have been at least 10 percent taller than previously thought, US paleontologists said Thursday in a study that found the creatures had large amounts of cartilage. The dinosaurs had thick layers of cartilage in their joints that may have added more than a foot (30 centimeters) […]
Harsh Lessons
Oct 01, 2010 (LBO) – A citizen’s group in Sri Lanka has outlined harsh lessons from the island’s post independent history and suggested ways to a regain lost liberties by re-establishing rule of law. The submission of the ‘Friday Forum’ group was made to a state-appointed ‘Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Commission’ (LLRC) which is looking […]