Author: lbostgadmin
Australia plans to ship asylum-seekers to Timor
SYDNEY, July 6, 2010 (AFP) – Australia’s new leader Julia Gillard Tuesday revealed surprise plans to ship asylum-seekers to impoverished East Timor, in a pre-election bid to deter migrants fleeing Asian trouble-spots. Gillard said a regional processing centre would “wreck” the people-smuggling trade that brings dozens of rickety boats to Australia’s north, but denied reviving […]
Sri Lanka mulls geo-thermal energy potential
July 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka intends to tap its geo-thermal energy potential and is reviewing its power generation plan to give more emphasis to renewable energy sources, the island’s power minister said. Minister of Power and Energy Patali Champika Ranawaka said government geologists have identified sites with potential to generate geo-thermal energy. “Geo-thermal […]
Sri Lanka, India in talks on power exchange
July 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka and India are having talks on exchanging power to help meet demand during peak times, with the island expecting an energy surplus and no more power cuts, an official said. “It’s like a flower opening. When all these infrastructure projects come into operation there will be a quantitative […]
Sri Lanka state bank buys into insurance firm
July 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state owned Bank of Ceylon (BOC) and its subsidiary Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka (MBSL) has bought 4.1 percent of Janashakthi Insurance for 225 million rupees. In a privately negotiated off-the-floor deal between BOC and its investment banking unit MBCL, 15 million shares of Janashakthi Insurance changed hands […]
Celebrations as Dalai Lama turns 75
DHARAMSHALA, July 6, 2010 (AFP) – The Dalai Lama marks his 75th birthday on Tuesday, with thousands set to celebrate the occasion in his hometown-in-exile and events planned across the globe from Europe to Australia. The Nobel laureate will address a crowd of 5,000 fans and followers at his temple in McLeod Ganj, a hill […]
Better Connection
July 06, 2010 (LBO) – Dialog Telekom has inked an Inter-Carrier-Interconnection (ICI) deal with Hong Kong based HKT group which enable users to maintain a network similar to a local area network (LAN) with international branch offices. The network upgrade will allow users to interconnect voice, data and video applications with overseas branch network similar […]
Sri Lankan stocks close down 0.25-pct
July 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed down Tuesday as retailers took defensive positions to minimize losses, while price gains on selected blue chip and midcap shares stopped the market from falling further, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 4,547.18, down 11.30 points, while the more liquid Milanka index fell […]
Sri Lanka April foreign reserves at US$5.2bn
July 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s official foreign reserves edged up to 5,515 million US dollars in April 2010 from 5,192 million US dollars while imports also grew steeply on the back of a recovery in economic activities. The trade account is only a part of the balance of payments dealing with goods. The […]
Sri Lanka trade gap widens in April amid economic recovery
July 05, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s foreign trade volumes and a trade gap widened in April 2010 amid as an economic recovery with exports growing 24. 2 percent and imports growing 55. 8 percent, official data showed. Exports grew to 543.5 million US dollars with tea growing 61 percent to 93. 7 million US […]
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SYDNEY, July 5, 2010 (AFP) – Human Rights Watch urged Australia’s new prime minister on Monday to lift a controversial freeze on Afghan and Sri Lankan asylum claims and end “refugee-bashing” ahead of elections. The New York-based group said Julia Gillard, who has signalled a tough approach on immigration, should resume processing Afghan and Sri […]
Indian cricket captain Dhoni to marry late Sunday: reports
NEW DELHI, July 4, 2010 (AFP) – Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is worshipped by millions of sports fans across the country, was to marry his girlfriend on Sunday evening, television news channels reported. India’s next games are on tour in Sri Lanka starting July 18. Dhoni, often described as India’s most eligible […]
‘s trade benefits over human rights
BRUSSELS, July 5, 2010 (AFP) – The European Union decided Monday to withdraw trade concessions in August granted to Sri Lanka after the government failed to make a written commitment to improve its human rights record. Government forces have been accused of a host of rights violations including the indiscriminate killing of thousands of Tamil […]