Sri Lanka stocks close 1.13-pct up

June 14, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed at a new high passing 4,600 points on the benchmark index Monday, pushed up by selected index-heavy blue chips, while retail investors took profits on mid and small-cap stocks, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 4,612. 76, up 51.43 points, while the Milanka […]

‘s Commonwealth Games face monsoon test

NEW DELHI, June 13, 2010 (AFP) – New Delhi residents can’t wait for the onset of the monsoon to bring relief from the summer heat, but the impending rains could spell further trouble for Commonwealth Games organisers. “There is no doubt everything will be ready on time, whatever anyone may say,” organising committee secretary-general Lalit […]

Bangladesh fans on rampage as power blackout cuts World Cup

DHAKA, June 13, 2010 (AFP) – Thousands of Bangladeshi football fans went on the rampage after power cuts blacked out television coverage of an eagerly-awaited World Cup match. He urged fans to understand the dire state of the Bangladeshi national grid meant shortages were inevitable. “The reality is that the country does not produce enough […]

‘s ISI and Taliban

LONDON, June 13, 2010 (AFP) – Pakistan’s ISI intelligence agency provides funding, training and sanctuary to the Taliban in Afghanistan, according to a study Sunday which claimed to have the strongest evidence yet of their links. However the report for the London School of Economics (LSE) was dismissed by the Pakistani military as “malicious and […]

India earthquake downgraded, local tsunami watch only: Pacific centre

June 11, 2010 (LBO) – The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has downgraded a watch bulletin taking Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia off its list saying a local tsunami is likely to only affect India. Indian authorities have said waves of only 50 centimetres are likely and there is ‘nothing alarming. ‘ Sri Lanka’s authorities […]

NEW DELHI, June 12, 2010 (AFP) – India’s tsunami centre warned Sunday a major quake under the Indian Ocean would generate a 50-centimetre high (20-inch) surge in sea levels on the nearest islands, adding this was “nothing alarming. ” “This is nothing alarming but just a watch,” he added by telephone from the headquarters of […]

Japan asteroid probe to make historic return to Earth

SYDNEY, June 12, 2010 (AFP) – A tiny heatproof capsule which scientists hope contains some of the oldest dust in the universe will streak back to Earth and land in the Australian desert Sunday, ending a historic space mission. Japan’s Hayabusa spacecraft is due to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere shortly before midnight (1400 GMT), completing a […]

Sri Lanka fisher community in efforts to rescue degraded estuary

June 13, 2010 (LBO) – Deepika Edirisinghe lives in the dry Kalpitiya area in the Sri Lanka northeast coastal district of Puttalam bordering a degraded coastal estuary which is now yielding a much lower fish catch than a decade ago. Her husband is a fisherman, whose catch from the lagoon has been dwindling over the […]

Mass Wedding

June 13, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankan authorities on Sunday conducted the marriages of over 100 former rebels at a mass ceremony attended by Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi. A total of 53 couples were issued marriage certificates in the northern district of Vavuniya, where they are being held in military custody following the defeat of […]

Insurance Lift

June 13, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan ports are now free of any extra war risk-related insurance premiums following the removal of the island from the area listed for war risk by international underwriters, a government statement said. The Sri Lanka Ports Authority said the move followed a visit to the island by a security […]

Sri Lanka general urges political solution to Tamil strife

June 11, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s army chief on Friday called for a political settlement to the island’s decades-long ethnic strife, a year after the Tamil Tiger rebels were defeated in a major military offensive. Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya warned that although the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were crushed following the […]

Mahela Jayawardene rules out Sri Lankan political career

June 12, 2010 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s former cricket captain Mahela Jayawardene has ruled out a political career, opting instead to help people through his various charity projects. “Politics is out,” the stylish right-hand batsman told a group of Colombo-based businessmen at a fund raiser for cancer, Colours of Courage. “My wife has threatened to divorce […]

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