Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lanka at risk of economic damage from AIDS: World Bank
March 01, 2009 (LBO) – A new World Bank report says Sri Lanka must improve HIV/AIDS prevention programmes to prevent the disease causing economic damage.Conditions contributing to high vulnerability include the war, high mobility of soldiers and refugees, and separation of spouses due to overseas employment, said the report on how HIV and AIDS in […]
‘s Sangakkara, Samaraweera defy Pakistan
LAHORE, March 1, 2009 (AFP) – Kumar Sangakkara and Thilan Samaraweera notched brilliant hundreds to help Sri Lanka recover from early wobbles on the opening day of the second Test against Pakistan here Sunday.Samaraweera followed his 231 in the drawn first Test in Karachi with a superb unbeaten 133 while Sangakkara scored 104 as the […]
Tamils march in Paris to protest Sri Lankan offensive
PARIS, February 28, 2009 (AFP) – Thousands of Tamils marched in Paris on Saturday to denounce what they termed the Sri Lankan government’s genocide of the island’s ethnic minority in its bid to wipe out Tamil Tiger rebels.Government forces have pushed the Tigers into a narrow piece of land and say they hope to completely […]
Sri Lanka rejects truce calls as Tigers resist
March 1, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Sunday rejected fresh calls for a ceasefire with Tamil Tigers rebels as security forces hit stiff resistance in their efforts to secure final victory in the island’s ethnic conflict.Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said any ceasefire would be unnecessary if the Tigers accepted international appeals to surrender. “When the […]
Global warming could delay, weaken monsoons: study
CHICAGO, March 1, 2009 (AFP) – Global warming could delay the start of the summer monsoon by five to 15 days within the next century and significantly reduce rainfall in much of South Asia, a recent study has found.“These circulation changes decrease moisture flow over the land, and we see longer periods without rain, along […]
Sri Lanka troops enter last Tiger stronghold: military
February 28, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops have entered the last urban area still in the hands of Tamil Tiger guerrillas after heavy fighting, the defence ministry said on Saturday.Soldiers entered Puthukkudiriruppu on Friday despite heavy resistance from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the defence ministry said in a statement. Government forces […]
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Feb 28, 2009 (LBO) – The cut in the outlook of Sri Lanka’s ‘B+’ sovereign rating to ‘negative’ by Fitch Ratings is ‘unwarranted’ and ‘pessimistic’ the island’s Central Bank said. The Central Bank said the rating agency had a “pessimistic view” of various measures being taken by Sri Lanka to increase the country’s flagging foreign […]
Sri Lanka outlook lowered to negative by Fitch, B+ rating affirmed
Feb 27, 2009 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings has lowered Sri Lanka’s long-term foreign currency sovereign credit outlook to negative from stable while confirming its rating at ‘B+’ and short-term rating at ‘B’. In 2009, Fitch forecasts the trade deficit will fall to 3.5 billion dollars and the current account will decline to 2.1 billion dollars, […]
Sri Lanka February inflation falls to 7.6-pct
Feb 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s inflation in the 12 months to February 2009 measured by the revised Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) fell to 7.6 percent from 10.7 percent in January, the government statistics office said. However Sri Lanka is now in the middle of a severe balance of payments crisis, and the […]
UN braces for Sri Lankans fleeing conflict
GENEVA, February 27, 2009 (AFP) – The UN refugee agency said Friday it was preparing for the arrival of tens of thousands of displaced people fleeing the conflict zone in northern Sri Lanka over the coming weeks.The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it had received 300 acres of land […]
Ancient Kenya fossil footprints show modern feet
WASHINGTON, February 27, 2009 (AFP) – Anthropologists have uncovered ancient fossil footprints in Kenya dating back 1.5 million years, the oldest evidence yet that our ancestors walked like present-day humans, a study showed Thursday. The footprints were discovered in two sedimentary layers near Ileret in northern Kenya and revealed an essentially modern human-like foot anatomy. […]
Last Resort
Feb 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank may open a liquidity facility as a last resort, in a bailout package for troubled finance and leasing companies which has a 4.2 billion rupee fiscal component, officials said.In recent times the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has used such tactics to finance agricultural sector credit and […]