Sri Lanka and India have talks on Thorium-based nuclear energy: report

Oct 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s science and technology ministry have sounded out India about using the island’s Thorium deposits in nuclear energy, and an Indian team is expected to visit the country to study the idea, a media report said. The Daily Mirror newspaper quoted science and technology minister Tissa Vitharana as saying […]

Sri Lanka to get $900mn in World Bank aid

Oct 06, 2008 (LBO) – The World Bank will give Sri Lanka 900 million dollars in aid under its new four-year country assistance strategy aimed at achieving more balanced and equitable growth. The World Bank wants to make sure its work is not undermined by corruption and will support efforts to strengthen core governance institutions […]

Sri Lanka journalists mourn colleague; condemn killing

Oct 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s media organizations condemned a blast by a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber, which killed a TV journalist and more than 20 others including a former army general-turned politician.Rashmi Mohamed, a provincial correspondent with Sri Lanka’s Sirasa TV, died Monday while covering the opening of an opposition United National […]

Wachovia rooting for Wells Fargo buyout despite Citi court block

WASHINGTON, October 6, 2008 (AFP) – Troubled lender Wachovia Corp. appeared determined Sunday to plow ahead with a planned union with Wells Fargo & Co., despite an order from a New York State Supreme Court in favor of jilted suitor Citigroup. Citigroup was blindsided last week in its bid to complete a tie-up after Wachovia, […]

Britain mulls buying shares to recapitalise banks: reports

LONDON, October 6, 2008 (AFP) – British finance minister Alistair Darling is considering giving banks billions of pounds in return for shares to shore them up in the face of the global credit crunch, media reports said Monday. The plan is a middle way between full nationalisation, as with Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley […]

Gloom engulfs corporate India: survey

NEW DELHI, October 6, 2008 (AFP) – India’s corporate optimism has sunk on worries about the global economy and weakening demand, according to a new survey Monday, as the stock market and rupee fell to fresh lows. Some 57 percent of the 348 firms in the cross-sector survey reported Asia’s third-largest economy had grown “moderately […]

Dubai shrugs off global turmoil with new mega projects

DUBAI, October 6, 2008 (AFP) – A Dubai government firm on Monday announced it will build a “new city” in the booming Gulf emirate at a projected cost of 95 billion dollars, shrugging off the global financial turmoil.The announcement came one day after Dubai developers Nakheel said it planned to build a tower which will […]

Sri Lanka general turned politician assassinated

Oct 06, 2008 (LBO) – A former Sri Lankan military general who won office in a regional election has been killed in a suicide blast in the north central area city of Anuradhapura, police said. The blast, from a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber, had occurred near his party office. A suicide blast has killed […]

Sri Lanka bomb attack kills 22, including general turned politician

Oct 06, 2008 (LBO) – A former Sri Lankan military general who won office in a regional election was killed in a suicide blast in the along with a score of others in the north central city of Anuradhapura, police said. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send […]

Picture postcard Maldives test democracy at the polls

Oct 06, 2008 (LBO) – The tourist paradise of Maldives will hold its first multi-party poll on Wednesday in what is seen as a litmus test on Asia’s longest serving ruler and his commitment to democratic reforms.Around 209,000 people across some 200 inhabited islands will cast their ballot to elect a president for a five-year […]

Nepal president endorses child goddess

KATHMANDU, October 6, 2008 (AFP) – Nepal’s Maoist president has endorsed the choice of a three-year-old girl to be worshipped as a goddess, officials said Monday, upholding an age-old tradition despite his government’s atheist stance. The selection of the child goddess, or Royal Kumari, had for centuries required the approval of Nepal’s kings, but the […]

Public Service

Oct 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has suspended a controversial new rule that gave the President powers to extend the terms of chosen public officers, but did not reverse any extension already granted, lawyers said. Those designated as public officers were “distinct and separate from political entities, judicial officers,” the plaint said. […]

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