Author: lbostgadmin
Roadside blast kills two police commandos in Sri Lanka: military
June 22, 2008 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels on Sunday set off a roadside mine killing two police commandos in eastern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said. The fragmentation mine was placed on a parked bicycle in the district of Batticaloa and targeted the Special Task Force police commandos, the ministry said. Fighting meanwhile continued […]
Buy One
June 22, 2008 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan car dealer is taking a buy-one-get-one-free strategy to sell off luxury vehicles, borrowing a strategy used by fast moving consumer goods makers to sell soap, cosmetics and cereal. In Sri Lanka inflation is at the highest level in its history touching 30 percent and interest rates are […]
Olympic torch in Tibetan capital amid tight security
LHASA, June 21, 2008 (AFP) – The Olympic torch relay made its way through Tibet’s capital Saturday amid heavy security three months after deadly riots against Chinese rule, in a move condemned by rights groups.Hand-picked spectators cheered runners as they carried the torch through Lhasa, after the relay started in front of Norbulingka, the former […]
Struggling Wall Street braces for new message from Fed
NEW YORK, June 21, 2008 (AFP) – Whipsawed by fresh worries on the financial sector, Wall Street enters the summer season with investors in a sour mood ahead of a meeting of increasingly hawkish Federal Reserve policymakers. Market jitters have risen amid high oil prices, troubles in the banking sector and the prospect of higher […]
Gulf to earn 1.3 trillion dlrs from oil in two years: report
KUWAIT CITY, June 21, 2008 (AFP) – The oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states are projected to earn close to 1.3 trillion dollars in oil revenue in 2008 and 2009, a Kuwaiti economic report said on Saturday. The six-nation alliance — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia — earned 364 billion […]
Sri Lanka Hayleys in wind energy; boosts hydro power capacity
June 21, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Hayleys group is building a 10MegaWatt wind power plant in the island’s Western coast and is planning to boost it hydro power capacity to 15Mega Watts, the company said. In the year to March 2008 the power and energy sector has shown a 53 percent return on 709 […]
Sri Lanka gunships strike Tamil Tiger targets: military
June 21, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka launched air attacks in rebel-held territory in the island’s north on Saturday as ground troops killed at least four guerrillas, the defence ministry said. The air force deployed helicopter gunships to bomb suspected positions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Mannar district, the ministry said. […]
Sri Lanka tea trade divided, losing benefits: official
June 21, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s billion-dollar tea industry remains too divided, squabbling over trivial matters, and is losing out on benefits it can otherwise win as other industries have done, a senior trade official said. But, Akbarally warned, the gains from high tea prices could be eroded by soaring costs. Production costs shot […]
Sri Lanka private sector credit slows, spike in state credit
June 20, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s private sector credit had slowed to 15.1 percent by April 2008 following tight monetary policy, though state credit had spiked in that month, but inflation would slow after July, the Central Bank said. Till August 2007, credit to private sector has been growing at a rate of 25 […]
Oil bubble wobbles; new excuse given
NEW YORK, June 19, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices slumped Thursday after Saudi Arabia said it planned to boost daily output by 200,000 barrels to help cool record-breaking energy costs which are hurting consumers globally. The world’s biggest exporter of crude oil said it would ramp up daily crude production to 9.65 million barrels per […]
‘s inflation rate surges to 11.05 pct
NEW DELHI, June 20, 2008 (AFP) – India’s annual inflation rate accelerated to 11.05 percent, its highest level in 13 years, according to data on Friday, piling pressure on the government as general elections loom. Inflation jumped by more than two percentage points to hit 11.05 percent for the week ended June 7 from 8.75 […]
Blackouts in Sri Lanka as power engineers work-to-rule
June 20, 2008 (LBO) – Parts of Sri Lanka blacked out Friday night as engineers at Sri Lanka’s power utility worked-to-rule, demanding the ouster of the state-run organization’s chairman, even as negotiations began with senior government officials. The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union (CEBEU) had discussions with Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother Basil and […]