Author: lbostgadmin
Myanmar says cyclone death toll tops 15,000
YANGON, May 6, 2008 (AFP) – More than 15,000 people were killed in Myanmar’s devastating cyclone, the government said Tuesday, with thousands more feared dead after the storm left rice fields littered with corpses. Aid workers were racing to deliver food and water to the southern coast which was submerged by floodwaters, leaving scenes of […]
Cyclone could hurt Myanmar rice exports: WFP
BANGKOK, May 6, 2008 (AFP) – The deadly cyclone that struck Myanmar devastated its main rice-growing region, and could threaten exports meant to ease shortages in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the UN food agency said Tuesday. Flooding, which poured damaging salt water into paddy fields, could create long-term food insecurity for Myanmar and other poor […]
Oil price strikes new record high at 122 dollars
LONDON, May 6, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices hit a record high 122 dollars here on Tuesday as the market was driven by concerns over violence in key producer Nigeria and a struggling US currency, analysts said. After spiking to a fresh high, New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, […]
Sri Lanka Eagle claims handled round-the-clock
May 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Eagle Insurance has upgraded its customer care call centre with a single hot line for easy access and motor related calls handled round-the-clock, the company said in a statement. “In case a policyholder meets with an accident he or she can contact the call centre any time of […]
British police arrest fourth Sri Lanka Tiger activist
LONDON, May 6, 2008 (AFP) – British police said they arrested a man under anti-terror laws Tuesday as part of their long-running probe into the Tamil Tiger guerrillas in Sri Lanka. The 51-year-old was arrested in the Swindon area of south-west England under the Terrorism Act and is in custody. Three others are being held […]
Quarterly Profit
May 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank’s group profits grew 11.4 percent to 1,024 million rupees in the March quarter with revenue growing 37.7 percent, accounts filed with the stock exchange showed. Group revenue was up 37.7 percent to 10.2 billion rupees and interest expense grew 49.7 percent to 5.89 billion while net […]
Sri Lanka opens T-bills to foreigners
May 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has allowed foreign investors to buy short term treasury bills from Tuesday, the government’s debt office said, as global credit conditions made buyers wary of long term instruments. Sri Lanka had permitted foreign investors to buy Treasury bonds which have a maturity of one year or more in […]
Sri Lanka central bank suppressing interest rates: researcher
May 05, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank is keeping interest rates suppressed and below the inflation rate to reduce government borrowing costs and maintain a high growth rate that presents a ‘rosy’ picture, a researcher says. “Galloping inflation is also due to suppression of the interest rate by the government,” says Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, […]
Sri Lanka central bank responds to IMF letter
May 05, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank, which earlier protested an International Monetary Fund study on external impacts on inflation, has welcomed comments by a top IMF official based on results which were further disaggregated. Sri Lanka has been buffeted by chronic high inflation and balance of payments crises since a central bank […]
‘s defence chief urges censorship
COLOMBO, May 5, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main media rights group on Monday voiced alarm after the island’s hawkish defence chief reportedly branded some journalists “traitors” and called for sweeping censorship. The Free Media Movement said Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who has long demanded strict controls on how news organisations are allowed to cover the war […]
‘s Wade says UN food agency should be scrapped
DAKAR, May 5, 2008 (AFP) – Senegal’s outspoken President Abdoulaye Wade late Sunday called for the scrapping of the UN food agency, saying its inefficiency had largely led to soaring food prices worldwide.Wade said the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), headed by his compatriot Jacques Diouf, was a “waste of money largely spent on doing […]
Is this the rice super-gene?
PARIS, May 4, 2008 (AFP) – Researchers in China have pinpointed an elusive gene that plays a linchpin role in determining the harvest potential of rice, according to a study released on Sunday by the journal Nature Genetics.The productivity of a rice plant is determined by several traits — the number and size of its […]