Author: lbostgadmin
Tough road lies ahead for global climate deal
BANGKOK, April 5, 2008 (AFP) – There have been numerous disagreements during a week of intense climate change talks in Bangkok but there is one point all sides agree on — a long, tough road lies ahead. The five-day negotiations stretched past midnight on Friday before reaching a deal aimed solely at setting up more […]
Kenyans say jumbo coalition cabinet a colossal waste
NAIROBI, April 4, 2008 (AFP) – Kenyan papers and political watchdogs Friday criticised the size of a coalition cabinet announced a day earlier, saying 40 ministers were a colossal waste of money in a country with widespread misery.They also slammed President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, head of the Orange Democratic Movement, for creating the […]
Special Licence
April 05, 2008 (LBO) – The Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka (MBSL), a unit of state-run Bank of Ceylon , said it plans to get a banking license and expand its activities. . The bank will seek a licence from the regulator to operate as a ‘licensed specialised bank’, MBSL’s new chairman Janaka Ratnayake said […]
Oil Deal
April 04, 2008 (LBO) –Sri Lanka is seeking to renew its long-term crude oil supply contract with Iran and wrap up financing to expand its refinery during a visit this week by senior government officials to Teheran. Treasury Secretary P B Jayasundera and Ashantha de Mel, chairman of the state-oil refiner Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, are […]
Sri Lanka Tamil Tigers contest provincial council election
April 04, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers have entered the contest in provincial council elections in the east with a last-minute filing of nomination papers through a proxy party, media reports said. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) political wing, the People’s Front of Liberation Tigers (PFLT) submitted nominations for the polls […]
Fresh split in Sri Lanka Marxist-nationalist party
April 04, 2008 (LBO) – A split in Sri Lanka’s Marxist-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is emerging with moves to oust its firebrand spokesman Wimal Weerawansa, party insiders said Friday. But Weerawansa said he had not been informed of a decision to remove him, amid reports that the party’s central committee has voted to replace […]
Sri Lanka rescued by Dilshan and Silva century stand
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, April 3, 2008 (AFP) – An unbroken stand of 100 for the sixth wicket between Tillakeratne Dilshan and Chamara Silva helped Sri Lanka recover on the rain-marred opening day of the second and final Test against West Indies on Thursday.Dilshan was unbeaten on 58 and Silva was not out on 37, […]
Merrill Lynch chief sees no need for more capital: report
TOKYO, April 4, 2008 (AFP) – New Merrill Lynch chief executive John Thain said he saw no need for the US investment bank to raise fresh capital, in an interview with Japan’s Nikkei business newspaper published on Friday. He also said there were no plans to sell Merrill, which previously got an infusion of 12.8 […]
” slowdown in global economy
WASHINGTON, April 3, 2008 (AFP) – International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Thursday he sees a “major” slowdown in the global economy this year amid a credit market crisis. “What is certain is that the situation is very serious and that the slowdown in the United States, and subsequently in the rest of […]
‘ broken aid promises
PARIS, April 4, 2008 (AFP) – British charity Oxfam released Friday figures on aid spending showing that rich countries had broken promises made to substantially increase assistance to developing countries.The figures showed that in many of the Group of Eight (G8) richest nations, aid spending as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) had dropped […]
Atom Chip
April 04, 2008 (LBO) –Intel has launched a new low-power chip which can be used in mobile devices and simple computers for internet surfing that it says would be useful in Sri Lanka’s e-governance initiative. Products like Intel’s Atom family of processors will help Sri Lanka achieve its goal of 60 percent computer literacy by […]
Sri Lanka tea trade online transactions on the rise
April 04, 2008 (LBO) – The volume of transactions on Sri Lanka’s automated tea export document processing system is on the rise but the number of exporters using it is still limited, a senior Tea Board official said. . Tea commissioner N. Udugampola said the electronic data interchange system started last August speeded up transaction […]