Author: lbostgadmin
Southeast Asia gears up for palm oil boom
JAKARTA, Sept 12, 2007 (AFP) – Southeast Asian nations are gearing up for a palm oil boom as interest in biofuels soars, but activists warn the crop may not satisfy a global thirst for energy that is both clean and green. They caution that oil palm plantations require massive swathes of land — either what’s […]
Sri Lanka treasury yields move up; cut off edges to 18%
Sept 12, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka treasury 3-month Treasury bill yields went up 13 basis points to 17.93 percent with the cut-off tripping over 18.00 percent dealers said. The government debt office said 10.7 billion rupees worth of bills were rolled over and 1.8 billion retired at Wednesday’s auction. Six months bills edged up […]
Indonesia issues tsunami alert after 7.9-magnitude quake
JAKARTA, Sept 12, 2007 (AFP) – A massive 7.9-magnitude quake struck off the western coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Wednesday, prompting authorities to issue a tsunami warning, meteorologists said. The archipelago nation sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where continental plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. The undersea earthquake, which hit […]
Mobile Medicine
Sept 12, 2007 (LBO) – A service to channel doctors via mobile phones has won an international technology and customer service award, the ICT firms that run it in Sri Lanka said. EChannelling a listed company that started a web-based medical appointment service and Sri Lanka’s largest celco, Dialog Telekom had won the Innovative Technology […]
Monkey Bridge
NEW DELHI, Sept 12, 2007 (AFP) – Thousands of right-wing Hindus launched protests across India Wednesday against a plan to create a sea lane which they say would destroy the links between a revered string of islands. The half-billion-dollar project would allow ships to travel around the southern tip of India without having to skirt […]
Sri Lanka minister lashes out at inflation creators
Sept 11, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s consumer affairs minister, cornered by rising prices and a falling rupee caused by money printing, lashed out at a Marxist party that helped engineer a collapse of government finances. Except for a handful of years like 2003, the Sri Lanka rupee has been on a free fall since […]
Hedging Game
Sept 11, 2007 (LBO) – Lanka IOC, the Sri Lanka unit of the Indian Oil Corporation, has started to hedge oil imports with positive initial results, an official said. LIOC expects oil prices to ease towards the latter part of the year. “We have started to hedge imports in a cautious manner,” Lanka IOC managing […]
Sri Lanka says wanted Tamil Tiger arms supplier arrested
Sept 11, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s defence ministry Tuesday claimed that one of the most wanted Tamil Tigers had been arrested by Interpol in Bangkok, Thailand. He and his group are suspected of running weapons purchased Thailand and neighbouring countries to the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. Quoting ‘reliable sources from Thailand’ the ministry […]
Sri Lanka navy sinks suspected rebel gun-running ships
Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy sank at least three suspected Tamil Tiger gun-running vessels off the island’s southeastern sea board, navy officials said Tuesday.Clashes between suspected Tamil Tiger ships and the Sri Lankan navy have escalated in recent months amid heavy fighting in the island’s northern and eastern regions.Naval craft intercepted the […]
Sri Lanka navy claims major success against Tamil Tigers
COLOMBO, Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy on Tuesday claimed its biggest success against the Tamil Tiger rebels, saying it had virtually wiped out the separatist group’s ability to smuggle arms into the country. More than 5,400 people have been killed in a new wave of fighting since December 2005 when a Norwegian-brokered […]
Sri Lanka team wins Spirit of Cricket Award
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) – Winners of the International Cricket Council (ICC) awards for 2007 which were presented at the Sandton Convention Centre here on Monday night: Cricketer of the Year: Ricky Ponting (AUS) Other nominees: Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WIS) Kevin Pietersen (ENG) Mohammad Yousuf (PAK) Test Player of the Year: Mohammad Yousuf (PAK) Other […]
Body Shop founder Anita Roddick dies
LONDON, Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) – Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop cosmetics chain, died on Monday evening after suffering a major brain haemorrhage, her family said. Roddick, 64, was with her husband and two daughters at a hospital in Chichester, southern England, when she died at 6:30 pm (1730 GMT). She had been […]