Author: lbostgadmin
Potential Problem
Nov 30, 2006 (LBO) – Estimated 5.5 to six million people in South Asia is infected with AIDS which have become a severe epidemic but the HIV epidemic remains at a low level in Sri Lanka, the World Bank said Thursday. South Asia is a heterogeneous and highly mobile region the report says, where most […]
‘s tea companies warn of millions in losses due to trade union action
Nov 30, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s plantation companies warned Thursday of millions of rupees in losses due to trade union action on estates, as wage talks reach breaking point. Sri Lanka has over 250,000 estate workers, with the island among the world’s top producers’ at over 300 million kilos of black tea produced a year. […]
Horrible Dream
November 29, 2006 (LBO) – Indian fuel retailer Lanka IOC Ltd sank deeper into the red posting a 605 million net loss during the quarter ending Sept., as it is yet to collect billions of rupees from the Sri Lankan government for selling fuel below costs. A unit of the Fortune 500 Indian Oil Corp. […]
Independence-seeking Tigers already run shadow state
Nov 29, 2006 (AFP) – The Tamil Tigers have renewed a campaign to partition Sri Lanka, but the guerrillas already have a surreal separate “state” of their own.The Tigers usually sign off their communications with “thirst of the Tigers is Tamil Eelam”. But a former Sri Lankan defence minister said it was not a state […]
Food aid reaches besieged Sri Lanka town amid lull in fighting
Nov 29, 2006 (AFP) – A convoy of food on Wednesday reached 40,000 people trapped by weeks of heavy fighting in the island’s restive east as artillery exchanges died down, a relief official said. The first 20 trucks out of more than 100 vehicles arrived at the rebel-held town of Vakarai bringing food and medical […]
Tamil Tigers isolated in bid for own state in Sri Lanka
Nov 29, 2006 (AFP) – A rebel bid for an independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka has run into outright international rejection with the United States leading calls for new peace talks and an end to bloodshed. A second round of peace talks this year collapsed in Geneva last month over the government refusal to […]
‘s new budget aims to salvage ruined economy
HARARE, Nov 29, 2006 (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa walks the tightrope Thursday when he unveils the national budget of a food-hungry country groaning under record inflation and a ruined economy.Murerwa has the unenviable task of trying to stem 1,070.2 percent inflation and a free-falling currency in an economy which has shrunk by […]
Maldives and India keeps Sri Lankan leisure operators afloat
November 29, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s top hotel groups are increasingly relying on their Maldivian operations and investments into India for survival, as an escalation in violence deters visitors here “The projection for Sri Lanka is rather poor at least for the next few months. If the security situation improves hopefully, things will certainly […]
Humble Philippine peso coin worth more abroad than at home
MANILA, Nov 29, 2006 (AFP) – With a face value of less than two US cents the humble Philippine one peso coin may be worth next to nothing at home but in metal-hungry China it spells big bucks. There is virtually nothing that can be bought with these coins and de la Cruz says that […]
‘s Commercial Bank raises debt to fund expansion; meet new regulatory guidelines
November 29, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon is coming out with a debt issue to meet Central Bank’s new capital requirement and fund ongoing credit expansions, officials said Wednesday. The island’s biggest private bank in terms of assets, is issuing a 1.5 billion rupee debenture with tenures ranging from 5-10 years. […]
Tigers step up artillery barrage after call for separate state
Nov 28, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels stepped up artillery and mortar bomb attacks against military bases in the restive east Tuesday, a day after calling for their own independent state.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas fired at security forces in the district of Batticaloa, killing at least one soldier and wounding […]
Sri Lanka president calls for talks to avert all-out civil war
Nov 28, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Tuesday offered fresh talks with Tamil Tigers to avert a return to all-out civil war as the top guerrilla leader wrote off the Norwegian-backed peace process.President Mahinda Rajapakse, currently visiting India, said he was ready to have direct talks with Velupillai Prabhakaran, the elusive leader of the Liberation […]