Author: lbostgadmin
Bangladesh exports set new quarterly record
DHAKA, Nov 15, 2006 (AFP) – Bangladesh exports grew a record 31.5 per cent to 3.25 billion dollars in the first quarter of the 2006-2007 financial year amid a boom in the textile industry, an official said Wednesday. The growth was powered by a 33.5 percent year-on-year growth of textile shipments such as t-shirts, jeans […]
Disk Doctor
Nov 15, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Government and the ICT Agency will launch an emergency response unit next month to counter threats and vulnerabilities affecting computer systems and networks, officials said Wednesday. The response unit CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) will be a source of expertise to assist member organizations in responding to and […]
Sri Lanka plans war budget
Nov 15, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka plans to announce a war budget Thursday in which it will hike defence spending next year by 45 percent amid a spiralling conflict with separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, officials say. However money sent by Sri Lankans working abroad grew by 23 percent to 1.73 billion dollars and helped […]
‘s economic scorecard
November 14, 2006 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund Tuesday says Sri Lanka’s economy in under siege from galloping inflation, a wider current account deficit, declining official reserves and a high debt service burden. Large fiscal deficits and a high level of public debt are sources of macro-economic instability while inflation is galloping away and […]
Energy pricing helps but better monetary policy and fiscal framework needed in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s is now experiencing stronger growth, and declining unemployment. Though oil prices are now falling, expansionary fiscal policy and accommodative monetary policy continue to destabilize the economy by pushing inflation up and putting pressure on the country’s balance of payments. The International Monetary Fund this month presented its report on this year’s Article iv […]
Sri Lanka says four Tigers killed amid artillery duels
Nov 14, 2006 (AFP) – At least four Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in a fire fight in eastern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said Tuesday as sporadic artillery duels raged elsewhere.A security force patrol confronted a group of Tiger rebels at a village in the district of Batticaloa on Monday and the four rebels […]
Britain to push Sri Lanka peace bid amid child soldier charge
Nov 14, 2006 (AFP) – A British envoy arrived in Sri Lanka on Tuesday in a bid to salvage a tottering peace process as the former British colony faced UN charges of recruiting child soldiers.British MP Paul Murphy held talks with Sri Lankan officials handling the Norwegian-backed peace process, officials said, adding he planned to […]
Body of slain Sri Lankan MP flown to Jaffna for cremation
Nov 14, 2006 (AFP) – The body of assassinated Tamil legislator Nadarajah Raviraj was flown Tuesday to his home constituency of Jaffna for cremation the following day.Raviraj, 44, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen as he drove to work in Colombo on Friday morning.He was the second member of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to […]
Singapore to hike tax in effort to help poor
SINGAPORE, Nov 14, 2006 (AFP) – Singapore will raise its consumption tax next year to fund social programmes for its lower income households rather than turn to Scandinavian-style welfare systems, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in remarks published Tuesday.Raising the goods and services tax (GST) from the existing five percent to seven percent will […]
‘s needy grow: MSF
GENEVA, Nov 14, 2006 (AFP) – Drug prices have increased in the past five years despite a commitment by the World Trade Organisation’s 149 members to make them more accessible to the world’s poor, the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Tuesday.MSF said in a statement that newer HIV medicines recommended by the World […]
History Lessons
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 13, 2006 (AFP) – Google added historic map overlays to its free interactive online globe of the world on Monday to provide views of how places have changed with time.Google Earth engineers digitized one of the largest US map collections and integrated the information into its program, which lets users virtually navigate […]
Steady Pace
November 14, 2006 (LBO) – Hatton National Bank Ltd, Sri Lanka’s second biggest privately owned lender by assets, Tuesday said group net profits rose to 580.60 million rupees for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 35 percent reported in the same period 2005. Hatton National Bank, which is active in leasing, corporate finance, […]