Author: lbostgadmin
Singapore launches drive to attract immigrants amid baby shortage
SINGAPORE, Aug 21, 2006 (AFP) – Singapore will launch a more aggressive drive to attract immigrants to avert a serious population shortage, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said, again urging citizens to produce more babies.Raising the population issue as one of his priorities, Lee said the government would establish a new “citizenship and population unit” […]
Panda blog opens in China
BEIJING, Aug 21, 2006 (AFP) – A week-old giant panda cub has received her own blog as China seeks to raise public awareness about protecting the endangered animal, state media said Monday. The blog, named “Baby Panda Home”, has debuted on the Sina website. It features photos, regular updates on the panda’s growth and discussions […]
Chaos as Zimbabwe switches to new currency
HARARE, Aug 22, 2006 (AFP) – Zimbabweans struggled to offload soon-to-be worthless cash on Monday as chaos and confusion prevailed ahead of a midnight deadline to convert to a new currency aimed at combating galloping inflation.Banks extended their working hours to cater to crowds who came to dispose of their old notes while others went […]
Trade Barriers
August 21, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has set an end September deadline to implement commitments under its trade deals with India, Pakistan and other South Asian countries. Sri Lanka was expected to phase out tariffs under its free trade deals with India and Pakistan this year, as well as under the South Asian Free […]
Ticking Away
August 21, 2006 (LBO) — Depositors who have money and other assets in Sri Lanka’s bank have till the end of the month to reactivate their accounts, and prevent accounts being reported to the central bank has abandoned property, officials said.Parliamentarians representing the community in particular have raised objections to the takeover process. Bankers say […]
India Shines
August 21, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Dutch Lanka Trailers has stepped up investments plans in India following a 2 million dollar equity injection through private investors last week. The privately held firm does not disclose its financials, but said sales and profits over the past 3-years have shown a compound average growth of 45 […]
Treasury bond yields take a leap
August 21, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s borrowing costs shot up Monday, when the Central Bank sold three and four year treasury bonds at higher yields.The bank offered 1.5 billion rupees worth of 4-year bonds and 1.0 billion rupees worth of 5-year bonds to the market, but accepted only 500 million rupees worth of bids […]
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Aug 20 (AFP) – A foreign team monitoring Sri Lanka’s crumbling ceasefire will be almost halved after Tamil Tiger rebels ordered members from European Union states to leave the country, the group said Sunday.The team will be reduced from a full strength of 57 members to 30 next month after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil […]
Sri Lankan warplanes attack Tiger boat base
Aug 19 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s airforce Saturday said it had destroyed attack craft used by Tamil Tigers in an airstrike on a boatyard in rebel-held territory.The military said it had destroyed many boats in Friday’s raid on the yard in the northern Jaffna peninsula where the guerrillas were building boats to launch seaborne attacks […]
More clashes in Sri Lanka while refugee numbers rise
Aug 19 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops bombed an alleged Tamil Tiger seabase and traded fire with rebels in the northern Jaffna peninsula amid concern over supplies for thousands of civilians who fled fierce fighting, officials said Saturday.An airforce jet bombed a boatyard in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) territory claiming it was used […]
India takes Coca-Cola to court alleging high pesticide levels
BANGALORE, India, Aug 19 (AFP) – India’s southern state of Karnataka has filed a case against US soft drinks giant Coca-Cola, accusing it of selling products with unacceptably high pesticide levels, a minister said Saturday.The case was filed August 12 after state health department-supervised laboratory tests showed excessive amounts of pesticide in Coca-Cola product samples, […]
Mini Race
August 15 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s fuel efficient small car market is racing ahead, helped by high oil prices and prohibitive taxes on larger cars.So, customers are willing to wait.†Despite the lack of economies of scale available to China and India, the company is making inroads in to the small car market. Leading the […]