Author: lbostgadmin
Bond yields rise, ahead of military unrest
May 30, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s bond market lost ground on Tuesday and continued to rise stealthily at this week’s auction, as the military began probing the massacre of 12 construction workers by Tamil Tiger rebels. The Central Bank sold Rs. 350 billion treasury bonds in three, four and five year maturities, after rejecting […]
War fears shake Sri Lanka as Tigers face EU ban
May 29, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka was Monday banking on the European Union to ban Tamil Tiger rebels this week, but analysts and officials warned that proscription was unlikely to save a collapsing ceasefire at home. Norway’s International Development Minister Erik Solheim, who held talks with Sri Lankan leaders on Friday, warned that the […]
Tigers agree to Oslo talks amid EU ban
May 29, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Monday banked on the European Union to ban the Tamil Tigers even as the rebels said they would agree to more talks to shore up the implementation of a fragile ceasefire.The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) face the “terrorist” label across the 25-member European Union bloc […]
UN agency warns Sri Lankan refugees against fleeing to India
May 29, 2006 (AFP) – The United Nations agency for refugees warned Sri Lankans on Monday against fleeing troubled areas and making a “perilous journey” to neighbouring India. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said at least 10 people drowned while making a dangerous crossing in May of the Palk Straits, the narrow […]
World press leaders debate how to join the Internet revolution
EDINBURGH, May 29, 2006 (AFP) – Global press chiefs gathered in the Scottish capital Edinburgh to thrash out how best to wrestle with the rise of the Internet, stay on top of technology, and beat countless bloggers and citizen journalists to the story. The three-day International Press Institute (IPI) World Congress opened Sunday with fervent […]
Impotent patient kills sex doctor
NEW DELHI, May 29, 2006 (AFP) – An Indian sexologist was shot dead by a patient depressed by worsening impotency, reports said Monday. Javed Ali, 22, on Sunday pumped seven bullets into the self-styled sexologist who had been treating him for two years, The Hindustan Times said. Thirty-three-year-old Rajesh Abbot fell under a hail of […]
Why geography curses Indonesia — and always will
HONG KONG, May 29, 2006 (AFP) – The powerful earthquake that hit Indonesia was just the latest display of violent seismic activity on the archipelago, which stretches across one of the most unstable parts of the Earth’s surface.The country’s position on the planet’s crust means it will continue to experience such catastrophes, just as it […]
Office Blocks
May 29 (LBO) – The Korean government gave Sri Lanka a 20 million dollar loan on Monday for an administrative complex in the South to relocate tsunami hit offices. Most government offices in the Hambantota district are currently located in private houses after tidal waves in December 2004 destroyed large numbers of state buildings. The […]
Giant Strides
May 29, 2006 (LBO) – Bank of Ceylon, Sri Lanka’s biggest state owned lender in terms of assets, is confident of making a 4.5 billion profit before taxes for the full year 2006-7, a top official said Monday. Sri Lanka has 10 domestic banks, of which two are state owned Bank of Ceylon and the […]
Pitter Patter
May 29, 2006 (LBO) – The International Finance Corp, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group Monday launched a 10 million dollar technical assistant fund to uplift Sri Lanka’s small and medium sector. Dubbed the SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility or SEDF, the multi-donor assistance programme will cover Sri Lanka and Maldives over a […]
‘s Lanka Orix Leasing gets A (lka) rating
May 29, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s pioneering leasing firm Lanka Orix Leasing Company has secured an ‘A (lka)’ credit rating from Fitch Ratings Lanka. Part Japanese owned, LOLCs credit outlook is stable, the rating agency said Monday. “The rating takes into account the less diversified funding sources available to specialised leasing companies such as […]
Mine blast inside Sri Lanka wildlife park kills seven
May 28, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan authorities Sunday found the mutilated bodies of seven local tourists believed to have been killed by an explosion in a wildlife sanctuary near a conflict zone, police said.Five of the bodies could be identified — two women and three men — while the remains of two others were […]