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‘s rupee hits fresh lifetime low
MUMBAI, August 27, 2013 (AFP) – India’s rupee fell to a new low Tuesday on fears over the country’s slowing economy and the impact of a new food programme for the poor on already strained finances.The rupee, like currencies of other emerging markets, has also fallen on fears of foreign fund outflows as the US […]
‘s anti-corporate band wagon
Aug 27, 2013 (LBO) I grew up in nationalistic times. The talk was of prosperity driven by oil from Pesalai and fertilizer from Eppawala. We were told that we were not capturing the value of tea and rubber, because we were exporting them without adding value. Western imperialists were still in control, extracting most of […]
UN rights chief asked to trace Sri Lanka war missing
COLOMBO, August 27, 2013 (AFP) – Families of people who disappeared during Sri Lanka’s ethnic war demonstrated in the former rebel stronghold of Jaffna Tuesday as UN rights chief Navi Pillay visited the area on a fact-finding mission.Demonstrators led by women held photographs of their missing relatives outside the Jaffna library and urged Pillay, the […]
”
COLOMBO, August 27, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s cultural affairs ministry has taken strong exception to a mass “wedding” of police dogs, which used symbols of traditional Buddhist nuptials on the Indian Ocean island. Culture Minister T.B. Ekanayake demanded an explanation for Monday’s ceremony in central Sri Lanka, which was intended to promote a programme […]
Sri Lanka signs economic and defence deals with Belarus
Aug 27, 2013 (LBO)- Sri Lanka has signed a series of bilateral deals involving trade, taxation, tourism and defence co-operation following a visit by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Belarus.Agreements on trade and economic co-operation, avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion, tourism and technical co-operation on military affairs had been signed, the media […]
UN-ESCAP boss at South Asia econ summit in Sri Lanka
Aug 27, 2013 (LBO) – Noeleen Heyzer, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) will deliver the keynote address a regional economic forum in Sri Lanka. The 6th South Asia Economic Summit (SAES), will start in Colombo on September 02. The Institute of Policy Studies, a […]
Sri Lanka at helm of South Asia free trade effort
Aug 26, 2013 (LBO) – South Asian nations have to cut negative lists to improve the people’s trade freedoms, a top regional official had said following a ministerial meet in the Island nation.Ahmed Salem, Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation had said a goal was established at a 2011 regional summit […]
”’ rating confirmed: RAM
Aug 26, 2013 (LBO) – RAM Ratings has cut outlook on a ‘BBB’ rating of Sri Lanka’s Sanasa Development Bank Plc, a micro-financier based on a co-operative concept, to ‘stable’ from ‘positive’. “The revision reflects a trend of weakening asset quality amidst an accretion in non-performing loans (NPLs) as well as the Bank’s moderated performance,” […]
Sri Lanka bond yields steady, money tighter
Aug 26, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s bonds opened flat Monday but money markets were tighter after excess liquidity in the interbank market gradually reduced last week, dealers said.Gilt-backed repos were quoted around 8.40/50 percent about and un-backed call money was quoted at 8.70/80 percent about 10/15 basis points higher than last week, dealers said. […]
Not Us
August 25, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s army Sunday denied involvement in an armed robbery at the home of a journalist who has been critical of the government.Media rights groups have said Sri Lanka remains a dangerous place for journalists despite the end of a decades-long war between the military and Tamil separatist rebels in […]
Maldivian foreign minister dies in Singapore hospital
COLOMBO, August 25, 2013 (AFP) – Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdul Samad Abdullah died Sunday while undergoing treatment for kidney and heart disease in a Singapore hospital, the government said.He was 67. Abdullah was a key ally of President Mohamed Waheed who is seeking re-election in September 7 elections in the Indian Ocean atoll nation. Waheed […]
‘s visit
COLOMBO, August 26, 2013 (AFP) – Buddhist monks led protests in the Sri Lankan capital Monday against the UN’s top rights official, who began a fact-finding mission to the country following concerns about war crimes.Dozens of monks and pro-government activists staged the noisy demonstration outside UN offices, accusing the international community of drumming up false […]