Category:
‘s iron security, blistering heat
NEW DELHI, October 3, 2010 (AFP) – “It’s a dream come true,” squealed 16-year-old Shikha Saini as she patiently queued to enter the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, venue of Sunday’s lavish opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. A wearying, marathon walk up to the main entrance more than three hours ahead of the start of the […]
Dinosaur trove spills more secrets
CUENCA, October 2, 2010 (AFP) – Decades after a mechanical pine-tree digger first unearthed it, an extraordinary trove of dinosaur fossils in central Spain is revealing its secrets. When the digging machine cut a furrow to plant pines in the arid soil near the medieval town of Cuenca in the 1980s, it sliced through more […]
India seeking to intercept BlackBerry messages
NEW DELHI, October 2, 2010 (AFP) – India is seeking to find an “appropriate” means to monitor messages and corporate emails sent through Blackberry smart phones, a top government official has said. India and countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have sought access to monitor the services as they fear heavy […]
Sri Lanka, India trade deal seen helping lure Indian investors
Oct 02, 2010 (LBO) – An upgraded free trade deal between India and Sri Lanka can help the island lure more investment from Indian companies who are increasingly venturing abroad, India’s envoy in Colombo said. The two countries need to have agreements that remove bottlenecks to exports by harmonising their testing, certification, quarantine and customs […]
India poised to stage biggest Games
NEW DELHI, October 2, 2010 (AFP) – India raced Saturday to put finishing touches to preparations for the biggest Commonwealth Games, with the start just a day away — hoping to make the event a success story after a shambolic run-up. Western governments have persistently warned of the threat of a militant attack during the […]
Sri Lanka ex-army chief rejects clemency plea: wife
October 1, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s jailed ex-military chief Sarath Fonseka, who fell out with the president after the army’s crushing defeat of Tamil rebels, has rejected a government offer to consider clemency, his wife said Friday. Anoma Fonseka said she met her husband at Colombo’s Welikada prison where the former four-star general began […]
Sri Lanka hopes to use war strategy on economy
Oct 02, 2010 (LBO) – The skills that enabled Sri Lanka win against Tamil separatists can be used to revive the economy and catch up on growth lost by 30 years of war, an architect of the military campaign said. One of the key weaknesses was lack of manpower to hold areas cleared of Tamil […]
SME Credit
Oct 01, 2010 (LBO) – The World Bank is giving a 57. 4 million US dollar to Sri Lanka to finance small and medium sized business affected by a global downturn and is also giving a partial credit guarantee to banks using the credit line to lend. “The banks can independently access the line of […]
Introduction
Oct 01, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Citizens Development and Business Finance, a firm 35 percent owned by Ceylinco Insurance is listing itself to comply with a central bank direction and pave the way for raising capital in the future, officials said. CDB is listing on the ‘diri savi’ board of the Colombo Stock Exchange […]
Harsh Lessons
Oct 01, 2010 (LBO) – A citizen’s group in Sri Lanka has outlined harsh lessons from the island’s post independent history and suggested ways to a regain lost liberties by re-establishing rule of law. The submission of the ‘Friday Forum’ group was made to a state-appointed ‘Lessons Learnt & Reconciliation Commission’ (LLRC) which is looking […]
Dinosaurs taller than thought: study
WASHINGTON, October 1, 2010 (AFP) – Some dinosaurs may have been at least 10 percent taller than previously thought, US paleontologists said Thursday in a study that found the creatures had large amounts of cartilage. The dinosaurs had thick layers of cartilage in their joints that may have added more than a foot (30 centimeters) […]
Sri Lanka eco-friendly apparel making gives edge: Marks & Spencer
Oct 01, 2010 (LBO) – Eco-friendly, energy and material-efficient apparel manufacture is giving Sri Lanka an edge over competition despite the loss of European trade concessions, Marks & Spencer, a UK-based retailer said. M&S sells about 4.0 billion Sterling pounds of clothes a year and 21 percent of its products were bought from Sri Lanka, […]