Category:
Bomb explodes in Sri Lankan capital: police
COLOMBO, September 11, 2008 (AFP) – A bomb exploded on a railway track in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo on Thursday, the second such blast in as many days, but there were no casualties, police said. The blast caused little damage to the railway line at Sedawatte, a slum area of the city, a police […]
Sri Lanka power utility to start net metering
Sept 11, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s power distributors are to start net metering, where customers would be able to generate small amounts of renewable energy, ‘export’ to the national grid, and only pay for the ‘net’ amount of electricity used.A note to cabinet said the proposal would encourage customers to generate their own electricity […]
Venezuela expels US ambassador, threatens to cut oil
CARACAS, September 12, 2008 (AFP) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez expelled the US envoy to Caracas late Thursday and threatened to halt crude exports to the United States on a day he highlighted the recent arrival of two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers. Chavez on Thursday ordered US ambassador Patrick Duddy to leave the country within […]
Sri Lanka slams UN chief
September 11, 2008 (AFP) – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon came in for tough criticism Thursday from Sri Lanka’s government, which accused him of unwittingly helping Tamil Tiger rebels. Responding to the UN chief’s concern over civilians displaced by heavy fighting in the north of the island, a Sri Lankan government rights official said a […]
Bunker Supply
Sept 11, 2008 (LBO) – Ship fuel prices at Colombo port could fall by around five percent after a tank farm previously operated by one player is converted to a common storage facility, a supplier has said.Lanka Marine Services (LMS), a unit of John Keells Holdings was ordered to return a tank farm and land […]
Foreign Unit
Sept 11, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank said the long term credit rating of its Bangladesh unit had been upgraded by one notch to AA+ from AA, by Credit Rating Information and Services Ltd (CRISIL). CRISIL had given it a ST-1 short term rating. Commercial Bank of Ceylon had bought Credit Agricole lndosuez […]
Sri Lanka state budget airline asks for more cash
Sept 11, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s troubled state-run budget carrier Mihin Air is to ask for another three billion rupees in peoples’ money in the next budget to revive operations, an official said.The airline is now without aircraft after having lost its start-up capital and also money borrowed from state-run Bank of Ceylon, and […]
Kuwaiti shares nosedive on cash drain
KUWAIT CITY, September 11, 2008 (AFP) – Kuwaiti stocks ended the week through Thursday down six percent on lack of cashflow drained by huge IPOs and a strict monetary policy to combat inflation, analysts said. The Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) Index finished the week at 13,123.90 points, the lowest level in eight months. The index […]
‘t agency
WASHINGTON, September 11, 2008 (AFP) – US Department of the Interior employees who handled billions of dollars in oil contracts improperly engaged in sex with energy company employees, a report released Wednesday said. The report drafted by the department’s inspector general Earl Devaney deplored “a culture of ethical failure” and said the investigation uncovered a […]
Major quake shakes northern Japan, tsunami warning
TOKYO, September 11, 2008 (AFP) – A 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook northern Japan on Thursday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, which warned of mild tsunami seismic waves. The undersea earthquake occurred at 9:21 am (0021 GMT) about 20 kilometres deep (12.4 miles) off Hokkaido island’s Tokachi region, some 700 kilometres north of Tokyo, the agency […]
‘s Mendis named ICC emerging player of the year
DUBAI, September 10, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s new spin sensation Ajantha Mendis was named as the International Cricket Council (ICC) emerging player of the year at an awards ceremony here Wednesday.Players eligible for this award must be under 26 years of age at the start of the voting period (August 9 2007) and have […]
Exploration Spend
Sep 11, 2008 (LBO) – Cairn India said its Sri Lanka unit had signed a deal with Sri Lanka’s investment promotion office to cover a 110 million US dollar oil exploration program. The company was given an off-shore exploration block in the north western Mannar Basin of the island. “The Mannar basin is a frontier […]