Category:
Nokia launches new phones, vows to stay number one
SINGAPORE, June 17, 2008 (AFP) – Finnish telecom giant Nokia has launched two new email-capable handsets for business users and vowed to defend its position as the world’s leading mobile phone maker.Nokia said the E71 and E66 were pre-loaded with Microsoft’s popular email programme and would cater to business professionals who wanted easy and instant […]
‘s cyclone-hit rice mills resume production
YANGON, June 17 (Asia Pulse) – Most of the rice mills in Myanmar’s Yangon division, which were destroyed in a cyclone storm early last month, have resumed operation after prompt repair, the local weekly Flower News reported Tuesday. Of the 110 over-15-ton rice mills in Yangon division, nearly 100 have returned to normal operation since […]
China begins sensitive Xinjiang torch relay leg
URUMQI, June 17, 2008 (AFP) – China Tuesday kicked off the Olympic torch relay’s sensitive leg through Xinjiang, a largely Muslim western region where Beijing acknowledges there are ethnic tensions. Under sunny skies, the regional capital Urumqi was largely shut down with police checkpoints restricting movement throughout the normally bustling city as the relay got […]
French charity seeks international probe into Sri Lanka massacre
June 17, 2008 (AFP) – A French charity demanded on Tuesday an international probe into the execution-style killing of 17 of its employees in Sri Lanka in 2006 after denouncing local investigations.Paris-based Action Against Hunger, or ACF, asked the French government and the European Union, among others, to set up an international panel to probe […]
” countries for journalists
BELGRADE, June 17, 2008 (AFP) – The International Press Institute has highlighted the oppressive conditions for media in a number of countries, including Zimbabwe and Russia, officials said. The IPI board “unanimously” voted to keep Ethiopia, Nepal, Russia, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Zimbabwe on its “watch list” of countries where press freedom has significantly deteriorated, […]
Sri Lanka stocks end weaker on inflation concerns
June 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka stocks closed marginally lower on thin trading with high inflation and interest rates driving investors away from the market, brokers said. The All Share Price Index fell 0.43 percent (10.46 points) to end at 2,444.91 while the more liquid Milanka was down 0.62 percent (18.35 points) to end […]
Harbour View
June 16, 2008 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is getting ready to make commercial use of its vast landholdings around the harbours in the island, some of which are now considered prime property. “We’ve structured a framework agreement by which we can use the land for public-private partnership projects,” SLPA chairman Saliya […]
Good Behaviour
June 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank said it has prepared a draft code of corporate governance for registered finance companies, based on the directions issued to licensed banks, that will come into effect from January 2009. It said in a statement that the draft took into consideration the views expressed by the […]
Sri Lanka professionals call for policy reform in agriculture
June 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka must have a clear cut agriculture policy, especially for paddy, without resorting to short term solutions, if the country is to tackle the approaching food security issues, agriculture professionals said. “We have been having ad hoc approaches to food security and food policy,” said Nimal Ranaweera, a former […]
Motorcycle suicide bomber kills 12 police in Sri Lanka: officials
COLOMBO, June 16, 2008 (AFP) – A suspected Tamil Tiger rebel detonated explosives on his motorcycle outside a police station in northern Sri Lanka Monday, killing at least 12 officers and wounding 40 others, officials said. The blast occurred during morning rush hour directly in front of the police building in Vavuniya town, 258 kilometres […]
Sri Lanka suicide bombing kills nine: police
June 16, 2008 (AFP) – At least nine people were killed and 40 wounded Monday in a suicide bombing at a police office in northern Sri Lanka, officials said.Police said the area was sealed off as victims were being rushed to hospital. Vavuniya borders Tamil rebel-held territory further north of the island.The suicide bomber detonated […]
Sri Lanka suicide bombing kills five: police
June 16, 2008 (AFP) – A suspected Tamil Tiger rebel detonated explosives carried on his motorcycle in northern Sri Lanka Monday, killing at least five people and wounded many more, police said.Vavuniya borders Tamil rebel-held territory further north of the island.The suicide bomber staged the attack directly in front of a police administration office in […]