Category:
Ship Building
May 02, 2008 (LBO) – Colombo Dockyard, Sri Lanka’s sole listed ship builder, said it plans to invest 473 million rupees this year to upgrade yard infrastructure to meet growing demand for ship building and repair work. The yard, a subsidiary of Japan’s Onomichi Dockyard Co., which provides management. and technical expertise, anticipates it will […]
Sri Lankan tea prices ease, crops on the rise
May 02, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices have begun to decline with the end of the western quality season and increasing crops, brokers said. “The market is coming down because of high crops and because seasonal quality is over,” said a broker. “Now the Colombo market is very attractive, almost in line with […]
Fighting kills 35 in Sri Lanka: military
May 2, 2008 (AFP) – At least 34 Tamil Tiger rebels and a soldier died in the latest battles in the island’s restive north, the defence ministry said Friday.Security forces smashed rebel bunkers and engaged in artillery fire with Tamil separatists in the regions of Vavuniya, Jaffna, Mannar and Weli Oya on Thursday killing 34 […]
Emirates profits rise by half despite high fuel costs
May 02, 2008 (LBO) – Dubai’s Emirates Airlines, which owns a big stake in Sri Lanka’s national carrier, has reported group net profits increased 54.1 percent to 1.45 billion dollars for the financial year ended March 31, 2008. Group revenues rose 32.3 percent to 10.8 billion dollars during the period, the airline said in a […]
”: UN expert
PARIS, May 2, 2008 (AFP) – The UN’s new top advisor on food blamed two decades of wrong-headed policies by world powers for the food crisis sweeping the globe, in a stinging interview published on his first day in office Friday.Frenchman Olivier de Schutter, a law professor and human rights campaigner, told Le Monde newspaper […]
Non-stop media coverage of US campaign comes in for critique
WASHINGTON, May 2, 2008 (AFP) – Americans say the media are devoting too much ink and airtime to the US presidential race, amid growing criticism that news coverage has focused on the superficial instead of important issues.Half of the public, 51 percent, say news outlets are offering “too much coverage of the campaign,” according to […]
India inflation hits 42-month high of 7.57 pct
NEW DELHI, May 2, 2008 (AFP) – India’s inflation rate accelerated to a 42-month peak of 7.57 percent, driven by higher food costs, according to official data on Friday, dealing a fresh blow to the government.Annual inflation quickened more than two-tenths of a percentage point to touch 7.57 percent for the week ended April 19, […]
China inspects 3,600 factories in child labour scandal: report
BEIJING, May 1, 2008 (AFP) – Chinese authorities inspected more than 3,600 businesses in a major export city at the centre of a child labour scandal, state press reported Thursday, after children were found working in factories.The children, aged from nine to 16, worked long hours in factories in the city of Dongguan for about […]
Sri Lanka govt running out of time to fix economy: study
May 02, 2008 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government is running out of time to fix the economy, with inflation out of control and other economic fundamentals steadily deteriorating, a new research paper on the economy says. With the regime of President Mahinda Rajapakse nearing its half term (by November 2008) and the parliamentary election […]
IMF welcomes Sri Lanka monetary and fiscal tightening; clarifies external shock study
May 02, 2008 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund says it backs moves by Sri Lanka’s central bank to tighten monetary policy as well as ‘economically correct but politically difficult’ decisions by the island to reduce fuel and food subsidies. The head of IMF’s Asia Department David Burton says a recent IMF working paper on […]
British police get more time to quiz Tamil Tiger suspects
LONDON, May 1, 2008 (AFP) – British police have been given more time to question three men held as part of a police probe into the Tamil Tiger guerrillas in Sri Lanka, a spokesman said Thursday.Detectives have been granted until Tuesday to hold the trio at the high-security Paddington Green police station in London. “We […]
Sri Lanka mine kills two police commandos: military
May 1, 2008 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels on Thursday set off a roadside mine in northern Sri Lanka, killing two police commandos, the defence ministry said. The Claymore mine, packed with steel balls, exploded in Kebethigollewa as troops were clearing the road for mines, the military said, adding that troops fired at fleeing […]