Category:
Sri Lanka says 32 killed in fresh violence
Jan 19, 2008 (AFP) – At least 31 Sri Lankan guerrillas and one soldier were killed in heavy fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels across the embattled north, the defence ministry said on Saturday. The rebels died in clashes Friday and early Saturday in the Vavuniya, Mannar and Jaffna districts bordering the de […]
Sri Lankan stocks battered by war, high rates
Jan 18, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks edged slightly higher in thin trading Friday with brokers saying intensifying violence and high interest rates were keeping investors away. Margin traders were under pressure to reduce their exposure owing to sky high interest rates. Stocks were battered this week because of stepped up attacks by Tamil […]
Developing Ideas
Jan 18, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan community organizations that come up with innovative ways to combat discrimination against HIV/AIDS sufferers would get World Bank support to develop and implement their ideas, an official said. More information on the Development Marketplace The World Bank is looking for “creative, innovative ways of carrying a message”, says […]
” to 3.79-pct, no rate cut
NEW DELHI, Jan 18, 2008 (AFP) – India’s inflation jumped nearly three-tenths of one percentage point to its highest level in four months, data showed on Friday, making chances of an interest rate cut more remote.But economists expect the economy to lose steam in coming months as the effects of aggressive monetary tightening to curb […]
Asian markets tumble on US fears, Japan finance minister calls for calm
TOKYO, Jan 18, 2008 (AFP) – Japanese share prices tumbled 2.81 percent by the end of the morning session Friday after a sharp fall on Wall Street on rising fears of a US recession, dealers said. They said that congressional testimony by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke failed to reassure markets that stimulus measures were […]
Sri Lanka Tamil Tigers murder nine civilians: military
Jan 18, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military on Friday accused Tamil Tiger rebels of murdering nine civilians in the island’s south as violence between the two sides escalated after the formal end of a ceasefire. The army said nine villagers died in separate attacks in the south, suggesting the rebels were again extending their […]
Bigger One
Jan 18, 2008 (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) refinery expansion may be doubled to a 100,000 barrels-per-day project and its cost may go up to a billion dollars, a top official said.“An Iranian team has already started a feasibility project and now we are looking at a bigger project, which may […]
Fleecing Ethics
Jan 18, 2007 (LBO) — Sri Lanka’s opposition has added fuel to the growing fire over petroleum firms fleecing petrol users to give subsidies to diesel consumers especially in commercial sectors.Sri Lanka’s government also taxes petrol users heavily but now the two main fuel distributors, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and Lanka IOC, a unit of Indian […]
Sri Lankan stocks edge lower as trading dries up
Jan 17, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks fell again Thursday but not as sharply as yesterday with trading drying up even further as investors remained cautious owing to continuing violence, brokers said.The All Share Price Index fell 3.28 points or 0.14 percent to close at 2,378.88, while the more liquid Milanka index shed 3.23 […]
New Buildings
Jan 17, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Mercantile Shipping Company Ltd. is acquiring two newly built cargo ships as part of efforts to renew its fleet, company officials said. The company has signed an agreement with the Dutch government for a ship building grant for the two multi-purpose vessels each of 7,800 tonnes deadweight. The […]
Terror Funding
Jan 17, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) set up under the Central Bank to combat money laundering and terrorist financing should be more independent, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. Sri Lankan authorities should ensure that the FIU should be given operational independence to ensure freedom from undue influence or […]
Authors flock to Sri Lanka as Galle literary festival opens
Galle, Sri Lanka Jan 17, 2008 (LBO) – Hundreds of international and local authors, dramatists, poets, historians and architects are flocking to a coastal town in southern Sri Lanka, as the ‘Galle International Literary Festival’ takes off. . The festival is being staged in and around a fort in Galle, a southwestern coastal town 116 […]