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Top UN official to visit Sri Lanka as conflict deepens
Aug 5, 2007 (AFP) – A top UN official is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka this week to discuss the island’s deepening Tamil separatist conflict and the plight of civilians caught in the crossfire, officials said Sunday.John Holmes, the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, will hold talks with Sri Lankan leaders […]
Flood Havoc
NEW DELHI, Aug 5, 2007 (AFP) – The death toll from raging floods in India neared 1,100 Sunday as more people drowned in swollen rivers that have stranded millions in their homes, officials said.Every year the monsoon causes the river to flood in Assam, a remote state of 26 million people. Four people died overnight […]
Level Play
August 4, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state sector has to improve governance for the country to progress, at a time when private firms were coming under increasingly tight regulation and self regulation, a senior business executive said. Former chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange and current chairman of Hatton National Bank Rienzie Wijetilleke said […]
China blacklists companies exporting poor-quality goods
BEIJING, Aug 4, 2007 (AFP) – China has established a blacklist of companies that have violated rules on the quality of exports, the commerce ministry said Saturday amid growing global concern about the safety of China-made goods.“We have set up a blacklist system for companies in the exporting sector and punished some companies that have […]
Sri Lankan Tigers say 32 civilians killed in Tamil regions
Aug 4, 2007 (AFP) – At least 32 Tamil civilians have been killed and another 24 “disappeared” last month in Tamil-dominated areas of Sri Lanka’s embattled northeast, the guerrillas said on Saturday.The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) blamed government forces for the killings as well as the disappearances from the Jaffna peninsula and […]
Sri Lanka rejects evidence tampering in massacre probe
Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Friday rejected charges that it had tampered with evidence in the investigations into the massacre of 17 workers employed by a French charity.The fighting raged despite a Norwegian-arranged truce which is monitored by independent observers. The government said that an Australian expert who raised doubts about the […]
Sri Lanka cuts capital spending to contain deficit
August 4, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government has significantly altered its budget halfway through the year slashing public investment and bringing down a planned deficit, despite spending more money on salaries and interest. We haven’t established the groundwork in terms of economic policies and political stability to sustain higher growth.” Public investment, earlier budgeted […]
Cargo Skills
August 03, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is seeking an investor for Colombo’s new container terminal who can increase cargo volumes and improve cash flow, a senior official said. SLPA chairman Saliya Wickramasuriya said the technical bids for the infrastructure work and first box terminal in the new South Port are […]
Number Crunchers
August 3, 2007 (LBO) – Amba Research, a fast growing investment research outsourcing (IRO) firm, has become the top employer of a UK professional accounting body in Sri Lanka, the company said. The firm has expanded its office space by occupying another floor in Colombo’s World Trade Centre building. The expansion came with a round […]
Baby Probe
COLOMBO, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) – A Dutch couple has been detained in custody for another two weeks following their arrest nine days ago for trying to illegally adopt an infant, officials said Friday.The couple, who appeared before the Colombo Chief Magistrate Kusala Sarojini Weerawardena on Friday, were to be questioned later in the day […]
India inflation eases but RBI warns of rising commodity prices
NEW DELHI, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) – India’s inflation rate eased to 4.36 percent on falling food prices, official data on Friday showed, after the central bank held benchmark interest rates steady earlier in the week. Inflation dropped in line with market expectations for the week ended July 21 from 4.41 per cent for the […]
India and US in landmark nuclear deal
NEW DELHI, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) – India and the United States unveiled on Friday the text of an operating agreement for their controversial civilian nuclear technology deal, with key provisions on fuel supplies and safeguards.The agreement, which took two years to complete, spells out how a plan for Washington to share nuclear technology with […]