Indian launches betel condoms

NEW DELHI, July 17, 2007 (AFP) – A condom flavoured with the popular mixture of betel nut and tobacco known as paan is to go on sale in India, newspapers said Tuesday.State-owned company Hindustan Latex has already tested the pungent and bitter mixture on their main market, sex workers, who preferred it to other flavours […]

SAN FRANCISCO, July 16, 2007 (AFP) – Google announced Monday that it is shortening the lives of software “cookies” used to track users’ online preferences. In coming months Google will begin issuing cookies that automatically expire two years after a person visits the website provided they don’t return, according to the US firm’s global privacy […]

‘ bail may be appealed by Australia

MELBOURNE, July 17, 2007 (AFP) – Australia indicated on Tuesday that it may appeal a court ruling which granted bail to two men charged with supplying funds to Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels. It follows the government’s decision on Monday to revoke the visa of an Indian doctor charged in connection with the British car […]

Top civil servant shot dead in Sri Lanka

July 17, 2007 (AFP) – Unidentified gunmen shot dead a top civil servant in north-eastern Sri Lanka Monday as the government moved to celebrate the dismantling of a key Tamil rebel base in the region, officials said. Gunmen killed Harry Abeyweera, the top civil administrator in the district of Trincomalee, as he worked at his […]

Sri Lanka money rates up, equities quiet Monday

July 16, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka interbank call rates spiked to 20 percent Monday and the rupee was steady with state names offering spot dollars at 111.75 rupees, dealers said. On Friday the rupee closed at 111.75/80 to the dollar. The proposals to choose lead managers for a 400 million dollar government bond offering […]

Better Care

July 16, 2007 (LBO) –Asiri Hospitals group posted a 312.7 million rupee after tax profit for the year ending in March 31, 2007, up almost by half, despite the depreciation of the Sri Lanka rupee that increased the price of imported medical supplies and material. Another 17 percent is held by Softlogic Holdings, an electronics […]

Human Attempt

July 16, 2007 (LBO) – Lawyers hired to file an appeal for the condemned Sri Lankan teenager Rizana Nafeek in Saudi Arabia have met the girl and started proceedings, the rights body that raised funds to fight her case said Monday. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) said representatives of the legal firm Kateb Fahad […]

France, Germany pledge to defend independent ECB

TOULOUSE, France, July 16, 2007 (AFP) – France and Germany agree on the need to keep the European Central Bank free of political meddling, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday. “We are both in agreement on the fact that the European Central Bank is independent.It is very important,” Merkel told a joint news conference with […]

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister arrested: aide

DHAKA, July 16, 2007 (AFP) – Former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed who led the country from 1996 to 2001 and faces charges of corruption and murder was arrested Monday, an aide said.“She has been arrested and taken away and is now being taken to the court,” Hasan Mahmud, personal secretary to Sheikh Hasina, […]

Need Based

July 16, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has announced fuel subsidies to the poor on state welfare and warned of more price hikes with the onset of a hurricane season that disrupts international offshore petroleum production. The government says they are willing to pay a fuel subsidy to three-wheeler tax owners if they install metres. […]

Monthlies

July 16, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will adjust fuel prices monthly on a transparent formula to cut losses in petroleum utilities, an official said, which is expected to reduce exchange rate pressure and avoid the build-up of macro-economic imbalances. Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) Chairman Ashantha de Mel says a cabinet sub-committee on energy had […]

Sri Lanka seeks foreign aid for captured province

July 16, 2007 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan government said Monday it would seek foreign aid to rebuild a key province recently wrested from the Tamil Tiger rebels after months of fighting.The rebels have admitted losing control of Thoppigala, formerly a key stronghold, but said they would revert to guerrilla tactics there. Donors would be […]

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