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Sri Lanka president orders police probe on Tamil evictions
COLOMBO, June 8, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president Friday promised an investigation into police action that forced hundreds of ethnic Tamils from the capital at gunpoint in early morning raids condemned around the World. President Mahinda Rajapakse invited evicted people back to Colombo and ordered a disciplinary probe against the police chief responsible. Officers […]
Cell Cash
June 8, 2007 (LBO) – The cellular operator Mobitel has raised five billion rupees through a syndicated loan to fund its expansion into rural Sri Lanka, officials said. The 8-year loan was syndicated by HSBC Sri Lanka. Bank of Ceylon, Peoples’ Bank, Hatton National Bank and HSBC itself brought in a billion rupees each while […]
Health South
June 08, 2007 (LBO) – Hemas group a listed diversified group that is in consumer goods, energy, leisure and healthcare said it had acquired a hospital in the southern Sri Lankan city of Galle. Hemas said the privately-owned Southern Hospital will soon be upgraded with new medical technologies. “Hemas Southern Hospitals will, over the next […]
Clear Rules
June 08, 2007 (LBO) – A top World Bank official Thursday warned of the dangers of governments accepting unsolicited proposals in public-private partnership projects, saying it could lead to controversy and corruption allegations. Governments accepting unsolicited proposals in public-private partnership (PPP) projects should introduce some form of competitive bidding, World Bank Country Director Naoko Ishii […]
Big Money
June 08, 2007 (LBO) – Dialog Telekom signed up with Board of Investment to invest 33 billion rupees (300 million dollars) to expand existing services and set up broadband fibre optic and microwave transmission networks across the island. As an internal conflict intensifies, telecoms remain one of few remaining growth sectors. The investment to be […]
Rural Link
June 8, 2007 (LBO) – The first of a series of ‘cyber-centers’ that will link rural business in Sri Lanka with the internet has been opened in the central hill town of Matale, the United States embassy said.The public private partnership where Qualcomm, Microsoft, and Sri Lanka’s Dialog Telekom InfoShare, National Development Bank, and Lanka […]
Sri Lanka apparel makers increase backward integration
June 08, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s garments industry has increased sourcing of fabric from the region and making accessories at home under its backward integration plan to strengthen its base, an industry official said. In 2003 the industry imported 194 million dollars worth of accessories and trims but this fell to 181 million dollars […]
Ships cry for help as wild weather lashes Australia
SYDNEY, June 8, 2007 (AFP) – Rescue helicopters braved wild weather to airlift 21 crew members from a stricken freighter as pounding seas threatened to beach others on Australia’s east coast Friday.The Filipino and Korean crew on board the 30,000-tonne coal carrier Pasha Bulker, which ran aground off Newcastle harbour north of Sydney, were winched […]
Sri Lanka president raps police chief, invites Tamils back
June 8, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president Friday criticised his police chief for evicting hundreds of minority Tamils from the capital and ordered them to be brought back immediately, an official said.Sri Lanka’s main opposition said the move was similar to what Hitler did to the Jews in the early days in Germany.President Mahinda […]
US condemns Sri Lanka Tamil evictions from capital
June 8, 2007 (LBO) – The United States Friday condemned the eviction of ethnic Tamils without jobs from Colombo, and asked the government to reveal where they were taken. Sri Lanka’s police say the move was aimed at blocking Tamil Tiger guerillas from infiltrating the capital, setting off explosions and engaging in other subversive activities. […]
UN see pattern in Sri Lanka aid worker killings
GENEVA, June 7, 2007 (AFP) – The murder of two Red Cross workers in Sri Lanka appears to be part of a trend in which aid workers are deliberately targeted, two United Nations human rights experts said Thursday. Sri Lankan Red Cross workers Sinnarasa Shanmugalingam and Karthekesu Chandramohan were abducted in the capital Colombo last […]
Rights groups accuse Sri Lanka over evictions
June 8, 2007 (AFP) – Human rights activists accused Sri Lanka’s government Friday of imposing a “collective punishment” on its minority Tamil community after forcing hundreds of them out of the capital. Activists and opposition politicians said the expulsions from Colombo, a measure the government said was to prevent Tiger terror attacks, had added to […]