Category: Other
India PM-elect Modi to keep defence, slashes full-rank cabinet to 23: reports
NEW DELHI, May 26, 2014 (AFP) – India’s premier-elect Narendra Modi plans to slash 26 government positions and name himself as defence minister under a cabinet revamp set to be unveiled later Monday, reports said.Modi’s cabinet will number 45 including him, down from 71 in outgoing prime minister Manmohan Singh’s scandal-tainted Congress-led coalition administration, the […]
Label Rules
May 25, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Tobacco Company Plc, a unit of British American Tobacco said it had gone to Supreme Court again over new labeling regulations, shortly after a court ruling that allowed graphical warnings.The recent court ruling allowed graphic labels covering 50 to 60 percent of the area of a pack […]
Arrested
KUALA LUMPUR, May 25, 2014 (AFP) – Three men suspected of being Tamil Tigers have been arrested in Malaysia, a top police official said Sunday, accusing them of attempting to revive the Sri Lankan separatist group. Khalid Abu Bakar, inspector-general of police, said the trio, who had been in Malaysia since 2004, were arrested in […]
Football: Afghan players injured in Maldives bus crash
COLOMBO, May 24, 2014 (AFP) – Five players and two officials of the Afghan national team were injured in a road accident in the Maldives Saturday after an AFC Challenge Cup match, a report said.Afghan skipper Haroon Fakhrudin was among those hurt when the team bus crashed into a motorcycle while returning to a hotel […]
Sri Lanka elephants migrate from Canada to US
WASHINGTON, May 24, 2014 (AFP) – Three female Asian elephants took up residence at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington on Friday after a 2,500-mile (4,000-kilometer) road trip from western Canada.Now in quarantine for 30 days as they adapt to their new surroundings, the immigrant pachyderms can be seen on the National Zoo’s “elephant cam” […]
Legal Battle
May 22 (AFP) A British tourist thrown out of Sri Lanka for sporting a Buddha tattoo is suing local authorities for $78,000 over her ordeal, which allegedly included sexual harassment, her lawyer said Thursday. Naomi Coleman filed the action in the Supreme Court in Colombo on Wednesday seeking 10 million rupees ($78,000) in compensation from […]
Teenager test case in Maldives death penalty revival
MALÉ, May 22, 2014 (AFP) – A 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder over a fatal stabbing in the Maldives, becoming the first minor to be accused of a capital offence since the death penalty was reintroduced, officials said.The unnamed teenager is accused of stabbing a 21-year-old man to death in December in a […]
Corrupt Watchdogs
KATHMANDU, May 21, 2014 (AFP) – South Asia’s corruption-fighting agencies lack the power and independence to properly investigate politicians and officials for graft entrenched in the region, a watchdog said Wednesday.A report released by Berlin-based Transparency International said many agencies need their government’s consent to investigate suspected graft cases, while others face massive political interference […]
” resignation offers
NEW DELHI, May 19, 2014 (AFP) – India’s Sonia and Rahul Gandhi offered to resign Monday after leading the once-dominant Congress party to its worst-ever election defeat last week, only for colleagues to insist the dynasty stay in place.Congress won just 44 seats in the parliamentary election for 543 seats as the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya […]
‘s Modi quick on Twitter diplomacy, no mention of US
NEW DELHI, May 19, 2014 (AFP) – India’s prime minister-elect Narendra Modi has taken to Twitter to thank fellow leaders in Japan, Russia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Australia for their support, but one man still waiting for a reply is US Secretary of State John Kerry.While Canadian Prime Minister Stephan Harper has had two mentions […]
Accounting Row
May 19, 2014 (LBO) – A legislator has renewed a call to publish audited accounts of Sri Lanka’s Employees Provident Fund and table them in the parliament amid concerns over the purchase of some fundamentally weak shares at high prices during a stock market bubble.Sri Lanka’s EPF, which represents pension contributions of private sector employees […]
‘s new right-wing govt
NEW DELHI, May 18, 2014 (AFP) – Prime minister-elect Narendra Modi summoned senior figures from his Hindu nationalist party on Sunday for talks on forming a new government that is set to steer India sharply to the right. Top BJP leaders were also meeting in Delhi with the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu […]