Category: Other
India hikes interest rates by 25 basis points
MUMBAI, June 16, 2011 (AFP) – India’s central bank on Thursday raised its key short-term interest rates by 25 basis points — its 10th hike in 16 months — in a bid to tame high inflation stuck at “uncomfortable levels.” The Reserve Bank of India raised its repo rate — at which it lends to […]
Human Smuggling
OTTAWA, June 14, 2011 (AFP) – Canadian police arrested Tuesday four Sri Lankan nationals accused of being behind a 2009 operation that illegally brought 76 Tamils from war-torn Sri Lanka to Canada on a rickety freighter. All 76, including the four people arrested, requested asylum when they arrived off the coast of British Columbia in […]
UK Call
LONDON, June 14, 2011 (AFP) – Britain on Wednesday said “horrific” footage contained within a film documenting the final weeks of Sri Lanka’s civil war constituted “convincing evidence” of war crimes. The Channel 4 documentary, which aired on British television on Tuesday, contained footage of what it said were prisoner executions. It also showed the […]
Film Reaction
COLOMBO, June 15, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Wednesday denied it targeted civilians while crushing Tamil Tiger rebels but said action would be taken if war crimes allegations contained in a new British documentary were true. The Sri Lankan High Commission in London said images shown on Channel 4 on Tuesday night had not […]
‘ Concern
June 11, 2011 (LBO) – Friday Forum, a Sri Lankans citizen’s group has expressed concern about a recent controversial training scheme for undergraduates, conducted the by the military, where relief was sought also from the country’s highest court. “The decision in the Supreme Court dismissing, without stating reasons, all the petitions against the programme, has […]
Sri Lanka earns Rs22.1bn from food taxes: report
June 12, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has earned 22. 1 billion rupees from taxes imposed on several basic foods imported in to country in 2009, with sugar and milk powder bringing in the most amount of money, a media report said. The Island newspaper said the information was tabled in parliament in response to […]
Pension Fracas
June 11, 2011 (LBO) – The International Monetary Fund had “nothing to do” with a controversial ‘pension’ plan for Sri Lanka’s private sector workers involving a third forced savings scheme, an official said. Rulers, a handful of their close associates can get a pension after only five years in office under a law passed by […]
Sri Lanka Haycarb calls for coconut plantations strategy
June 10, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Haycarb has called for a long-term strategy to expand coconut plantations to ensure raw material availability to make activated carbon and said it is diversifying into wood- and coal-based carbons. Shortages of coconut shell charcoal, which account for almost 65 percent of the firm’s cost of production, and […]
Retirement Debate
June 08, 2011 (LBO) – Much has been written about the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed Employment Pension Benefits Fund. The bill was to affect the lives of the majority of Sri Lankans. First a white paper should have made available for public discussion and debate prior to its presentation in Parliament. When the […]
Dubai looks to bag top spot as tea goes green
DUBAI, June 8, 2011 (AFP) – Exotic and organic teas are wooing tea drinkers and challenging traditional black tea’s dominance as never before, tea industry experts say, as a tea factory in Dubai bids to become the world’s largest. The shift in global tea-drinking trends is felt at the Jebel Ali Free Zone, despite it […]
Pakistan ISI leaders had no role in Mumbai plot: court
CHICAGO, June 8, 2011 (AFP) – A Pakistan-born Chicago businessman was part of the “inner circle” of terrorists who plotted the 2008 Mumbai attacks, US prosecutors said in closing arguments Tuesday. Tahawwur Rana’s trial was closely watched as it touched on Pakistani military intelligence collusion with terrorism — a hugely sensitive subject since the killing […]
Sri Lanka Expolanka upgrades lentils plant
June 07, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Expolanka Holdings group said a lentils splitting plant owned by a subsidiary has been fully automated in a 350,000 US dollar upgrade designed to meet increasing local and international demand. The upgrade of the plant, located in Wellampitiya in Colombo, included the addition of a colour sorting machine […]