Category: Other
World Bank raises Pakistan aid to one billion dollars
WASHINGTON, September 2, 2010 (AFP) – The World Bank raised its emergency funding to Pakistan to one billion dollars on Wednesday to help the nation cope with the massive economic impact of catastrophic monsoon flooding. The hike, an additional 100 million dollars on top of an existing 900 million dollar loan, was announced by World […]
Long queues form at Afghan bank amid corruption claims
KABUL, September 2, 2010 (AFP) – An owner of Afghanistan’s biggest bank, Kabul Bank, said Thursday it was not facing a run and was supplying branches with enough cash to meet demand, a day after US media allegations of corruption. “There is not a run. We’re here and we are prepared to pay out as […]
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NEW DELHI, August 31, 2010 (AFP) – India on Tuesday said China was demonstrating “more than normal interest” in the Indian Ocean as two Chinese warships made a rare visit to military-ruled Myanmar. India is watchful of China’s growing presence in the region, including its major investments in ports being built in Sri Lanka and […]
Law Change
August 31, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on Tuesday began assessing a draft bill that would amend the island’s constitution to allow President Mahinda Rajapakse to run for office for a third term. Registrar of the Supreme Court said the five-judge bench would give their decision to the president and speaker of parliament […]
Ordeal
KUALA LUMPUR, August 31, 2010 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan tourist died fleeing kidnappers in Malaysia while a friend escaped and another was rescued by police, the force said Tuesday. “As I was heading to the toilet, I turned around and kicked the kidnapper before running out of the flat. I ran up to the […]
India BlackBerry users relieved as shutdown averted
NEW DELHI, August 31, 2010 (AFP) – India’s BlackBerry users heaved a sigh of relief Tuesday after the government gave the company a two-month reprieve on a threat to ban its messaging services, averting a showdown over security access. Research in Motion (RIM), the smartphone’s maker, has made “certain proposals for lawful access” to heavily […]
Sri Lanka govt inaction on theft seen threatening spice trade
Aug 30, 2010 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government’s failure to crack down on theft in spice plantations is threatening the industry, a key foreign exchange earner and provider of employment, a senior official has warned. Christopher Fernando, chairman of the Spices and Allied Products Producers™ and Traders™ Association (SAPPTA), said theft of produce was […]
Sri Lanka Nestle unit opens milk centre in former war-zone
Aug 29, 2010 (LBO) – Nestle Lanka, a unit of Swiss based Nestle, has opened a milk chilling centre in the former war-zone of Kilinochchi in the north of Sri Lanka, to buy milk for hundreds of dairy farmer in the area, the food firm said in a statement. It will also distribute equipment and […]
India government warns on BlackBerry
NEW DELHI, August 26, 2010 (AFP) – India warned the makers of the BlackBerry Thursday its messaging services could be shut down if it failed to give security agencies access “in readable format” as a compliance deadline loomed. A shutdown would affect corporate users among BlackBerry’s 1.1 million customers, whose communications have a higher level […]
Nail Torture
Aug 27, 2010 (LBO) – Doctors in Sri Lanka have removed 15 metal objects including nails and pins from a woman domestic worker who had returned from Saudi Arabia a media report in the island said. Some also go the Maldives, which is the best managed economy in South Asia with the strongest exchange rate. […]
Mother Teresa remembered, 100 years on
KOLKATA, August 26, 2010 (AFP) – A solemn mass kicked off a day of remembrance Thursday on the birth centenary of Mother Teresa, known as the “Saint of the Gutters” for her life’s work with the sick and destitute of Kolkata. Mother Teresa began her missionary work with the poor in Kolkata in 1948 and […]
Indian PM says wealth divide adding to instability
NEW DELHI, August 26, 2010 (AFP) – Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said that the country’s widening divide between rich and poor was a factor that encouraged crime and caused difficulties for police. Singh told a conference of police chiefs in New Delhi that national security was being threatened by an array of […]