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Sri Lanka to sell US$275mn in bonds
June 14, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is rolling over 275 million US dollars in two and three-year government bonds which pay a 6-month month floating rate coupon, the government’s debt office said. Only 92 million US dollars in bonds out of a total of 100 million was sold through an auction and the balance […]
Sri Lanka budget gap narrows in 1Q 2010
June 14, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s budget gap has narrowed in the first quarter of 2010, with revenues picking up and the government also keeping a lid on current expenses from a year earlier, official data show. Total revenues were up 26.3 percent to 182.7 billion rupees in the three months to March and […]
Insurance Lift
June 13, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan ports are now free of any extra war risk-related insurance premiums following the removal of the island from the area listed for war risk by international underwriters, a government statement said. The Sri Lanka Ports Authority said the move followed a visit to the island by a security […]
Mass Wedding
June 13, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankan authorities on Sunday conducted the marriages of over 100 former rebels at a mass ceremony attended by Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi. A total of 53 couples were issued marriage certificates in the northern district of Vavuniya, where they are being held in military custody following the defeat of […]
Sri Lanka fisher community in efforts to rescue degraded estuary
June 13, 2010 (LBO) – Deepika Edirisinghe lives in the dry Kalpitiya area in the Sri Lanka northeast coastal district of Puttalam bordering a degraded coastal estuary which is now yielding a much lower fish catch than a decade ago. Her husband is a fisherman, whose catch from the lagoon has been dwindling over the […]
Japan asteroid probe to make historic return to Earth
SYDNEY, June 12, 2010 (AFP) – A tiny heatproof capsule which scientists hope contains some of the oldest dust in the universe will streak back to Earth and land in the Australian desert Sunday, ending a historic space mission. Japan’s Hayabusa spacecraft is due to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere shortly before midnight (1400 GMT), completing a […]
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NEW DELHI, June 12, 2010 (AFP) – India’s tsunami centre warned Sunday a major quake under the Indian Ocean would generate a 50-centimetre high (20-inch) surge in sea levels on the nearest islands, adding this was “nothing alarming. ” “This is nothing alarming but just a watch,” he added by telephone from the headquarters of […]
India earthquake downgraded, local tsunami watch only: Pacific centre
June 11, 2010 (LBO) – The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has downgraded a watch bulletin taking Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia off its list saying a local tsunami is likely to only affect India. Indian authorities have said waves of only 50 centimetres are likely and there is ‘nothing alarming. ‘ Sri Lanka’s authorities […]
‘s ISI and Taliban
LONDON, June 13, 2010 (AFP) – Pakistan’s ISI intelligence agency provides funding, training and sanctuary to the Taliban in Afghanistan, according to a study Sunday which claimed to have the strongest evidence yet of their links. However the report for the London School of Economics (LSE) was dismissed by the Pakistani military as “malicious and […]
Bangladesh fans on rampage as power blackout cuts World Cup
DHAKA, June 13, 2010 (AFP) – Thousands of Bangladeshi football fans went on the rampage after power cuts blacked out television coverage of an eagerly-awaited World Cup match. He urged fans to understand the dire state of the Bangladeshi national grid meant shortages were inevitable. “The reality is that the country does not produce enough […]
‘s Commonwealth Games face monsoon test
NEW DELHI, June 13, 2010 (AFP) – New Delhi residents can’t wait for the onset of the monsoon to bring relief from the summer heat, but the impending rains could spell further trouble for Commonwealth Games organisers. “There is no doubt everything will be ready on time, whatever anyone may say,” organising committee secretary-general Lalit […]
Sri Lanka warns private power producers
June 12, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has warned private power producers that it could go against deals signed to sell power to a state-run power distributor with the government getting into a new drive to cut the utilities losses. Though the plants are governed by tight and complex agreements minister Ranawaka says the government […]