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Sri Lanka floods could get worse: minister
May 20, 2010 (LBO) – Floods in Sri Lanka are expected to get worse with the arrival of south-west monsoon rains over the weekend, and residents close to river banks in low lying areas are most at risk, a senior minister said Water levels in two rivers in the southern Ratnapura district are rising, A […]
Facebook may make prophet page inaccessible in Pakistan
WASHINGTON, May 20, 2010 (AFP) – Facebook is disappointed at being blocked in Pakistan over a contest that encourages users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed and may make the offending page inaccessible to users there, the social network said late Wednesday. “We are very disappointed with the Pakistani courts’ decision to block Facebook […]
Sri Lanka vows to prevent Tiger revival, one year after defeat
May 20, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka must strengthen its intelligence-gathering to stop Tamil Tiger rebels regrouping abroad a year after they were defeated, a top defence official said Thursday. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who is President Mahinda Rajapakse’s younger brother, said Tiger sympathisers outside the country were trying to revive the Tamil separatist movement. […]
Sri Lanka Lalith Kotelawala to quit Ceylinco Insurance board
May 20, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylinco group chairman Lalith Kotelawala, who spent months in remand over fraud charges at an unlisted subsidiary that collapsed, is to step down from the board of Ceylinco Insurance, a stock exchange filing said. Kotelawala has informed the board and staff that he “will not be available for […]
Sri Lanka failed to build on war victory: former general
May 20, 2010 (AFP) – The detained Sri Lankan general who led soldiers to victory over Tamil Tiger rebels one year ago accused the government Thursday of failing to convert his success into a new era of peace. Sarath Fonseka, a key architect of the strategy that finally defeated the Tigers after decades of bloody […]
Inmates on hunger strike in Japan immigration centre
TOKYO, May 20, 2010 (AFP) – Scores of foreigners in a Japanese immigration detention centre have been on hunger strike for more than a week, demanding to be released and protesting the mysterious death of an African deportee. Some 70 detainees — many of them Sri Lankans and Pakistanis — have refused food since May […]
Oil Sales
May 20, 2010 (LBO) – Lanka IOC, the Sri Lanka unit of Indian Oil Corporation said it lost 422 million rupees in the year to March 2010 down from 1,237 million a year earlier and had boosted bunkering sales to 15 percent of its total revenues. Lubricant sales had risen to 5. 6 million litres […]
Sri Lanka holds policy rate steady
May 20, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said it was holding policy rates steady at 9.75 percent amid a pick up in bank credit to private businesses and a dip in annual inflation in April 2010. “Developments in the monetary sector have been encouraging,” the Central Bank said. “Credit obtained by the private […]
Sri Lanka Treasuries yields steady
May 19, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Treasuries yields were steady at Wednesday’s auction though the 3-month yield fell 05 basis points to 8. 13 percent, the government’s debt office said. The 6-month yield was flat at 8. 88 percent and the 12-month yield was also flat at 9.23 percent, the debt office which is […]
Sri Lanka shares end 0.33-pct down
May 19, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed lower Wednesday with investors seen losing interest in shares whose prices had risen sharply as the market reached record highs in recent weeks, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 4,243.54, down 0.33 percent (14.13 points) while the more liquid Milanka index fell 0. […]
Sri Lankans hit Tamil Tiger tourist trail
KILINOCHCHI, May 19, 2010 (AFP) – The wreckage left by a brutal war has created a new tourist trail in Sri Lanka just a year after the Tamil Tiger rebels were crushed by government forces. “I make about 500 rupees (four dollars) a day,” says Kilinochchi native N. Seelan, who sells palmyrah-based sweets to tourists. […]
‘s war-torn east beckons business
May 19, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s eastern province is recovering rapidly from the effects of war and provides opportunities for business, especially in agriculture, a senior official said. The conflict ended last May, resulting in an economic revival in the region as well as the rest of the country. Wijewickrema said the revival of […]