Category:
Australia intercepts 12th refugee boat
SYDNEY, May 11, 2009 (AFP) – The latest in a steady stream of refugee boats was intercepted off Australia Monday, officials said, fuelling controversy over the government’s softer line on asylum seekers. It was the 12th suspected people-smuggling ship to be stopped in Australian waters or to have made landfall since January, which have brought […]
”’ report
May 11, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Monday protested against a United Nations statement that said a large number of civilians had been killed in a “bloodbath” in the northeast where troops are fighting Tamil rebels.Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said the government had summoned UN representative Amin Awad to receive a formal protest. “We […]
UN says more than 100 children dead in Sri Lanka conflict
May 11, 2009 (AFP) – The UN condemned on Monday the killing of civilians in Sri Lanka at the weekend as a “bloodbath” in which more than 100 children died, as the government and rebels traded blame for the attacks. Sri Lanka’s government believes its soldiers are on the verge of defeating the Liberation Tigers […]
Sri Lanka apparel exports holding up
May 11, 09 (LBO) – Sri Lankan apparel exports are slowing as demand slumps with recession but a weaker rupee and continuing duty free access to Europe enable exporters to remain competitive, a senior official said.Rohan Masakorala, secretary general of the Joint Apparel Association Forum, an industry body, said the industry would have been in […]
Rights groups pressure Japan over Sri Lanka conflict
May 11, 2009 (AFP) – Japan must “shoulder its responsibilities” and use its leverage to prevent a civilian bloodbath in Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict, human rights and conflict prevention groups said Monday.Japan, which is Sri Lanka’s largest aid donor and holds two thirds of the island’s foreign debt, needs to “play a more active role” […]
Sri Lanka Jan-Feb state revenues shrink 10.6-pct
May 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state revenues have fallen 10.6 percent in the two months to February 2009, amid a slowing economy and collapsing imports while expenses are still rising, the latest official data shows. Inflation It is unusual for Sri Lanka’s revenues to fall on an absolute basis. Coupled with inflation, Sri […]
Regional Link
May 10, 2009 (LBO) – India is one of the world’s most dynamic economies and attractive markets with which Sri Lanka continues to have strong relations by reason of proximity and history. India’s relations with Sri Lanka have, for the most part, been friendly and are probably the best that it enjoys with its non-micro-state […]
‘s war on the operating table
CHEDDIKULAM, May 10, 2009 (AFP) – The X-ray shows a bullet lodged next to the heart of a Tamil man, one of tens of thousands who have flooded out of Sri Lanka’s northeast to escape the war with the Tamil Tigers.“He said he was shot in the chest six months ago.But we can’t remove it […]
‘s private sector must lead post-war revival: UNDP
May 10, 2009 (LBO) – Re-building Sri Lanka’s war-ravaged north and east should be eventually driven by the private sector, rather than an unsustainable donor-financed state sector, a senior United Nations Development Agency (UNDP) official said. Douglas Keh, head of UNDP in Sri Lanka, also said good governance and a government commitment to devolving adequate […]
Bank Chase
May 9, 2009 (LBO) – Two Sri Lankan financial firms, Lanka Orix Leasing Company and Sampath Bank are most likely to have submitted bids for a one-third stake in Seylan Bank, market sources said. The successful bidder would have to inject at least 5.7 billion rupees to the bank in return for a 33 percent […]
Learning Centre
May 09, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Institute of Technological Studies (ITS) which has formed a partnership with a foreign partnership to start a medical college says its output will be readily absorbed in to healthcare sector.ITS head E M S Edirisinghe, who is also the president of the Oasis, a private hospital says there […]
British actress runs absolutely fabulous Gurkha campaign
LONDON, May 9, 2009 (AFP) – British actress Joanna Lumley’s best-known role used to be as a boozy fashionista in hit comedy “Absolutely Fabulous”, but now she is dominating TV screens as a formidable campaigner for Gurkha soldiers.Lumley — leading a campaign for all Nepalese fighters in Britain’s army to be allowed to settle here […]