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Sri Lanka tourist arrivals fall 32-pct in January
Feb 16, 2009 (LBO) – Foreign visitors to Sri Lanka plunged 32.4 percent in January 2009 to 38,468 compared with the same month last year, the island’s tourist promotion office said, with a global economic crisis depressing leisure travel.Arrivals from Western Europe, a key generating market that is crucial to keep coastal resorts in jam, […]
Airwave War
Feb 16, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s mobile phone operators have declined to respond to accusations by newest market entrant, India’s Bharti Airtel, that they are resorting to interconnectivity sabotage, citing a gag order by the regulator. Company officials said the Telecommunication and Regulatory Commission (TRC) has asked celcos not to comment on recent accusations […]
Tigers killing civilians fleeing Sri Lanka war zone: UN
February 16, 2009 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger guerrillas have prevented tens of thousands of civilians from leaving Sri Lanka’s war zone and those trying to escape have been “shot and sometimes killed,” the United Nations said Monday. Tens of thousands of civilians in the rebel-held area were experiencing serious shortages of food, medicine, and clean […]
Red Cross evacuates 400 from Sri Lanka war zone
February 16, 2009 (AFP) – The Red Cross evacuated Monday a ferry load of 400 civilians wounded in fighting between the Sri Lankan army and Tamil Tiger rebels. The injured and their accompanying relatives were shipped out of the conflict zone in the northeast of the island and taken for “further medical treatment,” International Committee […]
British-Sri Lankan charged with with arson
LONDON, February 16, 2009 (AFP) – British police have charged a man with arson and affray after he reportedly tried to set himself on fire outside Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Downing Street offices, they said Sunday. Sivsubarmazam Loges-Waran, 41, of Gloucestershire in western England, is due in court on Monday “charged with arson with intent […]
Sri Lanka needs prompt coherent action to survive global slump: think tank
Feb 16, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka needs “prompt and coherent” policy action to counter a global slump which was slowing demand for exports and making it difficult for the government and private firms to borrow abroad, a top think tank has said. “It is essential that prompt and coherent policy action is taken in […]
No More
Feb 15, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Fitch Ratings has downgraded the rating of state-run mortgage lender State Mortgage and Investment Bank (SMIB) and withdrawn its rating, the firm said. The bank’s rating was downgraded to ‘BBB+(lka)’ from ‘A-(lka). The rating outlook is negative at the new level. Fitch Sri Lanka said SMIB owns 1.78 […]
Biofuels may speed up, not slow global warming: study
CHICAGO, February 14, 2009 (AFP) – The use of crop-based biofuels could speed up rather than slow down global warming by fueling the destruction of rainforests, scientists warned Saturday. Once heralded as the answer to oil, biofuels have become increasingly controversial because of their impact on food prices and the amount of energy it takes […]
Sri Lanka Tiger chief still on island: report
February 15, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s elusive rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is still on the island and has been preparing his Tamil Tiger fighters to launch last-ditch counter attacks, a news report said Sunday.Prabhakaran, 54, and his eldest son Charles Anthony have blended in with about 100,000 civilians trapped in the conflict zone, the […]
Sri Lanka braces for bloodier Tiger battles
February 15, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s government hoped Tamil Tiger rebels could be defeated in days, but both sides are now warning bloodier battles may lie ahead — and civilians are likely to pay a heavy price. Security forces have cornered the retreating Tigers in the north of the island after over three bloody […]
Sri Lanka ruling party wins landslide local vote: results
February 15, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s ruling party headed for a landslide victory in local elections seen as a referendum on the government’s military campaign against Tamil rebels, official results showed Sunday. President Mahinda Rajapakse’s Freedom Alliance won 36 seats out of 58 in the Central Provincial council. The alliance also had collected nearly […]
Tight Ownership
Feb 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has tightened phone ownership rules by presidential order with mobile and wireless phones to be registered by an April 30 deadline, a media report said. The rules have to be implemented on or before April 30, the newspaper said. The Daily Mirror newspaper said Sri Lanka’s court of […]