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Sri Lanka and India have talks on Thorium-based nuclear energy: report
Oct 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s science and technology ministry have sounded out India about using the island’s Thorium deposits in nuclear energy, and an Indian team is expected to visit the country to study the idea, a media report said. The Daily Mirror newspaper quoted science and technology minister Tissa Vitharana as saying […]
Honest Broker
Oct 05, 2008 (LBO) – US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s request from lawmakers for 700 billion dollars to bailout Wall Street banks, including one he was formerly chief executive of, Goldman Sachs, has spawned an American version of the Nigerian letter. This is a matter of great urgency. We need blank check. We need funds […]
Housing Woes
Oct 05, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s HDFC Bank, a state-backed mortgage lender, has been downgraded a notch from ‘A-(lka)’ to ‘BBB+(lka)’, on rising interest costs, with the outlook remaining ‘negative’, Fitch Ratings has said. Fitch also downgraded 250 million rupees of senior unsecured debentures due in 2010, 2015 and 2020 it issued in 2005, […]
‘s Tigers face biggest loss in 13-years
October 5, 2008 (AFP) – The widely expected fall of the Tamil Tigers’ political capital would mark the separatists’ biggest loss in 13 years, but analysts believe Sri Lanka’s drawn out ethnic conflict is far from over.Government forces say they are steadily advancing on the town of Kilinochchi in an offensive that began over a […]
”’ delight
LONDON, October 5, 2008 (AFP) – British department store Selfridge’s on Sunday launched a new up-scale chocolate treat — the “Credit Crunch” — for shoppers looking for comfort food amid the international financial crisis. “Although people might be looking to spend a little less at the moment, they still want to treat themselves to the […]
Germany guarantees all private savings accounts: ministry
BERLIN, October 5, 2008 (AFP) – The German government has offered an unlimited guarantee for all private savings accounts, a finance ministry spokesman told AFP Sunday, amid the spreading financial crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said earlier in a statement to reporters: “We tell all savings account holders that your deposits are safe. The federal […]
UAE firms start pumping Kurdish gas over Iraq objections
DUBAI, October 5, 2008 (AFP) – United Arab Emirates-based firms Dana Gas PJSC and Crescent Petroleum announced that they had begun producing gas under a deal with Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region over Baghdad’s objections. The firms said that, following completion of the project’s first phase, they expected to supply 75 million cubic feet (2.25 million […]
”s industrial drive
NEW DELHI, October 5, 2008 (AFP) – A decision by the giant Tata Group to shift a factory building the world’s cheapest car after angry farmer protests has refueled debate about India’s troubled industrialisation push.The company said late last week it was pulling the Nano car project out of West Bengal state, even though the […]
State Intervention
WASHINGTON, October 3, 2008 (AFP) – US lawmakers Friday approved a historic financial rescue plan that was quickly signed into law, but the measure failed to calm financial markets nervous about a weak economy and credit crunch.The Bank of Japan said it injected 800 billion yen (7.6 billion dollars) into the financial system in the […]
Unsolicited ID
Oct 04, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to issue electronic identity cards with transponders which authorities can use to identify fishermen at sea and also develop a database of fisher-folk, a senior minister said.The ministry of fisheries has received the nod from Sri Lanka’s cabinet of ministers to pursue and unsolicited offer from Enterprise […]
Sri Lankan troops nearing Tiger HQ: army chief
October 4, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s army chief said Saturday his troops are on the verge of capturing the key northern headquarters of the Tamil Tigers in Kilinochchi. Foreign aid workers who evacuated the northern region three weeks ago said most residents of Kilinochchi had fled as the fighting moved closer. The defence ministry […]
US debt set to soar, but AAA rating should stay: Fitch
NEW YORK, October 4, 2008 (AFP) – Combined US government debt is set to rise to levels unseen since the 1950s, but the United States should nevertheless be able to hold onto its AAA credit rating, the Fitch ratings agency said. “If all fiscal commitments announced to date materialize and are full by the end […]