Category:
Lace Curtain
July 22, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to form a national media policy to regulate content aired on local television channels, President Mahinda Rajapakse said Saturday, during a meeting with heads of local broadcasting stations. Rajapakse said a consultative committee will also be formed on Monday to iron out procedures and regulations that will […]
Cooking oil cars turn the table on high fuel prices
WASHINGTON, July 21, 2006 (AFP) – A growing number of Americans are setting up mini-refineries in their homes to produce biodiesel, a fuel made from waste cooking oil which is cleaner and cheaper than the petrol sold in gas stations.The sky-high price of crude oil is scaring everyone. Biodiesel has Hollywood backers like actress Julia […]
Drifting Away
July 21, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main export industry is reeling due to the ongoing strike at the Colombo port, amid moves by feeder vessel operators to hike rates to recover losses, officials said Friday. The island’s 2.5 billion dollar clothing industry is unable to meet buyers’ deadlines and is contemplating taking legal action […]
New Proposals
July 21 (LBO) – The government is planning to amend a controversial levy on imported television programs and commercials, with concessions for English programming, a senior official said. There will be concessionary amendments to the new levy. The proposed amendments have to be approved by President Mahinda Rajapakse, R T L Weerasinghe, Senior Tax Advisor […]
Better Terms
July 21, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka may still keep its duty free benefits to Europe when an EU trade deal ends in 2008, with the scheme to be extended for a further seven years. Under the Generalised System of Preferences plus (GSP+) scheme, Sri Lanka gets duty free access for exports to the European […]
Weary foreigners ramp up mass exodus from Lebanon
NICOSIA, July 21, 2006 (AFP) – Thousands of foreigners huddled in makeshift transit centres Friday, weary but relieved, as governments around the world ramped up a mass evacuation from the raging conflict in Lebanon. Warships, cruisers and ferries criss-crossed the eastern Mediterranean from ports in Lebanon toward Cyprus and Turkey, packed with refugees, while planes […]
Former Sri Lanka captain prefers cricket to politics
July 21, 2006 (AFP) – Former Sri Lanka cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga said on Friday his love for the sport forced him to resign from the post of deputy minister in the government.“I love cricket above everything else and I am what I am today because of the game,” said Ranatunga, who resigned as deputy […]
Two more killed as Sweden envoy attempts to save Sri Lanka truce
COLOMBO, July 21, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels Friday rejected a call from Sweden to reconsider a September 1 deadline for truce monitors from European Union member states to quit, a pro-rebel website said. Deaths are reported almost daily, mainly in the island’s troubled northeast where troops and rebels clash and where […]
Tigers reject Swedish call to reconsider kicking out EU monitors
COLOMBO, July 21, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels Friday rejected a call from Sweden to reconsider a September 1 deadline for truce monitors from European Union member states to quit, a pro-rebel website said. The Tamilnet.com website said Tigers told a visiting Swedish envoy that ceasefire monitors from EU member states Denmark, […]
Going Up
LONDON, July 21, 2006 (AFP) – Oil prices firmed on Friday but remained below recent record peaks as traders paused for breath after a week of volatile trading, dealers said. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, added 10 cents to 74.37 dollars per barrel in electronic deals before the official […]
Mental Block
July 20, 2006 (LBO) – Trade union action at Sri Lanka’s main harbour entered its 10th day Thursday, despite a court ruling to restrain striking workers. The government urged striking union workers belonging to Sri Lanka Ports Authority to resume work despite union allegations that the Colombo District court order issued Wednesday is yet to […]
Tea exporters in cash and logistics crunch due to port strike
July 20, 2006 (LBO) – A backlog of tea shipments and falling prices due to trade union strikes at the Colombo port has vessels bypassing Sri Lanka and tea exporters worried over tight cash flows. Trade union action and go-slows at the port over a wage hike entered its tenth day on Thursday, with no solution […]