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Donors warn Sri Lanka, Tamil Tigers
TOKYO, May 30, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s key foreign aid donors warned the government and Tamil Tiger rebels Tuesday that they must take steps to end growing unrest or risk losing international support. Donors led by Japan pledged 4.5 billion dollars in 2003 as an incentive for the island to end three decades of […]
‘s Tamil rebels on terror list
BRUSSELS, May 30, 2006 (AFP) – The European Union put Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers on its list of terrorist groups on Monday, despite a warning from the rebels that the move could force them back to war.The EU ban, agreed in principle on May 18, was made official at a meeting of ministers from the […]
Sri Lanka to raise import tariffs for wheat to prop up rice prices
May 30, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to raise import tariffs on wheat to encourage paddy sales and shore up prices, treasury secretary P B Jayasundara said Tuesday. The government recently slapped a 15 percent import duty on wheat flour and six-percent duty on imports of wheat grain. “We are planning a further upward […]
Sri Lanka ships more goods in April; trade deficit widens
May 30, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s trade deficit – the broadest measure of international trade – expanded during the four-months to April to 1,057 million dollars, on costly oil import bill, the Central Bank said Tuesday. However, the deficit was somewhat contained as Sri Lankans residing abroad sent home 221 million dollars – up […]
Sri Lanka’s Lanka Orix Leasing gets A (lka) rating
May 29, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s pioneering leasing firm Lanka Orix Leasing Company has secured an ‘A (lka)’ credit rating from Fitch Ratings Lanka. Part Japanese owned, LOLCs credit outlook is stable, the rating agency said Monday. “The rating takes into account the less diversified funding sources available to specialised leasing companies such as […]
‘s Lanka Orix Leasing gets A (lka) rating
May 29, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s pioneering leasing firm Lanka Orix Leasing Company has secured an ‘A (lka)’ credit rating from Fitch Ratings Lanka. Part Japanese owned, LOLCs credit outlook is stable, the rating agency said Monday. “The rating takes into account the less diversified funding sources available to specialised leasing companies such as […]
Pitter Patter
May 29, 2006 (LBO) – The International Finance Corp, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group Monday launched a 10 million dollar technical assistant fund to uplift Sri Lanka’s small and medium sector. Dubbed the SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility or SEDF, the multi-donor assistance programme will cover Sri Lanka and Maldives over a […]
Giant Strides
May 29, 2006 (LBO) – Bank of Ceylon, Sri Lanka’s biggest state owned lender in terms of assets, is confident of making a 4.5 billion profit before taxes for the full year 2006-7, a top official said Monday. Sri Lanka has 10 domestic banks, of which two are state owned Bank of Ceylon and the […]
Office Blocks
May 29 (LBO) – The Korean government gave Sri Lanka a 20 million dollar loan on Monday for an administrative complex in the South to relocate tsunami hit offices. Most government offices in the Hambantota district are currently located in private houses after tidal waves in December 2004 destroyed large numbers of state buildings. The […]
Why geography curses Indonesia — and always will
HONG KONG, May 29, 2006 (AFP) – The powerful earthquake that hit Indonesia was just the latest display of violent seismic activity on the archipelago, which stretches across one of the most unstable parts of the Earth’s surface.The country’s position on the planet’s crust means it will continue to experience such catastrophes, just as it […]
Impotent patient kills sex doctor
NEW DELHI, May 29, 2006 (AFP) – An Indian sexologist was shot dead by a patient depressed by worsening impotency, reports said Monday. Javed Ali, 22, on Sunday pumped seven bullets into the self-styled sexologist who had been treating him for two years, The Hindustan Times said. Thirty-three-year-old Rajesh Abbot fell under a hail of […]
World press leaders debate how to join the Internet revolution
EDINBURGH, May 29, 2006 (AFP) – Global press chiefs gathered in the Scottish capital Edinburgh to thrash out how best to wrestle with the rise of the Internet, stay on top of technology, and beat countless bloggers and citizen journalists to the story. The three-day International Press Institute (IPI) World Congress opened Sunday with fervent […]