Category:
On Hold
Mar. 21 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom, the island’s dominant fixed-line operator, Tuesday said it would stop connecting new subscribers through Code Division Multiplex Access or CDMA technology with immediate effect, following legal advice. The move follows SLT’s decision late Monday to take seek legal redress on a directive issued by the telecom watchdog with […]
Flagged Off
Mar 21 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Caltex Lanka Lubricants will ship five million litres of lubricant oils into Bangladesh, its first foray into the country and a possible launch pad into other regional markets, top officials said Tuesday. The local arm of US based Chevron Texaco, Caltex dominates the local lube market with about 80 […]
Sri Lanka navy denies Tiger rebel claim of attack on villages
Mar 216 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy denied a charge by Tamil Tigers Tuesday that it fired indiscriminately at rebel-held villages in the northeast, saying the incident was a retaliatory strike. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said the navy launched an attack on four villages in the Trincomalee district on Monday morning. […]
Sri Lanka suspends lavish perks of former president
Mar. 21 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ordered the withdrawal of extra cars and staff serving former president Chandrika Kumaratunga after a complaint that her retirement benefits are excessive, a court official said. Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva made the order Monday after launching an investigation into a complaint by three lawyers that […]
Home Bound
Mar 20 (AFP) – More than 100 US troops who were stranded in Sri Lanka after their aircraft made an emergency landing last week left the island Monday aboard a chartered plane, airport officials said. A Boeing 757-200 aircraft carrying 119 troops and crew was diverted to Colombo’s Bandaranaike International airport on Thursday while travelling […]
Dollar Gush
Mar. 20 (LBO) – Non-governmental organisations operating in Sri Lanka’s tsunami-hit regions has received Rs40.1 billion (US$400 million) in aid for reconstruction work last year, the Central Bank said Monday. According to a bank survey, which tracked 256 non-governmental organisations or NGO’s, 79 percent of the funds received had already been withdrawn. Bulk of the […]
New Dentures
Mar. 20 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s parliament on Tuesday will take up key laws governing the financial sector, giving effect to proposal presented in the 2006 budget. The Inland Revenue Bill, Finance Bill, Economic Service Charge Bill, Stamp Duty (special provisions) Bill, Monetary Law (Amendment), Banking (Amendment), VAT (Amendment) and Betting & Gaming Levy are […]
Legal Boost
Mar. 20 (LBO) — The modernisation of the main piece of legislation that governs the incorporation and running of Sri Lankan companies would substantially boost capital market activities, corporation law experts have said A draft bill to replace Sri Lanka’s antiquated Companies Act, which has been 13 years in the making, is due to be […]
Comfort Letter
Mar. 20 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s telecommunications regulator has upheld two private fixed operators’ claim to import handsets duty free, and blocked the country’s main investment body’s move to tax the instruments, a top official said. Last month, Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) slapped a 33 percent import duty on Code Division Multiple […]
Sri Lanka puts off vote in troubled regions
Mar 20 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s elections department Monday put off for six months scheduled local government polls in the island’s embattled northern and eastern regions, large areas of which are under the control of Tamil Tiger guerrillas.The vote due on March 30 was postponed till September 30, officials said. They said the decision followed […]
Sri Lanka mock rescue ends in tragedy
Mar 20 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan airforce officer drowned Monday after falling from a helicopter during a search and rescue exercise, officials said.The man was descending down a cable when it snapped and sent him crashing into the Indian Ocean, a rescuer said adding that the training mission had turned into a real life […]
It’s a curse
Mar. 19 (LBO) – A prominent parliamentarian representing the minority Tamil community had branded a controversial government decision to tax television programs imported for the entertainment of minority communities as discriminatory.“It is absurd and discriminatory,” said N Raviraj member for the Jaffna district representing the Tamil National Alliance. The government has decided to charge a […]