Tag: business

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

Mar. 19 (LBO) – Out of more than 1200 readers who responded to an online poll on LBO (33.57 percent) has said Sri Lanka would not achieve 8 percent growth in 2006, while one-sixth (16.98 percent) said the country would never reach 8 percent economic growth. The definite nay sayers totaled 50.55 percent. Meanwhile another […]

Mar. 17 (LBO) – Peace broker Norway Friday named a Middle East expert as Sri Lanka’s new special envoy amid fears that the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels may skip the second round of talks next month. Jon Hanssen-Bauer, 53, replaces Erik Solhem and will be responsible for day-to-day contact with the Colombo based […]

Mar. 16 (LBO) — The trade ministry had abandoned an earlier plan to sell a prime commercial property in Colombo belonging to a state trading agency by open auction, and instead decided to transfer the land to a government bank, an official said.Trade Ministry Secretary R M K Ratnayake says the Union Place land belonging […]

Mar. 16 (LBO) – Hundreds of Sri Lankan public servants marched into the city of Colombo Thursday demanding higher wages as part of a one-day nationwide strike, which disrupted work in rail, postal and health services, union officials said. -Mel Gunasekera: mel@ The Public Sector Salary Review Trade Unions Committee, an umbrella of 200 unions […]

Mar. 15 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s balance of payments (BOP) has recorded a US$100 million surplus for the two-months to February, the Central Bank said Wednesday as it stayed pat on interest rates for the third straight month. Please click here to read Central Bank’s monetary policy statement for March -Mel Gunasekera: mel@ The overnight […]

Mar. 15 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s balance of payments (BOP) has recorded a US$100 million surplus for the two-months to February, the Central Bank said Wednesday as it stayed pat on interest rates for the third straight month. Please click here to read Central Bank’s monetary policy statement for March -Mel Gunasekera: mel@ The overnight […]

Mar. 04 (LBO) – Punters in Sri Lanka’s stock markets have not yet priced in the full benefits of the re-started peace talks between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels, a peace advocate has said. The benchmark All Share Price Index, dipped 29 percent from November 16 till January 18 this year, when a […]

Mar 04 (AFP) – Sri Lanka will put the clock back by half an hour and revert to its original time after a 10 year experiment that failed to save energy through marginal day light saving, state radio announced Saturday. President Mahinda Rajapakse ordered that Sri Lanka reverts to its original standard time which was […]