Sri Lankan moderate Tamil party asks freedom for 300,000 war-hit civilians

July 12, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main moderate Tamil political group Sunday accused the government of holding some 300,000 war-displaced civilians in “open prisons” and demanded their immediate release. The New York-based Human Rights Watch said the squalid camps, which are ringed with barbed wire, were a “national disgrace” and violated international law. The […]

Margin Call

July 11, 2009 (LBO) – Lanka IOC, the Sri Lankan unit of Indian Oil Corp., has urged the government to change import duties and blamed its 1.2 billion rupee loss in the year to March 2009 partly on an import duty hike. LIOC’s turnover last year rose 7.8 percent to 47.617 billion rupees, although it […]

” operations

July 9, 2009 (AFP) – The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday it had been ordered by Sri Lanka to scale down relief operations in the island where it has been helping civilian war victims. As a result, the ICRC said it was withdrawing expatriate staff from the battle-scarred northeast which was the […]

Sri Lanka tells foreign aid agencies to scale down

July 9, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has directed all international relief agencies, including the Red Cross, to scale down operations following the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels, the human rights minister said Thursday.Mahinda Samarasinghe said the directive was not solely aimed at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which had first […]

” by Tigers to inflate Sri Lanka tolls

July 8, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan doctors arrested for allegedly spreading rebel propaganda before the defeat of the Tamil Tigers told reporters here Wednesday that they were pressured to inflate death tolls. A five-member team of doctors who worked inside the shrinking rebel-held territory during the final stages of the war have been in […]

Fuel Delivery

July 08, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan unit of Indian Oil Corporation said it has chartered a bunker barge to supply ship fuel in Colombo port as sales were increasing.LIOC is the newest player in Colombo port’s bunker business. Competition in the business has been growing after a court order ended an effective monopoly […]

Oil Drain

July 4, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka unit of the Indian Oil Corporation is running out of cash and may not be able to import the next consignment of oil as crude prices rise and taxes bite into revenue, an official said. Based on yesterday’s Singapore wholesale refined product prices released by the Central […]

Sri Lanka courts politicised, says ICG

July 01, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government must reform the country’s judicial system urgently if the military defeat of the Tamil Tigers is to lead to a lasting peace, an international non-governmental advocacy body has said. The Sri Lankan judiciary is not working in a fair and impartial way that secures justice and […]

Gas Pricing

June 30, 2009 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan unit of multinational Shell has reduced the price of its liquid petroleum gas while local group Laugfs has hiked its prices, the consumer affairs authority said.The price of a 12.5 kilo Shell gas cylinder will be reduced by 53 rupees to 1,447 rupees from midnight Tuesday, while […]

Sri Lanka arrests astrologer for gloomy predictions

June 26, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police say they have arrested an astrologer after he predicted serious political and economic problems for the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse.Chandrasiri Bandara, who writes an astrology column for a pro-opposition weekly, was taken in on Thursday, police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekara said. “The CID (Criminal Investigations Department) is […]

Rising Oil

June 18, 2009 (LBO) – Lanka IOC, a unit of the Indian Oil Corporation had asked Sri Lanka’s petroleum ministry permission to raise petrol and diesel pump prices by 21 to 23 rupees a litre to stem losses amid rising oil prices, an official said. IOC managing director Suresh Kumar said his firm had lost […]

South Bunker

June 18, (LBO) – Sri Lanka is getting a 65 million US dollars loan from China’s Exim Bank to build an oil storage facility in the Southern coastal town of Hambantota, a senior government minister said. “The objective of this project is to supply and store marine fuel, aviation fuel and LP gas and provide […]

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