Tag: news
Former Sri Lankan President dies
September 21, 2008 (AFP) – Former Sri Lankan President Dingiri Banda Wijetunga, died on Sunday after a prolonged illness, his aide said.He was 86. Wijetunga, who was Sri Lanka’s third executive president, died of a chest ailment at a hospital in the central hillside town of Kandy, his aide Sarath Muniratne told reporters. A member […]
‘s tense north
September 16, 2008 (AFP) – The United Nations pulled its staff out of rebel-held areas in Sri Lanka’s north on Tuesday after the government refused to guarantee the safety of aid workers.Some 70,000 people have fled due to fighting in the past two months alone. The withdrawal came as the island’s government said it was […]
EU voices concerned over Sri Lanka violence
BRUSSELS, September 15, 2008 (AFP) – EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel on Monday expressed “grave concern” at the escalation of violence in Sri Lanka and called for human rights laws to be respected. Civilians should also be guaranteed safe passage to leave the conflict area “and relocate in safer areas,” he added. “I’m deeply […]
Sri Lanka to debate troubled state airline, public officer: lawmaker
Sept 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s parliament will debate the issues of a state-run budget airline that has been eating up peoples’ money and a senior public official who was faulted by courts, an opposition lawmaker said. Jayasundera immediately offered to resign but the government has not accepted his resignation. Sri Lanka’s controversial Mihin […]
Credit Shuffle
Sept 15, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run petroleum utility Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is covering overdue government accounts with an Iranian credit, but its finances are too fragile to cut prices, a top official said.Iran has given the CPC a rolling credit to cover four months of imports interest free and another three months […]
Sri Lanka PM arrives in Japan
TOKYO, September 15, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake on Monday arrived in Japan, the South Asian country’s top donor, for talks with counterpart Yasuo Fukuda, officials said.Fukuda, who abruptly resigned two weeks ago, will formally stay in office as Japan’s prime minister until parliament appoints the next prime minister following the […]
Pricing Politics
Sept 14, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan fuel users are suffering from the lack of a transparent price formula and severe politicization of pricing that had sometimes caused high inflation and balance of payments troubles in the island. Diesel users are mostly commercial enterprises and super rich sections of society including politicians who are allowed […]
Sri Lanka slams UN chief
September 11, 2008 (AFP) – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon came in for tough criticism Thursday from Sri Lanka’s government, which accused him of unwittingly helping Tamil Tiger rebels. Responding to the UN chief’s concern over civilians displaced by heavy fighting in the north of the island, a Sri Lankan government rights official said a […]
Exploration Spend
Sep 11, 2008 (LBO) – Cairn India said its Sri Lanka unit had signed a deal with Sri Lanka’s investment promotion office to cover a 110 million US dollar oil exploration program. The company was given an off-shore exploration block in the north western Mannar Basin of the island. “The Mannar basin is a frontier […]
Bunker Deadline
Sept 08, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has given the bunkering unit of John Keells Holdings (JKH) till September 12 to vacate a tank farm, and the company has been ordered to pay compensation to workers, lawyers said. LMS earlier sought and received time till September 10 to take away its oil stocks […]
Tactical Release
SINGAPORE, September 3, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices fell in Asian trade Wednesday as the US government announced the release of oil from its strategic reserve to help with recovery efforts after Hurricane Gustav. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery, dropped 34 cents to 109.37 dollars a barrel, while Brent North […]
New media army descends on convention
DENVER, August 27, 2008 (AFP) – A new media army has descended on the Democratic convention in Colorado this week, boldly claiming to offer a fresh perspective on US politics distinct from the mainstream media. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 For the first time […]