Tag: news
Sri Lanka frees 850 prisoners on Buddhist holiday
May 17, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka freed 858 convicts on Tuesday to mark the most important day in the Buddhist calendar, a prison official said. President Mahinda Rajapakse granted freedom to 13 women and 845 men held at 29 prisons across the country to commemorate Vesak, which marks Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death, commissioner […]
Sri Lanka intercepts Tamil Tiger propaganda
May 17, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lankan authorities on Tuesday detained a Canada-bound container with a cargo of propaganda material for the island’s Tamil Tiger rebels, a police official said. Police were asked to investigate the consignment of promotional material for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), on its way to Canada from the […]
Sri Lanka urged by India to probe rights record
NEW DELHI, May 17, 2011 (AFP) – India broke with past practice on Tuesday and called on Sri Lanka to investigate allegations of human rights abuses during the island’s civil war, upping pressure on President Mahinda Rajapakse. India has not joined recent demands from the United Nations and Western countries for a probe into alleged […]
Sri Lanka holds policy interest rates
May 16, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said it is holding policy rates steady as last month’s hike in the reserve ratio was effective in draining excess liquidity and inflation was likely to fall from next month. Inflation, as measured by the year-on-year change in Colombo Consumers’ Price Index (CCPI) hit 9.8 percent […]
Sri Lanka govt expands overstaffed public service
May 12, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government has created a new service within an already bloated public service to give jobs to 15,000 unemployed graduates and another 15,000 youth, a statement said. The Cabinet of ministers has approved a proposal to establish a ‘Sri Lanka Development Officers’ Service’ and a ‘Sri Lanka Development Assistants’ […]
Central banks urge budget corrections: Trichet
BASEL, May 9, 2011 (AFP) – Central bankers are pressing advanced economies to gradually improve their budgets while fast growing emerging nations must guard against overheating, ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet said on Monday. The European Central Bank chief warned, after a regular gathering with other leading central banks, that there was no room for complacency […]
Australia defends Malaysia asylum seekers plan
SYDNEY, May 8, 2011 (AFP) – Australia on Sunday defended plans to send hundreds of asylum seekers to Malaysia, saying it was an important signal to people smugglers, but refugee advocates slammed the proposal as cruel. Australia wants to transfer 800 boat people to Malaysia for processing as part of a yet-to-be-finalised one-off deal which […]
‘s rise: ADB
HANOI, May 4, 2011 (AFP) – Reducing corruption and improving government accountability are the greatest challenges to making Asia the world’s wealthiest region by 2050, the Asian Development Bank said Wednesday. The continent is undergoing a historic transformation, according to a study for the bank unveiled at its annual meeting in Vietnam. “If it continues […]
Sri Lanka average prices steady from February: CB
May 4, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s average price level measured by an index at the capital Colombo, has been steady since February though non-food items have taken up the slack created by falling food prices, an official statement said. In April prices rose 9.8 percent from a year earlier, despite food prices falling 1. […]
Wrong strategy could worsen dengue epidemics: study
PARIS, 2011 (AFP) – The wrong approach to wiping out the mosquitoes that cause dengue infections could lead to worse epidemics in the future, according to a study released Tuesday. Targeting only mosquito larvae, and not adults, with insecticides may work in the short run, but could result in higher resistance in the insects and […]
‘s May Day rallies reject UN war report
May 1, 2011 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan government used May Day rallies on Sunday to reject a United Nations report that alleged the military may have been guilty of atrocities during the island’s civil war. Roads were decorated in the party colours of blue, red and maroon, while billboards were erected showing the president […]
US envoy heads to Sri Lanka amid war flap
WASHINGTON, April 29, 2011 (AFP) – A US envoy heads to Sri Lanka next week to encourage a full accounting over its civil war after the government angrily rejected UN-backed allegations of atrocities, officials said Friday. Robert Blake, the assistant secretary of state handling South Asia, will leave Saturday on a six-day trip to Sri […]