Sri Lanka rice autarkists urge food controls on the sick: report

June 26, 2010 (LBO) – Interest groups backing ‘domestic production’ have urged the state restrict the types of food available for sick people in state hospitals as well as the military, a media report said. The Sunday Island said a group calling itself the Mawbima Lanka Padanama (motherland Lanka foundation) had also urged the state […]

Sri Lanka to fast-track investment approvals

June 24, 2010 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government has decided to set up a committee of senior bureaucrats from key ministries to fast-track decisions on private sector investment proposals, a spokesman said. Media minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the committee of officials is being created to help eliminate bottlenecks in the normal investment approvals process. […]

Sri Lanka GDP grew 7.1-pct in Q1, 2011

June 24, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economy expanded 7.1 percent in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period a year ago helped by strong growth in tea, rubber, export crops and services, the Department of Census and Statistics said. The major reason for this growth was the increase in average […]

Sri Lanka to block visits by UN panel probing war allegations

June 24, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka will ban visits by the three-member United Nations panel investigating alleged human rights abuses in the final months of the island’s civil war, a senior minister said Thursday. Troops finally wiped out the separatist Tamil Tiger guerrillas in May last year after decades of ethnic bloodshed, and the […]

Sri Lanka slams UN over war crimes probe

June 23, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka accused the UN on Wednesday of a “hidden agenda” behind its plans to investigate alleged human rights abuses by soldiers in the final months of the island’s savage civil war. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s appointment of a panel to advise on any violations of international human rights was […]

Sri Lanka war crimes probe set up by UN

UNITED NATIONS, June 22, 2010 (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon Tuesday set up a panel to investigate allegations of human rights abuses in the final months of the civil war in Sri Lanka, his spokesman said. Ban launched the investigation “to advise him on the issue of accountability with regards to any alleged violations […]

Sri Lanka state non-tax revenues up in first quarter

June 21, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has seen steep increase in non-tax incomes in the first quarter of 2010 which accounted for more than half the revenue gains made by the state, official data shows. State revenues increased by 26.3 percent in the first quarter to 182. 7 billion rupees with tax revenues gaining […]

‘s Ban names war crimes panel

June 21, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is “deeply unhappy” at a move by UN chief Ban Ki-moon to name a panel to look into alleged war crimes committed during the final months of the island’s civil war, an official said Monday. Colombo repeated President Mahinda Rajapakse’s protest to Ban in March that the panel […]

” govt: report

June 20, 2010 (AFP) – A senior leader of Sri Lanka’s defeated Tamil Tiger rebels has agreed to help the government in its post-war reconstruction efforts, a state-run newspaper reported Sunday. The UN estimates that up to 100,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict which began in the 1970s. The UN has also […]

Japan backs UN war crimes probe into Sri Lanka war

June 20, 2010 (AFP) – A visiting Japanese envoy said Sunday his country backed efforts by the United Nations to investigate alleged war crimes committed in Sri Lanka during the final months of its ethnic conflict. Yasushi Akashi, whose country is a major donor to Sri Lanka, ended a five-day visit saying he detected a […]

‘s protest over war crimes panel

June 17, 2010 (AFP) – The United Nations will set up a panel to probe war crimes in Sri Lanka despite repeated protests from the island’s hawkish government, a top UN envoy announced in Colombo on Thursday. Sri Lanka has named a “lessons learnt” panel to study issues that led to conflict, but it has […]

Sri Lanka marks Tiger defeat amid probe pressure

June 18, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka staged a delayed victory parade Friday to mark the first anniversary of the end of its 37-year civil war as pressure mounted for a probe into alleged crimes committed during the fighting. President Mahinda Rajapakse took the salute at the ceremony attended by thousands of troops drawn from […]

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