Tag: Sri Lanka
Economic crisis a gift to people traffickers: Australia
NUSA DUA, April 15, 2009 (AFP) – People traffickers are licking their lips as the world economic downturn pushes more people to migrate in search of work, Australia’s foreign minister told Asian ministers Wednesday.Stephen Smith told a gathering of ministers and high-level officials from more than 60 countries, mostly from the Asia-Pacific region, that the […]
Sri Lanka will be more attractive to investors after IMF bailout: CB official
Apr 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will become more attractive for investors once an International Monetary Fund stamp of approval comes with a bailout package, a top central bank official has said. “Once the IMF come in there would be more confidence, where you will find more development partners and foreign investors who would […]
Pakistan president signs sharia law deal
ISLAMABAD, April 14, 2009 (AFP) – Pakistan’s president signed an accord to put part of the country under Islamic law as part of efforts to end a Taliban insurgency, despite fears Tuesday that it would encourage extremism. President Asif Ali Zardari’s move formalises a controversial deal between a pro-Taliban cleric, who led thousands of supporters […]
Sri Lanka state enterprises to get tax write-off: report
Apr 13, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s pampered state-enterprises, often overstaffed, and usually distinguished with poor customer service, are to get tax-write offs, a media report said, as the private sector is squeezed by yet new taxes. State-run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation which has borrowed 150 million rupees from the Treasury will qualify for relief […]
‘s residence
SYDNEY, April 13, 2009 (AFP) – Hundreds of Tamil protesters staged a rally outside Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s official Sydney residence Monday calling for a lasting ceasefire in Sri Lanka. About 300 demonstrators gathered outside Kirribilli House and nearby Admiralty House, the governor-general’s residence, to urge the Australian government to call for Colombo to […]
Sri Lanka strips Norway of peace-broker role: official
April 13, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Monday stripped Norway of its role as broker of the island’s moribund peace process, a government official told AFP. Sri Lanka formally invited the Scandanavian nation to act as peace broker in January 2000, and Oslo managed to secure a ceasefire between the government and rebels which […]
Tamil protestors storm Sri Lankan embassy in Norway
OSLO, April 12, 2009 (AFP) – A group of Tamil protesters stormed the Sri Lankan embassy in Oslo Sunday, police said, on the fifth day of demonstrations in the Norwegian capital calling for the end of fighting in Sri Lanka.Even Joerstad, an Oslo police superintendent, told AFP that around 100 Tamil demonstrators tried to storm […]
Sri Lanka central bank urges lending rate cut
Apr 12, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank is urging commercial banks to cut lending rates to stimulate growth while heavy government borrowing continues to crowd out the productive sectors. On April 08, Sri Lanka’s average commercial bank prime lending rate was 19.34 percent. Banks are taxed to the hilt, and have to cope […]
Sri Lankan inflation will hit zero: central banker
Apr 11, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s inflation will hit zero by the middle of the year, a senior central banker said, with 12-month price inflation in the capital Colombo already down to 5.3 percent in March 2009. However, analysts expect the rupee to weaken from May onwards adjusting to previous loose monetary policy under […]
Sri Lankan displaced children malnourished: govt
April 11, 2009 (AFP) – At least one in four children displaced by Sri Lanka’s ongoing fighting between troops and Tamil Tigers was malnourished, the health ministry said Saturday.Supplies to the area have been few and far between because of the intensity of fighting while the authorities have also severely restricted access for humanitarian agencies […]
Sri Lanka eyes diaspora funds to revive war zone
April 10, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has said it plans to entice the Tamil diaspora to invest in reviving the war-ravaged north and has set up a separate division to oversee all rehabilitation activities. “The institutional impediments to commencing productive activities in all sectors of the province will also be addressed gradually.” The government […]
Rights group slams Sri Lanka over murder probe
April 9, 2009 (AFP) – An international media rights group said Thursday there was a “lack of political will” in Sri Lanka to identify the killers of an anti-establishment newspaper editor. The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders accused Sri Lankan authorities of dragging out the probe into the murder of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunga, who […]