Tag: Sri Lanka
Most governments fail to account for spending: report
WASHINGTON, January 31, 2009 (AFP) – Eighty percent of the world’s governments fail to provide adequate information on spending to the public, often because of a lack of political will, according to a report published Saturday. The International Budget Partnership (IBP), a non-governmental organization that promotes transparency in government, said it evaluated the budgets of […]
Sri Lankan Tamils in Canada protest fighting
OTTAWA, January 30, 2009 (AFP) – Hundreds of Tamils on Friday formed a human chain in downtown Toronto, Canada’s biggest city, to protest a Sri Lankan military push for victory against Tamil rebels. Toronto is home to the largest concentration of Tamils outside of Sri Lanka. Holding up banners decrying the Sri Lankan military’s latest […]
Zimbabwe lifts foreign currency restrictions
HARARE, January 29, 2009 (AFP) – Zimbabwe scrapped restictions on foreign currency on Thursday to prop up its ailing economy, as the United Nations warned that more than half the population needs emergency food aid.Hours after grim estimates by UN agencies also showed that just six percent of its population is formally employed, acting finance […]
Sri Lanka inflation falls to 10.7-pct
Jan 30, 2009 (LBO) – Inflation in the 12-months to January 2009 measured by the revised Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI) fell to 10.7 percent from 14.4 percent in December, the government’s statistics office said. The moving average of the index, which is a lagging indicator, fell to 21.6 percent from 22.6 percent. Sri Lanka […]
Sri Lanka, UN in anti-corruption effort
Jan 28, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are to launch a programme to fight corruption, a UNDP statement said.The project, called ‘Support Efforts and Action against Corruption in Sri Lanka’ (SEAC) will be a three-year effort aimed at combating corruption and promoting accountability and transparency in public […]
Indian foreign minister to visit Sri Lanka as rebels retreat: report
NEW DELHI, January 27, 2009 (AFP) – India’s foreign minister was set to visit Sri Lanka Tuesday as the Tamil Tiger rebels struggled to defend their last remaining strongholds, the Press Trust of India reported.Pranab Mukherjee was expected to meet Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to push for a lasting political solution to the long-running […]
Hedge Deal
Jan 27, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Tuesday terminated proceedings in a case against oil hedges by the state-owned refiner, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, with all interim orders that suspended payments to banks ceasing to be operative.The Supreme Court said it was terminating proceedings as the government did not comply with its orders to […]
‘s other war keeps media on the run
January 25, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is in the grip of its biggest military offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels, but the country’s journalists are also facing an unprecedented battle of their own. Unidentified attackers stabbed weekly newspaper editor Upali Tennakoon and smashed his car as he drove to work Friday in the latest in […]
Sri Lanka must act on violence against media: Amnesty
LONDON, January 23, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan authorities must ensure that the island’s media can work freely and safely, Amnesty International said Friday, as a string of violent attacks against reporters escalated.“By threatening journalists with the risk of arrest, and failing to protect them from attack, the government is failing its citizens.” The London-based […]
Media freedoms under threat in Sri Lanka: US
January 24, 2009 (AFP) – Continuing attacks against journalists in Sri Lanka show the deteriorating conditions media workers face in the country, a statement released by the US embassy here said Saturday.In the statement, US State Department acting spokesman Robert A.Wood said the United States was appalled by ongoing physical attacks and threats against the […]
Sri Lanka media freedoms under threat: US
January 24, 2009 (AFP) – Continuing attacks against journalists in Sri Lanka show the deteriorating conditions media workers face in the country, a statement released by the US embassy here said Saturday.In the statement, US State Department acting spokesman Robert A. Wood said the United States was appalled by ongoing physical attacks and threats against […]
Sri Lanka newspaper editor assaulted
Jan 23, 2009 (LBO) – An editor of a Sri Lankan weekly newspaper and his wife had been have been assaulted, a staff member said, weeks after an editor of a newspaper critical of the government had been gunned down. Noyahr then left the country. The ownership of the newspaper firm then changed hands. The […]