Tag: Sri Lanka
Oil Row
June 19, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has ordered a local unit of Indian Oil Corporation to sell diesel on par with state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation or face sanctions, after the Indian firm raised diesel prices in response to a new tax. Lanka IOC raised the price of diesel by 20 rupees to 130 rupees […]
Sri Lanka economic statistics questioned
June 18, 2008 (LBO) – Rosy growth figures put out by government outfits are suspect, a Sri Lankan think tank has said, calling for the collection and analysis of socio economic data to be entrusted to independent authorities. The Point Pedro Institute of Development, said the outlook for the island economy is bleak given rising […]
” countries for journalists
BELGRADE, June 17, 2008 (AFP) – The International Press Institute has highlighted the oppressive conditions for media in a number of countries, including Zimbabwe and Russia, officials said. The IPI board “unanimously” voted to keep Ethiopia, Nepal, Russia, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Zimbabwe on its “watch list” of countries where press freedom has significantly deteriorated, […]
French charity seeks international probe into Sri Lanka massacre
June 17, 2008 (AFP) – A French charity demanded on Tuesday an international probe into the execution-style killing of 17 of its employees in Sri Lanka in 2006 after denouncing local investigations.Paris-based Action Against Hunger, or ACF, asked the French government and the European Union, among others, to set up an international panel to probe […]
Oil mania worse than dot-com craze: report
June 14, 2008 (LBO) – The current oil bubble which has seen crude rising 700-pct since November 2001 is worse than the dot-com bubble which saw the Nasdaq composite index rising 640 percent before it crashed, a media report said. Food riots in poor countries have increasingly put pressure on the Federal Reserve to alter […]
Sri Lanka govt muzzled media during EU visit: rights group
June 13, 2008 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government pressured independent newspapers not to publish critical stories during a visit by a European Union delegation to the island earlier this week, a media rights group said. The statement said that journalists working for several newspapers told Reporters Without Borders on condition of anonymity that during […]
Sri Lanka to get US$900mn from World Bank for regional growth
June 13, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka could get 900 million US dollars from the World Bank over the next three years to build infrastructure in lagging regions, improve health, education and safety nets, the multilateral lender said. The World Bank’s executive directors had endorsed a country assistance strategy (CAS) covering the period from July […]
EU says Sri Lanka should improve rights record, media freedom
June 12, 2008 (LBO) – The European Union urged Sri Lanka to improve its human rights record and treatment of journalists as the country is set to re-apply for a trade concession extension later in the year. The EU was also helping build roads and do reconstruction but work was hampered due to a monopoly […]
Sri Lanka blocks rice exports
June 12, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has slapped a minimum export price floor of 100,000 rupees (923 dollars) per metric tonne to block rice exports, information minister Anura Yapa said. World rice prices, which peaked in April, have since moderated. Global commodity prices have been booming amidst money printing in reserve currency countries, especially […]
Pakistan inflation caused by money printing for budget: finance minister
June 12, 2008 (LBO) – Unprecedented borrowings from the central bank or ‘money printing’ to finance subsidies have caused inflation in Pakistan to go to a historic high, the country’s finance minister has said. Finance minister Naveed Qamar told Pakistan’s parliament that large subsidies not financed in the original budget had been given by the […]
Sri Lanka focuses on education to combat child labour
June 11, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will mark the World Day Against Child Labour this year on June 12 Thursday with activities to raise awareness about this year’s theme that education is the right response to child labour, the International Labour Organisation said. The ILO has estimated that some 165 million children between the […]
Arbitrage
June 10, 2008 (LBO) – Laugfs Auto Gas, a Sri Lankan gas distributor that started conversion of vehicles to run on auto gas, said that it was timely for owners to covert to gas because it is now almost 50 percent cheaper than petrol.“Liquid petroleum gas has always been cheaper than petrol and we believe […]