Tag: Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka could gain more in next phase of trade liberalization: study
March 15, 2008 (LBO) – A new study on a south Asian regional trade deal has said Sri Lanka will gain more in the next phase of liberalisation but the island’s private sector representatives have expressed scepticism about the outcome. The study on the benefits of the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) found that […]
Sri Lanka to hold vote for Eastern provincial council
March 14, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Friday announced plans to hold provincial council elections for the first time in two decades in a former stronghold of Tamil Tiger separatists. Commissioner of Elections Dayananda Dissanayake said he would receive nominations for the Eastern Provincial Council for a week from March 27. Voting was expected […]
Sri Lanka, U.S. in row over human rights report
March 14, 2008 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government Friday said it had summoned the American envoy to protest against a critical U.S. human rights report but the US embassy said it was standing by the report. A Foreign Ministry statement said it “strongly protests” the U.S. State Department’s Human Rights Report which criticised Sri […]
Sri Lanka says 23 killed in heavy fighting
COLOMBO, March 14, 2008 (AFP) – Heavy fighting between security forces and Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka has left at least 23 guerrillas dead and five government soldiers wounded, the defence ministry said Friday.Tens of thousands have been killed since the ethnic conflict erupted in 1972. Clashes erupted in the Wanni region as […]
Sri Lanka state television stops live programs in protest
Mar 14, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run television service, Rupavahini, has suspended live programs other than news broadcasts in protest against an attack on one of their employees Friday morning, television workers said. Anurasiri Hettige, a trade union official, had been attacked with a metal bar in the Kottikawatte area of Sri Lanka’s capital […]
No Hike
March 13, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s petroleum utility will not raise retail fuel prices at least until the traditional April Sinhala and Hindu New Year festival, despite record crude oil prices, petroleum minister A H M Fowzie said. The state-owned petroleum utility Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) will use profits from overcharging hapless petrol uses […]
Sri Lanka journalist arrests troubles CPJ
Mar 12, 2008 (LBO) – An international media rights watchdog says it is troubled by the arrests of several Sri Lankan journalists, some of them from the ethnic Tamil minority and called on authorities to charge or release them immediately. Six people connected to Outreachsl.com, a news website was arrested by terror sleuths of which […]
Sri Lanka says 28 more Tigers killed in fresh fighting
March 11, 2008 (AFP) – At least another 28 Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed by security forces in fresh fighting across Sri Lanka’s embattled north, the defence ministry said Wednesday.More than 60,000 people have been killed in the separatist conflict which erupted in 1972.The overnight clashes were in the districts of Jaffna, Vavuniya and […]
Pricey Fuel
March 11, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-owned petroleum utility plans to tie up with global ship supplier GAC Ships to sell bunkers or ship fuel in Colombo port, its chairman Ashantha de Mel said. . The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation’s plans to re-enter the bunker market will likely bring down prices in Colombo. “We’re in […]
Former guerrillas sweep polls in eastern Sri Lanka
BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka, March 11, 2008 (AFP) – A pro-government Tamil rebel group won a majority in almost all the local councils that went to the polls in Sri Lanka’s volatile east, officials results showed Tuesday.The armed Tamil People’s Liberation Party (TMVP) secured 72 out of the 101 seats in Monday’s vote to elect officials […]
Sri Lanka foreign reserves move to US$3.2bn
Mar 10, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves had increased to 3.4 billion dollars by March 06 with the monetary authority collecting 366 million dollars since the beginning of the year, the central bank said. The Central Bank had been heavily intervening in the inter-bank foreign exchange market in a bid to keep the […]
Sri Lanka blast in capital Colombo
Mar 10, 2008 (LBO) – A bomb had exploded in Wellawatte, a southern suburb of Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo during the morning rush hour Monday, killing at least one person, police said. The explosion came as residents in Sri Lanka’s East were preparing to go to regional polls. Updated Authorities said at least three persons […]