Tag: Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka says Japan is not about to cut aid
Feb 02, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry says it has received assurances from Japan that aid will not be cut, after reports that Japan would review its aid policy to the island. Japan’s special envoy to Sri Lanka’s peace process Yasushi Akashi visited the island just as the government pulled out of a […]
Sri Lanka can stop inflation with currency board: Steve Hanke
Feb 02, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka could end inflation by adopting a working exchange rate system and a credible external anchor in the form of a currency board, a top international monetary economist has said. Related Links Go to article on Cato Institute website Go to Globe Asia column Go to Steve Hanke’s columns […]
Sri Lanka bus bombing kills 20
Feb 2, 2008 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off a powerful bomb on a crowded bus in north-central Sri Lanka Saturday, killing at least 20 people and wounding another 61, the military and hospital sources said.The Tamil Tigers have been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland in the majority Sinhalese nation since 1972 […]
Sri Lankan president urges calm after bus blast
Feb 2, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse blamed Tamil Tiger guerrillas for a bomb Saturday on a bus that killed at least 20 people, urging citizens not to be provoked by the rebels “brutality.” The parcel bomb went off as the crowded bus, carrying many Buddhist pilgrims belonging to the ethnic Sinhalese […]
Refined Product
Feb 01, 2008 (LBO) – Two UAE petroleum firms have won Sri Lankan government approval to build the island’s second refinery with an investment of 1.2 billion dollars, a senior minister said. . Trans Asia Gas International LLC and Star Petro Energy LLC of the UAE plan to build a 100,000 barrels-per-day refinery in the […]
Offshore Wealth
Feb 01, 2008 (LBO) – An oil exploration block nearest to India off Sri Lanka’s northwestern coast has become hot property with three petroleum firms chasing after it, the petroleum ministry said. The southernmost block of the three offered by Sri Lanka in the Mannar Basin, stretching from the coast to the maritime boundary with […]
Sri Lanka warring parties human rights violations unchecked: HRW
NEW YORK, Jan 31, 2008 (AFP) – Global concern is mounting over Sri Lanka’s worsening human rights record, but action by key international players has been “slow and lacked cohesion,” Human Rights Watch said in its annual report. The group said Sri Lanka managed to head off censure in the UN Human Rights Council by […]
Sri Lanka troops, Tigers in gunbattle, 18 rebels dead: officials
Feb 1, 2008 (AFP) – Security forces and Tamil Tiger rebels have traded heavy artillery fire in northern Sri Lanka, killing 18 rebels, officials said Friday, a day after Japan warned it may stop aid unless fighting subsided. Backed by war planes and heavy guns, the military smashed several rebel bunkers and killed at least […]
Sri Lanka negotiates more trade, investment deals
Jan 31, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is negotiating more free trade and investment deals with other countries to increase trade and foreign investment, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said Thursday. Two rounds of talks were held in January with neighbours India and Pakistan on free trade and investment agreements while the first negotiations on an […]
Oil Search
Jan 31, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is evaluating bids for offshore oil exploration in the island’s north-east from firms in Cyprus and India, petroleum minister A H M Fowzie said. The island has put three exploration bids on offer in the Mannar basin area. The bids closed today. ONGC Videsh and Cairn India from […]
Sri Lanka Tigers protest to UN
Jan 30, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels Wednesday lodged a formal protest with the United Nations alleging that security forces bombed a school bus and killed 18 civilians, mostly children, and accused them of targeting non-combatants. Among those dead on the bus were 12 children between the ages of eight and 16, […]
Sri Lanka blast kills four: officials
Jan 31, 2008 (AFP) – At least four people were killed in a powerful explosion in Sri Lanka’s embattled northern peninsula of Jaffna on Thursday, officials said.The explosion at Thirunelveli was believed to be the work of a suicide bomber, a military official here said, adding that initial reports said four civilians had been killed. […]