Tag: Sri Lanka
‘s observer status
NEW DELHI, March 31, 2007 (AFP) – South Asian officials Saturday recommended observer status for Iran at next week’s regional summit which will be dominated by trade amid warming ties between rivals India and Pakistan. China, the European Union, Japan, South Korea and the United States already have observer status with the eight-nation South Asian […]
France detains 16 Tamil Tiger fund-raising suspects
PARIS, April 1, 2007 (AFP) – Sixteen suspected members of the Tamil Tigers rebel group were detained Sunday in Paris during an investigation into terrorist financing activities, sources close to the case said.Police made the arrests under the direction of anti-terrorist judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, the sources said. The suspects are alleged to be involved in […]
Sri Lanka seeks to scrap truce with Tigers: report
April 1, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka plans to hold a referendum on whether to maintain a fragile five-year-old ceasefire between government troops and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, a state-run newspaper said Sunday.The truce allows either party to opt out by giving two weeks’ notice to Norway. The government of President Mahinda Rajapakse hopes to […]
South Asia holds summit to build trade, fight terror
NEW DELHI, April 1, 2007 (AFP) – South Asian leaders meet in New Delhi this week to push for joint action against terrorism and efforts to overcome mistrust dogging the trade ambitions of their bloc of 1.4 billion people. Foreign ministry officials began laying the groundwork on Saturday for the South Asian Association of Regional […]
Amnesty World Cup campaign not cricket, Sri Lanka fumes
April 1, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka protested Sunday against an Amnesty International campaign at the cricket World Cup drawing attention to human rights abuses on the island. The London-based rights group has been calling for Sri Lanka to ‘Play by the Rules’ in its conflict with Tamil rebels by persuading thousands of fans to […]
Sri Lanka evaluates effectiveness of disaster warning system
March 31, 2007 (LBO) – Community-based disaster warning system technologies and their effectiveness were tested in a recent study conducted in 32 villages Sri Lanka’s coastal belt. This project was started after the devastating Asian tsunami that claimed the lives of more than 35,000 people in Sri Lanka. It was funded by the International Development […]
Foreign officials meet ahead of South Asian summit
NEW DELHI, March 31, 2007 (AFP) – South Asian foreign ministry officials began laying the groundwork on Saturday for a regional summit to be dominated by trade talk amid warming ties between rivals India and Pakistan. The meeting of foreign secretaries will review the progress of panels formed under the South Asian Association for Regional […]
Inflation in Sri Lanka stabilizes in March amidst moves to change index
March 30, 2007 (LBO) – Consumer price inflation in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo fell by 1.7 percent in the month of March though the 12-month difference in price levels was still high at 19.5 percent, data from the statistics office showed Friday. Analysts says unions are likely to oppose any attempts to short change them […]
Hemas Hydro
March 30, 2007 (LBO) – A 2.2 MegaWatt mini-hydro plant built by the power division of Hemas Holding would be connected to the national grid in June, an official said. Hemas Power, a fully subsidiary of Hemas Holdings, signed an agreement on Friday with the BOI to invest 223 million rupees in the Giddawa mini […]
‘s finances need fixing: Central Bank
March 30, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank called for better government budgets to avoid money printing, changes in badly run state firms, more private sector involvement in infrastructure to reduce further build-ups in government debt, in it annual report Friday. Last year the GDP deflator, the broadest measure of inflation at 10.5 percent […]
‘ diesel-petrol price gap worsens
March 30, 2007 (LBO) – The gap between petrol and diesel prices in Sri Lanka has widened further overnight with a hike of 7 rupees a litre by state owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation with the second player Lanka IOC following suit. The retail prices of a litre of 90-Octane petrol is now 104 rupees, 95-Octane […]
Shelling kills eight civilians in Sri Lanka
March 30, 2007 (AFP) – At least eight civilians were killed and several others wounded in eastern Sri Lanka Friday as government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels exchanged artillery and mortar fire, officials said. Four men and four women were killed when they were hit by shells, a military official in Batticaloa, 303 kilometres (189 […]