All Blogs
India to launch $45 tablet computer
NEW DELHI, October 4, 2011 (AFP) – India is set Wednesday to launch its long-awaited low-cost computer, a tablet device designed to bring the information technology revolution to tens of millions of students. The touchscreen computer has a seven-inch (18-centimetre) screen, Wi-Fi Internet access, a media player and 180 minutes of battery power, according to […]
Sri Lanka starts reverse repo auction
Oct 05, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has announced a 15 billion rupee reverse repo cash auction to inject liquidity which can stabilize spiking rates in the overnight market, dealers and analysts said. The reverse repo auction will help cap rates with the monetary authority acting as a central counter party, analysts said. […]
Sri Lanka overnight rates head higher amid peg defence
Oct 04, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s short term interest rates are heading higher as liquidity tightens in money markets and policy contradictions in forex and money markets begin to bite, dealers said. The weighted average overnight rate in the repo market, where banks and primary dealers of Treasuries sell money to each other collateralized […]
Sri Lanka stocks end down 0.9-pct
Oct 04, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed lower Tuesday with losses in shares that had been pushed up by speculators and a newly listed finance firm being heavily traded, brokers said. The ASPI is up 2.23 percent so far this year while most other regional markets were down. The main All Share Price […]
Sri Lanka to monitor foreigners electronically
Oct 04, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is developing a system to track and monitor foreign nationals as they enter and travel around the country, after a new online travel approval system is fully operational, an official said. The immigration department already had a ‘migration intelligence unit’ but another special unit would be created in […]
Sri Lanka LOLC buys full control of resort
Oct 04, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s LOLC Leisure has bought full control of the Tropical Villas resort on the south coast paying 165 million rupees to Carbotels for the remaining 40 percent, a stock exchange filing said. The firm had bought 60 percent of Tropical Villas Ltd (TVL) in August 2010 and now holds […]
Tech Fair
CHIBA, October 4, 2011 (AFP) – Smartphones detecting bad breath and radiation, twistable remote controls and a super-thin tablet computer featured among the cutting-edge gadgets at Asia’s biggest tech fair in Japan Tuesday. Around 600 firms unveiled their innovations at the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies (Ceatec) exhibition in Chiba, near Tokyo, expected to draw […]
Asia leads world in child-labor products: US report
WASHINGTON, October 4, 2011 (AFP) – India, Bangladesh and the Philippines lead the world in the number of products made by child workers, a US government stock-taking of the global scale of underaged labor revealed Monday. Some 130 types of goods — from building bricks and soccer balls to pornography and rare ores used in […]
Sri Lanka scraps sports medical unit over doping
COLOMBO, October 4, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has sacked its entire sports medical unit over allegations that staff were linked to banned steroids used by cricketers and national athletes, officials said Tuesday. Sports Minister Mahindananda Althugamage ordered the complete overhaul of the unit following positive tests for cricketer Upul Tharanga, national rugby players and […]
Sri Lanka maintained balance while ensuring growth: CB Governor
Oct 04, 2011 (LBO) – Policymakers must look at an economy as a whole and not focus only on certain aspects, Sri Lankan central bank governor Nivard Cabraal said. Factors like the exchange rate, interest rates, unemployment and growth were all interconnected, he told a meeting of the Asian Bankers Association in Colombo Tuesday. Concern […]