All Blogs
India July inflation eases to 9.22 percent
NEW DELHI, August 16, 2011 (AFP) – India’s annual inflation edged lower to 9. 22 percent in July, official data showed Tuesday, still far above the comfort level of the country’s central bank, which has been raising rates aggressively. Growing fears about the stuttering global economy have fuelled speculation among economists that the bank may […]
Concern over loss of treasured freedoms, big brother state, in US
CHICAGO, August 16, 2011 (AFP) – Sweeping new policing powers, the tacit acceptance of torture and a backlash against Muslims that has grown fiercer 10 years after the September 11 attacks have made the United States a less free and open society. The erosion of fundamental American values along with massive — and what some […]
Sri Lanka cement supplies disrupted amid price controls
Aug 16, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s cement supplies remain disrupted amid price controls and posturing by rulers and the co-operative sector involved in another controversy, in a repetition of a similar debacle in the poultry sector. The Daily Mirror newspaper said Monday three cement firms have written to Sri Lanka’s consumer affairs agency which […]
Sri Lanka sells 400mn dollars in July to keep peg
July 15, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has sold 416. 9 million US dollars in July to maintain a peg with the US dollar amid high credit growth that is drawing down excess rupee reserves in banks, official data showed. High credit growth in the banking system is has rapidly exhausted excess rupee […]
Sri Lanka stocks flat amid estate, poultry sell-off
Aug 15, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed flat on Monday a sell-off of plantations and poultry firms which have reported weak earnings, though some index heavy stocks gained, brokers said. Colombo’s benchmark All Share Price Index close up 0.05 percent or 3.47points at 6,836.53 while the Milanka Index of liquid stocks closed up […]
BOT Deal
Aug 15, 2011 (LBO) – A 35-year build operate transfer deal has been signed between state-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority and Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT), a Sino-Lanka joint venture, the firm’s major shareholder said. China Merchants International, a Hong Kong listed Chinese state-run firm which has a 55 stake in the terminal company said […]
Group Net
Aug 15, 2011 (LBO) – Group profits of Sri Lanka’s NDB Bank fell 8 percent to 396 million rupees in the June 2011 quarter with lower fee income and an 84 million write-off of an investment in the Maldives, interim accounts showed. The bank has earnings of 2.42 for the quarter and 6.10 for the […]
Sri Lanka Horana Plantations lose Rs13mn in June Q
Aug 15, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Horana Plantations, a unit of the Ceylon Theatres group said it lost 13. 3 million rupees in the June 2011 quarter despite higher revenues after a wage hike. The firm, which mainly grows tea said revenues rose 12. 9 percent to 492 million rupees and costs also rose […]
Fraud Network
SYDNEY, August 15, 2011 (AFP) – Five men from Malaysia and Sri Lanka were charged Monday with being members of an international fraud syndicate responsible for attacks on bank card systems across Australia. During raids, police seized items including machines for processing bank payments, laptop computers, numerous mobile phones, cash, false travel documents and a […]
Indian PM warns on graft on Independence Day
NEW DELHI, August 15, 2011 (AFP) – India’s embattled premier Monday used his Independence Day address from Delhi’s rain-drenched Red Fort to insist the government was taking “the strictest possible action” against corruption. Manmohan Singh, speaking from a bullet-proof enclosure in torrential monsoon rains, also said that inflation running at nearly 10 percent was a […]