All Blogs
Islamic Banking
Apr 26, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Amana Bank has signed a deal with Malaysia’s Bank Islam, which is a shareholder, to get Islamic banking expertise. A company statement said that under the Technical Advisory Service Agreement, Bank Islam will play a “significant role” in transferring Islamic banking expertise to Amana Bank. Bank Islam has […]
Book Stall
Apr 26, 2011 (LBO) – A Sri Lanka stall at the London Book Fair this month had attracted large numbers of visitors while several British authors had made inquiries about publishing their books in the island, participants said. The Sri Lanka Publishers Association, The Booksellers and Importers Association of Ceylon and the Export Development Board […]
Galleon Case
NEW YORK, April 25, 2011 (AFP) – A jury began deliberating Monday in Wall Street’s biggest insider trading court case in years, targeting Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, accused of profiting from insider information. Federal Judge Richard Holwell instructed jurors to use “fairness and impartiality” and said they are “the soul” of the case. […]
Sri Lankan Airlines hires more pilots
Apr 26, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan Airlines has hired 11 new pilots as it expands its fleet to meet increased demand for passenger and freight traffic after the end of the island’s 30-year ethnic war. Eleven young Sri Lankans have qualified to join SriLankan Airlines as pilots upon completion of training by the national […]
Sri Lanka seeks N. American market access through Mexico
Apr 26, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is seeking to access North American markets under the NAFTA trade deal through partnerships with Mexican businesses, minister of industry and commerce Rishad Bathiudeen said. Mexican Ambassador Nualart said Mexican businesses want to invest in food processing, multiplex cinemas and construction, specially shopping complexes, in Sri Lanka. “Joint […]
‘s Malinga defends Test retirement
April 26, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka paceman Lasith Malinga on Tuesday brushed aside criticism that he quit Test cricket to be able to make quick money from tournaments such as the Indian Premier League. The injury-prone bowler invited controversy when he made himself unavailable for Tests during a forthcoming tour of England because of […]
Australia to crack down on refugees after riots
SYDNEY, April 26, 2011 (AFP) – Australia moved to toughen its refugee stance Tuesday, launching a stricter character test so those convicted of crimes, including rioting, while in immigration detention could be shipped home. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the new law, if passed by parliament, would mean any asylum seeker found guilty of an […]
UN chief says no probe into Sri Lanka mass killings
UNITED NATIONS, April 26, 2011 (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said he cannot order an international probe into the killing of tens of thousands of civilians during Sri Lanka’s final assault on Tamil separatists in 2009. His remarks came after a UN panel said Monday that the Sri Lanka military killed most of […]
UN releases report on Sri Lanka
UNITED NATIONS, April 25, 2011 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan army killed most of the tens of thousands of civilian victims of a final offensive against Tamil separatists in 2009 but both sides may be guilty of war crimes, a UN panel said Monday. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he could not order an […]
Soaring food prices a threat across Asia
MANILA, April 26, 2011 (AFP) – Soaring global food prices threaten to push tens of millions of Asians into extreme poverty and cut the region’s economic growth this year, the Asian Development Bank warned in a report Tuesday. Cereal inventories globally will shrink further unless production rises at least 2.0 percent this year, the report […]