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March 13, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lankan immigration authorities detained a Pakistani journalist with the same name as the man who staged an abortive car bomb attack in New York’s Times Square last year, officials said Sunday. Faisal Shahzad, an Islamabad-based reporter, was allowed to enter the country to cover the World Cup after spending […]
Fear as Japan struggles with stricken nuke reactors
FUKUSHIMA, March 13, 2011 (AFP) – Japan battled a nuclear emergency Sunday in which the government said twin meltdowns may have taken place and that radiation had escaped from reactors at a quake-damaged atomic power plant. About 200,000 people have been evacuated from residential areas around the Fukushima No. 1 plant, 250 kilometres (120 miles) […]
Sri Lanka private worker pension funds pays 12.5-pct
Mar 12, 2011 (LBO) – A pension fund of private citizens of Sri Lanka worth 900 billion rupees, the island’s biggest investment fund, has paid 12. 5 percent to its beneficiaries in 2010 its state managers said. The central bank said annual contributions rose 12. 5 percent and active members increased 9.5 percent “reflecting the […]
Sri Lanka private pension fund makes equity gains
Mar 12, 2011 (LBO) – A pension fund of private Sri Lankan citizens managed by the state has made large capital gains by investing in stocks with the share of equity in the 900 billion rupees fund rising to 5.0 percent from 1.3 percent, its managers said. Sri Lanka’s Employees Provident Fund, which is made […]
Sri Lanka forced selling drives down stocks
Mar 11, 2011(LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed 0. 96 percent lower with active retail trading and forced selling due to credit issues, brokers said. “Forced selling was seen in trading with margin calls coming on several stocks. The credit issue was one of the main reasons,” an analyst said. In November 2010, the Securities […]
Sri Lanka may temporarily allow maize imports
Mar 11, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka may temporarily lift a 35 percent import tax on maize to prevent prices going higher and hurting the island’s poultry industry after floods destroyed a part of the domestic crop, an official said. Sri Lanka’s agriculture ministry has requested approval from the cabinet of ministers to cut taxes […]
Sri Lanka tea crops recover
Mar 11, 2011 (LBO) – Tea harvests from Sri Lanka’s main plantations areas have improved following a slump caused by bad weather which affected the first quarter ‘Western quality season’, brokers said. Unseasonal heavy rains had affected tea harvests especially on the western slopes of the island’s central hills which usually produce quality teas in […]
Affordable Access
Mar 11, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will seek to negotiate with international software vendors to try to bring down prices by up to half in its drive to promote information and communication technology business, a report said. Sri Lanka has recently been cracking down on software piracy after being ranked the second worst offender […]
Sri Lanka in talks for a 30MW municipal waste plant
Mar 11, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state -run Ceylon Electricity Board is in talks with a private developer to buy power from a 30MegaWatt municipal waste burning plant, a government minister said. Minister Ranawaka said there are about proposals to start 15 waste-burning plants. Sri Lanka’s power regulator’s latest tariffs offer 22. 02 rupees […]
Sri Lanka seal World Cup quarters berth
NEW DELHI, March 10, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka became the first team to qualify for the World Cup quarter-finals on Thursday after an emphatic victory over Zimbabwe that virtually ensures last eight spots for New Zealand and Pakistan. The joint hosts now have seven points from five games in Group A, one clear of […]