Radiation Check

Mar 21, 2011 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) said it is using scanners installed under an American counter-terrorism initiative to scan cargo from Japan at Colombo port for radiation. The scanners can detect radioactive materials inside containers. The Colombo port scanning was prompted by the release of radiation into the atmosphere from […]

Debt Rating

Mar 21, 2011 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has assigned Senkadagala Finance Company’s (SFC) proposed senior unsecured redeemable listed debentures of up to a billion rupees a ‘BBB+(lka)’ rating. The company was established in 1968 by the Balasuriya family, who owns 90 percent of SFC’s equity. The agency has simultaneously confirmed SFC’s National Long-Term rating […]

Sri Lanka has space to increase tuna catch: IOTC chief

Mar 21, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka can increase its catch but within the framework of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) in which competing interests will have to make trade-offs, the head of the regional fisheries body said. Rondolph Payet, chairman of IOTC, said a proposal by the Seychelles on tuna quotas at the […]

Tea Help

Mar 21, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea exporters have given three million tea bags to the people hit by a tsunami and earthquake in Japan. Chairman of Sri Lanka’s tea exporter’s association Jayantha Keragala had handed over the tea to President Mahinda Rajapaksa to be sent to Japan, a statement from the president’s office […]

Sri Lanka A320 flight simulator targets regional business

Mar 21, 2011 (LBO) – State-run SriLankan Airlines said had teamed up with Nederland-based SIM Industries to offer flight simulator services on Airbus A320 aircraft to the growing Indian subcontinent market. “The A320 family of aircraft is favoured for mid-range routes among airlines worldwide, including those in the rapidly growing airline industry of the Indian […]

‘s access to electricity

Mar 21, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has been included in programme to promote greater access to clean energy for poor rural women in South Asia funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government of Japan. “This project will support the mainstreaming of gender-related concerns and approaches in a sector which has largely […]

Sri Lanka CPC to end cut-priced fuel to power utility

Mar 21, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation will end the sale of subsidized fuel to Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), a state power utility, a report said, amid a controversy over the financial performance of the two entities. The usual excuse has been that they are doing a ‘service’. Meanwhile state energy […]

India set up World Cup thriller with Aussies

NEW DELHI, March 20, 2011 (AFP) – India will play defending champions Australia in a mouthwatering World Cup quarter-final clash after the hosts battled back to beat the West Indies comfortably on Sunday. India scored 268 thanks largely to a century by in-form Yuvraj Singh but lost their last six wickets for just 36 runs, […]

Australia to scale down riot-hit immigration camp

SYDNEY, March 21, 2011 (AFP) – Australia said Monday it would reduce the number of asylum seekers at an overcrowded detention centre on Christmas Island but would not abandon the camp which has endured days of riots and escapes. But Bowen said whatever their frustrations, violence was unacceptable. Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the government […]

Quake, tsunami could cost Japan $235 billion: World Bank

SINGAPORE, March 21, 2011 (AFP) – The massive quake and tsunami of March 11 could cost Japan’s economy up to $235 billion, or 4.0 percent of output, but reconstruction will spur recovery later this year, the World Bank said Monday. “If history is any guide, real GDP growth will be negatively affected through mid-2011,” the […]

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