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Sri Lanka plans ethnic reconciliation panel
May 5, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka plans to set up a reconciliation commission to foster ethnic unity as the island emerges from nearly four decades of bloody conflict, a state-run newspaper said Wednesday. Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne said the government hoped the panel would ensure that majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils did not […]
Sri Lanka creates more state jobs, but costs mount
May 05, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s expanding state has created more jobs in recent years but costs are mounting with 57. 6 cents out of every tax rupee being taken home by workers as salaries and pensions last year, official data shows. In 2009 Sri Lanka had increased state workers by a net 61,856, […]
Sri Lankan stocks close 0.32-pct down on profit taking
May 04, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed down Tuesday as retail investors took profits ahead of a possible short term correction, while Horana Plantations, Nawaloka Hospitals and debutant Vallibel Finance were heavily traded, brokers said. Nawaloka Hospitals closed at 5. 50 rupees, up 60 cents with over 25 million shares traded, brokers said. […]
Sri Lanka tea output recovery slows in March
May 04, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s total tea production, including green tea, rose 7. 8 percent to 20 million kilos in March 2010 from a year ago when output was hit by drought and the effects of the global commodities crash. Tea Board data showed that most of the increase in output in March […]
Ad Brawl
May 04, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan advertising agency Triad said it has sued the organizers of an ad awards scheme for 100 million rupees alleging the contest was a ‘scam’ subject to manipulation. Other defendants include members of the Chillies 2010 organizing committee headed by Rohan Rajaratnam. The Chillies was created by the advertising […]
Fresh Brew
May 04, 2010 (LBO) – Unilever Sri Lanka (USL) has launched a new brand of tea in the island aiming to increase the multinational’s market share of branded teas that carry higher margins, officials said. The new brand, Brooke Bond Ceylonta, is expected to increase local market share for Unilever branded teas by 1.0 to […]
‘s Huawei seeks India meeting over telcom ban: report
NEW DELHI, May 4, 2010 (AFP) – Chinese telecoms maker Huawei Technologies is planning to meet senior Indian officials to persuade them its equipment poses no security threat, a report said Tuesday. The move comes after New Delhi said last week it blocked sales between Indian mobile phone operators and Chinese equipment firms, which the […]
Sri Lanka to scale back emergency laws: minister
May 4, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s foreign minister pledged Tuesday that the country’s tough emergency laws introduced in 1983 to fight a raging Tamil insurgency would be gradually withdrawn. France had led international calls to scrap the emergency laws soon after the defeat of the rebels. Since then, Sri Lanka’s parliament has kept extending […]
Sri Lanka Brandix opens apparel export hub in India
May 04, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan apparel exporter Brandix has opened a 1,000-acre ‘Apparel Park’ in India to serve as a hub for manufacturers and suppliers in the south Asian region, a statement said. The facility near the eastern Indian port city of Vishakhapatnam when fully occupied will accommodate up to 20 apparel manufacturing […]
Connecting SAARC: Telecom trumps borders, not
May 04, 2010 (LBO) – The Wagah border crossing on the Grand Trunk Road, between Lahore and Amritsar, is world famous for the elaborate rituals of nationalism enacted at sundown every day. High stepping soldiers in ceremonial dress glower at each other cheered on by large crowds on both sides whipped up to (different) nationalistic […]