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Robotic subs race to cap leaking US oil well
NEW ORLEANS, April 27, 2010 (AFP) – Robotic underwater vessels raced Monday to stave off an environmental disaster by stopping 42,000 gallons of oil a day from streaming into the Gulf of Mexico from a sunken rig. A slick measuring 48 miles (77 kilometers) by 39 miles at its widest points has developed 30 miles […]
Tiny Himalayan kingdom tackles South Asian summit
THIMPHU, April 27, 2010 (AFP) – A visit by a top foreign dignitary is still a big event for the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. The combined presence of seven foreign heads of government is simply unheard of. Like a shy debutante taking her first steps in high society, the landlocked and still relatively reclusive […]
Sri Lankan refugee camps emptying: UNHCR
GENEVA, April 27, 2010 (AFP) – More than 200,000 of some 280,000 mainly Tamil people displaced after the civil war in northern Sri Lanka have left their camps since last August, the UN refugee agency said Tuesday. A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said the government allowed returns to resume last week […]
Sri Lanka public investments increasing: Treasury chief
Apr 26, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s public investments are on the rise as government builds new infrastructure for a post-war revival, laying the foundation for more private investment, Treasury secretary P B Jayasundera said. “Now we have around 25 percent of total investment. ” In 2009 the government invested the equivalent of 6.7 percent […]
” education crisis worsens: report
Apr 26, 2010 (LBO) – A crisis in Sri Lanka’s state-run ‘free’ education system funded by people’s taxes has worsened with 47 percent of students failing a key junior high school test leaving them stranded with no prospects, a report said. At Sri Lanka’s general certificate of education – ordinary level, equal to a junior […]
Sri Lanka rubber plantations shares in demand
Apr 26, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks edged higher Monday as investors bought selected blue chips and midcap stocks, as well as rubber plantation shares seen as doing well with the rise in rubber prices, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 4,136. 05, up 0.35 percent (14.41 points) while the more […]
Competition
Apr 26, 2010 (LBO) – Hutchison Telecom International’s Sri Lanka unit lost mobile phone subscribers in 2009 amid intense competition in the market, according to the group’s annual report released to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The number of mobile phone subscribers of Hutchison Telecom Lanka shrank by 12 percent to 779,000 although it continued […]
Tele Group
Apr 26, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom group profits fell 36 percent to 604 million rupees in the March quarter from a year earlier, but had returned to profits from a loss in the December quarter, interim accounts showed. Group revenue grew 3.0 percent to 12.2 billion rupees, while revenues of the standalone company […]
India-Pakistan cloud hangs over South Asia summit
THIMPU, April 26, 2010 (AFP) – A familiar game of “will they-won’t they” centred on a possible meeting between the leaders of India and Pakistan looks set to overshadow a summit of South Asian nations in Bhutan this week. The summit is supposed to culminate in a joint declaration entitled “Towards a Green and Happy […]
Sri Lankan airlines says delayed passengers given seats
April 26, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan Airlines said it had given seats to all passengers to Europe who were held up after the continent closed its airspace by using extra flights and will resume its normal schedule this week. The last extra flight would leave Colombo on Wednesday April 28. SriLankan flies 19 times […]