All Blogs
India launches ultra-luxury Maharaja train service
KOLKATA, March 23, 2010 (AFP) – India has launched its most luxurious and expensive train service yet, seeking to attract well-heeled foreign rail enthusiasts prepared to pay the minimum 800-dollars-a-night price tag. For most visitors, rail travel in India is an indispensable part of any holiday, although an ability to overlook the often filthy toilets […]
WTO negotiators say scant progress made in trade talks
GENEVA, March 22, 2010 (AFP) – Scant progress has been made in talks for a global trade pact, top negotiators told World Trade Organisation member states Monday, dampening hopes of a deal in the Doha Round soon. The round of negotiations for a trade liberalisation deal are primarily aimed at removing obstacles to trade for […]
‘s main opposition touts new policies
Mar 23, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s right wing United National Party (UNP) promises socialist style intervention to fix economic problems by clamping down on errant banks, increasing state-sector pensions and wages and threatening to cancel foreign commercial loans. Troubled assets of the Sri Lanka’s banking system will be absorbed into the state by a […]
Sri Lanka invites investors for township development
Mar 23, 2010 (LBO) – Development of townships around Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo offers investors a range of investment opportunities to build infrastructure and supply services, a senior official said. The Greater Colombo township development, known as the ‘3K’ project from the three towns covered – Kottawa, Kaduwela and Kadawatha – is connected with construction […]
Sri Lanka loosened monetary policy without damage: IMF
HANOI, Mar 23, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka was among the countries that ran counter-cyclical monetary policy in 2009 without damaging fallouts but low income Asian nations have to invest more, International Monetary Fund officials said. Sri Lanka is estimated to have grown by about 3. 5 percent in 2009 recovering from a slump from […]
Sri Lankan stocks becalmed
Mar 22, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed barely changed Monday and trading was lower than that of recent days as retail investors bought into conglomerate John Keells Holdings (JKH) and selected midcap stocks, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 3,743.00, 0.05 percent or 1.92 points down, while the Milanka index […]
Smart Banking
Mar 22, 2010 (LBO) – Banks can reduce credit risks by segmenting present and future customers into different credit risk pools using information technology, a senior official from International Business Machine (IBM) Corporation said. “We believe that there are three imperatives that are going to force financial institutions to think and act in fundamentally new […]
Sri Lankan Aitken Spence hotel group buys beach resort
Mar 22, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings has acquired 100 percent of Ramada Resorts, a beach resort formerly known as Golden Sun Resorts, for 350 million rupees, a stock exchange filing said. The filing said the shareholders of Golden Sun Resort in Kalutara on the west coast had given the nod […]
Sri Lanka Finlays unit reveals gains from commodities crash
Mar 22, 2010 (LBO) – Buying tea for stock during the commodities crash in the last quarter of 2008 helped boost profits at Finlays Colombo group last year, the Sri Lankan company has revealed. The firm, part of the Swire group of the UK, said its tea packing business made higher profits in the first […]
Sri Lanka private TV station stoned ahead of vote: police
March 22, 2010 (AFP) – Dozens of unidentified men pelted stones at the headquarters of a private television station in Sri Lanka’s capital Monday, causing damage to the building, police said. The latest attack came as Sri Lankan and foreign media rights groups accused the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse of cracking down on dissent, […]