Sri Lanka extends emergency rule ahead of vote

March 2, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president has used his executive powers to extend a state of emergency that gives sweeping authority to police and troops ahead of next month’s parliamentary polls, an official said Tuesday. The president on Monday night signed a proclamation extending the tough laws by a further month, an official […]

‘s murder

March 2, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police are to question dozens of military intelligence officers in connection with the internationally condemned assassination of a senior editor, a spokesman said Tuesday. Investigations into the January 2009 slaying of Lasantha Wickrematunga, chief editor of the anti-establishment Sunday Leader, had led them to military personnel, said police […]

Sri Lanka plans 8-pct budget deficit for 2010: fiscal report

Mar 02, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is planning a budget with a deficit of about eight percent of gross domestic product for 2010, a finance ministry report said, after provisional data said the 2009 gap has increased to over ten percent of the economy. In 2009 the government hoped to run a deficit of […]

Sri Lanka overall budget deficit nears 10.3-pct of GDP in 2009

Mar 02, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s budget deficit for 2009 has exceeded 10.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), with a planned 7.0 percent deficit derailed by weak revenues and sharply higher expenditure, a finance ministry report said. The pre-election fiscal report said the revenue deficit (the gap between total revenues and current expenditure) […]

Sri Lanka employers should have closer dialogue with workers: ILO

Mar 02, 2010 (LBO) – Businesses can ride out economic downturns easier by having stronger relations with their workers through collective bargaining; an approach used countries like in Germany, an International Labour Organization (ILO) official said. Curtis was speaking at the tripartite workshop on freedom of association in collective bargaining in Sri Lanka, Nepal, the […]

Sri Lanka think tank highlights regional market prospects

March 02, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan exporters have a virtually untapped opportunity in south Asia’s huge market that could compensate for difficulties in accessing traditional Western markets, a new study has said. “For Sri Lanka, south Asia is increasingly becoming important as a trading partner,” said Saman Kelegama, director of the Institute of Policy […]

Sri Lanka shares close 0.46-pct higher

Mar 01, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed up Monday as investors bought selected midcap and high value shares, brokers said. JKH closed at 168.75 rupees, up 50 cents, and Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka closed at 118.00 rupees, up 150. Commercial Bank of Ceylon closed at 197.00 rupees, down 75 cents, Hatton National […]

Ship Building

March 01, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan ship builder Colombo Dockyard said net profit for the 2009 financial year rose by almost half although they fell in the December quarter as ship repair revenue came down. The yard, which is majority owned by Japan’s Onomichi Dockyard, said in a stock exchange filing that net profit […]

Name Change

Mar 01, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s listed Seylan Merchant Bank said it was changing its name to SMB Holdings and splitting each existing share in to ten new shares, the firm said in a stock exchange filing. SMB was a subsidiary of listed Seylan Bank, which is under regulatory supervision following a run. On […]

Third Source

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2010 (AFP) – The Internet has become the third most popular news platform for American adults, trailing only local and national television stations, according to a survey released on Monday. Seventy-eight percent of the 2,259 adults surveyed for the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and the Project for Excellence […]

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