Lofty Idea

Dec 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is planning a space project with a British firm in a 150 million US dollar deal that could see a satellite launched into a geo-stationary orbit above the island in 30-months, an official said. The so called Clarke orbit, named after science fiction visionary Arthur C. Clarke is […]

Sri Lanka presidential rivals hand in nominations

December 17, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and his main rival in elections next month, former army general Sarath Fonseka, handed in their poll nomination papers on Thursday.Rajapakse and Fonseka, both dressed in white national dress, were among 22 candidates whose papers were accepted by the national Election Commission. Rajapakse has called […]

Sri Lanka economy expands 4.2-pct in 3Q: statistics office

Dec 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s economic growth slowed to 4.2 percent in the third quarter of 2009 from 6.3 percent a year earlier, but was up from 2.1 percent in the second quarter, the government’s statistics office said. “In economic terms we have had a V-shaped recovery,” said deputy statistics director Nalini Kumarasinghe. […]

Sri Lanka war refugee re-settlement gets World Bank aid

Dec 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s war refugee re-settlement efforts will get World Bank fund to re-build infrastructure and economic activities, in the north and east of the country which has emerged from a three decade long conflict. A 77 million US dollar credit will help 100,000 refugees in the north return to their […]

Sri Lankan stocks close 1.46-pct up, bank stocks make healthy gains

Dec 17, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed up Thursday, driven by banking and selected high value stocks, while large volume trading on John Keells Holdings (JKH) continued, brokers said. National Development Bank closed at 200.00 rupees, up 8.00 and DFCC Bank closed flat at 155.00 rupees. Celco Dialog Telekom, a unit of Telekom […]

Finance Rating

Dec 17, 2009 (LBO) – RAM Ratings Lanka has confirmed the long term rating of Bartleet Finance Limited at BBB- and its short term rating at P3, but its outlook has been cut to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’. RAM said the outlook cut was due to higher defaults in some loans segments that have pressured the […]

Sri Lanka seen losing status as tea exporter

Dec 17, 2009 (LBO) – China has overtaken Sri Lanka as the world’s second largest tea exporter, and the island is in danger of losing its position as a major export origin, the Sri Lanka Tea Board has warned.But China and Vietnam are understood to have maintained their usual black tea production and enjoyed the […]

Floor Connection

Dec 17, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is looking at setting an interconnection rate of around 60 cents a minute for mobile operators from February next year, the regulator said, as the industry was gripped in a price war. “We are looking at 60 cents a minute,” director general of Sri Lanka’s telecom regulatory commission […]

Broad Speed

Dec 17, 2009 (LBO) – Mobitel, a unit of fixed access provider Sri Lanka Telecom said it has successfully tested and launched a high speed broad band technology that will double peak download rate that can be offered on its mobile network. The upgraded high speed packet access (HSPA) technology uses multiple antennas in both […]

‘s NDTV Imagine for 126.5 million

NEW DELHI, December 17, 2009 (AFP) – Time Warner Inc said Thursday its board had approved the acquisition of Indian entertainment channel NDTV Imagine Ltd.for 126.5 million dollars. The purchase from NDTV Networks Plc will be made through unit Turner Asia Pacific Ventures, Inc.and will see it gain a 92 percent stake in Imagine, and […]

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