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Ethnic Support
VANCOUVER, October 19, 2009 (AFP) – The Canadian Tamil Congress said Sunday its lawyers will represent dozens of illegal migrants arrested on a mystery ship seized off Canada’s West Coast.Detention hearings will begin early this week for as many as 76 migrants from a freighter seized Friday by Canadian military, police and other agencies. The […]
Good Faith
Oct 19, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan-born hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam was investigated for allegedly funding Tamil Tiger rebels, but there was no evidence against him, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said Monday.US authorities on Friday charged Rajaratnam, 52, with fraud after saying they had uncovered the biggest ever case of insider-trading by […]
Mobile War
Oct 19, 2009 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings said the entry of Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) into Sri Lanka can further delay any prospects for recovery in the Sri Lankan telecom operators’ profitability.Millicom International Cellular SA last week sold its fully-owned subsidiary in Sri Lanka, Tigo, to Etisalat in a competitive bidding process. Tigo is the […]
Expansion
ABU DHABI, October 18, 2009 (AFP) – Gulf telecoms giant Etisalat said on Sunday that net profit dropped 4.7 percent in the nine months to September after a one-time gain had boosted year earlier figures. Net profit fell to 6.85 billion dirhams (1.87 billion dollars) from 7.19 billion dirhams (1.96 billion dollars) a year ago, […]
Maldives going under water: new look at a doomsday story
Oct 19, 2009 (LBO) – A great deal of fear has been expressed by many that on one fine day in the future the Maldives will be submerged by rising sea levels without leaving even a trace of those beautiful islands that have attracted thousands of visitors to them for thousands of years. The chain […]
Sri Lanka to get GSP Plus verdict by early January: official
Oct 19, 2009 (LBO) – The European Union will decide whether or not to renew the GSP Plus trade deal with Sri Lanka giving duty free access to EU markets by early January 2010, a senior official said. Bernard Savage, EU head of delegation to Sri Lanka, said the EU investigation report was submitted to […]
Sri Lanka draws Singapore investor interest
SINGAPORE, October 19, 2009 (AFP) – Singapore is urging local businessmen to explore investment opportunities in Sri Lanka following the defeat of the Tamil separatist insurgency there, a report said here Monday.“Our business community should take an interest in what’s happening, assess the risk and be aware there is a new situation,” Foreign Minister George […]
Wealthy Donor
WASHINGTON, October 18, 2009 (AFP) – A US-based hedge-fund billionaire charged as part of an insider-trading case was investigated by US authorities for allegedly raising funds for a Sri Lankan separatist group, The Wall Street Journal reported late Saturday. Citing people familiar with the probe, the newspaper said federal agents had uncovered documents showing that […]
Repayment Hitch
Oct 18, 2009 (LBO) – A repayment plan proposed for Ceylinco Shriram Capital Management Services, a unit of Sri Lanka’s troubled Ceylinco group has been rejected by customers who put money in the company, a media report said.In Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court where the case relating to Golden Key is being heard, 259 million rupees […]
Fresh Impetus
Oct 18, 2009 (LBO) – Etisalat, an Abu Dhabi based telco that bought Sri Lanka’s Tigo from Millicom International Cellular, says it will invest more in the firm to increase the mobile operator’s market share.Tigo, South Asia’s first mobile phone operator, now has a market share of 21 percent in Sri Lanka and had 2.25 […]