All Blogs
‘s rare double
August 26, 2009 (AFP) – New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori became only the eighth player ever to achieve the double of 3,000 runs and 300 wickets as Sri Lanka groped for runs in the second Test on Wednesday. The left-arm spinner, who has scored 3,329 runs, claimed his 300th wicket when he had his Sri […]
Sri Lanka frees priests from war camps
August 26, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Wednesday freed nearly 600 Hindu and Catholic priests who were held in internment camps with ethnic Tamils displaced by fighting between troops and separatist rebels, officials said.The clergy were allowed to leave the camps in the northern district of Vavuniya, where 300,000 inmates are detained under tight […]
Sri Lanka pro-poor effort hit by political interference: ADB
Aug 26, 2009 (LBO) – Political interference and overlapping functions of government agencies have seriously weakened Sri Lanka’s efforts to help the poor and might even perpetuate poverty, a new Asian Development Bank report says. The public sector is too big, confused and lacks accountability, the report on ‘Poverty and human development in Sri Lanka’ […]
Sri Lanka draws Japanese investor interest
Aug 26, 2009 (LBO) – A 40-member Japanese trade and investment mission is due to visit Sri Lanka in November 2009 following the end of the island’s 30-year ethnic war, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said.Members of the mission during their visit will take part in the Japan – Sri Lanka Business Co-operation Committee meeting […]
Sri Lanka firms told socially responsible investing does pay
Aug 25, 2009 (LBO) – Companies should look closely at socially responsible business practices as they are more profitable and opens the door to alternative investments, a senior official from the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) said. “Socially responsible investment advocates argue that screening helps eliminate companies that have risks that are generally not recognized by […]
Sri Lanka central bank domestic assets fall
Aug 25, 2009 (LBO) – Treasury bills, a key domestic asset component at Sri Lanka’s central bank, plummeted following an unusual deal with a US fund manager which effectively swapped them for hard currency. According to official data released Monday the Central Bank’s Treasury bills stock which represented money printed for the government during a […]
Bank Capital
Aug 25, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank said the Colombo stock exchange has approved its application to list new ordinary shares in an effort to raise fresh capital.Seylan Bank was brought under the supervision of the banking regulator, the Central Bank, after it faced a run following the collapse of an unlisted Ceylinco […]
Sri Lanka coconut exporter wins agribusiness award
Aug 25, 2009 (LBO) – Renuka Agrifoods, a Sri Lankan exporter of value-added agro-based products, especially coconut, has won a top award for agribusiness.The company, a subsidiary of the listed Renuka Holdings, said in a statement it was named Overall National Winner (Gold Award) at the recent National Agribusiness Awards 2009. It also clinched the […]
Cairn on brink of big win in India oil gamble
NEW DELHI, August 25, 2009 (AFP) – Oil entrepreneur Bill Gammell took a big gamble 12 years ago — and his winnings look set to start rolling in as Cairn Energy, the company he heads, begins to pump oil from under western India.Cairn aims to draw 175,000 barrels of oil per day — accounting for […]
Microsoft revs up low-budget mobile phones
SAN FRANCISCO, August 24, 2009 (AFP) – Microsoft on Monday unveiled software that lets Twitter, Facebook and other hot Internet services be delivered to low-cost “feature phones” common in developing countries.The US technology giant will debut OneApp in South Africa and hopes to swiftly roll it out in India, China and other countries where millions […]