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Quarterly Profit
May 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank’s group profits grew 11.4 percent to 1,024 million rupees in the March quarter with revenue growing 37.7 percent, accounts filed with the stock exchange showed. Group revenue was up 37.7 percent to 10.2 billion rupees and interest expense grew 49.7 percent to 5.89 billion while net […]
British police arrest fourth Sri Lanka Tiger activist
LONDON, May 6, 2008 (AFP) – British police said they arrested a man under anti-terror laws Tuesday as part of their long-running probe into the Tamil Tiger guerrillas in Sri Lanka. The 51-year-old was arrested in the Swindon area of south-west England under the Terrorism Act and is in custody. Three others are being held […]
Sri Lanka Eagle claims handled round-the-clock
May 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Eagle Insurance has upgraded its customer care call centre with a single hot line for easy access and motor related calls handled round-the-clock, the company said in a statement. “In case a policyholder meets with an accident he or she can contact the call centre any time of […]
Oil price strikes new record high at 122 dollars
LONDON, May 6, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices hit a record high 122 dollars here on Tuesday as the market was driven by concerns over violence in key producer Nigeria and a struggling US currency, analysts said. After spiking to a fresh high, New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, […]
Cyclone could hurt Myanmar rice exports: WFP
BANGKOK, May 6, 2008 (AFP) – The deadly cyclone that struck Myanmar devastated its main rice-growing region, and could threaten exports meant to ease shortages in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the UN food agency said Tuesday. Flooding, which poured damaging salt water into paddy fields, could create long-term food insecurity for Myanmar and other poor […]
Myanmar says cyclone death toll tops 15,000
YANGON, May 6, 2008 (AFP) – More than 15,000 people were killed in Myanmar’s devastating cyclone, the government said Tuesday, with thousands more feared dead after the storm left rice fields littered with corpses. Aid workers were racing to deliver food and water to the southern coast which was submerged by floodwaters, leaving scenes of […]
Myanmar rulers under fire over cyclone
YANGON, May 6, 2008 (AFP) – Myanmar’s military rulers were under fire Tuesday after revealing more than 10,000 people died in the cyclone that battered the secretive and impoverished nation, with thousands more missing. As relief agencies scrambled to get food, clean water and supplies into a country that normally scorns foreign aid, US First […]
Yahoo still open to a takeover offer from Microsoft: report
LONDON, May 6, 2008 (AFP) – Yahoo’s Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang defended his handling of failed takeover negotiations with Microsoft and said he remains open to an offer from the US software giant, in an interview published Tuesday in the Financial Times. Yang told the paper he was willing to negotiate but Microsoft pulled […]
Sri Lanka plans medical help to Myanmar
May 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is planning to send a team of medical doctors and nurses to Myanmar, the foreign ministry said. Media reports said around 22,000 people are believed to have been killed by a cyclone that raged through the country last week. The government was also making a donation of 25,000 […]
Sri Lanka highways authority funds drained by overstaffing: official
May 06, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s road development bureaucracy is hugely overstaffed and a drain on public funds and unable to effectively maintain the island’s road network, a senior government official says. Sirisena Amarasekera, secretary, ministry of highways and road development, says there are around 10,000 people, including maintenance workers, in highway and road […]