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New Faces
April 01, 2008 (LBO) – RAM Ratings (Lanka) Tuesday announced Siti Norma Yaakob has been elected as the new chairman of the firm and its parent company, RAM Holdings Berhad. It also announced the appointment of three new directors: Zainal Aznam, Syed Md Amin and Yeah Kim Leng. Siti Norma is the former Chief Judge […]
Sri Lanka expert panel urges action on community-based tourism
April 01, 2008 (LBO) – A growing demand for community-based tourism services from global travelers is creating new opportunities to boost incomes of poorer communities provided their inputs are bought at good prices. “Tourism has undeniable potential for pro-poor economic development in Sri Lanka,” Sri Lanka’s tourism ministry said in a statement. “Community heritage and […]
Media Trend
April 01, 2008 (LBO) – Fragmented audiences in traditional media like television and radio have made commercial inserts in programs less effective especially to reach urban consumers, marketers in Sri Lanka have said. This was pushing advertisers into emerging new media such as the internet, mobile and to sales points. Conventional advertising on television, radio […]
Carrot& Stick
April 01, 2008 (LBO) – Tight new immigration regulations that came into effect on April 01, will ban rule breakers from visiting Britain for ten years, but illegal immigrants would also be an amnesty leave, the UK High Commission (embassy) in Colombo said. “We will now prevent anyone who has previously broken our immigration laws […]
New Partner
April 01, 2008 (LBO) – Malaysia’s Usaha Tegas (UT) group said it was looking to provide management input to Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) and work with its major shareholder, Sri Lanka’s government, after buying a third stake in the telco. The UT group bought a 35.19 percent stake in SLT through Global Telecommunication Holdings (GTH), […]
Biggest Deal
April 01, 2008 (LBO) – Malaysia’s Usaha Tegas group bought a 35.2 percent stake in Sri Lanka Telecom for 300 million dollars making it the biggest deal in Sri Lanka’s capital market history and driving valuations to new heights. Usaha Tegas paid 50.50 rupees for 635 million shares of SLT from Japan’s NTT Communications valuing […]
Emirates airlines hits 100 destinations with Dubai-Cape town service
April 01, 2008 (LBO) – Emirates airlines said it had non-stop services to Cape Town in South Africa from its hub in Dubai, cutting travel time for travellers from the Indian sub-continent and Europe. . “The new service will provide its customers in Europe, Middle East, the Indian-sub continent and Asia-Pacific with direct access to […]
Deutsche Bank, UBS reveals new subprime-related losses
FRANKFURT, April 1, 2008 (AFP) – Deutsche Bank unveiled huge asset writedowns linked to the international banking crisis on Tuesday, but the amount still managed to pale in comparison to those announced by Swiss bank UBS.Deutsche Bank, the biggest German bank, said it estimated first-quarter writedowns would reach roughly 2.5 billion euros (3.9 billion dollars) […]
Chinese premier says enough rice, only price going up: report
BEIJING, April 1, 2008 (AFP) – China will be able to maintain adequate rice supplies to its 1.3 billion people despite recent sharp hikes in global prices for the grain, Premier Wen Jiabao said in comments reported Tuesday. “Please set your mind at rest because China has an abundant supply of rice,” the China Daily […]
Oil wobbles below 102 dollars in Asian trade
SINGAPORE, April 1, 2008 (AFP) – World oil prices traded below 102 dollars in Asian trade on Tuesday after falling more than four dollars in New York on concerns about slowing energy demand in the US, and a decline in Iraqi militia violence, dealers said. In morning trade, New York’s main oil contract, light sweet […]