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March 11, 2008 (LBO) – Bharti Airtel Lanka, a subsidiary of India’s Bharti Airtel, said it had pushed back the launch of its mobile service in Sri Lanka to September this year from an original target of March. The firm Tuesday signed a deal with the investment promotion agency, Board of Investment, to spend half […]
Sri Lankan Airlines passenger carriage hits new record
Mar 11, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan Airlines had carried 3.2 million passengers in 2007, up 100,000 from the previous year making it the largest volume of passengers it had carried since its creation in 1979, the airline said. Sri Lankan says it has won an award for being the world’s most efficient operator of […]
Sri Lanka Union Assurance profit up amid price war
March 11, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Union Assurance group net profit for 2007 rose 63 percent to 254 million rupees from 156 million rupees the year before but the firm said it was concerned about price competition and high motor claims. General and life insurance premiums grew by 23 percent to five billon rupees […]
Oil prices at record of 109.20 dollars, Euro hit new high amid US money printing
LONDON, March 11, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices struck a record high of 109.20 dollars per barrel on Tuesday after the dollar hit a fresh all-time low against the euro, traders said. The euro reached a record high of 1.5495 in European tradin. A weaker US currency increases demand for dollar-denominated oil as it becomes […]
Singapore family charged with maid abuse: report
SINGAPORE, March 11, 2008 (AFP) – A Singapore teenager and her family have been charged with physically assaulting an Indonesian maid, including pulling out her teeth and pouring hot wax on her, the Straits Times reported Tuesday.More than 140,000 domestic workers mainly from Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, work in Singapore.Cases of employers abusing […]
Brazil tops five million hybrid cars, makes 22bn litres of ethanol in 2007
SAO PAULO, March 10, 2008 (AFP) – More than five million vehicles and almost nine in ten new vehicles in Brazil now run on both gasoline and ethanol derived from sugar cane, the car manufacturing association Anfavea said Monday. Anfavea president Jackson Schneider told reporters in Sao Paulo that Brazil — a pioneer in biofuels […]
Asian stocks close mostly up after late rally
HONG KONG, March 11, 2008 (AFP) – Asian stocks closed mostly up after a late rally Tuesday as bargain hunters emerged despite earlier US share price falls sparked by growing worries over a global credit crunch.Most markets around the region reversed early losses to turn higher in late trade, after suffering steep falls on Monday. […]
Money printing, inflation hit Iranian voters despite oil wealth
TEHRAN, March 11, 2008 (AFP) – High inflation, unemployment, slack monetary policy and a lack of foreign investment: Iran is suffering from a litany of economic problems ahead of Friday’s legislative elections.President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad swept to power in 2005 on a platform to make the poor — many of whom have left villages to swell […]
Wall St. pummeled despite Fed printing; oil 108, Blackstone reveals a loss
NEW YORK, March 10, 2008 (AFP) – US stocks sustained a fresh beating Monday as oil prices briefly rocketed to fresh highs above 108 dollars a barrel and as The Blackstone Group private equity firm announced a big quarterly loss. Financial stocks fell heavily through the day in the wake of Blackstone’s revelation and as […]
Sri Lanka Cricket chief fears player exodus
March 11, 2008 (AFP) – Young cricketers may soon opt out of playing for their country because of the huge amounts of money available in the sport, Sri Lanka’s cricket chief Arjuna Ranatunga said on Tuesday. Ranatunga, Sri Lanka’s World Cup-winning captain in 1996, said he was worried about the future of younger players who […]