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Lanka Ratings re-branded as RAM Ratings Lanka
Feb 25, 2008 (LBO) – Credit rating agency Lanka Ratings was re-branded as RAM Ratings (Lanka) Limited following a reorganization of its Malaysian parent company RAM Holdings Berhad, Monday. RAM Holdings, an affiliate of the world’s largest ratings agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P), plans to expand regionally following the re-branding process. Suresh Menon, executive director […]
Sri Lanka investors chase plantations stocks
Feb 25, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed slightly higher Monday with trading dominated by shares of plantations companies which are enjoying higher earnings owing to the boom in commodities, brokers said. The All Share Price Index gained 10.19 points or 0.41 percent to close at 2,520.98 while the more liquid Milanka index went […]
Oil Skills
Feb 25, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank plans to hire professionals with expertise in the petroleum industry to support the government’s oil exploration and development efforts. It has just advertised for petroleum economists, geophysicists, petroleum geologists and petroleum risk analysts for positions in the central bank’s middle management level. Applicants with qualifications in […]
Tele Case
Feb 25, 2008 (LBO) – Legal action against the sale of Sri Lanka Telecom shares held by Japan’s NTT is to continue despite the death of the original petitioner, a reporter at the courthouse said. The next hearing of the case would be on March 10. Sri Lanka’s supreme court halted the sale of shares […]
” dominates Oscars, Europeans score high
HOLLYWOOD, Feb 24, 2008 (AFP) – Violent thriller “No Country for Old Men” won the best picture Oscar at the 80th Academy Awards here Sunday as European stars scored a clean sweep in the acting honors in an historic Hollywood night.The Golden Globes were canceled after stars vowed to boycott the event in support of […]
EU wants code of conduct for sovereign wealth funds
BEIJING, Feb 25, 2008 (AFP) – The European Union wants a global code of conduct for sovereign wealth funds to ensure transparency and good governance, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said Monday. Mandelson’s remarks, made during a visit to Beijing, come as the clout of funds such as the cash-flush China Investment Corp.are rapidly on […]
China may raise rates further as inflation hits 7.1-pct
BEIJING, Feb 25, 2008 (AFP) – Inflation remains the primary risk to China’s economy, and the government will stick to a tight monetary policy, state media reported Monday, citing a central bank vice governor.China hiked interest rates six times last year in an effort to tame inflation and cool the economy, which nevertheless grew at […]
Virgin test flies coconut oil powered jumbo jet
LONDON, Feb 24, 2008 (AFP) – The first flight by a commercial airline to be partly powered by biofuels and billed as heralding a eco-friendlier and cheaper era of airline travel took place on Sunday, Virgin Atlantic said.Airlines meanwhile also see biofuels as cheaper alternatives to kerosene, whose price is soaring as oil futures strike […]
Six million North Koreans chronically short of food
SEOUL, Feb 24, 2008 (AFP) – Nearly six million North Koreans are in chronic need of foreign food aid this year with children, nursing and expectant mothers and the poor most at risk, the World Food Programme said Sunday. A Seoul official and media reports said this month however that South Korean rice aid intended […]
Sri Lanka Galle Literary festival and the exit option
Feb 25, 2008 (LBO) – Reactions to the 2nd Galle Literary Festival that very successfully concluded last month testify to the entrenched strength of statist thinking in this country. It could also be interpreted as more evidence of the pre-eminent role of envy in the Sri Lankan psyche (Rusiyavata vadiya lokui irisiyava as three-wheeler philosophy puts […]