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High Stakes
Oct 15, 2007 (LBO) – Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) Monday dismissed claims by a rival bidder to have made the highest bid to build and operate Colombo’s planned new container terminal. HPH, one of the world’s biggest port operators, said it rejected as “somewhat presumptuous and inaccurate,” claims by Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence conglomerate that […]
Unclaimed Prizes
Oct 15, 2007 (LBO) – Though 25,000 state workers are eligible to buy duty-slashed vehicles, less than half of those entitled have so far applied for a car, officials said.Long waiting lists at agents for popular brands as well as the high cost of new cars is said to be deterring public servants from cashing […]
Bouncing Cheques
Oct 15, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Central Bank said Monday that cheque returns were too high and warned customers that issuing cheques without funds was an offence. The total value of returned cheques in a day is “substantial”, amounting to over half a billion rupees, a bank statement said. Out of the total number […]
Higher Stake
Oct 15, 2007 (LBO) – People’s Merchant Bank (PMB) shares shot up 15.50 rupees to 55 rupees in Monday morning trading on the Colombo bourse as the firm said that Lanka Orix Leasing Company had increased its stake in the company. PMB said in a statement to the Colombo Stock Exchange that its share price […]
Indian shares cross record 19,000 points
MUMBAI, Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) – India’s benchmark Sensex index surged more than three percent to a fresh intraday record on Monday, crossing the 19,000-point mark for the first time ever, led by buying from overseas funds, dealers said.They said a series of record highs on the Mumbai stock exchange, during a 3,000-point climb in […]
New Zealand inflation falls to 1.8-pct
WELLINGTON, Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) – New Zealand’s inflation rate for the September quarter was held to an unexpectedly low 0.5 percent, pinning the annual rate to 1.8 percent, according to official figures released Monday.New Zealand inflation lower than expected The lower than forecast result — attributed to lower prices in health and education due […]
Sri Lankan Tigers in suspected attack inside southern wildlife park
Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels attacked a military position inside Sri Lanka’s main wildlife sanctuary as the authorities were preparing to reopen it for tourists, officials said.At least one soldier was wounded in the Monday evening attack inside the Yala National Park in the deep south of the island, officials said, […]
Sri Lanka rights activists quit panel in protest over killings
Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) – Four top Sri Lankan activists have quit a human rights panel in protest over the government’s failure to stop extra-judicial killings, abductions and illegal arrests, one of them said Monday.Nimalka Fernando said she and three other members of the advisory committee set up by the Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe […]
Big Airbus
TOULOUSE, France, Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) – Airbus was to make the first delivery of its A380 superjumbo jet on Monday to Singapore Airlines, with elation and relief expected at a ceremony in southern France to mark the occasion. The heads of both companies were expected to hail a major advance in air travel as […]
Shangri La win bid to build luxury hotel in Male
COLOMBO October 14, 2007 (LBO) — Leisure operator, Shangri-La has been seltected to build a five-star city hotel in the Maldivian capital of Male, a senior minister said Sunday.. Shangri-La Maldives, which is currently building a 400-bed resort in the northern atoll of Villingili, is expected to complete the 200-bed city hotel by 2010, Tourism […]