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Banking Wealth
August 20, 2007 (LBO) – National Development Bank’s net profit for the second quarter ending June 30, 2007 shot up 208 percent to 556 million rupees from 181 million in the same quarter of last year. Net other income of the bank, excluding equity income, for the period was 389 million rupees compared with 320 […]
Market Surgery
August 20, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Asiri Surgical Hospital Monday confirmed it was in talks to buy a big stake in Asha Central Hospital, another hospital firm listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). The Sunday Times newspaper quoted Fernando as saying the transaction will be concluded by the end of the month. Updated […]
Insurance Profit
Aug 20, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Asian Alliance Insurance has reported a turnaround with a small net profit of 1.5 million rupees being made in the first half ended June, 2007. This compares with a loss of 8.3 million rupees in the same half last year. In accounts posted for the first six month, […]
New Zealand probes dangerous chemicals in Chinese clothing
WELLINGTON, Aug 20, 2007 (AFP) – The New Zealand government Monday launched an investigation into allegations that clothes imported from China contained dangerous levels of the chemical formaldehyde.Scientists working for the Target television consumer watchdog programme found levels of formaldehyde in woollen and cotton clothes of up to 900 times the level believed to cause […]
Japanese stocks rebound 3.69 percent in morning trade
TOKYO, Aug 20, 2007 (AFP) – Japanese stocks rallied 3.69 percent in morning deals on Monday, lifted by a rebound on overseas markets after the US central bank on Friday cut a key interest rate to ease a credit squeeze, dealers said.The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index of leading shares rose 562.89 points to […]
India targets 10 million tourists in 2010: report
NEW DELHI, Aug 18, 2007 (AFP) – India aims to double its tourist numbers to 10 million in 2010 when it hosts the Commonwealth Games, a report said Saturday. Indian Tourism Minister Ambika Soni said the numbers visiting the country had grown steadily with 3.92 million tourists in 2005 and 4.43 million in 2006, according […]
Afro Factor
August 19, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka™s apparel exports to the United States could get hit if African countries block proposed tariff cuts on exports from developing countries. Bulk of Sri Lanka™s trade falls under World Trade organization rules an international body that is working to put in place a rule based global trading system. […]
US credit crunch “unbelievable”: Swiss central bank chief
GENEVA, Aug 19, 2007 (AFP) – Swiss central bank chief Jean-Pierre Roth sharply criticised the US economic system in an interview published Sunday, after the home loans crisis that caused turmoil on world financial markets.“Something unbelievable happened,” Roth said in an interview in the Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag. The chairman of the Swiss National […]
Maldives president claims referendum victory, appeals for unity
MALE, Aug 19, 2007 (AFP) – Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom on Sunday claimed victory in a referendum on how the Indian Ocean atoll nation should be governed, saying it was a mandate for his reform proposals. The Maldives consists of 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered 850 kilometres (550 miles) across the Equator. Only 200 […]
Maldives vote to decide British or US style democrazy
MALE, Aug 19, 2007 (AFP) – Voters in the Maldives were waiting for results Sunday from a referendum on how they want to be governed in future, after the tiny Pacific nation got an unusual taste of democracy.Protestors led by the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) have taken to the streets in recent years […]