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Sri Lanka money markets open quiet, stocks delayed in a rain-washed day
May 03, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s inter-bank markets opened quiet after a two-day religious holiday with money at 13.25 percent, but stock trading was delayed in a rain washed morning, dealers said.The spot dollar was trading around 110.70 rupees in early trading. The Colombo stock market did not open at the scheduled time of […]
Airport Curfew
COLOMBO, May 3, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s international airport will close at night from next week following a spate of bombing raids by Tamil Tiger aircraft taking the cover of darkness, a top aviation official told AFP. The Bandaranaike International Airport would close for six hours nightly from May 10, acting director general of […]
Sri Lanka tea export earnings boosted by high prices
MAY 3, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea exports fell in the first quarter of 2007 but earnings were up because of high prices caused by supply shortages owing to a strike and dry weather, brokers said. Shipments of Ceylon tea in January-March 2007 fell 4% to 74.4 million kg from the record 77.8 million kg […]
Flat Chat
May 3, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s top celco Dialog Telekom revenue grew 26 percent but consolidated profits remained flat in the March quarter as newly acquired subsidiaries dragged its bottom-line down. Group profit after tax for the three months ended March 2007, was 2,426 million rupees against 2,397 million rupees last year, up one […]
Jayawardena says they lost to a better team
May 3, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s skipper Mahela Jayawardene returned home expressing disappointment over his team’s failure to secure the cricket World Cup, but said they lost to a better Australian team. Cricket fans lined up along the team’s route from the international airport despite heavy rains which lashed the city, after the World […]
‘s World Cup stars return
May 3, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s World Cup cricketers returned to an elaborate welcome Thursday after being stranded in London following Tamil Tiger rebel air raids in Colombo, officials said on Tuesday.The team was received at the VIP lounge of the Bandaranaike International airport where Buddhist monks, Hindu and Catholic priests and Muslim clerics […]
Sri Lankan media censored, rights group says
COLOMBO, May 3, 2007 (AFP) – A worsening climate of violence against the press in Sri Lanka has resulted in de facto censorship, the island’s main media rights group said Thursday as it marked international press freedom day.With seven journalists murdered over the past year and two more still missing, the Free Media Movement (FMM) […]
Sri Lankan ex-president stripped of perks
COLOMBO, May 3, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Thursday stripped former president Chandrika Kumaratunga of her official staff and 36 government cars, saying that she was not entitled to extravagant privileges.A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Sarath Silva held that it was also illegal for her to occupy a state bungalow refurbished […]
Britain freezes Sri Lanka aid, seeks Tiger talks
May 3, 2007 (AFP) – Britain has frozen aid to Sri Lanka in a bid to pressure the government to improve its human rights record, officials said Thursday. Prime Minister Tony Blair’s special peace envoy, Paul Murphy, is also planning a visit to Sri Lanka, a former British colony, in bid to help salvage the […]
Reconnecting
May 2, 2007 (AFP) – Dubai’s Emirates Airlines said on Wednesday it would resume day-time services to Sri Lanka which were suspended following Tamil rebel air raids near the island’s only international airport.Sri Lanka lost to Australia in Saturday’s final in Barbados.“Following a review of the situation in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, Emirates will […]