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Small Screen
CANNES, France, Oct 11, 2006 (AFP) – TV on tiny mobile phone screens may have started out small but it is growing up fast as more and more cellphone users around the world tune into television on their mini screens.Today, fans can catch up with the latest episodes of smash hit TV shows, from “Desperate […]
Korean Chips
October 11, 2006 (LBO) – Korea’s Samsung Networks Inc has picked up a 15 million dollar contract to digitally link up key Sri Lankan government agencies. Samsung will equip and digitally manage the Lanka Government Network or LGN project, connecting line ministries and divisional secretaries to ensure a smooth flow of information. The South Korean […]
Chattiest Year
October 11, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s mobile phone penetration is due to peak at 38 percent in 2008, amidst regulatory bottlenecks to iron out crucial issues like interconnection and the management of frequency spectrum, an equity research report said Wednesday. However, operators have found loopholes within the law which allows them to offer ‘seasonal’ […]
Singapore to offer free wireless service from 2007
SINGAPORE, Oct 11, 2006 (AFP) – Tech-savvy Singapore will offer free wireless broadband service in public areas from next year, the government said.The programme will increase the number of wireless hotspots from 900 currently to 5,000 over two years, allowing Singaporeans wireless connectivity beyond homes, offices and schools where the service is currently available, the […]
Bangladesh to probe Tesco child labour allegations
DHAKA, Oct 11, 2006 (AFP) – Bangladeshi textile manufacturers pledged Wednesday to investigate child labour allegations after a British television network showed children making clothes for supermarket giant Tesco.Channel 4 News had secretly filmed children as young as 12 it said were working at four factories that supply the British supermarket giant. S.M. Fazlul Hoque, […]
Global tension, Chinese demand to keep oil markets on edge: IEA
PARIS, Oct 11, 2006 (AFP) – Oil prices have fallen because of stockbuilding and slowing demand but a possible OPEC output cut, global instability and growth in China and the Middle East are likely to keep the market under tension, the IEA said Wednesday.The International Energy Agency forecast an increase of 1.2 percent in global […]
At least 85 killed, hundreds injured in Sri Lanka battle
Oct 11, 2006 (AFP) – At least 75 Sri Lankan troops and 10 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed Wednesday and more than 400 soldiers wounded in a major battle in the island’s north, according to the warring parties.The military maintained that they were “compelled” to launch the offensive as a “defensive measure” to neutralise a […]
At least 85 killed, over 400 wounded in major Sri Lanka battle
Oct 11, 2006 (AFP) – At least 85 people were killed and more than 400 wounded when a new military offensive Wednesday met with ferocious resistance from Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka, both sides said. Intense fighting halted the government’s onslaught into rebel territory, which was backed by Israeli-built Kfir jets and naval […]
Norway demands end to Sri Lanka hostilities ahead of talks
COLOMBO, Oct 11, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s peace broker Norway Wednesday asked the government and Tamil Tiger rebels to cease hostilities after the two parties agreed to end an eight-month deadlock in their negotiations. Norway’s top peace broker Erik Solheim welcomed the agreement between the Sri Lankan administration and the rebel Liberation Tigers of […]
‘s trade deficit expands 52.4%; worker remittances top US$1.5bn
October 11, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s trade deficit expanded 52.4 percent to 2,400 million dollars for the eight months to August, compared with the same period 2005, the central bank said Wednesday, as the island spent more to import fuel. Sri Lanka’s 24 billion dollar economy is forecasted to expand by 7.0 percent by […]