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Finance Rating
July 24 (LBO) – Lanka Ratings Agency (LRA) has given a BBB3 rating to the deposit-taking finance company LB Finance. LRA said it had a favourable view of a management change since 2003, who had managed to improve the company’s asset quality and performance though the company still lagged the industry on both counts. LB […]
IFC to pilot online accommodation booking service for Sri Lanka
July 24 (LBO) – International Finance Corp is to pilot an online accommodation booking portal in Sri Lanka, so small and medium hotels can access global markets. The project to set up two online accommodation booking portals is driven by the South Asia Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF) an arm of the World Bank’s IFC. Plans […]
Square One
GENEVA, July 24, 2006 (AFP) – Key negotiators have made no progress as they try to bridge persistent differences and end a deadlock in the World Trade Organisation’s struggling Doha Round talks on reducing trade barriers, diplomats said Monday. Crunch talks between six major trading nations on Sunday failed to deliver the much-needed breakthrough to […]
Txt Me
LONDON, July 24, 2006 (AFP) – Mobile phone text messages are changing the way people approach romantic relationships, according to a survey published Monday in the British newspaper The Times.More than half of mobile phone users aged 18 to 24 have sent or received an invitation to a date via text message, while a similar […]
‘s gaming boom: industry
SINGAPORE, July 24, 2006 (AFP) – Casino gaming is increasingly accepted as a revenue stream for Asian governments and the sector is set to continue growing phenomenally with Macau leading the way, industry players said Monday. From Australia to Singapore and other Asian countries, the region’s governments now recognise that integrated gaming “resorts”, offering casino […]
Romantic proposals to get hitched being ditched: British poll
LONDON, July 24, 2006 (AFP) – The classic romantic wedding proposal where a man offers his would-be fiancee an engagement ring while down on bended knee, is going out of fashion, according to a British survey published Monday. Nearly one in three British couples just “agree together” to get married, according to a survey of […]
Sri Lanka seeks help for tens of thousands in Lebanon
July 24, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is seeking urgent help to evacuate workers trapped in Lebanon, despite the vast majority of its estimated 80,000 nationals there apparently not wanting to leave, officials said Monday.Sri Lanka has by far the largest number of foreign workers in Lebanon working mostly as housemaids, truck drivers and child-minders, […]
Tamil politician shot dead in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO, July 24, 2006 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels shot dead a pro-government Tamil politician in Sri Lanka’s main city of Colombo Monday, police said. A lone gunman killed Mark Kanapathipillai of the Eelam Democratic People’s Party (EPDP), police said adding that the victim was a close associate of party leader Douglas Devananda. The […]
Empty Tank
July 24 (LBO) – An ongoing strike by trade unions at Sri Lanka’s petroleum distribution facility could cripple supplies at fuel sheds, if it continues over the next few days, top officials said. Unions are demanding the removal of a newly appointed chairman to a common infrastructure facility, Common Petroleum Storage Terminals Ltd (CPSTL). The […]
Burgeoning trade ties no guarantee of Asian peace: analysts
SINGAPORE, July 23, 2006 (AFP) – Burgeoning economic links through a web of free trade agreements (FTAs), financial cooperation and investments may reduce the risk of war in Asia but are no guarantee of peace, analysts say.Nationalist sentiments and historical animosities between major Asian countries could sideline economic considerations should tensions come to a boiling […]