Fitch rates Ceylease ‘BBB-(lka)’; asks to beef up capital
June 6, 2006 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's Ceylease Financial Services - a unit of Bank of Ceylon - needs to pump up its capital to support their low income base and …
Facelift
The newly re-constituted Strategic Enterprises Management Agency (SEMA) says it is reviewing all state institutions under its management and developing action …
Against Odds
June 6, 2006 (LBO) – Diversified Hemas Holdings Ltd Tuesday posted a 16 percent growth in full-year profits for the year ended March 31, 2006, boosted by …
Big Bucks
BANGALORE, India, June 6, 2006 (AFP) - US technology giant IBM said Tuesday it will triple its investments in India to six billion dollars over the next three …
Thailand waives fees to attract budget carriers to new airport
BANGKOK, June 6, 2006 (AFP) - Thailand is offering to waive landing fees at Bangkok's new international airport to attract low-cost airlines to the facility …
Missing fingers, toes highlight Asia’s human trafficking woes
WASHINGTON, June 6, 2006 (AFP) - The shattered dream of an Indonesian domestic maid, who lost her fingers and toes, following torture by her employer in the …
Bomb blasts rock Sri Lanka navy base amid peace moves
COLOMBO, June 6, 2006 (AFP) - Suspected Tamil rebels exploded bombs outside a naval base near Sri Lanka's capital Tuesday, wounding two people while three …
Desperate Times
June 06 (LBO) – Lanka Indian Oil Corporation has asked the Treasury for a billion rupees of its unpaid subsidy bill to buy fuel, as petrol stocks …
Oil Strikes
NEW DELHI, June 6, 2006 (AFP) - A sharp hike in Indian fuel prices sparked uproar against the government Tuesday as both its communist allies and the main …
Mouse Trail
PARIS, June 5, 2006 (AFP) - Nearly one out of two airline tickets issued to travellers is currently in electronic form and paper tickets are on track to …
Local tea industry draws up new standards on exports to Japan
June 05 (LBO) - After pressure from Japan, the Sri Lankan tea trade is drawing up a uniform declaration for exporters to clear their tea shipments as free …
Battle Lines
June 05 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will fight new Indian restrictions on duty free vanaspati exports, ahead of another round of Indo-Lanka trade talks at the end …
Extended Family
June 5, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to expand its mobile phone market to five players, in a bid to bring down costs of telephony, the telecom regulator …
Bangladesh city introduces polygamy tax
DHAKA, June 5, 2006 (AFP) - A Bangladesh city will impose taxes on polygamists to deter the "outdated" practice of marrying more than one wife, an official …
Indian bookies raking in millions thanks to heavy monsoons
NEW DELHI, June 5, 2006 (AFP) - Bountiful early monsoon rains are raking in millions of dollars for Indian bookies taking bets on the amount of rain that will …
Asia proves hip for designer wallets: global survey
SINGAPORE, June 5, 2006 (AFP) - Asians buy more designer wallets than any other region but luxury-brand loyalty varies from country to country, a global …
In Indian zoos, life can be brutal and short
NEW DELHI, June 5, 2006 (AFP) - Visitors to Indian zoos often throw stones at animals, many of whom are already in pain and enclosed in filthy, concrete boxes, …
Tigers to raise neutrality of monitors after EU ban
June 5, 2006 (AFP) - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels will this week question the impartiality of truce monitors from Denmark, Sweden and Finland in the wake of …
Sri Lanka warring parties head for Oslo talks
June 4, 2006 (AFP) - Sri Lanka's warring parties Sunday sent their respective delegations to Oslo, the capital of peace broker Norway, to discuss the safety of …
Mine blasts kill two soldiers in Sri Lanka
June 4, 2006 (AFP) - Two soldiers and a bus station guard have been killed in separate attacks in Sri Lanka's troubled northeast, the military said Sunday. …