Bollywood cuts costs as rupee crisis bites: study

MUMBAI, September 2, 2013 (AFP) – Bollywood producers have long been fond of filming in exotic foreign locations, but the spiralling Indian currency has seen spending on movie sets abroad drop by one third, according to a study released Monday.The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) says that the amount spent on […]

‘s rupee falls sharply, shares slump almost 3.5-pct

MUMBAI, September 3, 2013 (AFP) – India’s currency fell sharply Tuesday and stocks tumbled nearly 3.5 percent in another major sell-off caused by uncertainty in the Middle East and a new gloomy economic forecast by Goldman Sachs. On Monday, an HSBC survey showed that India’s manufacturing shrank in August for the first time in over […]

Phone Deal

HELSINKI, September 3, 2013 (AFP) – Beleaguered Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia will sell its mobile phone unit to US group Microsoft for 5.44 billion euros ($7.17 billion), it said on Tuesday. NSN, which is specialised in high-speed mobile broadband, was set up as a joint venture between the two companies in 2007, a partnership […]

4G Entrant

Sept 03, 2013 (LBO) – Lanka Bell, a fixed access telephony unit of Distilleries Corporation of Sri Lanka group is to launch fourth generation services.“Lanka Bell will launch a 4G-LTE Network in the next financial year, which will position Lanka Bell amongst the other next generation telecommunication service providers in the country,” chairman Harry Jayawardene […]

Driving Experience

Sept 03, 2013 (LBO) – German automaker Porsche is expecting to boost sales in Sri Lanka which have been hurt due to tax hikes with its newly launched Cayman model and a hybrid to be introduced soon, officials said.“The market in Sri Lanka is maturing nowadays and we have seen lot of interests in the […]

Sri Lanka Forex Association gets new head

Sept 03, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Forex Association, made up members engaging in dealing Treasury related products in the island’s interbank markets covering 22 banks has elected P A Lionel, as its President. Lionel, a senior deputy general manager at state-run Bank of Ceylon, counts 30 years of experience in banking where 25 years […]

Sri Lanka rights group says it was harassed after UN meeting

COLOMBO, September 2, 2013 (AFP) – A Catholic-run human rights group working in northeastern Sri Lanka said Monday it had been harassed by security personnel after meeting UN rights chief Navi Pillay last week.Pillay ended her first trip to the formerly war-ravaged country at the weekend with a stinging press conference in which she accused […]

India may shut petrol pumps at night to save rupee

NEW DELHI, September 2, 2013 (AFP) – India is considering closing fuel pumps at night as one of a number of “austerity measures” aimed at cutting its ballooning oil import bills, the oil minister said.The government has partially deregulated petrol and hiked diesel prices in an effort to contain the ballooning debt caused in part […]

Silver Status

Sep 02, 2013 (LBO) – MillenniumIT, a unit of London Stock Exchange group based in Sri Lanka said it had become the first firm to be a ‘Silver Certified Partner’ of Cisco System, a network equipment maker. Gladwyn Georgez, head of networking business at MillenniumIT said the award of the Silver status is recognition of […]

Migration

SYDNEY, September 2, 2013 (AFP) – New policies targeting asylum-seekers taking boats to Australia had “broken the back” of the people-smuggling trade, Immigration Minister Tony Burke said Monday, claiming victory on the sensitive election issue. Burke said the ruling Labor party’s plan to send all asylum-seekers arriving by boat to Papua New Guinea and Nauru […]

Forestry Case

Aug 02, 2013 (LBO) – A provincial High Court in Sri Lanka is to hear a petition to wind up Touchwood Investments, a Colombo-based forestry firm, according to a newspaper notice placed by lawyers. A notice in Sri Lanka’s Daily News, newspaper said, a resident of Rajagiriya, a suburb of Colombo has petitioned the High […]

‘s Softlogic gets Burger King franchise

Sept 02, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Softlogic Holdings Plc said it had got the franchise to set up Burger King branded restaurants in Sri Lanka.BK AsiaPac will provide services and operational support for the chain in Sri Lanka. Corrected Soflogic Restaurants (Pvt) Ltd, a fully subsidiary will open three restaurants within a few months, […]

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