Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lanka airport crunch looming: official
Oct 29, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s sole international airport will face a capacity crunch soon with passenger traffic exceeding its design capacity by year’s end amid a post-war tourism boom, an airline official said. Another plan under consideration is to expand the terminal into the garden area. The Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) handled 5.26 […]
BlackBerry puts monitoring centre in India: report
MUMBAI, October 28, 2011 (AFP) – Research In Motion (RIM) has set up a facility in Mumbai to help the Indian government conduct surveillance checks on the company’s BlackBerry services, the Wall Street Journal said on Friday. The financial daily quoted unnamed people familiar with the matter who said the Canadian firm opened the centre […]
India to open rival bids for $12 bn fighter deal
NEW DELHI, October 28, 2011 (AFP) – India’s Defence Ministry has invited the two rivals for a $12 billion jet fighter contract — France’s Dassault and the European Eurofighter consortium — to unveil their bids next week. The Dassault group is hoping to secure the contract for 126 jets, one of the largest military contracts […]
Sri Lanka gets Japanese aid for reviving livelihoods
Oct 28, 2011 (LBO) – Japan has given financial aid to support efforts to help ex-combatants and other affected people in Sri Lanka’s former northern war zone to resume their livelihoods. The Japanese government gave 122 million yen (about 1.5 million US dollars) to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for “reintegration and reconciliation” efforts […]
Sri Lanka plan to push PPPs, human resources: ADB
Oct 28, 2011 (LBO) – The Asian Development Bank said its program for Sri Lanka from 2012 will focus on public private partnerships in infrastructure, boosting human resources and lagging regional including former war zones. “ADB will also provide nonsovereign loans to reforming state-owned enterprises to expose them to alternate sources of finance. Private investments […]
Queen opens Commonwealth summit amid heavy security
PERTH, October 28, 2011 (AFP) – Queen Elizabeth II opened the 54-nation Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) Friday where issues from human rights to succession to the British throne are being discussed. Leaders were greeted with a traditional indigenous cleansing ceremony at the Perth Convention Centre by elders from the Noongar Aboriginal tribe before […]
”
PERTH, October 28, 2011 (AFP) – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II Friday invoked an Australian Aboriginal proverb which notes “we are just passing through”, as she called for enduring results from a Commonwealth summit. Dressed in a powder blue silk jacquard dress and coat with navy trim adorned with a brooch which previously belonged to her […]
Dutch plane flying to Sri Lanka in bird strike
PANAJI, October 27, 2011 (AFP) – A Dutch charter plane en route to Sri Lanka was forced to abort take-off after a bird flew into one of its engines in the Indian state of Goa, the airline said on Thursday. “The plane hit the bird while it was gathering speed on the runway,” ArkeFly spokeswoman […]
Android Forum
Oct 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Etisalat cellular network said it will host a forum on Android, an operating system for mobile devices, with experts from Google, smartphone makers will be taking part. “The goal of the Android Forum is to give the public a chance to see the limitless possibilities that will be […]
Mobile Trend
Oct 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan mobile phone operator Dialog Axiata’s September 2011 quarter group net profit fell 17. 7 percent to 1.4 billion rupees from a year ago with sharply higher tax costs as well as finance expenses. Sales rose 10.3 percent to 11.7 billion rupees. Diluted earnings per share rose to 26 […]
Land Concerns
Oct 28, 2011 (LBO) – A citizens group has raised concerns about a new process of resolving and proving ownership of land in former war zones, outside established procedures and the court system. In July 2011, Sri Lanka’s Commissioner General of Lands had issued a circular Regulating the Activities Regarding Management of Lands in the […]
Central Express
Oct 28, 2011 (LBO) – Eight firms, including from Malaysia and Korea have expressed interest in building a highway to Sri Lanka’s central hill city of Kandy, deputy highways minister Nirmala Kothelawala said. According to the preliminary data on Sri Lanka’s Road Development Authority website, the Kandy Colombo Expressway will be a 98 kilometre road […]