”s fourth-quarter profit dives 31%

NEW DELHI, May 5, 2011 (AFP) – India’s top mobile phone firm Bharti Airtel said Thursday its fiscal fourth-quarter net profit tumbled 31 percent from a year earlier, weighed by costs from its new Africa acquisition. Net profit fell to 14.01 billion rupees ($314.3 million) in the three months to March from 20. 44 billion […]

Software Channel

May 05, 2011 (LBO) – E-Channelling, a listed Sri Lankan dotcom that enables patients to make appointments with doctors over the internet, has formed a joint venture with a British firm to diversify into BPO work. The new joint venture company, called ECL Soft, will have equal shareholdings between E-Channelling and its partner Software Distributions […]

Internal Inquiry

May 4, 2011 (AFP) – The United States called on Sri Lanka Wednesday to bring to justice anyone responsible for war crimes committed as the island crushed a decades-long insurgency. US diplomat Robert Blake said Colombo should carry out its own investigation into allegations contained in a United Nations report of atrocities during the 2009 […]

Second Round

May 4, 2011 (AFP) – The jury in the Wall Street insider trading trial of hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam was ordered Wednesday to restart deliberations from scratch after one juror had to be replaced. Judge Richard Holwell instructed the jury that after one of their members had to be replaced for medical reasons, the […]

Sri Lanka gets Indian cruise liner

May 05, 2011 (LBO) – An Indian cruise ship owned and operated by a Chennai-based AMET Shipping India will start calling at Sri Lankan ports in May offering cruises starting at 10,000 Sri Lankan rupees a night, officials said. The cruise service is being launched not only to cater to tourists but also to train […]

Fund Alerts

May 05, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank said recipients of remittances through its e-Exchange facility will get SMS alerts when their accounts are credited. All recipients who have mobile connections from any mobile operator in Sri Lanka will be eligible to receive these alerts as and when a remittance is received, 24-hours-a-day, seven […]

Harbour Help

May 05, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to develop the northern Kankesanturai port with Indian aid in a project that will deepen the harbour basin and build a breakwater, a government spokesman said. The Cabinet of ministers of approved a proposal by President Mahinda Rajapaksa as minister of ports to “rehabilitate” the Kankesanturai port […]

Sri Lanka stocks rebound

May 05, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares rebounded after four days of falls, the indices lifted by gains in index heavy shares, although trading turnover was thin, brokers said. The main All Share Price Index closed at 7,317.17, up 1.44 percent (103.84 points) while the more liquid Milanka index rose 0.84 percent (56.02 points) […]

Sri Lanka average prices steady from February: CB

May 4, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s average price level measured by an index at the capital Colombo, has been steady since February though non-food items have taken up the slack created by falling food prices, an official statement said. In April prices rose 9.8 percent from a year earlier, despite food prices falling 1. […]

Sri Lanka national carrier boosts fleet

May 04, 2011 (LBO) – SriLankan Airlines, the island’s state-run national carrier is boosting its short haul fleet to more closely fit the needs of its regional routes, with four new Airbus A320 aircraft ordered on operating leases, an official said. “There is an imbalance in the requirement for narrow body aircraft,” chief executive officer […]

I control therefore I am: chimps self-aware, says study

PARIS, May 4, 2011 (AFP) – Chimpanzees are self-aware and can anticipate the impact of their actions on the environment around them, an ability once thought to be uniquely human, according to a study released Wednesday. The findings, reported in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, challenge assumptions about the boundary between human and […]

Telecom Gateway

May 04, 2011 (LBO) – TATA Communications’ Sri Lanka unit has commissioned its second international gateway in Sri Lanka improving reliability and providing back-up services to clients. œThis will enable our customers to offer higher uptime and better service levels to their end customers, thereby becoming more competitive in the international business environment, said V […]

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