Author: lbostgadmin
India, Japan set to conclude trade pact in 2010: minister
NEW DELHI, April 30, 2010 (AFP) – India and Japan should be able to conclude a free trade pact to liberalise commerce this year, a minister said Friday. Once the free trade agreement comes into effect as many 9,000 products — ranging from steel and clothing to drugs and machinery — are expected to be […]
Finance Houses
May 01, 2010, JAFFNA, Sri Lanka (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s finance companies are expanding with confidence returning to the sector following a panic 2009, though regulators are working on a handful of troubled firms, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. Sri Lanka’s Bartleets Financial Services and Central Investments and Finance Limited (CIFL) opened branches in […]
Immigration debate shakes US to the core
NEW YORK, April 30, 2010 (AFP) – From the deck of New York Harbor’s tour boat the Statue of Liberty looks as welcoming today as when greeting new immigrants a century ago. But the soaring figure and even loftier inscription — “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” — […]
” of cooperation
THIMPHU, April 29, 2010 (AFP) – South Asian leaders wound up a summit in Bhutan Thursday with an accord to tackle climate change and promises to pursue a new era of development for their under-performing region. The two-day summit of the eight-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was notable for the frank appraisal […]
Port Proceeds
Apr 30, 2010 (LBO) – Revenues of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), which runs the island’s ports, fell last year with fewer ship calls and lower cargo volumes, while the number of employees also declined, latest data shows. SLPA operating expenditure in 2009 fell four percent to 21,301 million rupees from 22,201 million rupees in […]
Sri Lankan stocks close 0.82-pct up
Apr 30, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed higher Friday as a few high value banking stocks pushed the market up, while some retail investors took profits on selected hotel and plantation shares on a shortened trading day, brokers said. Hotel Sigiriya closed at 60.75 rupees, down 2.25, Kandy Hotels Company 150.00 rupees, down […]
Sri Lanka inflation slows to 5.8-pct in April
Apr 30, 2010 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo rose 5. 8 percent in April 2010 from a year earlier, down from 6.3 percent in March, the second straight monthly fall, the government’s statistics office said. In the month of April the Colombo consumer price index fell 1.0 percent in absolute terms […]
‘s house: politician
April 29, 2010 (AFP) – The ancestral home of Sri Lanka’s slain Tamil Tiger rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran has been demolished as it was becoming a tourist attraction, a Tamil politician said Thursday. M. K. Sivajilingam, secretary of the Tamil National Liberation Alliance, accused security forces of destroying the house a year after Prabhakaran was […]
Sri Lanka to get Courtaulds clothing plant
Apr 29, 2010 (LBO) – Courtaulds Clothing has signed an agreement with Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment to set up a plant to manufacture knitted fabric for the export market, the investment promotion agency said. Another investment is by Regnis Appliances worth 1.1 million dollars to manufacture and assemble home appliances. An investment agreement for […]
Emirates starts Amsterdam Sri Lanka run
Apr 29, 2010 (LBO) – Emirates airlines said it was starting flights to the Dutch capital of Amsterdam from Colombo first and business class passenger being given complementary stays in Dubai. From Colombo, Emirates operates 21 services a week to Dubai. “Sri Lanka and the Netherlands are linked by centuries of history and trade, said […]
Aishwarya Abhishek together in new film
MUMBAI, April 29, 2010 (AFP) – Bollywood’s leading couple, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, are teaming up for their first film together in two years, hoping to harness the power of the Internet to make it a box office hit. “Raavan,” with music by Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionaire” composer A.R. Rahman, is a modern-day take on […]
Tobacco firms take aim at Bangladeshi, Asian women
DHAKA, April 29, 2010 (AFP) – Bangladeshi chest doctor Kazi Saifuddin Bennoor has seen many misleading cigarette advertisements, but the one that suggested smoking could make childbirth easier plumbed new depths. Advertisements telling smokers they are smarter, more energetic and better lovers than their non-smoking counterparts are a familiar sight across Bangladesh — something unimaginable […]