Author: lbostgadmin
US approves first offshore wind farm
WASHINGTON, April 29, 2010 (AFP) – The first US offshore wind farm project won government approval Wednesday after nearly a decade of battles involving environmentalists, Indian tribes and others. The big Massachusetts project approved by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is seen as a giving a major boost to wind power in the United States even […]
Accolade
Apr 29, 2010 (LBO) – Shree FM, a radio station run by Sri Lanka’s the E A P Edirisinghe group, has won a top US broadcasting award for a community service program which helped people in remote areas, the broadcaster said. NAB is the highest award presented to non-US radio and television stations to recognize […]
Migrant Abuse
KUALA LUMPUR, April 29, 2010 (AFP) – Middle East and Asian nations, which draw millions of foreign domestic workers, have failed to take action to tackle widespread abuse of the vulnerable women, Human Rights Watch said. “The reforms undertaken by Middle Eastern and Asian governments fall far short of the minimum protections needed to tackle […]
Insurance Plan
Apr 29, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will take over ‘abandoned property’ of depositors in banks to start a mandatory deposit insurance scheme, the island’s central bank, which is the banking regulator, has said. The central bank said it had ‘temporary custody’ of 371 million rupees of ‘abandoned property’ unclaimed by depositors in licensed commercial […]
Budget Branches
Apr 29, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Nations Trust Bank (NTB) is to use a ‘feeder branch’ network to expand in the former north-east war zone to bring down operating costs, and wants donor agencies to subsidize credit risks, a senior official said. However Rajakaruna warned banks operating in relatively unfamiliar territory are open to […]
Sri Lanka shares recover
Apr 29, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks recovered Thursday with widespread buying and a big chunk of shares in property firm Overseas Realty changing hands amid expecations of a real estate recovery, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 4,155. 00, up 0.50 percent (20.54 points) while the more liquid Milanka index […]
Sri Lanka budget gap widens in January: data
Apr 29, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s budget gap widened in January 2010 from a year earlier, with revenues rising modestly but unable to keep up with current spending, which accelerated almost three times faster, official data shows. The government raised 48.3 billion rupees in revenues in January up 5.2 percent from 2009, but still […]
Sri Lanka Overseas Realty expands amid a property market pick up
Apr 28, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan developer Overseas Realty (Ceylon), a unit of Singapore’s Shing Kwan group said it was starting an expansion of a property project amid a pick up in the property market. Overseas Realty owns the twin tower World Trade Centre building in Sri Lanka’s capital which houses the Colombo Stock […]
Reforms to allow Sri Lanka president to retain power: report
April 28, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s ruling party will press ahead with constitutional reforms to allow President Mahinda Rajapakse to run for a third term in office, a press report said Wednesday. With the support of smaller parties and defectors, Rajapakse’s party could soon muster the six seats needed to have the two-thirds majority […]
‘s Bharti Airtel reports dip in profit
MUMBAI, April 28, 2010 (AFP) – India’s top mobile phone company Bharti Airtel Wednesday blamed an 8. 2-percent fall in its fourth-quarter net profit on “hyper-competition” in its domestic market. Net profit for the three months to March 31 fell on a 12-month basis to 20. 55 billion rupees (46 million dollars) while revenues for […]
South Asian leaders admit failing their region
THIMPHU, April 28, 2010 (AFP) – South Asian leaders admitted Wednesday a common failure to overcome their differences and tackle the key challenges in their conflict-ridden region, including poverty, climate change and terrorism. Opening a summit of the eight-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in Bhutan, the host nation’s Prime Minister Jigme Thinley […]
Sri Lankan refugee camps emptying: UNHCR
GENEVA, April 27, 2010 (AFP) – More than 200,000 of some 280,000 mainly Tamil people displaced after the civil war in northern Sri Lanka have left their camps since last August, the UN refugee agency said Tuesday. A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said the government allowed returns to resume last week […]