Insurance Value

Aug 16, 2007 (LBO) – Net profits of Union Assurance surged 84 percent to 30 million rupees in the June quarter, interim accounts released by the insurer showed. General and life insurance premiums for the quarter grew by 23 percent, to 1.1 billon rupees in 2007 from 924 million in 2006. The firm paid 711 […]

Double Deal

August 16, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Eagle Insurance, a unit of Aviva, has reported sharply higher net profit for the June quarter of 50 million rupees up 203 percent, with higher investment income boosting the bottomline. “Eagle’s bancassurance partnerships with NDB bank and Standard Chartered Bank have continued to contribute positively to results in […]

Chinese Connection

August 16, 2007 (LBO) – Colombo port has sent dock worker union leaders to study practices in a modern Chinese port and has now won their support for better work norms, a top official said. Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) chairman Saliya Wickramasuriya said relations between port management and workers was now better than last […]

” as rupee tumbles

August 15, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s forex markets are defying fundamental economic principles with bids creeping above offer prices in what analysts see as the latest in a series of perversions that have hit financial markets in the country. Sri Lank is now floating a 500 million dollar international sovereign bond to ease pressure […]

” in Sri Lanka

Aug 14, 2007 (AFP) – Hundreds of people disappeared in Sri Lanka in the past year and more than 5,700 such cases from the past three decades were under UN review, rights group Amnesty International said Tuesday. Since 2006, hundreds of people have reportedly been abducted by the security forces or armed groups in areas […]

Aug 15, 2007 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan minister Wednesday described a top UN official as a “terrorist” after accusing him of supporting the country’s separatist Tamil Tiger guerrillas.Highways Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle said John Holmes, the UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, who ended a four-day tour of Sri Lanka last week, was helping the […]

Saudi boss kept Sri Lankan maid prisoner for 10 years: report

RIYADH, Aug 14, 2007 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan housemaid in Saudi Arabia pleaded in a call to a newspaper to be rescued from her employer she says has kept her imprisoned for the past 10 years, the Saudi newspaper reported on Tuesday. The Arab News said it received the cry for help from Anista […]

Myanmar loses a battle in fuel price controls and rationing war

YANGON, Aug 15, 2007 (AFP) – Myanmar’s military government secretly doubled key fuel prices early Wednesday, stranding bus operators and commuters across the country’s economic hub Yangon as drivers struggled to tank up.Official media made no mention of the increase, the first in two years, and station operators were at a loss to explain the […]

Asian stocks tumble as global selloff drags on

TOKYO, Aug 15, 2007 (AFP) – Most Asian stock markets suffered another mauling in early trade on Wednesday after an overnight slump on Wall Street dashed hopes of an end to recent turmoil sparked by US mortgage woes. The latest wave of selling came despite recent efforts by the world’s major central banks to restore […]

European stocks follow Asian markets down

LONDON, Aug 15, 2007 (AFP) – Europe’s main stock markets tumbled again on Wednesday as investors were gripped by concerns over a potential global credit crunch sparked by the troubled US home loan sector. The American markets turned lower in the wake of a media report about a troubled investment fund, Sentinel Management Group. Global […]

Mobile Action

August 15, 2007 (LBO) – Bharti Airtel was aiming to launch commercial operations in Sri Lanka early next year investing 200 million dollars in the island, the Indian telecom giant said Wednesday. About 60 percent of Sri Lanka’s mobile market is controlled by Dialog Telekom, a unit of Telekom Malaysia. The rest is shared between […]

Sri Lanka tourist arrivals down 20% in July

August 15, 2007 (LBO) – Foreign visitors to Sri Lanka have fallen 20 percent in July with arrivals in the first seven months falling 24 percent, the country’s tourist promotion office said. Sri Lanka has been slapped by travel advisories while a worsening conflict and reports of human rights violations and killings of aid workers […]

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