Author: lbostgadmin
World Bank gives Wolfowitz more time
WASHINGTON, May 9, 2007 (AFP) – The board of the World Bank has given an additional week to embattled bank president Paul Wolfowitz to defend himself in a nepotism scandal, the bank said in a statement Wednesday.“The Executive Directors met today to consider a request from the President for additional time to comment on the […]
Another One
May 11, 2007 (LBO) – Chemanex, a listed chemical firm, has postponed a shareholder meeting called to ratify a bonus issue after a new company law came into effect earlier this month, the company said Friday. The company said the Stock Exchange had informed Chemanex that a ‘bonus issue’ declared by the board of directors […]
Sri Lanka raises fuel prices
May 11, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has raised fuel prices from midnight Friday with diesel going up by two rupees, petrol by one rupee and furnace oil by three rupees a litre, a Ceylon Petroleum Corporation official said.This would push 90-Octane petrol to 106 rupees and 95-Octane petrol to 109 rupees with standard auto-diesel going […]
Big Claims
May 11, 2007 (LBO) – Union Assurance has reported after-tax profit for the quarter ending March 2007 fell to 21 million rupees from 33 million in the same 2006 period. Life insurance premiums increased by 25% to 468 million rupees in March 2007 from 375 million rupees in March 2006. The company, in which the […]
Rolling Stock
May 11, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka plans to buy 60 million dollars worth of locomotives and passenger coaches from China to modernise its Victorian-era network, the state-owned railway announced on Friday.Sri Lanka Railways is purchasing 100 carriages and 15 diesel-powered locomotives, technical manager P.P. Wijesekera told AFP. China’s Exxim Bank will fund the purchases […]
New mobile operator enters booming Bangladesh market
DHAKA, May 10, 2007 (AFP) – Bangladesh’s sixth mobile phone operator, Warid Telecom, launched operations Thursday aiming to grab a slice of one of the world’s fastest growing markets, an official said. Owned by the Gulf-based Abu Dhabi Group, Warid Telecom, is counting on five million subscribers in the first year of its operation, company […]
Total Failure
May 10, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s national power utility has started to restore power to the capital Colombo following an island-wide power failure, officials said. A failure in the transmission line from the Kelanitissa power generation complex to Biyagama, in the outskirts of Colombo, is believed to have set off a chain reaction, causing […]
Former Sri Lanka leader protests security
May 10, 2007 (AFP) – Former Sri Lanka president Chandrika Kumaratunga has protested the withdrawal of commandos assigned to protect her, saying she was still a target for assassination.She retained a staff of 198 and used 36 vehicles after stepping down. The constitution allows a former president to use two cars and a staff of […]
No Split
May 10, 2007 (LBO) – A listed hotel firm in Sri Lanka has decided not to go ahead with a share split citing provisions in a new company law that came into effect earlier this month. Dividends declarations are subjected to solvency tests under the new law. Associated Hotels, went through a process to split […]
ATM Trouble
A part of Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank automated teller machine system has encountered a technical problem and is being repaired at the moment, a bank official said.. Our whole network is not down but only 64 machines are down due to a communications problem, he said. The HNB banking network at present has 143 […]
Novel Solution
May 10, 2007 (LBO) – A senior Sri Lankan government official has suggested doubling fuel prices and scrapping free cars and fuel for government servants to solve the island’s transport problem. Road Development Authority (RDA) chairman M.B.S. Fernando also made the startling suggestion that he prefers keeping roads in their present dilapidated state. Slow Roads […]
Overnight Vigil
May 10, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s only international airport shut to night flights on Thursday in line with new security measures against raids by rebel Tamil Tiger aircraft, an airport official said.As the last commercial flight for the day left for neighbouring India, the authorities closed the check-in counters and the only runway at […]