Author: lbostgadmin
Sri Lanka journalists protest killings, abductions of their colleagues
COLOMBO, Jan 23, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan journalists Tuesday protested the killings and abductions of colleagues during a rally in the capital that called for the government and Tamil rebels to halt the violence.“Hands off journalists,” said a banner carried by a reporter. “Report Card 2006-2007: Eight journalists killed,” said another placard. Activists at […]
Wireless Talk
Jan 23 (LBO) – Sri Lankan mobile operator Dialog said Tuesday it had rolled out broadband wireless services for a few pilot customers, with plans to extend it to other parts of the island over the next few months. The mobile operator also provides retail and wholesale international voice and data services, Internet services and […]
Migrant Perks
January 23, 2007 (LBO) – The government plans to raise the duty free allowances for Sri Lankans retuning from foreign employment to 5,000 dollars, an official from the Labour Ministry said Tuesday. Sri Lankans returning from a stint abroad are currently given a duty free allowance of up to 1,750 dollars if they stay away […]
Hemas and Minor Group of Thailand to re-brand Sri Lanka hotel chain
Jan 23, 2007 (LBO) – Serendib Group of Hotels signs agreement with the Minor Group of Thailand to develop and manage properties owned by the Serendib Group with the re-branding of Hotel Serendib, Bentota. Hemas Holdings Ltd is one of Sri Lanka’s top conglomerates with a focus on FMCG, Healthcare, Transportation, Leisure and Strategic Investments. […]
Race leaders
January 23, (LBO) – Associated Motorways (AMW) has cornered 31 percent of Sri Lanka’s brand new car market the budget agency Maruti winning 28 percent, Fitch Ratings Lanka said, awarding the firm a A (lka) rating with a stable outlook. “The rating reflects AMW’s position as the country’s leading distributor of new passenger automobiles, its […]
Sri Lanka rubber prices up; considerable profits despite recent wage hike
Jan 22, 2007 (LBO) – Plantation companies are likely to post sizeable profits this year, though a recent wage hike will eat into earnings, analysts say. The price of a kilo of rubber, which was at 175 rupees in November, has crept up steadily to 190 rupees this January. Rubber prices moved up on top […]
Indonesian wounded in Sri Lanka ship attack
Jan 22, 2007 (AFP) – An Indonesian chief engineer was wounded in a suspected suicide bombing of a cargo vessel off Sri Lanka’s northern coast, a spokesman for the ship’s owners said Monday.The merchant vessel, the MV City of Liverpool, was attacked off the Jaffna peninsula late Sunday by Tamil Tiger suicide bombers, according to […]
Violence claims 10 lives in Sri Lanka
COLOMBO, Jan 22, 2007 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels shot dead two soldiers and two policemen in Sri Lanka’s embattled northeast as security forces dug in at a town seized from the guerrillas, the defence ministry said Monday.The two soldiers were shot on Sunday night in the eastern district of Batticaloa, where troops captured the […]
Toyota plans ultra-inexpensive car: report
TOKYO, Jan 22, 2007 (AFP) – Toyota Motor Corp. plans to build a low-cost car undercutting Renault’s emerging-market Logan through a “radical” rethink in design and production, the president of the fast-growing Japanese automaker said. “The focus is on low-cost technology,” Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe told Britain’s Financial Times newspaper in an interview published Monday. […]
Conservationists meet to avert feared tuna extinction
TOKYO, Jan 22, 2007 (AFP) – International tuna conservation bodies Monday opened their first joint meeting to look at ways to save the animals from overfishing, which environmentalists fear is driving them to extinction.The five-day meeting in the western Japanese city of Kobe will look at ways to share information among regions to monitor tuna […]
In Tune
CANNES, France, Jan 22, 2007 (AFP) – Music fans, watch out. The hot new music-enabled phones being launched by top cellphone makers are going head-on with the stand-alone MP3 players that are now a way of life for the millions who prefer them over an Apple iPod. Key entertainment industry player Brad Duea, who heads […]
Secret World
KYOTO, Japan, Jan 22, 2007 (AFP) – In these days of the Internet, cellphones and iPods, few Japanese girls still dream of becoming a geisha with a strict life of training and duties. Facing growing competition from nightclubs and karaoke, Kyoto’s geisha are having to adapt to survive.At one tea house in Japan’s ancient capital, […]