Author: lbostgadmin
Google to offer news archive going back 300 years
WASHINGTON, Sept 6, 2006 (AFP) – Internet giant Google Inc., was expected to announce Wednesday that it will offer a free archive service enabling Internet users to search for printed articles back to the 1700s, US newspapers reported. Called Google News Archive Search, the service will direct users to both paid and free content on […]
John Keells in early talks to take over Confifi Hotels
Sept 06 (LBO) – Diversified Sri Lankan conglomerate John Keells Holdings is in early talks to buy into the Confifi Hotel group, a top official said. As part of our business strategy we look at various opportunities when they arise.In that context we have looked at this possibility of buying into the Confifi Group as […]
Troops secure town captured from Tiger control in eastern Sri Lanka
Sept 5 (AFP) – Hundreds of Sri Lankan troops worked Tuesday to clear mines and booby-trapped devices from a town they captured from Tamil Tiger guerrillas after weeks of fighting, military officials said. Fighting in Sri Lanka has intensified since December, shattering hopes for the ceasefire to continue and leaving more than 1,500 dead, according […]
Mortar attacks as Sri Lanka troops dig in near key port
TRINCOMALEE, Sri Lanka, Sept 5, 2006 (AFP) – Security forces and Tamil Tiger rebels traded mortar bomb attacks in this Sri Lankan port district Tuesday, a day after the military captured a nearby rebel artillery base. The rebels accused the military of sparking the latest fighting and said their forces were still holding Sampur’s eastern […]
China wants to head off foreign reserve growth
BEIJING, Sept 5 (AFP) – China’s forex reserves rose further to hit 954.5 billion dollars at end-July but they must not be allowed to grow much more because of the upward pressure they put on the yuan, Vice President Zeng Qinghong said in an article Tuesday.The latest figure translates into 30.3 percent growth from 732.7 […]
Cut the fiscal deficit to preserve growth : ECB
ROME, Sept 5 (AFP) – Italy must take immediate steps to improve its public finances in order to preserve its economic recovery, an Italian member of the European Central Bank’s executive board insisted on Tuesday. “To put off or dilute corrective measures means that we will continue to talk of taxes and operations on public […]
‘s economic growth trails Asian rivals
BANGKOK, Sept 5, 2006 (AFP) – Political turmoil and flagging exports have resulted in Thailand trailing its Asian rivals in economic growth, Fitch Ratings reported Monday. The international financial agency revised down the kingdom’s growth forecast from 5.0 percent to 4.3 percent for 2006, saying that political uncertainties had caused Thailand to “lose a year” […]
Trade Breaks
Sept 05 (LBO) – India is drawing up a more favourable package for Sri Lankan garment exports to the country under the Indo-Lanka trade deal. Quotas on apparel and tea have been poorly utilised and has not really taken off, Sunjay Sudhir, Counsellor, Economic and Commercial at the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka, told […]
Oil Brokering
Sept 06 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has approved new terms to limit exports of vanaspathi vegetable oil to India, with the government hopeful that local factories will re-open in a month. The two countries clocked up just under two billion dollars in bilateral trade last year a four fold increase since the free trade deal […]
’s Serendib Hotels to sell 20% stake to Thai resort operator, Minor International
Sept 05 (LBO) – Serendib Hotels said Tuesday it would go in for a private placement to sell a 19.90 percent stake in the company to Minor International Public Company Limited, a large Thai resort operator. The company, which owns a chain of three hotels Hotel Serendib, Club Hotel Dolphin and Sigiriya Hotel, plans to […]
Hasty Exit
Sept 04 (LBO) – The government has shelved a bidding round for oil exploration until it sorts out a battle with Norwegian company TGS Nopec to buy up three years worth of seismic data. TGS Nopec conducted seismic surveys in the Mannar Basin since 2002, with the government trying to buy back the data for […]
Bigger Bills
Sept 04 (LBO) – Ceylon Petroleum Corporation said Monday that it would jack up fuel prices with effect from midnight Monday, to offset losses made by the state utility. Petrol will go up by Rs. 5.00 a litre to 101 rupees, diesel by Rs.3.00 to Rs. 67.00 a litre and kerosene, largely used by rural […]