Howls of protest as Mumbai named as rudest city on earth

MUMBAI, June 21, 2006 (AFP) – India’s crowded commercial centre Mumbai drives the nation’s rapid economic growth but is far too busy to say “thank you,” making it the world’s rudest city, according to a survey.In a rudimentary study on shopkeeper behaviour, picking up fallen papers in the street and holding open doors, Mumbai comes […]

‘s “third-rudest” status

KUALA LUMPUR, June 21, 2006 (AFP) – Malaysia on Wednesday hotly disputed a global survey that found its capital Kuala Lumpur was the third rudest in the world, saying it was renowned for its friendly people.Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said the widely publicised Reader’s Digest magazine survey of politeness levels in 35 cities could […]

Web Net

SAN FRANCISCO, June 20, 2006 (AFP) – Fresh from a fight with US officials over the sanctity of online search information, Google on Tuesday joined an alliance of technology firms calling for federal legislation protecting consumer privacy.“Today we live in a digital economy where both beneficial and potentially harmful uses of personal information are multiplying,” […]

Record tea exports Jan-May

June 21, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka shipped more tea to overseas markets for the five month to May, earning a record 35 billion rupees, a commodity broker said Wednesday. For the five month period, the tropical island shipped 128.0 million kilos, higher than 112.76 million kilos sold during the same period 2005. The shipments helped […]

Quiet Walk

June 21, 2006 (LBO) – State Bank of India plans to expand its reach in Sri Lanka, making use of an upsurge in business climate since the February 2002 ceasefire, a top official said Wednesday. The Indian giant has been present in Sri Lanka since 1864, but has been sort of a late comer to […]

Ships Ahoy

June 21 (LBO) – The Shipping Corporation has clinched a deal with Iran to buy an oil tanker and two container ships to begin feeder operations to the Colombo Port a top official said. There are several private feeder services carrying cargo to Colombo. The Shipping Corporation charters out its only two vessels. We are […]

‘s borrowing costs rise

June 21, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s borrowing costs went up during Wednesday’s treasury bill auction, as the Central Bank bought a further 3-billion rupees worth of paper for its stock of government securities.The bank offered 7.799 billion rupees worth of bills which came up for maturity, but accepted only 2.375 billion rupees from the […]

‘s city development agency to issue a billion rupees in bonds

June 21, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Urban Development Authority (UDA) plans to raise a billion rupees in bonds to finance an office development project, top officials said Wednesday.The UDA will appoint a banking partner within the next two months, Jayaweera said, with an issue date to be fixed, perhaps for later this year.“We are […]

Sri Lanka acuses tigers of attacking historic Buddist temple

June 20, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Tuesday accused Tamil Tiger rebels of attacking a historic Buddhist temple in the island’s east amid fresh moves by peace broker Norway to save their collapsing ceasefire.The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fired small arms towards the Somawathi Buddhist shrine in the district of Polononaruwa on […]

Tigers support peace drive, doubts over European monitors

June 20, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to a truce despite surging violence, but said the future of ceasefire monitors from Denmark, Finland and Sweden is still in the balance.The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they would discuss the issue of ceasefire observers from European […]

Calling Home

SINGAPORE, June 20, 2006 (AFP) – Future expansion in the mobile telephone business will come from developing economies whose less than affluent consumers cannot be overlooked while overall growth slows, experts said Tuesday.Income levels of consumers in the world’s poorer nations may not come anywhere near their wealthy counterparts but they offer far better growth […]

Zipping Through

June 20, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom, the island’s biggest fixed line operator, plans to rollout a 200 million rupee project next month to support high end data, voice, video and internet services, officials said Tuesday. Profits for the quarter were mainly driven by its CDMA (code division multiple access) operations, with SLT expecting […]

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