Author: lbostgadmin
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 […]
Tourists travel cautiously May arrivals show slow growth
June 20, 2006 (LBO) – Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka showed slow growth in May as local violence grows and travel from some European and South Asian markets slide. Arrivals were up about 7.2 percent in May to 43,824 travellers over the same month last year, with top generating markets India and the United Kingdom […]
Sri Lanka policy turns more hawkish
June 20, 2006 (Dow Jones)–Sri Lanka’s central bank signaled a more hawkish stance when it increased its policy rates sooner than expected last week.Although a return to a tightening had been anticipated, Friday’s surprise 25-basis-point increase each in the repurchase and reverse repo rates highlighted the authorities’ growing concerns over rising inflation. “This month’s increase […]