Author: lbostgadmin
Against Odds
June 6, 2006 (LBO) – Diversified Hemas Holdings Ltd Tuesday posted a 16 percent growth in full-year profits for the year ended March 31, 2006, boosted by strong earnings in power, consumer products and transport. Hemas a family controlled conglomerate core business lies in health and personalcare products, power generation, leisure and transport. HEMAS HOLDINGS […]
Facelift
The newly re-constituted Strategic Enterprises Management Agency (SEMA) says it is reviewing all state institutions under its management and developing action plans to make them profitable. It’s really a burden to the government, the treasury, and to the people of this country. SEMA will guide these State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to be profitable ventures, says […]
”; asks to beef up capital
June 6, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylease Financial Services – a unit of Bank of Ceylon – needs to pump up its capital to support their low income base and future provisional charges, Fitch Ratings Lanka warned Tuesday. Fitch, which assigned a ‘BBB-(lka)’ rating to Ceylease, says the credit rating reflects the firm’s parental […]
Tigers to raise neutrality of monitors after EU ban
June 5, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels will this week question the impartiality of truce monitors from Denmark, Sweden and Finland in the wake of a European Union ban on the guerrillas, officials said Monday. The Sri Lankan government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have sent delegations to […]
In Indian zoos, life can be brutal and short
NEW DELHI, June 5, 2006 (AFP) – Visitors to Indian zoos often throw stones at animals, many of whom are already in pain and enclosed in filthy, concrete boxes, officials and animal rights groups say.Deteriorating conditions prompted rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals last month to sue states running zoos and the […]
Asia proves hip for designer wallets: global survey
SINGAPORE, June 5, 2006 (AFP) – Asians buy more designer wallets than any other region but luxury-brand loyalty varies from country to country, a global consumer survey revealed Monday.The survey of 21,000 Internet users in 42 countries conducted by research firm ACNielsen showed that the most popular designer brand globally is Ralph Lauren followed by […]
Indian bookies raking in millions thanks to heavy monsoons
NEW DELHI, June 5, 2006 (AFP) – Bountiful early monsoon rains are raking in millions of dollars for Indian bookies taking bets on the amount of rain that will drench the country between June and September, a report said Monday.The weather office has predicted a below normal monsoon this year but bookies have stacked the […]
Bangladesh city introduces polygamy tax
DHAKA, June 5, 2006 (AFP) – A Bangladesh city will impose taxes on polygamists to deter the “outdated” practice of marrying more than one wife, an official said Monday. The tax will come into force from July 1 in northern Rajshahi, Bangladesh’s fourth-largest city, mayor Mijanur Rahman Minu told AFP. As part of the city’s […]
Extended Family
June 5, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to expand its mobile phone market to five players, in a bid to bring down costs of telephony, the telecom regulator said Monday. Sri Lanka’s mobile market had grown 53.5 percent to 3.34 million customers as at end 2005, according to TRC figures. The island’s cellular penetration […]
Battle Lines
June 05 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will fight new Indian restrictions on duty free vanaspati exports, ahead of another round of Indo-Lanka trade talks at the end of June. Duty free exports of Vanaspati a hydrogenated vegetable oil, has been a sore point in Indo-Sri Lanka trade relations, with Sri Lanka accused of flooding Indian […]
Local tea industry draws up new standards on exports to Japan
June 05 (LBO) – After pressure from Japan, the Sri Lankan tea trade is drawing up a uniform declaration for exporters to clear their tea shipments as free from chemical residues. The herbicide is considered to be the only effective chemical against certain weeds on tea plantations, with the only alternative being costly mechanical weeding. “What […]
Mouse Trail
PARIS, June 5, 2006 (AFP) – Nearly one out of two airline tickets issued to travellers is currently in electronic form and paper tickets are on track to disappear completely by 2007, International Air Transport Association (IATA) said Monday.The association, which represents 265 airlines accounting for 94 percent of international air traffic, indicated that it […]