Author: lbostgadmin
Free Bird
Floatplane operations are back in the skies and with expanded coverage after the National Security Council clipped its wings for a short period.ldblquote The Security Council imposed a suspension on floatplane operations in early January but lifted the its objections two weeks ago, dblquote said a official from the Civil Aviation Authority. rn rnAs a […]
Flying Birds
SriLankan Airlines air taxi service, called SriLankan Air Taxi, which took off in December 2003, has added two more destinations to its network. rnrnThe air taxi now flies to Anuradhapura and Hingurakgoda in the north central province in addition to its four other destinations.rn rnThe airlines amphibious eight-seater, Cessna Caravan seaplane takes off from Sri […]
Trade off
The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Sri Lanka is looking to be the latest casualty of the political uncertainty that gripped the country since November.Thailand backed out of a bilateral trade pact earlier this week, refusing to sign it after the Sri Lankan parliament was dissolved.rn rnOriginally the Indo-Lanka CEPA was to […]
Second Line
Sitting fifteen floors up at the World Trade Centre (WTC) in Colombo, 350 new IT professionals will reap inspiration to develop solutions for Virtusas dominantly US based client portfolio. The US based customised IT solutions developer said on Tuesday that the firm was adding a second development centre in Colombo, growing its existing 600 IT […]
In Use
Sri Lankas aid utilisation recorded an all time high of nearly US$ 1bn for 2003 and came close to forecast targets despite a politically volatile year that left the peace process in limbo.By end December the total disbursement of grants and loans came to US$ 986 mn compared to US$ 576 mn in 2002 despite […]
No Surprises
The Central Bank left its key short-term rates unchanged on Wednesday, signalling that the countrys economic fundamentals are sound, despite political uncertainty.The overnight repurchase rate (repo rate) was kept at 7.0 percent and the reverse repurchase rate (reverse repo) at 8.50 percent, the bank said in a statement following its monthly Monetary Policy Meeting late […]
Zoo Politics
rnSri Lanka faces another expensive and possibly violent general election nearly four years before its due date leaving the peace process, donor decisions and economic policies in limbo.rnWhile a helpless UNF governments screamed lquote undemocratic and unethical the country is already in the process of breaking up under blue, green and red ranks with all […]
Tigers Domain
The LTTE will decide on how it and the territories under its paw would participate in the April 03, 2004 snap polls. The LTTE warned on Monday that it would honour the ceasefire agreement, but warned a snap poll was a setback to the budding peace process.rn rn”Our liberation organisation will rigidly observe the ceasefire […]
Quick Cash
A sophisticated yet low cost real time on-line money transfer facility has been launched by Commercial Bank of Ceylon, enabling Sri Lankan expatriates to make instant money transfers from many countries. This new money transfer facility, branded ldblquote ComBank e-Exchange dblquote , provides for instant money transfers via a number of reputed financial institutions in […]
What Crisis?
Sri Lankas financial markets are likely to remain rudderless as election campaigning starts putting the budding economic recovery on ice.The stockmarket plunged 124 points wiping off Rs. 30 bn of its value on Monday, as President Chandrika Kumaratunga opted for a snap poll to ease the current political deadlock.rn rnThe Central Bank has forecast the […]
Dont Worry
The UNF government is upbeat of romping back to power with the promise of peace and economic prosperity, despite being caught behind by the President, a senior cabinet minister said.ldblquote We have delivered what we promised to give, that is peace and development. And we will continue with our mandate when we come back to […]
Dissolved
President Chandrika Kumaratunga dissolved parliament late Saturday, calling for a snap poll on April 2, to break the bitter political deadlock.Parliamentary polls are not due till 2007 and a poll of this magnitude costs nearly a billion rupees endash money the exchequer has little to spare these days.rn rnStarting February 17, nominations for elections will […]