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Agalawatte Plantations to boost oil palm in Sri Lanka
May 04, 2014 (LBO) – Agalawatte Plantations, a unit of Sri Lanka’s Mackwoods group said it will expand its oil palm cultivation which had become a key contributor to gross profits in 2013, amid declining rubber prices and weather affected tea. Palm oil crop had increased to 7.4 million tonnes in 2012 up from 6.8 […]
‘s Carrefour to quit India: reports
NEW DELHI, May 3, 2014 (AFP) – Carrefour, the world’s second largest retailer, is working on a plan to exit India, media reports said Saturday, amid political uncertainty about the future of multi-brand retail in the South Asian giant.One of the few foreign retailers to commit to India recently is Britain’s Tesco, which has declared […]
Sri Lanka temple tackles reconciliation amid fresh fears of fighting
MATARA, May 4, 2014 (AFP) – At a temple in the heart of Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese south, an unusual attempt at reconciliation is underway after decades of ethnic bloodshed, even as the government warns of fresh fighting.Such mythological stories about Sri Lanka’s history are common on the island, whose Sinhalese majority can trace their roots […]
Sri Lanka inflation at 3.5-pct in April by citizen index
May 03, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s inflation in the 12-months to April was measured at 3.5 percent, lower than the 4.9 percent shown by the official index compiled by the state statistics office.The CAL UPI Index, compiled by CAL Research, an equities research firm has shown slightly lower than official inflation since December 2013. […]
RAM Ratings (Lanka) renamed Lanka Rating Agency
May 02, 2014 (LBO) – RAM Ratings (Lanka) Ltd, said its name has been changed to Lanka Rating Agency Ltd, following the exit of its Malaysian shareholder RAM Holdings LRA said it was also gaining technical assistance from a global rating agency. The agency there were no changes to the currently adopted standards and no […]
Sri Lanka stocks close up 0.4-pct
May 02, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s stocks close 0.40 percent higher Friday with tobacco and diversified stocks gaining amid strong foreign selling, brokers said. The Colombo benchmark All Share Price Index closed 24.77 points higher at 6,248.44 up 0.40 percent. The S&P SL20 closed 17.62 points higher at 3,435.81, up 0.52 percent. Turnover was […]
Budget Boom
SEPANG, May 2, 2014 (AFP) – Malaysia on Friday officially opened a new airport built specifically for the fast-growing budget-travel sector, but with the country’s aviation industry under deep scrutiny over the loss of missing flight MH370.The still-unexplained March 8 disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which took off from the main KLIA, has raised […]
Boat People
COLOMBO, May 2, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy Friday arrested 54 would-be illegal immigrants in the first major detection of boat people heading to Australia this year, an official said.A fishing trawler was detected with the passengers, including 11 women and 13 children, off the island’s north-eastern coast of Mullaittivu, navy spokesman Kosala Warnakulasuriya […]
Export Data
May 02, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s foreign revenues from software and business process outsourcing are higher than officially estimated, but growth is constrained by talent shortfalls, an industry body which has done its own survey said. He said there was interest from investors including from abroad in the industry. “For us to meet the […]
SriLankan to codeshare with Finnair, S-7
May 02, 2014 (LBO) – State-run SriLankan Airlines has inked code-share deals with Finland’s Finnair and Siberia based S-7, with more deals in the offing, chairman Nishantha Wickramasinghe said. In a code share deal, airlines will operate aircraft on one or more routes with joint flight codes and sell tickets. Both airlines are members of […]
Sri Lanka Muslims seek protection from nationalist hate
COLOMBO, May 2, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Muslim legislators on Friday asked President Mahinda Rajapakse to protect their minority community from “Buddhist extremist elements” blamed for a recent spate of hate attacks. The country is emerging from nearly four decades of ethnic war which according to UN estimates claimed at least 100,000 lives between […]
Global press freedom hits fresh lows: watchdog
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2014 (AFP) – World press freedom has hit its lowest level in a decade, amid regression in Egypt, Turkey and Ukraine, and US efforts to curb national security reporting, a survey showed Thursday.The report by Freedom House, which has been conducting annual surveys since 1980, found that the share of the world’s […]