Category:
South Asian nations side-step regional trade pact amid frictions
July 30, 2008 (AFP) – South Asian leaders meeting in Sri Lanka this weekend will discuss improving commercial ties but political and other tensions have dampened hopes a regional free trade pact will be implemented any time soon, economists say. “It took the European Union 50 years to get the euro out. We’re still just […]
Australia, Myanmar as SAARC observers: Sri Lanka official
July 30, 2008 (LBO) – Australia and Myanmar would be admitted as observers of the South Asian Association of Regional Corporation (SAARC) at this year’s sessions, now underway in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, an official said.Sri Lanka’s additional foreign secretary Prasad Kariawasam told reporters after a meeting of the so-called ‘standing committee’ of foreign […]
Sri Lanka stocks firm as AMW buyers mop up shares
July 29, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed higher Tuesday with the Dubai construction firm that took control of Associated Motorways (AMW) yesterday continuing to buy into the stock, brokers said. Associated Electrical Corporation (AEC), the controlling shareholder of AMW which sold out, fell 4.83 percent or 77.25 rupees to 1,522.50. The All Share […]
Better Travel
July 29, 2008 (LBO) – An efficient public transport system will help Sri Lanka reduce its fuel bill and curb environmental pollution, a top official from the National Transport Commission (NTC) said. Nearly 70 percent of the total fuel consumption per year is by private passenger vehicles which carry less than 30 percent of the […]
Higher Skills
July 29, 2008 (LBO) – The Cranfield School of Management in the UK has offered a Master of Business Administration scholarship to any member of Sri Lanka’s three leading accountancy bodies.Cranfield MBA alumni from Sri Lanka include Hatton National Bank managing director Rajendra Theagarajah, senior vice president of WNS Arul Sivagananathan and Stretchline group financial […]
Steady State
July 29, 2008 (LBO) – Fitch Sri Lanka has confirmed the ‘AAA(lka)’ long term rating of state-run National Savings Bank with a stable outlook but has said low interest rates offered by the bank are shrinking its market share. Though the bank has been making profits in the last few years by keeping deposit rates […]
Sri Lanka retail chains to charge customers for plastic bags
July 29, 2008 (LBO) – A group of Sri Lankan retail chains will start charging customers for shopping bags from August 01, as part of a campaign with the island’s environment protection office to cut plastic waste, a top retail chain said.Retail chains will also have cardboard boxes. Plastic bags which do not degrade early […]
BP profits jump as oil prices smash record highs
LONDON, July 29, 2008 (AFP) – British energy giant BP said on Tuesday that its net profit rallied by 28 percent to 9.47 billion dollars (6.02 billion euros) in the second quarter as oil prices surged to record highs. BP’s revenue soared by 49 percent to 111 billion dollars in the three months to June […]
‘s central bank hikes policy rate to 9.0-pct
MUMBAI, July 29, 2008 (AFP) – India’s central bank Tuesday raised its key short-term lending rate by half-a-percentage point in an aggressive bid to tame inflation riding at a 13-year high, pushing shares down sharply. Indian shares slumped 3.6 percent after the bank announced the hike in the repo rate, at which commercial banks borrow […]
WTO talks enter tense endgame: officials
GENEVA, July 28, 2008 (AFP) – Talks to forge a new global trade pact teetered on the brink of collapse Tuesday as the World Trade Organization said the mood was “very tense” and major powers blamed each other for the deadlock.“The situation is very tense, things are finely balanced and the outcome is by no […]
”s den
GALLE, July 29, 2008 (AFP) – India’s batting reputation will be at stake when they attempt to solve Sri Lanka’s spin puzzle in the second Test starting here on Thursday.The tourists collapsed twice in the opening match of the three-Test series in Colombo, losing by an innings and 239 runs on Saturday. Sri Lankan spinners […]
Under-achievers India hope to turn the corner
NEW DELHI, July 29, 2008 (AFP) – India travel to the Olympics without their trademark field hockey team, but determined to prove they will not compete at Beijing just to make up the numbers. The hockey stars, India’s flag-bearers at past Olympics despite winning the last of their eight gold medals way back in 1980, […]