Category:
Sri Lankan shares close down
July 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed one percent lower Wednesday on losses in telco stocks and the John Keells Holdings conglomerate as sentiment remained weak, brokers said.The All Share Price Index closed down 25.08 points at 2,415.07 while the Milanka lost 1.85 percent (54.43 points) to close at 2,881.86. Turnover was 200 […]
Harbour Moves
July 16, 2008 (LBO) – Colombo port plans to order more quay-side gantry cranes, mobile cranes and tractors to boost productivity and cope with increasing cargo flows, a senior official said.Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) chairman Saliya Wickramasuriya said the new equipment acquisition was part of the ports efforts to improve efficiency and the port’s […]
Sri Lanka scrambles to stop Japan travel warning
July 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is scrambling to head off an imminent travel warning from Japan, in a bid to save the struggling tourism industry from a new blow, a top official said.Tourism secretary George Michael said Sri Lanka has learned of an imminent travel warning from Japan and tourism minister Milinda Moragoda […]
Aussie Arrest
July 16, 2008 (LBO) – Australian police have arrested the director of a Melbourne business school over links with Tamil Tigers following a request from US authorities, a media report said.The Australian newspaper said Thulasitharan Santhirarajah, 34, is expected to be extradited to the United States. “The man is wanted to face prosecution for alleged […]
Peninsular 3G
July 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Dialog Telekom, a unit of Telekom Malaysia, said it had launched third generation (3G) mobile services allowing video calling in the island’s northern Jaffna peninsular. Dialog’s video calling comes with a conferencing facility that allows users in six different locations to talk. Dialog says is 3G network now […]
My Phone
July 16, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Tigo, a unit of Millicom International Cellular is issuing plastic-card ownership certificate in response to anti-terror rules, which can be piggy-backed to give additional benefits to customers, an official said. The new regulations introduced by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka require mobile customers to give on […]
‘s elephant orphanage hopes for jumbo success
UDAWALAWE, July 16, 2008 (AFP) – After years of being bottle-fed formula milk, eight orphaned baby elephants appear reluctant to leave their temporary home, but mahouts heave-ho them onto trucks for a journey back to the wild.The elephants are enticed with milk and coconut palm to climb the ramps into the trucks — the time […]
Unmarked grave found in eastern Sri Lanka, troops overrun key Tiger base
July 16, 2008 (AFP) – Several human bones have been found in an unmarked grave in Sri Lanka’s eastern district of Batticaloa, police said Wednesday. The site was discovered by a group of people who were digging a well on Tuesday. “We are not sure if it is a mass grave. Several bones were unearthed. […]
Zimbabwe inflation hits 2.2 million percent: bank chief
HARARE, July 16, 2008 (AFP) – Zimbabwe’s inflation rate, already the world’s highest, hit an astronomical 2.2 million percent Wednesday after Robert Mugabe’s re-election in a one-man poll critics had said the nation could ill afford. After months of silence on the inflation rate, central bank governor Gideon Gono let slip it was well into […]
Global markets falter on fear over US financial crisis
LONDON, July 16, 2008 (AFP) – World stock markets struggled on Wednesday after sharp losses driven by the unfolding US financial crisis and before more testimony from US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke, dealers said. Bernanke warned of economic gloom on Tuesday and his next comments are awaited anxiously by investors, reeling from the collapse […]
Oil prices rise after stunning 10 dollar fall in one hour
SINGAPORE, July 16, 2008 (AFP) – Oil prices rose in Asia on Wednesday after fears for economic growth sent prices into their steepest fall in 17 years during New York trading, analysts said. New York’s main oil contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, was 22 cents higher at 138.96 dollars a barrel. The contract […]
Bernanke faces new grilling amid economic storm
WASHINGTON, July 16, 2008 (AFP) – With market turmoil intensifying on fears of a banking crisis, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke faced a new grilling Wednesday after warning of a bumpy road to economic recovery. Bernanke was set to appear in the House of Representatives for a second day of testimony on the Fed’s semiannual […]