Category:
Audit Rider
July 7, 2006 (LBO) – A parliamentary body which oversees public finances, plans to bring a law to beef up the office of Sri Lanka’s Auditor General, a senior legislator said. Meanwhile a parliamentarian has made statements claiming to be from another report due to be tabled shortly, that 360 billion rupees have disappeared to […]
Enabling Code
July 7, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s main employers’ body has introduced a code of conduct as part of its efforts at encouraging firms to hire disabled persons.The voluntary code, which contains guidelines to employers for hiring and retaining disabled persons, was launched by the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) Thursday. “We at the Federation […]
‘ finances
TOKYO, July 7, 2006 (AFP) – The Bank of Japan said Friday it will ban its executives from investing in most types of financial products following a scandal over its governor’s personal investments.They will be forbidden from trading stocks or investing in private funds, the central bank decided, based on recommendations from an advisory panel. […]
‘s tough reforms fight
NEW DELHI, July 7, 2006 (AFP) – India’s move to freeze its privatisation programme is a bad signal for reforms and highlights the uphill battle Prime Minister Manmohan Singh faces to liberalise the economy, analysts said Friday.Only two weeks after announcing the government would revive asset sales, Singh said Thursday he was putting “on hold” […]
Sri Lanka bipartisan peace bid fails, opposition says
July 7, 2006 (AFP) – A fresh attempt to hammer out a bipartisan approach to Sri Lanka’s drawn out Tamil separatist conflict ended abruptly with the defection of an opposition legislator, officials said Friday.President Mahinda Rajapakse met with United National Party opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe Thursday evening to agree on a common approach to the […]
Colombo stocks close flat on uninspiring trade; rupee dips marginally
July 6, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lankan rupee dipped marginally while stock market closed virtually flat on Thursday in subdued trade, dealers said. The benchmark All Share Price Index crept up 0.13 percent or 2.75 points to close at 2,116.15 on volumes of 19.1 million shares worth 95.09 million rupees, according to Colombo Stock Exchange […]
Mortgage Crisis
July 6, 2006 (LBO) – A top Sri Lankan housing bank has asked the government to exempt housing mortgage lenders from upcoming law aimed at helping smaller defaulters, as it will curtail the growth of the entire housing loan market.HDFC Bank, a publicly listed bank originally set up by the government, is facing the threat […]
Nit Picking
July 6, 2006 (LBO) – India’s Commerce Minister has raised the red flag on Sri Lankan shipments of vanaspati, pepper and marble, as they are threatening to destabilise the giant neighbour’s domestic industry, the Indian embassy said in a statement Thursday. The statement comes as both nations last week concluded trade talks on forming a […]
It™s a Wrap
July 6, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has slapped a controversial tax on foreign commercials, Hollywood and Bollywood blockbusters, dramas and sitcoms from July 1, with funds collected ploughed back to develop the local film industry. The taxes range from 90,000 rupees for a 30 minute dubbed episode to a million rupees for each foreign […]
Deep Cut
July 6, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s biggest mobile-phone operator Dialog Telekom Thursday slashed outgoing call charges by as much as 50 percent as the firm stepped up its expansion drive in the country. Call charges within the network from 11.00 pm to 6.00 am will go down by 50 percent to 2.00 rupees, while […]
Warming Up
July 6, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to issue spectrum for third generation or next generation mobile technology to cellular phone operators next week, the telecom watchdog said Thursday. Priced at 5-million dollars, third generation or 3G licenses allow operators to offer higher speed wireless services on the 2GHz (gigahertz band). “All four existing […]
Tiger supremo pays homage to 273 suicide bombers
July 6, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s elusive Tamil Tiger supremo has paid tribute to 273 suicide bombers known as Black Tigers who have carried out devastating attacks in the past 19 years, the guerrillas said Thursday. Six photographs were released of Velupillai Prabhakaran, 51, meeting with his current band of suicide bombers and lighting […]