Category: Industry
Cutting Duds
February 15 (LBO) – Sri Lanka financial authorities are clamping down on cheque returns with the help of a newly commissioned digital clearing system, officials said. “We have already cut down the proportion of cheques to less than half of what it was,” says Anura de Silva who heads, LankaClear, Sri Lanka’s central cheque clearing […]
Pension Penetration
February 15 (LBO) – Life Insurance Corporation Lanka is breaking into the untapped pension market in the country offering a long-term product that pays an annuity.“There is a large ageing population in the country,” LIC Lanka General Manager S S Mathiapanan said. “The joint family system in our culture is breaking down, children are in […]
Hydro Cash
February 14 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s national power utility has raised the tariff for existing mini-hydro plants by about 19 percent during the crucial wet season, when most of the power is generated. Colombo Stock Exchange has two listed mini-hydro plants, Vallibel Power Eratne and Vidullanka, whose margins are expected to improve with the new […]
Dravid helps India level Sri Lanka series
GOA, India, Feb 14, 2007 (AFP) – Rahul Dravid became the sixth batsman in history to reach 10,000 one-day runs as he steered India to a series-levelling five-wicket win over Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Dilshan and Arnold rebuilt again in the middle overs before Harbhajan had Dilshan caught at the wicket in the 42nd over […]
Easy Customs
Feb 14 (LBO) – Traders and businessmen could easily navigate through Sri Lanka’s plethora of taxes and customs regulations, through a single searchable database being rolled out for public use in March, officials said. The new database will hold all of the country’s customs regulations, related laws, taxes and other levies as well as preferential […]
Mango Friends
February 14 (LBO) – Former tourism Anura Bandaranaike may come back to the government with the aviation portfolio, a senior government minister said. vimasuma.com Newsdesk Updated . Bandaranaike Wednesday met President Rajapakse in the company of Minister Dinesh Gunewardene and Western Province Governor Alavi Moulana a spokesman from the presidential secretariat said. The meeting was […]
Hedge Start
Feb 14, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has stepped into the murky world of futures and options by hedging part of its future oil payments for March, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Chairman said Wednesday.The national oil company signed off an option collar for 150,000 barrels of oil at a strike price of 70 dollars with Standard […]
Spam Slam
SINGAPORE, Feb 13, 2007 (AFP) – Email spammers will face new controls on their unsolicited advertising under proposed legislation introduced by Singapore. The draft Spam Control Act aims to control the electronic commercial messages sent in bulk by email or to mobile phones, according to the bill seen on Tuesday. It was introduced to parliament […]
Price Tactics
February, 13 (LBO) – Ceylon Petroleum Corporation will hold fuel prices steady this month with the help of a tax cut on petrol, a top official said. The CPC is expecting a 5 rupee temporary lifting of excise duty on a litre of petrol, CPC Chairman Ashantha de Mel said. The CPC would have made […]
Oil Pinch
February, 13 (LBO) – Lanka IOC, a unit of the Indian Oil Corporation, is poised to grab more market share from the country’s dominant state-owned petroleum distributor and gain from a leaner cost base, an equities research house has said. LIOC shares slid below 30 rupees last year after disputed subsidy claims hit the firm’s […]
Microsoft Mobile
HONG KONG, Feb 12, 2007 (AFP) – Microsoft announced Monday its new version of its Windows operating systems for mobile devices and said it won new Asian partners hoping to gain more market share from competitors, Symbian and Nokia. The US computer giant said Windows Mobile 6 has been added new features previously only available […]
GSM Olympics
BARCELONA, Spain, Feb 12, 2007 (AFP) – Leaders in the mobile phone industry gathered in Barcelona on Monday promising faster connections, more fun and cheaper calls at the start of one of the biggest trade shows for the sector. The 3GSM event is expected to draw 60,000 people over the next four days with 1,300 […]