Category: Industry
In a stroke
January 18 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is banning the import of three-wheeler taxis that use two-stroke piston engines from next year, to reduce pollution in urban areas, a senior minister said.Two stroke engines emit particles and unburnt hydrocarbons that are polluting the environment,†Information Minister Anura Yapa said. The air-quality in Colombo has deteriorated with […]
African Wings
Jan 16, 2007 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan firm, which has built a freight forwarding network spanning eight coastal African nations plans to rapidly expand further into the African hinterland this year. “But we have to spread our wings outside Sri Lanka to grow.”
Disabled Friendly
Jan 17 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan companies should do more to make it easier for physically challenged customers to work with them, an activist body has said. “An environment of this nature welcomes people.Winning people is definitely a potential business opportunity,” Ajith Perera from the Idiriya organization said. A customer lost is a lost […]
Unit Gains
Jan 17, 2007 (LBO) – Investors in mutual funds with an equity component have managed to beat raging inflation last year, with Sri Lanka’s youngest fund, the Ceylon Index Fund showing the highest returns, its managers said. “We will have a marketing campaign in English, Sinhala and Tamil,” says Ceylon Asset Management CEO, Sharmini Ratwatte. […]
Athletics: Sri Lankan sprinter cleared of doping
Jan 16, 2007 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan woman sprinter who was accused of doping during the South Asian Games in Colombo last year has been cleared of the charge, officials said on Tuesday. Jani Chathurangani de Silva, a double medallist at the August 2006 Games, tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone, and was […]
Connecting Points
Jan 16, 2007 (LBO) – Japan on Tuesday gave Sri Lanka 30 million rupees to design a new bridge connecting Mannar to the mainland, the finance ministry said. The grant will be used to draw up a detailed design of a 157.1 metre, ten-metre wide bridge and to improve and expand the causeway between the […]
‘s Asgiriya stadium
Jan 15, 2007 (AFP) – The historic Asgiriya stadium in Sri Lanka’s hill resort of Kandy is to be replaced by a brand new venue in the same area, a senior cricket official said on Monday. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) secretary K.Mathivanan said an agreement would be signed next week with the island’s foreign investment […]
’s Box
January 13, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s proposal to retain 50 percent of re-insurance business in a government-backed entity, may deteriorate the quality of cover available to the insurance industry, an international risk evaluator warned Saturday. President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also the island’s finance minister, proposed to set up a new domestic re-insurance firm […]
Old Hands
SINGAPORE, Jan 12, 2007 (AFP) – Workers are relying on 19th century technology to fix a very 21st century problem — disruption of the Internet traffic that tech-savvy Asia relies on. Crewmen on boats south of Taiwan are dragging the seabed with grappling hooks at the end of long ropes to recover fibre optic cables […]
Tight and Loose
January 12, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank has allowed finance companies to form subsidiaries, raised single borrower limits, but tightened provisioning requirements, the regulator said. A 40 percent limit on the acquisition of other companies has been relaxed, provided approval is gained from the Monetary Board, the Central Bank. “What this means is […]
Sri Lanka tourism slumps in Dec, authorities pin hopes on India and Middle East
Jan 11, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s leisure industry closed 2006 a neck ahead of the previous year, but the troubled island saw a sharp downturn December, as internal strife intensified and travel advisories kept visitors away. Sri Lanka lured 559,603 visitors last year, a slim 1.9 percent jump over 2005, but fell far short […]
Brainstorming
LAS VEGAS, Nevada, Jan 10, 2007 (AFP) – Porn makers at the world’s largest sex trade show in Las Vegas on Wednesday were taking a page from Internet superstars such as YouTube by tapping into the power of social networking. Fresh young start-ups at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo weren’t just saucy women in scanty […]