Category: Industry
Aye, Aye
November 02, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank Ltd’s shareholders Thursday voted in favour of raising the bank’s authorised share capital and lifting the maximum shareholder limit to be on par with Central Bank guidelines. Sampath Bank may also be a possible takeover target once again, with a single shareholder making moves to own […]
Scam Trail
November 2, 2006 (LBO) – Authorities who are probing the Seagullsoftware Ponzi scam have found that the firm had accounts in at least two commercial banks, while its participants say cheques have cleared through yet another bank. Seagullsoftware ran a pyramid scam variant, which masqueraded as a business process outsourcing company. Banking sources say about […]
Bigger Load
Nov 01 (LBO) – SriLankan Airlines said Thursday that it would launch a regional charter service carrying cargo to South Asia, even reaching destinations not connected by scheduled flights. SriLankan Cargo currently offers scheduled services to 50 destinations in 28 countries, serviced by dedicated freighters and 14 mainline Airbus Aircraft. With the new service, businesses […]
Short Changed
Nov 01 (LBO) – Sri Lanka™s consumer watchdog is stepping up raids in shops and supermarkets to weed our creative pricing and other offences, as Sri Lanka™s cost of living soars. Consumer prices in Sri Lanka went up to 17.2 percent in October from 15.4 percent in September, driven upwards by higher prices of cigarettes, […]
Post Office Banking
Nov 1, 2006 (LBO) – Banking giant HSBC tied up with Sri Lanka’s General Post Office on Wednesday to widen customer access to general banking facilities. Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank customers will be able to access their accounts through 15 General Post Offices (GPOs) which will offer cash and cheque deposits, credit card services […]
‘ Play
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1, 2006 (AFP) – Piracy declined globally this year, but Chittagong in Bangladesh was now the world’s most dangerous port, with a rise in piracy there and in some other key hotspots, a watchdog said Wednesday.The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) recorded 174 attacks on the high seas in the first nine months […]
Steady Growth
November 1, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Telecom, the island’s biggest telephone company, Wednesday reported a third quarter profit gain of 42 percent after it signed up more wireless customers. The company, which controls 85 percent of Sri Lanka’s fixed-line telecommunications market, made a 1.57 billion rupee net profit over a 23 percent revenue growth […]
Unplugged
TOKYO, Nov 1, 2006 (AFP) – Times have changed since Nobutoshi Kihara sketched out designs for the revolutionary Walkman on a piece of paper.But, despite a disastrous few years for the iconic Japanese company, the ground-breaking Sony engineer believes the electronics giant still has its spirit of innovation as it marks its 60th anniversary this […]
‘ Association announces new awards
Oct 31, 2006 (AFP) – The Sri Lanka Cricketers’ Association (SLCA) on Tuesday announced an awards scheme for the country’s leading domestic and international players.“A lot of countries have such awards.This is something that we’ve been thinking of seriously and want to initiate,” Pramodaya Wickaramasinghe, president of the SLCA, told AFP. “Domestic cricket has been […]
Nest Egg
October 31, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is toying with the idea of starting a provident fund for migrant workers in an attempt to give countrymen a form of saving to live after retirement. Over 1.5 million Sri Lankans, who work and reside overseas, have remitted 1.539 billion dollars to the country during the eight […]
Aviation Debut
Oct 31, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka plans to throw open the aviation corridor along the southern and eastern coast of the island for commercial traffic from next month, officials said Tuesday. As part of the ‘Ruhunu Open Skies’ policy which kicks off from Nov 19, authorities also plan to open up the skies for […]
Great Asian failures cause World Cup jitters
MOHALI, India, Oct 30, 2006 (AFP) – The failure of the four Asian teams to make the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy indicated trouble lay in store at the World Cup, experts said Monday. India joined Pakistan and Sri Lanka on the sidelines after being thrashed by world champions Australia by six wickets here Sunday […]