Category: Industry
Small Finance
Nov 28, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has assigned a ‘B+(lka)’ National Long-term rating to Sri Lanka’s Vallibel Finance Ltd. (VFL) with a stable outlook. VFL, a small registered finance company with a single office in Colombo, has managed to improve growth and shift to more profitable businesses since it was acquired by Dhammika […]
Sri Lanka Tests on despite blasts, England says
KANDY, Sri Lanka, Nov 29, 2007 (AFP) – England’s cricket test series in Sri Lanka will go ahead despite two deadly bomb attacks blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels that killed at least 19 people, officials said Thursday.The British High Commission (embassy) told team management, preparing for Saturday’s first Test in Kandy, the travel advisory warning […]
Kandy-man Murali set to scale the summit
KANDY, Sri Lanka, Nov 28, 2007 (AFP) – Muttiah Muralitharan returns to his home town to become Test cricket’s most successful bowler, a feat Australia denied him but England are unlikely to prevent.The spin wizard, 35, begins Sri Lanka’s first Test against Michael Vaughan’s men at the Asgiriya stadium here from Saturday needing five wickets […]
Small Step
Nov 28, 2008 (LBO) – The Asian Development Bank is helping upgrade Sri Lanka’s troubled tertiary and secondary education system with an 80 million dollar funding package, the regional lender said Wednesday. Sri Lanka’s universities have been churning out graduate misfits by the thousands who are agitating for free jobs in government as they do […]
Flying Oil
Nov 27, 2007 (LBO) – Lanka IOC, a unit of Indian Oil Corporation, had applied to supply aviation fuel at a proposed new airport in southern Sri Lanka, a top official said. “We have applied to the government to provide aviation fuel at the new Weerawila airport,” Lanka IOC managing director K Ramakrishan told LBO. […]
Sri Lankan Airlines increases India flights to 100
Nov 27, 2007 (LBO) – SriLankan Airlines announced Tuesday it now operates one hundred flights a week to India with the addition of another weekly flight to its existing services to Trichy. “SriLankan is making a conscious effort to serve smaller cities in India, where travellers do not have access to international air travel as […]
Sri Lankan airline deal with Emirates still in the air
NEW DELHI, Nov 27, 2007 (AFP) – SriLankan Airlines wants a new management contract to be signed soon with Dubai-owned Emirates, chief executive Peter Hill said Tuesday, forecasting a “tough” year for the island’s carrier.The Colombo government is holding another meeting on January 8 with Emirates to discuss the renewal of the 10-year management contract […]
No Discrimination
Nov 27, 2007 (LBO) – The World Bank and United Nations are asking for ideas to develop regional campaigns to end the stigma and discrimination faced by HIV and AIDS affected people in South Asia. “Stigma and discrimination seriously undermines efforts to fight HIV and AIDS,” said Praful Patel, World Bank Vice President for South […]
Sri Lanka tourist industry struggles to boost visitors amid war
Nov 27, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Tuesday that tourist arrivals had fallen sharply amid the tropical island’s intensifying ethnic conflict.Tourist arrivals had dropped 20 percent over the 10 months to October to 387,790 compared with the same period last year, Sri Lanka Tourism said. October’s arrivals were 4.6 percent lower at 37,011 compared […]
Coastal Shipping
Nov 27, 2007 (LBO) – Ceylon Shipping Corporation plans to buy two cargo ships using an Iranian credit line to be negotiated during Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s current visit there. The ships are required to keep the northern Jaffna peninsula supplied with essential goods as the land route is controlled by the Tamil Tigers. […]
Space Crunch
Nov 26, 2007 (LBO) – Colombo port, Sri Lanka’s main harbour, plans to build a dedicated cargo village to cater to rapidly increasing volumes of containers, a senior port official said. “We’re running short of space,” declared Nihal Keppetipola, a master mariner who is now the additional managing director of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority […]
Sri Lankan rebel Atapattu slams selectors
Nov 25, 2007 (AFP) – Marvan Atapattu made his final goodbye to Sri Lankan cricket on Sunday with another scathing attack on the selectors he had earlier described as “muppets headed by a joker.” The 37-year-old, who retired from international cricket earlier this month during the Australian tour, left Colombo to play in the rebel […]