Category: Other
Coming Back
Sept 24, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has allowed the island’s former Treasury Secretary to return to public service from which he was ousted by court, lawyers said.In 2008 a three judge bench headed by former Chief Justice Sarath Silva faulted Jayasundara over the privatization of a ship fuel or bunkering monopoly.Former Treasury […]
Sri Lanka August tea output down 5.3-pct
Sept 24, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s production of black tea in August 2009 fell 5.3 percent to 23.9 million kilos from a year ago, with the shortfall coming from the high and mid-grown elevations, according to the Sri Lanka Tea Board. But production of low grown teas, which make up the bulk of the […]
Watchdog Action
Sept 23, 2009 (LBO) – The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) has filed charges against two senior executives of Singalanka Standard Chemicals for falsifying accounts and forging auditors’ signatures.They had committed an offence under section 51(1) (b) of the Securities and Exchange Commission Act, the statement said.Singalanka Standard Chemicals said in a […]
Chevron makes major new gas find in Bangladesh: govt
DHAKA, September 23, 2009 (AFP) – US energy group Chevron has made the biggest gas discovery in at least a decade in energy-starved Bangladesh, almost doubling the size of a field it is drilling there, a government official said Wednesday.The US firm has told authorities its Bibiyana gas field in Sylhet, northeastern Bangladesh, contains 6.6 […]
Bharti sweetens offer for MTN deal: report
NEW DELHI, September 22, 2009 (AFP) – India’s top mobile firm Bharti Airtel has offered a range of new concessions to South Africa’s MTN in order to seal a tie-up, a report said Tuesday.“Bharti Airtel is making a slew of last-minute concessions to sew up a deal with MTN as it awaits a political push […]
Sri Lanka plantations demand delayed tax refunds as wages rise
Sept 21, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s plantations industry is demanding that the government settle long-delayed tax refunds to help bear the cost of a wage hike estimated at an extra six billion rupees a year.Damitha Perera, chairman of the Planters’ Association, which represents the industry, said repayment of value-added tax refunds and disbursement of […]
Regulatory hitches threaten Bharti-MTN deal: reports
NEW DELHI, September 21, 2009 (AFP) – India’s top mobile firm Bharti Airtel and South African cellular flagship MTN are ready to sign a tie-up deal but regulatory issues could stymie a final agreement, reports said Monday. “The deal is all set, agreed and legally ready to be signed,” the Business Standard newspaper quoted an […]
Sri Lanka thieves hot on spices
Sept 18, 2009 (LBO) – Theft of spices from Sri Lankan gardens is a serious problem that could kill the trade, the new head of the island’s spice traders association has said. The global demand for spices will continue to increase because of growing awareness that consumption of spices contribute to good health, he said. […]
Economic Impact
Sep 18, 2009 (LBO) – The 28th LBR-LBO chief executive forum debated the economic impact of public interest litigation, with a four member panel made up of legal and private sector representatives. Had the Business Chambers followed the above strategy, which in fact was suggested to them, they and their members could have minimized the […]
Public Debate
Sept 18, 2009 (LBO) – The 28th LBR-LBO chief executive forum debated the economic impact of public interest litigation, with a four member panel made up of legal and private sector representatives. Presentations were made by Rohan Samarajiva, head of LirneAsia, a think tank and a former telecom regulator, Preethi Jayawardena chief executive of Chemanex, […]
Disputed Justice
Sept 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s private sector should have been more forceful in challenging a chief judge seen as brilliant but dominating whose judgments raised questions about the process of public interest litigation, a public forum was told. Affected businesses could have asked for immediate reviews of what they considered bad decisions of […]
Sri Lanka tea prices up on supply concerns
Sept 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan tea prices were again propelled higher at the Colombo auctions this week by supply concerns stemming from a worker go-slow on upcountry estates and a global production shortfall, brokers said. Auctions prices are likely to stay high as drought in major tea exporting countries had reduced the crop […]