Category: Other
Repayment Hitch
Oct 18, 2009 (LBO) – A repayment plan proposed for Ceylinco Shriram Capital Management Services, a unit of Sri Lanka’s troubled Ceylinco group has been rejected by customers who put money in the company, a media report said.In Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court where the case relating to Golden Key is being heard, 259 million rupees […]
Wealthy Donor
WASHINGTON, October 18, 2009 (AFP) – A US-based hedge-fund billionaire charged as part of an insider-trading case was investigated by US authorities for allegedly raising funds for a Sri Lankan separatist group, The Wall Street Journal reported late Saturday. Citing people familiar with the probe, the newspaper said federal agents had uncovered documents showing that […]
‘s richest man wins govt praise for pay cut
NEW DELHI, October 17, 2009 (AFP) – India’s government has praised a decision by India’s richest businessman Mukesh Ambani to take a 66 percent pay cut after it called for firms to avoid “vulgar” executive salaries, a report said Saturday.The minister’s call to rein in executive pay came amid pressure from governments around the world […]
Maldives ministers set for underwater cabinet meeting
MALE, October 17, 2009 (AFP) – The government in the Maldives is set to hold its first underwater cabinet meeting Saturday to attract international attention to the dangers of global warming, a spokeswoman said. The Maldives, located southwest of Sri Lanka, has become a vocal campaigner in the battle to halt rising sea levels. In […]
Inside Deals
NEW YORK, October 16, 2009 (AFP) – US authorities Friday charged a billionaire hedge fund manager and five others with insider trading that netted 20 million dollars on trades in Google, Hilton Hotels Corp. and other companies. The case was helped by a cooperating witness, who indicated that Rajaratnam learned, for example in 2007 that […]
Obama signs huge Pakistan aid package into law
WASHINGTON, October 16, 2009 (AFP) – President Barack Obama signed a 7.5 billion dollar aid package for Pakistan into law Thursday, as the key US anti-terror ally reeled from a new wave of militant attacks which killed 40 people. The requirements sparked uproar in the Pakistani parliament, and were used by opponents of the government’s […]
Stand-off
MERAK, October 16, 2009 (AFP) – Two asylum-seekers were hospitalised Friday from a boatload of 255 Sri Lankans who have declared a hunger strike in Indonesia to demand UN refugee status, an official said.Indonesian immigration and navy officials were trying to negotiate with the migrants who were intercepted off the Indonesian coast on Sunday as […]
Securities Charge
Oct 16, 2009 (LBO) – Galleon group chief Raj Rajaratnam, a top equity markets investor in Sri Lanka, and five others have been charged in a 20 million US dollar insider dealing case in the United States. The complaint alleged that profits were made on trading in Google, Polycom, People Suppport, Clearwire and Advanced Micro […]
Sri Lanka high grown tea prices rise
Oct 16, 2009 (LBO) – Prices of Sri Lanka’s high grown teas rose at this week’s Colombo auctions with brokers saying the market is likely to remain buoyed by a continuing global shortage. Some teas grown on the estates of regional plantations companies fetched record prices but many teas from the low grown regions fell, […]
Sri Lanka plantations real wage rates stagnant for years
Octo 15, 2009 (LBO) – Real wage rates earned by Sri Lanka’s plantations workers had been virtually stagnant for years, according to a report by a think tank.The Institute of Policy Studies said in a report on the state of the economy that poverty levels of plantations workers were also high, although there had been […]
Obama holds new war cabinet talks on Afghanistan
WASHINGTON, October 15, 2009 (AFP) – US President Barack Obama huddled with his war council Wednesday for the fifth time, debating whether to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan to quell a growing conflict.Obama is to unveil a new strategy within weeks to contain an insurgency violence fueled by Al-Qaeda militants and the Taliban, which […]
Indian car exports surge 36-pct in H1 of 2009-10
NEW DELHI, Oct 14 Asia Pulse – Indian car exports in the first half of this fiscal year jumped by 35.73 per cent as major makers like Hyundai Motor and Maruti Suzuki cashed in on Europe giving incentives on buying new cars in exchange for old ones. This is despite other segments of the auto […]