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SriLankan to codeshare with Finnair, S-7
May 02, 2014 (LBO) – State-run SriLankan Airlines has inked code-share deals with Finland’s Finnair and Siberia based S-7, with more deals in the offing, chairman Nishantha Wickramasinghe said. In a code share deal, airlines will operate aircraft on one or more routes with joint flight codes and sell tickets. Both airlines are members of […]
Sri Lanka Muslims seek protection from nationalist hate
COLOMBO, May 2, 2014 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Muslim legislators on Friday asked President Mahinda Rajapakse to protect their minority community from “Buddhist extremist elements” blamed for a recent spate of hate attacks. The country is emerging from nearly four decades of ethnic war which according to UN estimates claimed at least 100,000 lives between […]
Global press freedom hits fresh lows: watchdog
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2014 (AFP) – World press freedom has hit its lowest level in a decade, amid regression in Egypt, Turkey and Ukraine, and US efforts to curb national security reporting, a survey showed Thursday.The report by Freedom House, which has been conducting annual surveys since 1980, found that the share of the world’s […]
Investors concerned over objections to casinos in Sri Lanka: minister
May 02, 2014 (LBO) – Investors have expressed concern over objections to large resorts which were given tax breaks under a strategic investment law to which casinos have been dragged in, Sri Lanka’s deputy investment promotions minister said. Minister Mustapha said the opposition had claimed that the three tax proposals passed in parliament were for […]
Broad Plans
May 01, 2014 (LBO) – All banks and non bank lenders in Sri Lanka directed by the regulator have given broad plans on a consolidation and some are in talks on acquisitions or mergers, the Central Bank said.Several non bank lenders within business groups have been given the nod to merge. Banks and large non-bank […]
Rate Gap
May 01, 2014 (LBO) – Profits at Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank group rose 3.3 percent to 526 million rupees in the March 2014 quarter from a year earlier, helped by lower interest expenses, despite falling credit growth, interim accounts showed. The group reported earnings of 1.53 rupees per share. The stock closed at 64.00 rupees, […]
Amaya Leisure buys Sri Lanka East Coast hotel
May 01, 2014 (LBO) – Amaya Leisure Plc, a unit of Sri Lanka’s Hayleys group said it bought 51 percent of Sun Tan Beach Resorts (Pvt) Ltd, which owns a hotel in Sri Lanka’s East Coast for 563 million rupees.But travelling to the East is time consuming and more expensive. “This is a 125 room […]
Arrested
May 01, 2014 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan national has been arrested in India over alleged links to Pakistani intelligence, the Times of India newspaper said. The newspaper said Sakir Hussein, 37, was in Puzhal prison after being remanded by a court in Tamil Nadu Tuesday. He had flown in from Sri Lanka on a […]
Outsourcing Facility
May 01, 2014 (LBO) – Aegis Limited, an outsourcing company, has commissioned a 650-seat facility in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo that will create 1,000 jobs over the next 12 months, officials said. “There is fantastically educated population in Sri Lanka and the country’s economy is growing rapidly with development in major sectors,” Sandip Sen, Global […]
One dead in bomb blasts at Indian train station: official
CHENNAI, May 1, 2014 (AFP) – Twin bombs planted on a train killed at least one person and wounded nine others in the main southern Indian city of Chennai on Thursday, a railway official said.“At least two people have suffered grievous injuries and seven have minor injuries,” he told reporters in comments aired on Indian […]
Sangakkara backs Farbrace to shine on England return
DURHAM, May 1, 2014 (AFP) – Kumar Sangakkara insists Sri Lanka’s loss will be England’s gain after the controversial defection by Paul Farbrace.The 46-year-old former Kent and Middlesex wicket-keeper shocked Sri Lankan cricket, quitting as the country’s head coach in April after just three-and-a-half months to link-up with Peter Moores’ new-look England set-up. Marvan Atapattu […]
Shrugging off Q1 stall, Fed keeps tapering stimulus
WASHINGTON, April 30, 2014 (AFP) – The US economy nearly froze in the glacial first quarter but emerging signs of vigor kept the Federal Reserve on its stimulus taper track Wednesday. The GDP data came as the World Bank reported Wednesday that China’s rapidly expanding economy could leapfrog the United States this year to become […]