Category:
Mobile Money
Mar 25, 2014 (LBO) – Payments through mobile phones have topped 700 million rupees a month, Sri Lanka’s Dialog Axiata said as Etisalat, a competitor tied up to use the service, in what officials said was the world first such partnership.Dialog group chief executive Hans Wijayasuriya said all operators in Sri Lanka had been invited […]
Sri Lanka stocks close down 0.2-pct
Mar 24, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s stocks close 0.26 percent lower with tobacco stocks losing ground amid thin foreign involvement, brokers said. Central Finance Company closed 8.80 rupees lower at 180.20 rupees and Ceylinco Insurance closed 109.80 rupees higher at 1,499.80 rupees. DFCC Bank closed 3.70 rupees higher at 144.90 rupees and NDB closed […]
Sri Lanka to curb use of weedicide linked to killer kidney disease: report
Mar 24, 2014 (LBO) – A widely used weedicide linked to a killer kidney disease in Sri Lanka will only be curbed in areas where the disease is prevalent, and there will be no blanket ban, a media report said.Sri Lanka’s Sunday Times newspaper said a decision on a blanket ban has been changed following […]
Consumer Push
Mar 24, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s HSBC said it was giving a boost to fashion retailing with 30 top retailers giving credit card discounts and a ‘fashion hawker street’ ahead of upcoming traditional New Year holidays. The ‘HSBC Fashion Festival’ kicks off on March 24 with starting with retailers Arugambay, Abstract, Brands Warehouse, Brands […]
Liberty Call
SINGAPORE, March 24, 2014 (AFP) – Control of the Internet should be handed from US supervision to a diverse group of stakeholders, and not to governments that could limit freedoms, a meeting on the web’s future heard Monday.Organisers also said that a US decision to relinquish control was not the result of any one event […]
India minister asks people to vote twice
NEW DELHI, March 24, 2014 (AFP) – An Indian cabinet minister found himself at the centre of a vote-rigging row Monday, after he asked supporters to vote twice for his party in elections which begin next month.Speaking at a rally on Sunday, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar urged voters to wash off the ink which would […]
‘s party set for coalition rule
MALÉ, March 23, 2014 (AFP) – Maldives President Abdulla Yameen’s party is poised to win control of parliament with the support of a key ally, early projections in the Indian Ocean nation showed Sunday. President Yameen’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) was leading in 34 out of the 85 constituencies after Saturday’s polls while his […]
‘s Ceylon Chamber marks 175 years
Mar 24, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said it was seeking to build a society that thrives on merit and enterprise as it marks 175 years. In 1883 tea auctions had begun in Colombo and in 1898 the Chamber had provided space. The auctions are conducted by the Ceylon Chamber of […]
Sri Lanka has to radically reform public service to combat corruption: legislator
Mar 24, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka needs ‘broad based radical reform’ of the public service to combat corruption and end a process where competitive tendering for state projects has become an exception, a legislator said. Some analysts however say corruption cannot be tackled or rule of law upheld without re-building Sri Lanka’s broken public […]
Sri Lanka private credit shrinks in January 2014
Mar 24, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s commercial bank credit to business contracted 42.1 billion rupees in January 2014 to 1,369.7 billion rupees from a month earlier, while central bank credit to the state rose, official data show. The central bank said the contraction in January came from a reduction in gold-backed loans and repayments […]
Cricket: Clinical Sri Lanka upstage South Africa
CHITTAGONG, March 22, 2014 (AFP) – World number one Sri Lanka held their nerve in the final overs to pull off a narrow five-run victory over South Africa in Chittagong on Saturday.Left-handed opener Kusal Perera hit a brilliant 40-ball 61 to lift Sri Lanka, who won the toss and batted, to 165-7 before restricting South […]
Sri Lanka hotels see “excellent” winter season
Mar 22, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s hotels have seen a good winter season with high occupancy levels, backed by stable pricing and strong arrivals from Western Europe, Russia and China, officials said.“Occupancies have increased really,” Jayantissa Kehelpannala, head of Sri Lanka’s tourist hotels association said. “Sometimes it is very difficult to even get a […]