Category:
Missing Probe
August 14, 2013 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president Wednesday ordered a new investigation into the disappearance of thousands of people in the island’s northeast during an ethnic war which ended four years ago.The announcement comes just days before UN human rights chief Navi Pillay is due to visit the island, amid international criticism of Colombo’s […]
Disruptive Tech
NEW YORK CITY, August 14, 2013 (AFP) – Having turned print media upside down, the Internet now is disrupting television, forcing broadcasters to adapt to tablets and video-on-demand to hold onto views and advertisers. Viacom and CBS have seen their income stemming from program distribution rights leap 28 and 22 percent respectively, due in part […]
World-first study tracks dwarf minke whales
SYDNEY, August 14, 2013 (AFP) – Dwarf minke whales have been tagged and tracked in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in a world-first pilot study which hopes to solve the mystery of where they spend the summer. Scientists at James Cook University in Queensland state are taking part in the project, also involving researchers from Alaska, […]
Indian minister says lives lost in submarine blast
NEW DELHI, August 14, 2013 (AFP) – India’s defence minister said Wednesday there were fatalities when a diesel-powered submarine exploded and sank at a dock in Mumbai. . “I feel sad about those navy personnel who have lost their lives in service of the country,” A.K Antony told reporters in New Delhi. The minister did […]
Sri Lanka stocks close up 0.2-pct
Aug 13, 2013 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s stocks closed up 0.21 percent Tuesday following with losses in the last few days with gains seen in the large cap stocks, brokers said. Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa has directed that the factory belonging to Dipped Products Plc, a unit of Sri Lanka’s Hayleys group be relocated […]
One Offs
Aug 13, 2013 (LBO) – Profits at Sri Lanka’s Hatton National Bank rose 27 percent to 2.1 billion rupees in the June 2013 quarter from a year earlier, helped by higher net interest income and a one-off reversal in employee compensation. The bank’s gross non performing advances ratio stood at 4.55 percent at the end […]
Asset Rich
Aug 13, 2013 (LBO) – Profits at Sri Lanka’s DFCC Bank group was flat at 595 million rupees for the June 2013 quarter from a year earlier, while the company also made unrealized gains in 558 million rupees on listed shares. Unrealized gain in listed stocks, mostly in Commercial Bank of Ceylon was 585 million […]
‘s rupee slips state proposes Mercantilist solutions
MUMBAI, August 13, 2013 (AFP) – India’s rupee fell in early trade on Tuesday despite the government announcing new measures aimed at narrowing the current account deficit and aiding the ailing local currency.Overseas funds have pulled out a combined .49 billion in equities and debt from India’s markets since June 1 on concerns about the […]
Singapore firm launches in-flight Muslim prayer app
SINGAPORE, August 13, 2013 (AFP) – A Singapore-based company has launched an iPhone app alerting Muslims when to pray and in which direction they should face even when they’re 35,000 feet in the air.Travellers input the flight details and are provided with prayer times during their journey, as well as the direction of the Muslim […]
‘s China-owned container terminal
Aug 13, 2013 (LBO) – I had a civilized debate on Facebook with a good friend on whether Chinese ownership of the new container terminal at the just inaugurated Colombo South Harbor. He had, in a newspaper interview, called the new port China’s Colombo South Harbor, not our harbor.This spells out my response. Private ownership […]
EU concerned over Sri Lanka protestor killings, attacks on mosques, churches
Aug 13, 2013 (LBO) – The European Union Delegation in Sri Lanka has expressed concern over the killing of unarmed protestors by the military and series of attacks on mosques and churches by religious nationalists. “The right to freedom of peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of worship are fundamental to democratic societies and […]
New Zealand dismisses Sri Lanka Fonterra milk scare
WELLINGTON, August 12, 2013 (AFP) – New Zealand on Monday rejected allegations from Sri Lanka that its dairy products were contaminated with a farm chemical, accusing industry rivals of exploiting fears stirred by a recent botulism scare.While no infants fell ill after consuming tainted product, the scandal hurt Fonterra’s brand in the massive China baby […]