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India looks to factories to create 100 mln new jobs
NEW DELHI, October 25, 2011 (AFP) – India’s government approved Tuesday a policy to boost the nation’s underdeveloped manufacturing sector, aiming to slash red tape and create special zones for firms in a drive to create 100 million jobs. Manufacturing accounts for just 16 percent of India’s agriculture-dependent economy, which is “a cause of concern,” […]
SriLankan Airlines gets new Airbus aircraft
Oct 26, 2011 (LBO) – A brand new Airbus 320 was added to the expanding fleet of Sri Lanka’s national carrier SriLankan Airlines Wednesday, a statement said. The new A320 has a seating configuration of 20 Business Class and 120 Economy Class and is equipped with the latest AVOD (Audio Video- On Demand) inflight entertainment […]
Boeing Dreamliner makes first commercial flight
HONG KONG, October 26, 2011 (AFP) – Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner made its first commercial flight on Wednesday, giving a handful of deep-pocketed passengers the chance to fly into history on what is touted as an aviation breakthrough. With an average list price of 2 million, the plane is the firm’s first new design in […]
Sri Lanka to host 2013 Commonwealth summit: Australia
PERTH, October 26, 2011 (AFP) – Australia on Wednesday assured Sri Lanka there were no plans to strip it of hosting rights to Commonwealth talks in 2013 over war crimes allegations, but called for a UN probe into the claims. Prime Minister Julia Gillard raised the accusations in bilateral talks with President Mahendra Rajapakse in […]
Australia wants UN rights body to probe Sri Lanka
PERTH, October 26, 2011 (AFP) – Australia Wednesday urged the UN rights watchdog to probe alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka, ramping up pressure ahead of a meeting between the two countries’ leaders at Commonwealth talks. Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said the UN Human Rights Council must address accusations that Sri Lankan troops killed […]
Sri Lanka Treasuries yields rise
Oct 25, 2011 (LBO) – Yields on Sri Lankan treasury bills rose across maturities for the second straight week with only 5. 7 billion rupees of bids being accepted from the market after an offer to sell 12 billion rupees in maturing bills. The 03-month yield rose 05 basis points to 7.29 percent, the 6-month […]
Sri Lanka stocks end down 1.2-pct
Oct 25, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks closed lower Tuesday, losing half their gains in the last two days when shares had been pushed up in thin trade amid rumours of attempts to push out a regulator fighting equities fraud, brokers said. The main All Share Price Index fell 1. 22 percent (78.31 points) […]
Provisional Help
Oct 25, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank’s profits in the September 2011 quarter rose 26. 8 percent to 396 million rupees from a year earlier, helped by lower loan loss provisions, interim accounts showed. The group reported earnings of 5. 63 rupees for the quarter. Nine month earnings were 1.63 rupees due mainly […]
Finance Channel
Oct 25, 2011 (LBO) – HSBC in Sri Lanka, which has channelled about two billion dollars to infrastructure building in the island, sees more potential in the telecom sector, an official said. The mobile telecom sector is moving from the mainly narrow band GSM technology to broadband third generation (3G), Nick A Nicolaou, chief executive […]
Sri Lanka in talks with Sheraton, Raffles, DoubleTree
Oct 25, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is holding talks with top international hotel chains to invest in the island after the end of its 30-year year civil war, a senior minister said. Tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka rose sharply with the end of the ethnic war in May 2009. Minister of economic development Basil […]
Sri Lanka cancels land sale to China firm
Oct 25, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has cancelled the sale without tender of prime land in the capital to a Chinese defence contractor to build a hotel and is renegotiating the deal with alternate land being offered. Minister of economic development Basil Rajapaksa said the government had changed its policy and decided not to […]
India hikes rates again, sees slowdown
MUMBAI, October 25, 2011 (AFP) – India’s inflation-fighting central bank on Tuesday raised interest rates by a quarter-point, the 13th hike since March last year, while warning of a further economic slowdown this year. The rise in borrowing costs is likely to infuriate business leaders, who are already worried about growing signs of slackening domestic […]