Category:
Baby Saga
December 10, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s child protection authorities have traced the biological mother of a six-year-old girl who was suspected to have been sold as an orphan after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, police said Friday. Staff at the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) took custody of the child after neighbours complained that […]
Nations set up global climate fund
CANCUN, December 11, 2010 (AFP) – Global talks on climate change on Saturday set up a new fund to manage billions of dollars in aid to poor nations in a hard-fought package urging deep cuts in industrial emissions. After two weeks of talks in Mexico and two virtually sleepless final days, more than 190 countries […]
Court orders Air India to rehire overweight air hostess
NEW DELHI, December 10, 2010 (AFP) – An Indian court ordered state-run Air India on Friday to rehire an airline hostess that the carrier had sacked nearly a decade ago for being overweight. Dismissed overweight women have previously unsuccessfully challenged Air India’s policy in Indian courts, which upheld clauses in the group’s employment contracts. Neepa […]
Sri Lanka policy consistency seen needed for investor confidence
Dec 11, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should have consistent government policies to increase private sector confidence to invest more in the economy which in turn would boost economic growth, a senior chartered accountant said. A total of 57 awards were given out at the ceremony for finance, banking, hotel, health, manufacturing and insurance sectors. […]
Sri Lanka stocks close down 0.2-pct
Dec 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks continued their slide Friday, ending down 0.20 percent with institutions staying out and the retail investors selling, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 6,432.75, down 0.20 percent (13.02 points) while the Milanka index of liquid stocks dipped 0.44 percent (30.44 points) to close at […]
Hot Potato
December 10, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police arrested four people Friday, including a Pakistani national, after seizing 50 kilos (110 pounds) of high-grade heroin with a street value of one million dollars. The drugs were found packed in a container of potatoes in the port of Colombo, police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody said. Most drug […]
Small Business
Dec 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka has been included in an Asian Development Bank scheme where it invests in a private equity fund to expand microfinance and small business lending, especially to poor people, a statement said. The ADB will provide up to 10 million US dollars for an equity stake in the ShoreCap […]
Finance Rating
Dec 10, 2010 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings Lanka has confirmed Central Finance Company’s (CF) National Long-term rating at ‘A+(lka)’ with a stable outlook, a statement said. CF’s net interest margins improved to 13 percent in H111 largely due to an overall reduction in cost of funds. The agency has also assigned an ‘A(lka)’ rating to […]
Card Push
Dec 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Sampath Bank is pushing strongly into credit cards and is already on the third slot and is on track to top 100,000 cards early in 2011, with overall credit conditions also picking up, a top official said. At the moment Standard Chartered and HSBC are the two biggest […]
Sri Lanka tea prices, output at new highs
Dec 10, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production is expected to hit a new high this year, exceeding 320 million kilos despite recent shortfalls owing to bad weather, while prices are also at record levels, brokers said. The average tea price at the Colombo auctions up to end-November of 369.38 rupees a kilo was […]
Sri Lanka tea exporters to pack in Iran
Dec 10, 2010 (LBO) – Iran, which restricts import of value-added teas, has offered to let Sri Lankan exporters pack and sell tea in the country under a preferential tariff quota scheme, the government said. Tea is Sri Lanka’s main export to Iran, the island’s sixth largest trading partner with total two-way trade between the […]
Inclusive Award
Dec 10, 2010 (LBO) – Dialog Axiata, Sri Lankan’s largest mobile firm, said a service which provides a virtual marketplace and delivers prices from key produce markets in the island has won a global award for mobile commerce. ‘Dialog Tradenet’ uses mobile text, voice and internet to deliver price information which is useful especially for […]