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Sri Lanka draws cruise ships after end of war
July 08, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is once again becoming an attractive destination for cruise ship operators with the end of a 30-year ethnic war, the head of one of the island’s biggest conglomerates said. “Galle will be a very attractive destination to break journey. They would like to have a 3-4 day stop […]
Security Change
July 08, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is rapidly removing military checkpoints and transferring public security to the police to return the country to normalcy after the end of a 30-year war, defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said. He said in the eastern province the change-over was being successfully carried out. “In Colombo we are gradually […]
Sri Lankan Airlines to set up flight simulator centre with Dutch firm
Computer Play July 08, 2010 (LBO) – SriLankan Airlines will set up a flight simulator centre with SIM Industries of the Netherlands targeting the growing South Asian regional market for pilot training, the airline said. “We have been looking at opportunities in South Asia for some time, and there is no doubt that Colombo is […]
SriLankan Airlines launches Shanghai, China flights
July 08, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan Airlines has launched its four-times a week service to Shanghai, China’s commercial capital, which the airline says is the third Chinese city in its route network. The first flight landed in Shanghai July 01. The route is operated on wide-body Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft via Bangkok on […]
Sri Lanka apparel industry downplays loss of EU trade deal
July 08, 2010 (LBO) – The end of a trade deal giving duty free market access to Europe will not be a ‘catastrophe’ though it would squeeze already thin profit margins, an industry official said. A Sukumaran, a clothing exporter who is chairman of the Joint Apparel Association Forum, an industry body, said they were […]
Sri Lanka UN representative recalled amid war crimes row
UNITED NATIONS, July 8, 2010 (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon recalled Thursday his main representative in Sri Lanka and closed down offices in Colombo that have been the scene of angry protests over a United Nations war crimes panel. “The secretary-general finds it unacceptable that the Sri Lankan authorities have failed to prevent the […]
Sri Lankan stocks plunge 1.68-pct
July 07, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan stocks plunged 1.6 percent Wednesday as retail buyers sold out amid weak support institutional buyers and state funds stayed on the sidelines, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 4,470.78, down 76.40 points, while the more liquid Milanka index dived 1.88 percent (96.62 points) to close […]
Cargo Flow
July 07, 2010 (LBO) – Container volume growth at a Colombo port private terminal run by an associate firm of John Keells Holdings slowed down sharply in June after surging in previous months, latest data shows. South Asia Gateway Terminals, a big contributor to JKH profits, handled 158,652 TEUs or twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) […]
Credit Line
July 7, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Lanka Orix Leasing Company will expand credit to war torn northern and eastern areas of the country armed with a credit line from the French government, officials said. PROPARCO, the private sector funding arm of the French foreign aid agency gave a 10 million euro credit line to […]
Sri Lanka top tea brand invests in plantations
July 07, 2010 (LBO) – Tea bag exporter Ceylon Tea Services, part of Sri Lanka’s Dilmah brand group, is to invest 233.3 million rupees in a tea plantations subsidiary of the parent firm, a statement said. Ceylon Tea Services said in a stock exchange filing that it bought 15,553,600 rights in Kahawatte Plantations from Forbes […]
Maldives president reappoints cabinet : official
July 7, 2010 (AFP) – Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed on Wednesday reappointed his cabinet in a bid to end the power struggle between himself and parliament, an official said. Nasheed swore in his 13-member cabinet in the seafront capital of Male, giving ministers the same portfolio they had before they resigned last Tuesday, a senior […]
Bangladesh sex workers plump up on cow steroids
FARIDPUR, July 7, 2010 (AFP) – Whenever Bangladeshi brothel owner Rokeya, 50, signs up a new sex worker she gives them a course of steroid drugs often used to fatten cattle. For older sex workers, tablets work well, said Rokeya, but for younger girls of 12 to 14 — who are normally sold to the […]