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Sri Lanka buys out Emirates for US$53mn
July 07, 2010 (LBO) – The Sri Lankan government has bought a stake owned by Emirates in SriLankan Airlines for 53 million dollars taking full control of its national carrier, finance ministry secretary P B Jayasundera said. Emirates managed the airline for 10 years from 1998. “Payment has been made and shares are held by […]
‘s retiring Muralitharan says his time is up
NEW DELHI, July 7, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s world bowling record holder Muttiah Muralitharan said on Wednesday he was retiring from Test cricket because he had nothing left to strive for. “I have achieved what I wanted to achieve. There is nothing left or any target to reach,” the 38-year-old told the Mumbai-based Daily […]
Sri Lanka to push up investment levels with stability, low deficits: Treasury secretary
July 07, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will maintain public investment at around 6 percent of gross domestic product and will attempt to kindle private investment five times that by creating an environment for people to invest, an official said. “Government will invest in areas not very attractive to the private sector,” Treasury secretary P […]
Sri Lanka developing concept plan for Colombo
July 07, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is drawing up a concept plan to develop Colombo city, clear under-utilized area, reclaim land from the sea and open them for development by the private sector, officials said. Treasury secretary P B Jayasundera said plans for a ‘new city’ reclaimed out of the sea would be announced […]
Sri Lanka April foreign reserves at US$5.2bn
July 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s official foreign reserves edged up to 5,515 million US dollars in April 2010 from 5,192 million US dollars while imports also grew steeply on the back of a recovery in economic activities. The trade account is only a part of the balance of payments dealing with goods. The […]
Sri Lankan stocks close down 0.25-pct
July 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed down Tuesday as retailers took defensive positions to minimize losses, while price gains on selected blue chip and midcap shares stopped the market from falling further, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 4,547.18, down 11.30 points, while the more liquid Milanka index fell […]
Better Connection
July 06, 2010 (LBO) – Dialog Telekom has inked an Inter-Carrier-Interconnection (ICI) deal with Hong Kong based HKT group which enable users to maintain a network similar to a local area network (LAN) with international branch offices. The network upgrade will allow users to interconnect voice, data and video applications with overseas branch network similar […]
Celebrations as Dalai Lama turns 75
DHARAMSHALA, July 6, 2010 (AFP) – The Dalai Lama marks his 75th birthday on Tuesday, with thousands set to celebrate the occasion in his hometown-in-exile and events planned across the globe from Europe to Australia. The Nobel laureate will address a crowd of 5,000 fans and followers at his temple in McLeod Ganj, a hill […]
Sri Lanka state bank buys into insurance firm
July 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state owned Bank of Ceylon (BOC) and its subsidiary Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka (MBSL) has bought 4.1 percent of Janashakthi Insurance for 225 million rupees. In a privately negotiated off-the-floor deal between BOC and its investment banking unit MBCL, 15 million shares of Janashakthi Insurance changed hands […]
Sri Lanka, India in talks on power exchange
July 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka and India are having talks on exchanging power to help meet demand during peak times, with the island expecting an energy surplus and no more power cuts, an official said. “It’s like a flower opening. When all these infrastructure projects come into operation there will be a quantitative […]
Sri Lanka mulls geo-thermal energy potential
July 06, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka intends to tap its geo-thermal energy potential and is reviewing its power generation plan to give more emphasis to renewable energy sources, the island’s power minister said. Minister of Power and Energy Patali Champika Ranawaka said government geologists have identified sites with potential to generate geo-thermal energy. “Geo-thermal […]
Australia plans to ship asylum-seekers to Timor
SYDNEY, July 6, 2010 (AFP) – Australia’s new leader Julia Gillard Tuesday revealed surprise plans to ship asylum-seekers to impoverished East Timor, in a pre-election bid to deter migrants fleeing Asian trouble-spots. Gillard said a regional processing centre would “wreck” the people-smuggling trade that brings dozens of rickety boats to Australia’s north, but denied reviving […]