Sri Lanka Galle literary festival 2010 to showcase crime, pulp literature

Dec 15, 2009 (LBO) – Famous, if fictional detective John Rebus, finely illustrated graphic novels and sensational pulp fiction are billed to make Sri Lanka’s next literary festival a tourist draw card. South Asian writers including Mohamed Hanif, (A Case of Exploding Mangoes), Rana Dasgupta (Tokyo Cancelled), Amit Varma (My Friend Sancho) will attend the […]

Fuel Market

Dec 15, 2009 (LBO) – A planned ship fuel business off a new port being built in southern Sri Lanka, will target small vessels sailing past the island and lure them with break-even prices, officials said.Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) intends to start sales of bunkers in the first quarter of next year off Hambantota, […]

Sri Lanka forum to help politicians help people

Dec 15, 2009 (LBO) – A public seminar is to be held to educate politicians and their economic advisors on how best to meet the needs of people, ahead of scheduled elections in January. The seminar – ‘Unleashing the people’s potential: what should be done?’- will present the findings of a study and policy recommendations […]

Sri Lanka women key beneficiaries of rural road project: ADB

Dec 15, 2009 (LBO) – The Asian Development Bank said it has approved a project to build roads linking isolated rural villages in Sri Lanka that will employ poor villagers, especially women. “At least 50 percent of the workers will be women, with opportunities extended to war widows and female heads of households.” The two […]

Sri Lankan stocks close 0.55-pct down

Dec 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed down Monday as retail investors stayed away owing to political uncertainty, while a large tranche of Asiri Hospital and John Keells Holdings (JKH) shares boosted market volumes, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 3,039.78 down 0.55 percent (16.86 points) while the Milanka Price […]

Box Moves

Dec 14, 2009 (LBO) – Container volumes at a Colombo port terminal controlled by Sri Lanka’s John Keells Holdings have almost reached last year’s levels but those at the state-run facility are still lagging behind, latest figures show. The November 2009 volumes at South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT) were up 10.4 percent to 153,793 TEUs […]

Farming Message

Dec 14, 2009 (LBO) – Mobile phone message services like one deployed by the financial news agency Reuters to over a million farmers in India, could help Sri Lankan farmers earn more for their produce, experts said. Ranjit Pawar of Reuters Market Light, India said their SMS (short message service) in India provide farmers timely […]

India inflation hits 10-month high, surprises analysts

NEW DELHI, December 14, 2009 (AFP) – India’s inflation rate jumped to its highest level in 10 months, according to official data Monday, increasing pressure on the central bank to begin reversing aggressive interest rate cuts.The wholesale inflation rate, India’s closest watched inflation measure, increased by 4.78 percent in November from a year earlier after […]

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NEW DELHI, December 14, 2009 (AFP) – Indians, the world’s biggest buyers of gold, are increasingly opting for branded jewellery, attracting franchisers and foreign groups like Cartier at the expense of traditional retailers.Traditionally, most Indians would go to their small family jewellers, normally located in a congested wholesale market, sit down on cotton mattresses with […]

Sri Lanka current account in surplus amid economic slump

Dec 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s external current account is expected to swing into a surplus in 2009, for the first time since 1977, the central bank said, as the island was gripped by a severe trade contraction and economic slump. The central bank has locked up over five billion US dollars in reserves […]

Sri Lanka holds policy rates, despite inflation pick up

Dec 14, 2009 (LBO)- Sri Lanka’s central bank said it was holding its key policy rate at which money is injected to the economy at 9.75 percent, and the rate at which money is drained at 7.50 percent, to support credit growth, despite a pick up in inflation. “Prospects for domestic economic activity have improved […]

Sri Lanka north to put on business expo

Dec 14, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to host its first ever business expo in the North of the island, following the end of the country’s over three decade war. The expo is to be held from April 18 to April, 20 2010 at the Jaffna Central College. The trade fair is expected to […]

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