Category:
Key Players
Oct 05, 2009 (LBO) – Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) and Brown and Company Limited, two related parties may own 20 percent of Seylan Bank after a capital raising is concluded, a media report said.The Sunday Island newspaper quoting an unnamed source said LOLC and Browns had each applied for 10 percent of the expanded […]
South Asia frets over high food prices
NEW DELHI, October 4, 2009 (AFP) – Ambika Biswas looks at her grocery bag and winces.She is buying food for her family in one of New Delhi’s cheapest markets — yet her grocery costs are far higher than last year. Her maid’s income of 5,000 rupees (104 dollars) a month supports her two teenage children […]
Pilots fight crew in mid-air brawl on Indian flight: report
NEW DELHI, October 4, 2009 (AFP) – Air India said on Sunday it was investigating allegations of a mid-air brawl in which pilots and cabin crew were reported to have exchanged blows in front of startled passengers.The Times of India reported that crew members threw punches and hurled abuse at each other on the flight […]
Sri Lanka arrests bomb disposal soldier over school van blast: police
October 3, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police on Saturday arrested a soldier from a bomb disposal unit over the bombing of a school van which killed a student and wounded 12 others, an official said.The soldier was taken into custody following Friday’s attack in Kurunegala, 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of the capital Colombo, […]
Share Stakes
Oct 03, 2009 (LBO) – State-run Merchant Bank of Sri Lanka (MBSL) chairman Janaka Ratnayake owns a large stake in a Ceylinco group company in which the state bank has also invested an equal stake, a listed company filing has disclosed.The Finance Company (TFC), a troubled Ceylinco group firm which is also under MBSL management, […]
Deficit Finance
Oct 03, 2009 (LBO) – First of all it’s necessary to say, that there can be several definitions of budget deficits such as the structural budget deficit, the inflation adjusted budget deficit, the nominal budget deficit, the primary budget deficit, the budget deficit on current account and the over-all budget deficit. Each definition has its […]
Death tolls rise in disaster-struck Asia
MANILA, October 3, 2009 (AFP) – The death toll from a week of catastrophes in the Asia-Pacific rose to 1,680 Saturday as the region struggled to cope with a freak series of earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons. At least 139 people were feared dead in Samoa alone, with 129 confirmed killed and 10 missing.Another 32 were […]
‘s rape remark
October 3, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka lodged a protest over US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remarks that rape had been used as a war tactic on the island, officials said Saturday.Colombo’s displeasure over a statement by Clinton to the United Nations Security Council was conveyed to US diplomats in the Sri Lankan capital, […]
Wife of jailed Sri Lankan reporter accepts Peter Mackler Award
WASHINGTON, October 2, 2009 (AFP) – J.S. Tissainayagam, a Tamil reporter and editor serving a 20-year prison sentence in Sri Lanka, was awarded the first Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism on Friday.The Peter Mackler Award rewards journalists who fight courageously and ethically to report the news in countries where freedom of the […]
Sri Lanka stocks hit new high
Sep 02, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed at a record high Friday, with investors expecting the bull run to continue in the short term with periodical profit taking, while forthcoming quarterly results will point at the bourse’s long term direction, brokers said. Brokers said 18 million Seylan Merchant Bank non-voting shares changed hands. […]
Terminal Trends
Oct 02, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is in talks with international shipping lines on new services through Colombo port despite the global downturn in trade which has reduced cargo volumes, a senior official said.SLPA chairman Priyath Wickrama said there were signs cargo volumes were picking up as the global economy recovers […]
Fresh Capital
Oct 02, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Seylan Bank said its public share issue of 54.29 million shares at 35 rupees a share to raise 1.9 billion rupees has been oversubscribed. “The total capital expected to be generated from both the private placement and public offering will be 3.025 billion rupees,” the bank said in […]