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Sri Lanka must have budget terminal: Air Asia founder
Sept 01, 2009 (LBO) – Air Asia’s flamboyant chief executive says Sri Lankan tourism will get a boost if airport expansion plans include budget carrier-friendly infrastructure to reduce the cost of air travel. Air Asia, which began daily flights to the island from its Kuala Lumpur hub in August, had sold 30,000 tickets before its […]
Sri Lanka jailed reporter named winner of Peter Mackler Award
WASHINGTON, August 31, 2009 (AFP) – J.S. Tissainayagam, a Sri Lankan reporter sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison, has been named the first winner of the Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism.“We are happy to reward J.S. Tissainayagam in 2009, a terrible year for Sri Lanka,” said Jean-Francois Julliard, secretary-general of the […]
Sri Lankan stocks down 0.06-pct
Aug 31, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed flat Monday as retail investors took profits from last week’s gains in the hotel sector, but placed bets on selected high value counters and midcap stocks, brokers said. Environmental Resource Investments normal shares closed at 42.75 rupees, up 3.25 with 1.19 million shares changing hands. Sri […]
Green Shoots
Aug 31, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s corporate debt market is generating green shoots with rates coming down, lenders gaining confidence and credit spreads narrowing, officials said.“We are seeing the first securitizations transactions after the absence of more than six to eight months,” says Ajith Fernando, head of Capital Alliance Holdings. “Corporate debt markets are […]
Bond Profits
Aug 31, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Nation Savings Bank (NSB) profits for the 6-months to June were up 207.8 percent on capital gains on government bonds held for trading, when market interest rates fell, officials said. “We were able to take the market opportunity when the rates came down and we made a […]
India posts 6.1 pct quarterly growth
NEW DELHI, August 31, 2009 (AFP) – India’s economy expanded by 6.1 percent in the three months to June, picking up pace from the previous quarter as the country emerged from the global downturn, official data showed Monday. The quarterly growth figure was up from the 5.8 percent growth posted in the March quarter, but […]
Sri Lankans among 470 children under British immigration detention: report
LONDON, August 31, 2009 (AFP) – More than 400 children were being held in British immigration detention centres with their families, a report said Monday, citing official figures. The Home Office said: “The UK Border Agency fully recognises its responsibilities towards children but these responsibilities have to be exercised alongside our duty to enforce the […]
Sri Lanka economists look for recovery at annual parley
Aug 31, 2009 (LBO) – The way forward following the fallout of a global economic slump that triggered a balance of payments crisis and a slowdown in island will be the focus of a conference of Sri Lanka’s economists later this month.Sri Lanka Association of Economists (SLAE) will hold its 2009 annual session on September […]
Sri Lanka August inflation 0.9-pct
Aug 31, 2009 (LBO) – Consumer prices in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo moved up 0.9 percent from a year earlier, compared with 1.1 percent in July, the government’s statistics office said. In the month of August, prices fell 0.3 percent. Un-adjusted inflation was 1.1 percent in July. Prices adjusted for seasonal changes, which is a […]
Bangladeshi migrants pay high costs: World Bank
DHAKA, August 30, 2009 (AFP) – Bangladeshi migrant workers spend an average of 2,300 US dollars securing employment abroad — the equivalent of more than 18 months’ work in their new job, the World Bank said in a report. The World Bank survey calculated they send home on average 1,480 dollars a year and that […]
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LUKLA, August 30, 2009 (AFP) – Over two decades, Funuru Sherpa has watched the lake above his native village of Dengboche in Nepal’s Himalayas grow, as the glacier that feeds it melts. The 29-year-old, who runs a busy Internet cafe for tourists visiting the Everest region, remembers his grandfather telling him that 50 years ago […]
Sri Lanka whitewash Kiwis despite Vettori ton
August 30, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka clinched second spot behind South Africa in the official rankings as they swept aside New Zealand by 96 runs in the final Test on Sunday to sweep the series 2-0.Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath claimed five wickets as the Kiwis, set an improbable victory target of 494 runs, were […]