Category:
Political pressure blocks rate hike?
Jan 18, 2007 (AFP) – The Bank of Japan decided against raising its ultra-low interest rates Thursday in the face of fierce political pressure, backing down in a standoff that has put its credibility into question.After a week during which government officials had lined up to publicly urge the central bank not to gamble the […]
After Microsoft and Google, Belgian newspapers go after Yahoo
BRUSSELS, Jan 18, 2007 (AFP) – After taking action against Microsoft and Google, Belgium’s French-speaking newspapers are seeking redress from another Internet search engine, Yahoo, their lawyer said Thursday.“We sent a letter of formal notice to Yahoo yesterday” so that it will stop publishing articles from Belgian newspapers on its search engine without prior authorisation, […]
Sri Lanka violence claims two more lives
Jan 18, 2007 (AFP) – A soldier and a civilian were killed in fresh violence in Sri Lanka’s north as troops and Tamil Tiger rebels traded mortar fire in the restive east, the defence ministry said Thursday.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) killed one soldier with a rocket-propelled grenade fired at troops manning a […]
Jaffna Power
January 18, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s power utility has signed up a new independent power supplier for the northern Jaffna area, and extended the contracts of two existing emergency suppliers, a senior government minister said. Sri Lanka based Cool Air has operated a 15 MW plant in Jaffna from 2002. Agrekko set up its […]
Sri Lanka bids to recover swindled millions
Jan 18, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka plans to sue heads of state agencies where crooked deals and kick-backs are believed to have cost the government over a billion dollars, the government’s chief whistle blower said Thursday. The head of the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises, or COPE, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, said the state will try […]
Unit Gains
Jan 17, 2007 (LBO) – Investors in mutual funds with an equity component have managed to beat raging inflation last year, with Sri Lanka’s youngest fund, the Ceylon Index Fund showing the highest returns, its managers said. “We will have a marketing campaign in English, Sinhala and Tamil,” says Ceylon Asset Management CEO, Sharmini Ratwatte. […]
Disabled Friendly
Jan 17 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan companies should do more to make it easier for physically challenged customers to work with them, an activist body has said. “An environment of this nature welcomes people.Winning people is definitely a potential business opportunity,” Ajith Perera from the Idiriya organization said. A customer lost is a lost […]
African Wings
Jan 16, 2007 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan firm, which has built a freight forwarding network spanning eight coastal African nations plans to rapidly expand further into the African hinterland this year. “But we have to spread our wings outside Sri Lanka to grow.”
Airbus beaten by Boeing in 2006, but promises fightback
PARIS, Jan 17, 2007 (AFP) – Airbus said on Wednesday it had lost first place to Boeing in the battle for orders in 2006, but said it would increase deliveries in 2007 and would launch a cargo version of its A330-200 plane. Airbus has led US-based Boeing for new orders since 2001, but the European […]
South Asian lifestyle leads to high early heart attack risk: study
WASHINGTON, Jan 16, 2007 (AFP) – People native to South Asia are at greater risk of heart attack at a younger age than other people because of factors that include lifestyle choices such as smoking, a study published in the US journal JAMA said Tuesday. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal account for about […]
Sri Lanka claims rebel base as both sides count heavy losses
COLOMBO, Jan 17, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tigers counted heavy losses Wednesday after a day of intense fighting, as police commandos reported capturing another rebel base.Casualty tolls varied wildly from a maximum of 85 to a minimum of 16 combatants dead on both sides during Tuesday’s battles. The long-range artillery exchanges […]
Connecting Points
Jan 16, 2007 (LBO) – Japan on Tuesday gave Sri Lanka 30 million rupees to design a new bridge connecting Mannar to the mainland, the finance ministry said. The grant will be used to draw up a detailed design of a 157.1 metre, ten-metre wide bridge and to improve and expand the causeway between the […]