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Latest News from Sri Lanka: Last Updated = Sat, Nov 7, 2009, 06:57 pm SL Time
TOP - STORIES
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IMF releases the second installment of Sri Lanka loan
Nov 07 (CP) Colombo- International Monetary Fund (IMF) said its Executive Board Friday completed the first review of Sri Lanka's economic performance and released the second installment of the US$ 2.5 billion Stand-by Arrangement.
The completion of the review enables the IMF to immediately disburse US$329.4 million, bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to about US$658.8 million.
The IMF approved the 20-month Stand-by Arrangement in July to help the country rebuild foreign reserves and strengthen the country's domestic financial system.
* UNHCR says 90,000 IDPs returned home in Sri Lanka
Nov 07 (CP) Colombo- The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said some 90,000 of Sri Lanka's Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have returned to their homes in the past three months under the Sri Lankan government's resettlement program.
At a press briefing on Friday (06) at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic, said that last two weeks alone some 39,000 have left the welfare camps. The majority of the IDPs have been resettled in their original homes in the districts of Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar, Mullaitivu, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, and Ampara.
POLITICS - GENERAL*
New companies to import drugs to Sri Lanka
Nov 07 (CP) Colombo- Following the controversy of contaminated drug vials Sri Lanka Health Ministry has selected four new companies to import essential drugs immediately.
The Ministry sources said that they have already taken measures to ensure the quality of the drugs when they are imported.
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WPC erupts over body building equipment to PSD
Nov 07 (Island) The JVP and the UPFA yesterday clashed at the budget debate of the Western Provincial Council over allocation of funds to procure a set of body building equipment for Temple Trees.
Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, JVP member of the WPC, said that of Rs.11 million allocated for development and promotion of sports in the entire province, Rs. 180,000 had been spent on body building equipment.
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Elections (Special Provisions Bill) inconsistent: Speaker
Nov 07 (DM) The Supreme Court has determined that the Elections (Special provisions) (Amendment) Bill, that seeks to provide for visually impaired persons to be accompanied by another person when voting, was inconsistent with the constitution, Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara informed parliament yesterday.
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Counter protest against striking unions
Nov 07 (DN) Representatives of some trade unions who met Western Province Governor and Trade Union Federation Convenor Alavi Mowlana at his office yesterday decided to stage a protest campaign against the proposed trade union action to be launched by anti-government elements.
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IMF loan helps Sri Lankan reconstruction drive
Nov 07 (RW) A loan from the IMF is helping rebuild confidence in Sri Lanka's economy as it recovers from conflict and paves the way for donor assistance in its reconstruction effort.
The IMF Executive Board met on November 6 and cleared the way for the release of just over $322 million.
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‘Colombo wary of Kosovo-type fate’
Nov 07 (Hindu) NEW DELHI- Wary of a Kosovo-type fate, Colombo wants to adopt a cautious approach to the issue of political settlement of Tamils, a senior Sri Lankan official told The Hindu here.
“We need to move forward on the process of empowerment. But one problem with federalism in a small country is that it is more subject to splitting.
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TNA MP hails resettlement
Nov 07 (Hindu) COLOMBO- In a clear signal that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has succeeded in garnering support from a section of the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a parliamentarian of the group came out openly in support of the government in Parliament.
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Sri Lanka hands over the report on GSP+ to EU members
Nov 06 (CP) Colombo- Sri Lanka today handed over the observation of the government on the European Union's report on extension to the GSP+ trade concession to the Heads of Missions of the EU member states.
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Sri Lanka needs long term plans, Opposition Leader says
Nov 06 (CP) Colombo- Sri Lanka Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe says long term plans as well as policies should be introduced to develop the country.
Speaking at a youth forum meeting held in United National Party headquarters this afternoon he said until the long term plans are introduced, the country could never achieve success in development in the future.
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Sri Lanka President visits Parliament
Nov 06 (CP) Colombo- Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa today made a surprise visit to the Parliament complex in Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, Presidential Media Unit said.
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War orphaned children visit Sri Lanka parliament
Nov 06 (CP) Colombo- A group of internally displaced children visited the Sri Lanka parliament today to learn about the daily activities in the House. According to the parliament sources, a group of 218 war-orphaned children from Chettikulam IDP camp in Vavuniya has participated...
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President appoints a committee to study the US report to Congress on Sri Lanka
Nov 06 (CP) Colombo- Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa today appointed a five- member independent committee to comprehensively examine the report submitted by the US Department of State....
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Sri Lankan Health Ministry gags its staff over contaminated drug issue
Nov 06 (CP) Colombo- After discovering few more contaminated drug vials the Health Ministry has prohibited its staff to speak to the media, its sources said. According to the sources, the Ministry has issued a special circular banning the staff from releasing to media.
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French FM sends special envoy to Sri Lanka
Nov 06 (CP) Colombo- French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has decided to send a special Human Rights Ambassador to Sri Lanka in order to gather from the authorities, the NGOs and the population information, evidence and proposals that will allow France to help Sri Lanka speed up the voluntary return of refugees and strengthen the rule of law.
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Interruption of water supply in Colombo and suburb areas
Nov 06 (CP) Colombo- The Ceylon Electricity Board notified that, water supply from Ambatale station to the following areas will be interrupted on Sunday November 8 between 8.00 a.m. and 8.00 p.m.
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Sinhala Music ( Hela Kalawa) to international arena
Nov 06 (CP) Colombo- The W. D Amaradewa Foundation have taken steps to set up an international music centre in Colombo to deliver the invaluable experience and knowledge gained by the artist Pandith W.D Amaradewa to the next generation.
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Sri Lanka: Rattle and roll on the Lanka Challenge tuk-tuk race
Nov 06 (Telegraph) What do you get when you put 70 foreigners in charge of 25 tuk-tuks? Charles Starmer-Smith finds out as he leads Team Telegraph on a wild and wonderful 10-day ride across a devastated land that's slowly regaining its tourism feet – and its winning smile.
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‘Exciting economic phase ahead for Lanka’
Nov 06 (ENS) CHENNAI- “It’s exciting times ahead for Sri Lanka’s economy and the country has a lot to offer for business in many areas like transportation, tourism and banking,”
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“India-Sri Lanka FTA has helped cross-border trade”
Nov 06 (Hindu) CHENNAI- For the past nine years, the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement has helped free flow of trade across the borders
SPORTS*
Hall of Fame: Sachin Tendulkar
Nov 07 (ESPN) An aggressive, right-handed opening batsman in One Day Internationals with every shot in the book, he is, in fact, a cricketing legend. The record books are studded with his superb performances in Tests as well as ODIs during the last two decades.
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Royal and S. Thomas’ Renew ‘Gulf’ Sporting Rivalry
Nov 06 (KT) Old boys of two of the oldest schools in Sri Lanka — Royal College, Colombo and S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia — will renew their traditional sporting rivalry in the Gulf in cricket and rugby at the Sharjah Wanderers grounds on Friday from 2pm onwards.
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Sri Lankan Cricket Team Security Increased for Pakistan Trip
Nov 06 (NDTV) Memories of an attack in Pakistan still linger on in the minds of Sri Lankans cricketers.
Six of them and their British assistant coach were wounded when gunmen attacked their bus on the way to a stadium in Lahore last March.
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BREAKING NEWS
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Fire destroys estate houses in Central Sri Lanka :: At least 60 persons were displaced due to a massive fire occurred in three line abodes on a tea estate in Pussellawa this morning.
[Updated = Sat, Nov 7, 2009, 06:57 pm SL Time] *
Emergency passed in Sri Lanka parliament :: Sri Lanka Parliament today passed the State of Emergency for another month with a majority of 78 votes. The
[Updated = Fri, Nov 6, 2009, 09:32 pm SL Time] *
Tourism Minister resigns from party :: Sri Lanka Tourism Minister Nandana Gunatilaka, the General Secretary of the National Freedom Front (NFF), has resigned from the party,
[Updated = Thu, Nov 5, 2009, 09:07 pm SL Time]
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NEWS - HIGHLIGHTS*
Sri Lanka's Gross Official Reserves over 5 billion USD with the second IMF installment
Nov 07 (CP) Colombo- Sri Lanka's Gross Official Reserves will exceed USD 5 billion with the receipt of the second installment of the IMF loan, the Central Bank said today. Currently the gross official international reserves (without ACU balances) of the country which stand over USD 4.8 billion
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Make your department praiseworthy, chief prelates tell new Sri Lanka police chief
Nov 07 (CP) Kandy- The two chief incumbents of the Malwatta and Asgiri chapters today urged the newly appointed Inspector General of Police, Mahinda Balasuriya to make his department the public would praise.
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Sri Lanka President visits sacred Kataragama temple
Nov 07 (CP) Kataragama- Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa visited the sacred Kataragama Kiri Vehera Temple last night to participate in special religious activities.
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Five more demining machines from UNHCR to arrive in Sri Lanka today
Nov 07 (CP) Colombo- In order to expedite the resettlement process of the displaced civilians in the North, the UNHCR, United Nations humanitarian agency, has provided five demining flail machines to help accelerate the demining in the former war-torn land.
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First H1N1 death in Sri Lanka?
Nov 07 (CP) Colombo- First suspected death due to influenza A-H1N1 of a child in Kandy who belonged to a high risk group is most probably due to the pneumonia related to the flu, health sources said.
SECURITY - SITUATION*
Fire destroys estate houses in Central Sri Lanka
Nov 07 (CP) Colombo- At least 60 persons were displaced due to a massive fire occurred in three line abodes on a tea estate in Pussellawa this morning.
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Another underworld figure shot dead by Sri Lanka police
Nov 07 (CP) Kurunegala- Sri Lanka police fatally shot another prominent underworld figure last night in Kurunegala.
Police spokesman Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police Nimal Mediwaka confirmed that this underworld leader, Suraj Dhanushka also known as Ibbawaththe Dhanushka was shot dead when he attempted to escape by attacking the policemen.
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Spokesman for the asylum seekers is a known smuggler, Sri Lanka says
Nov 07 (CP) Colombo- The spokesman for the 255 Sri Lankan asylum seekers staying on an Australian boat in Indonesia is a known people smuggler, Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry said Friday. According to the Foreign Ministry, the 27-year-old spokesman 'Alex' identified as Kulaendrarajah Sanjeev...
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Gen. Fonseka’s security not reduced - PM
Nov 07 (Island) Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake yesterday told darliament that security provided to Chief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka has not been reduced in any way.
Participating in the Emergency debate the Prime Minister said that there were rumours to the effect that the security of the former Commander of the Army had been reduced.
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AG’s advice needed to file indictments : CID
Nov 07 (DM) The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) told the Mt. Lavinia Magistrate that charges in the Angulana double murder are yet to be filed as legal advice is awaited from the Attorney General’s Department.
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Child dies after allegedly consuming surgical spirit
Nov 07 (DN) Consultant JMO Dr. Sarathchandra Kodikara of the Peradeniya University Medical Faculty yesterday returned an open verdict at the inquest on the death of Viduranga Vihanga Kumarasinghe, a three and a half year old boy who died at the Kandy hospital on Tuesday after consuming a vial of surgical spirits.
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Sri Lanka mulls lifetime security for defense hierarchy
Nov 07 (Xinhua) COLOMBO- The Sri Lankan government has sought legal advise over a move to provide lifetime security for the defense hierarchy who was responsible for defeating Tamil Tiger rebels.
Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka told parliament on Friday that the Attorney General will report to the government on providing security to the defense secretary and the three forces commanders.
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Sri Lankan accusations 'a joke' - Alex
Nov 07 (SMH) The spokesman for almost 250 Tamil asylum seekers refusing to leave their rickety boat in Indonesia says Sri Lankan government allegations that he is a people smuggler are "a joke".
The bearded 27-year-old who Australians know as Alex says the accusations are a desperate attempt by the Sri Lankan government to deflect attention from the Tamils' plight.
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India provides further relief for IDPs
Nov 07 (RW) The Indian mission had been informed of a second consignment of 2,600 metric tonnes of galvanised corrugated sheets valued at $2.65 million to be used to build shelters for the IDPs in various relief villages, reported 'The Hindu'.
India had delivered the first consignment in August, 2009. The Hindu further reported that India would send two more teams to speed up the de-mining process, in addition to the four teams operating in various areas.
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Canada ties migrant ship to Tiger rebels
Nov 07 (AFP) Several of a group of 76 Sri Lankan asylum seekers picked up off the Canadian coast last month have ties to the Tamil Tiger rebels and could pose a security risk, officials said in Vancouver.
The Canadian government told an immigration hearing that the “Ocean Lady” freighter used to transport the migrants has been linked to the LTTE, panel spokeswoman Paula Faber told AFP.
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Resettlement of IDPs to be completed by next January, Sri Lanka government says
Nov 06 (CP) Colombo- Sri Lanka Government today reiterated its commitment to complete the ongoing resettlement of the conflict-displaced civilians in the North by the end of January next year.
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Emergency passed again in Sri Lanka parliament
Nov 06 (CP) Colombo- Sri Lanka Parliament today passed the State of Emergency for another month with a majority of 78 votes.
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Controversial Southern Provincial Councilor Muthuhettigama remanded again
Nov 06 (CP) Colombo- The Galle Magistrate this evening remanded the most controversial politician in Sri Lanka's ruling party United People's Freedom Alliance, Southern Provincial Councilor Nishantha Muthuhettigama...
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Father of late LTTE leader received government pension
Nov 06 (CP) Colombo- An official of the Department of Pension revealed yesterday that, Velupillai Tiruvenkadam, father of late LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran had been drawing a monthly pension of Rs. 16,865.63 until he was detained in July 2009.
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Sri Lanka Military Spokesman denies allegations on sale of cartridges
Nov 06 (CP) Colombo- Military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara rejected the alleged media reports on sales of cartridges of ammunitions used during the period of humanitarian operations at a low price to a foreign company.
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Lanka admits rights violations
Nov 06 (BBC) The Sri Lankan government has admitted that it has room for improvement on its human rights record.
The admission comes two weeks after two foreign reports, by the European Commission and the US State Department, subjected it to strong criticism in the rights field.
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Tremendous improvement in the resettlement of IDPs
Nov 06 (RW) There has been a tremendous improvement in the resettlement of IDPs. The total figure of IDPs resettled as at today is 119687. The breakdown is as follows. 91,999 for resettlement and 19,903 released. In addition, 6935 and 850 respectively were released from 06 sites in Jaffna to Vavuniya and Mannar,
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Two Tamil migrants named as 'terrorists'
Nov 06 (CBC) Lawyers for the federal government revealed Thursday that at least two of the 76 men who came to Canada illegally last month are members of the Tamil Tigers, a group banned in this country as a terrorist organization.
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SLankan group pushes for resolution of Oceanic Viking stand off
Nov 06 (ABC) Chanaka Bandarage is a Canberra based barrister, and a leading figure in the Sri Lanka Support Group in Australia.
He was the moderator at a recent forum in the Australian capital, titled 'Sri Lanka after the war - building of a new nation' attended by Australian MPs and the Sri Lankan High Commissioner.
SOUTH ASIA - REGIONAL*
Pakistan makes gains on Taliban
Nov 06 (UPI) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan- The Pakistani military on Friday said it stormed Taliban strongholds in the tribal region along the border with Afghanistan as part of major military offensive.
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Nepal-India security talks begin
Nov 06 (Nepal News) Nepal-India home secretary level talks on bilateral cooperation on border security and the extradition treaty, among others, started in Kathmandu on Friday.
India's Home Secretary G.K. Pillai leads the 10-member delegation of security officials while the Nepali team is led by Home Secretary Govinda Kusum
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EU, India hope for FTA in 2010 but hurdles remain
Nov 07 (CNA) NEW DELHI : The European Union and India pledged Friday to push ahead with attempts to conclude a free-trade agreement next year but said much hard work needed to be done to break logjams holding up a deal.
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Bangladesh police say Islamists target U.S. interests
Nov 06 (Reuters) DHAKA– Bangladesh police have arrested three Islamist militants, including a suspected activist of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, who were plotting to attack U.S. interests in the country, a senior police officer said on Friday.
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FINANCE*
CB expects financial and leasing companies to cut rates
Nov 07 (Island) A senior official of a state bank says finance and leasing companies would not be in a position to reduce lending rates immediately as deposits are contracted at higher long term rates.
"Finance and leasing companies certainly can reduce their lending rates but it would take a few more months for them to adjust according to Central Bank’s expectations.
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Rs179 billion worth taxes defaulted in 2008-report
Nov 07 (DM) Taxes running to the tune of Rs. 179 billion had been defaulted in 2008, and of this amount Rs.88 billion had been categorized as disputed taxes, according to the annual report of the Inland Revenue Department presented in Parliament yesterday
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Industrial zones go islandwide
Nov 07 (DN) The Ministry of Industrial Development has set up many industrial zones away from Colombo and Gampaha under the Gamata Karmantha program in different districts, Secretary, Ministry of Industrial Development, R.V.D. Piyathilaka told Daily News Business.
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S Lanka shares up from 2-mo low on bargain hunting
Nov 06 (Reuters) COLOMBO- Sri Lanka's shares rose on Friday from a near two-month low, as investors bought shares battered in the recent fall, triggered by weak investor appetite on economic woes and trade union protests ahead of national polls.
The All-Share Price Index of the Colombo Stock Exchange jumped 1.99 percent or 56.80 points to 2911.62,
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Sri Lanka and Kuwait sign agreement on Investment Promotion and Protection
Nov 06 (CP) Colombo- Sri Lanka and Kuwait yesterday (05) signed the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) which will open new investment opportunities for Kuwait in Sri Lanka.
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Prices of several essential items reduced in Sri Lanka
Nov 06 (CP) Colombo- The Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry has taken measures to reduce the prices of several essential items.
Speaking to the media Minister Bandula Gunawardena said the prices of the sugar, canned fish, and dhal had been reduced.
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Sri Lankan news sends gold over $1,100
Nov 06 (RTE) The price of gold hit a record high above $1,100 an ounce in London today following a report that Sri Lanka had joined India in purchasing the precious metal in favour of the US dollar.
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World Gold Council Welcomes Sri Lankan Allocation To Gold
Nov 06 (PRN) NEW YORK- The World Gold Council is delighted to note that the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has announced that it is buying gold to diversify its reserves.
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Sri Lanka Cargills net up 35-pct; to invest in expansion
Nov 06 (LBO) Cargills (Ceylon) group which runs Sri Lanka's largest retail chain said profits rose 35 percent to 139 million rupees in the September 2009 quarter from a year earlier, and was planning a billion rupees in new investments in the current year.
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Holcim to bid for Jaffna cement plant
Nov 06 (ARI) The Sri Lanka unit of Swiss-based Holcim said it would enter the bidding process to build a joint venture cement plant with state-run Sri Lanka Cement Corporation in the northern Jaffna peninsular.
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