Lankan 'pornographers' outed in police crackdown

The faces of dozens of people accused of appearing in pornographic films, in violation of anti-obscenity laws, have been published by Sri Lankan media.

They appeared in a Sinhala-language paper, with a police notice asking the public to help trace those pictured.

Skyscanner Travel Trends October 2010

Canaries overtake Costa Del Sol as Tenerife knocks Malaga from top spot

For the first time ever since Skyscanner’s Travel Trends began, Malaga has been knocked off its number one position. It was a close call, but the immensely popular Spanish city has been replaced by rival destination Tenerife. Located in the Canary Islands, Tenerife is much further south than Malaga meaning it maintains a pleasant year-round climate, which likely explains its rise in popularity with British travellers as we move into autumn and winter. 

Iran exports $520m technical services to Sri Lanka

TEHRAN – Iran carried out $520 million of technical and engineering services in Sri Lanka, the Iranian Commerce Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari said here on Monday.

During his meeting with the Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris, Ghazanfari declared Tehran’s readiness to boost economic cooperation with Colombo, IRNA News Agency reported.

Shell to finalise operations

By Jithendra Antonio
Although the Government sealed the agreement on Shell this week by buying back 51 percent of Shell Gas Lanka Ltd. and 100 percent of Shell Terminals Lanka Ltd. (STLL) for US $ 63 million, the actual deal will only be finalised by November 15, a top official said
“Shell and the Government of Sri Lanka hope to complete the deal as soon as possible, and this is expected by November 15,” said outgoing chairman/managing director of Shell Gas Sri Lanka (SGLL), Walter Sanchez, responding to a question by The Bottom Line.

BoI allays fears over licences

The Board of Investment (BoI) will continue to issue licences during the run-up to the upcoming Budget-2011 despite rumoured otherwise.
It is highly speculated that following the budget, concessions under BoI Act will be strictly limited for thrust sectors or other strategic investments over RS. 500 million.

CPC to insist on Rs20bn payback

Subsidised fuels: Furnace oil alone incurs Rs780m loss monthly
State-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is to request the Treasury to pay back fuel oil subsidy dues running into over rupees twenty billion incurred during the last 24 months.
The Bottom Line learns that a memorandum of cabinet is in the process of being formulated by the Petroleum Resources and Petroleum Resources Development Ministry, appealing either to reimburse losses incurred since November 2008, due to non-payment of subsidy by the Treasury or to set off against taxes due from the CPC.

BSkyB reaches target of 10 million customers

British Sky Broadcasting has reached its target of 10 million customers. As of 30 September, the pay-TV operator had a total of 10 million customers, including 3.15 million Sky+ HD customers, 2.80 million Sky Broadband and 2.55 million Sky Talk customers.

Tune Hotels to welcome 2011 with 2 New Hotels

12 sen promotional rate for all Tune Hotels in Malaysia
Petaling Jaya, 09 November 2010 – To cater to the increasing demands and travel needs from tourists and business travellers, Tune Hotels has opened booking for its 2 new hotels in Bintulu, Sarawak that is slated for opening on 3 January 2011, and Kota Bharu, Kelantan that will open for business on 23 January 2011.

SLT reaches 200,000 ADSL Broadband customer milestone

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), the nation’s number one integrated telecommunications service provider and the leading broadband services provider in the country is proud to announce that 200,000 Sri Lankan homes and businesses (including entrepreneurs, small, medium & large organizations) now access broadband services via ADSL 2+ technology on SLT’s island wide Broadband network. This achievement represents more than 70% of Sri Lanka’s total broadband consumer base and over 20% of SLT Megaline (PSTN/wireline) telephone customer base.

Gold climbs to all-time highs above $1,400/oz

Gold powered to an all-time high above $1,400 an ounce on Monday, despite a bounce in the dollar, as investors sought an inflation hedge from the Federal Reserve's massive bond-buying programme.

Gold has risen almost 6 percent since just before the Federal Reserve detailed its plans last Wednesday to buy $600 billion worth of Treasuries to revive the economy.