The Nation GAIN

Monday, October 4, 2010

Games bid no-show 'unbelievable'

Gold Coast Mayor Ron Clarke says Sri Lanka's failure to present its bid to the Commonwealth Games Federation over the weekend raises questions about its commitment to hosting the 2018 Games.

The Sri Lankan city of Hambantota is the Gold Coast's only rival for hosting rights.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and the Gold Coast bid team outlined the Australian city's advantages to members of the Games federation in New Delhi but there was no presentation from Hambantota.

Councillor Clarke says that is a huge surprise.

"It almost seems as if they are not going on with it but there was no official word about that," he said.

"It is almost unbelievable that they would be still serious and not go across and make a presentation - they have a shorter presentation that what we have."

Meanwhile, Queensland Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek wants the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Board to clarify plans for an athletes village at Parklands near Southport.

Mr Langbroek, who is also the Member for Surfers Paradise, says he has offered bipartisan support for the Gold Coast bid but he has reservations about moving the Gold Coast show to another venue.

"The Gold Coast Show Society, of which I am a member, just being told they are going to be evicted from the site," he said.

"I have not been happy with the lack of consultation from Anna Bligh, Labor and Stirling Hinchliffe the Minister.

"Although I have provided bipartisan support, it is not support for the Government to just evict long-term tenants and the people of the Gold Coast from publicly owned land."

Enthiran fever grips Lanka

Sri Lanka is in the grip of Enthiran fever, with the Rajnikanth-Aishwarya starrer running to packed houses in Tamil-speaking parts of the nation, including Colombo and northern and eastern provinces.

“So far, 12,000 people have seen the film in our complex,” said an administrator of Cinecity multiplex here, which has four theatres, each running four shows a day. The management was finding it difficult to cope with the heavy demand, he added. The film carries sub-titles in English to attract non-Tamil speakers.

Chellam theatre in Chengaladi, Batticaloa, is running a continuous show and the house is always full, according to a theatre official. “Even the heavy rain on Saturday night did not deter fans,” he said.

On the opening day (October 1), the first ticket was bought by eastern province Chief Minister S Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan.

The film has received a similar response in Jaffna. The scene is slightly different in Trincomalee, where a Nelson theatre spokesman said the fight scene at the end of the film did not go down well with the audience.

Kingdom slaps ban on recruitment from Lanka

The National Recruitment Committee has called upon all private recruitment offices in the Kingdom to sign no further contracts for the employment of Sri Lankan nationals from abroad.

The “extremely urgent” call followed disputes between the Sri Lankan Labor Union (ALFIA) and the Sri Lankan Labor Office, which could lead to delays in the arrival of workers to the Kingdom.

It is also a response to the Sri Lankan media’s negative portrayal of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the National Recruitment Committee and ALFIA which was due to come into effect on Sep.10.

The MoU signed with ALFIA set recruitment charges at a maximum of SR5,500 for housemaids.

The Sri Lankan Ministry of Labor reportedly backtracked on the pretext that the MoU will deprive the Lankan economy of an additional income of over $50 million.

Recruitment offices in the Eastern Province said Sunday that most of them had already put the suspension into effect, and that with the situation currently “unclear” it would remain in force.

“Most offices are now turning to Indonesia as a viable alternative,” said one office representative. “Indonesia remains committed to the MoU it signed and which came into effect early Ramadan.”

The MoU with Indonesia sets recruitment costs at SR6,000, with visa fees on top.

– Okaz/Saudi Gazette __

Tata Comm to acquire Sri Lanka's Suntel

NEW DELHI: Tata Communications (TCL) is set to acquire Sri Lanka’s second-largest land-based telephone company Suntel. TCL (formerly VSNL), which was acquired by the Tatas following the government’s divestment in 2002, has received the approval of the government, which still owns 26% stake in the company, for the proposed acquisition.

The Indian firm had submitted the bid last month and is in advanced negotiations with Suntel, a senior government official familiar with the development said. According to documents available with ET, the acquisition will be routed through the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Tata Communications Lanka. “TCL intends to acquire 100% of Suntel, Sri Lanka, with a view to providing domestic data services wireless network and to access local customer business,” says the company’s business plan.

One of the key reasons for the proposed acquisition is the change in the business plan by TCL. The company, which has till now been in inbound voice business, plans to enter the outbound voice traffic and data business. The Indian company is also looking for enterprise businesses, said a person familiar with TCL’s business plan. TCL also has long-distance and internet service provider licences in Sri Lanka.

In 2008, TCL attempted to buy for $90 million, but it was outbid by other players. State-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), which had submitted an aggressive bid (around $180 million), withdrew it in 2009 due to pending legal issues and high liabilities.

Although the exact valuation is not known, a senior official familiar with the development said this time, the bid would be smaller than the previous one since the company’s performance has not been in line with growth projections in the last couple of years.

“This time, the deal size is likely to be much lower than the previous bid amount as the Sri Lankan company has not grown according to the projection in the last two years,” a person familiar with the transaction said. TCL spokesperson declined to comment. Suntel is the second-largest fixed-line telecom provider in Sri Lanka with about 20 % market share, an MTNL official, who was involved in the process last time, said. Suntel, which caters to nearly 550,000 homes and offices in Sri Lanka, is the largest land-based telephone competitor to incumbent Sri Lanka Telecom (42% market share). Its services include a range of voice, data, ISDN, dedicated packet solutions and internet services.

Suntel is currently owned by a joint venture between Swedish telecom giant , Metrocorp, Townsend of Hong Kong, National Development Bank, and International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. (ET)

Friday, October 1, 2010

Update on Price band - Oct 1

As at Friday October 1, a 10% price band is presently applicable for SEVEN listed securities.

Vallibel Finance (Sep 23 to Oct 13), Lake House Printers and Publishers PLC (Sep 24 to Oct 14), Bogawantalawa Plantations (Sep 29 to Oct 19), Metropolitan Resource Holdings Plc (Sep 29 to Oct 19), East West Properties PLC (Sep 30 to Oct 20) , Coco Lanka PLC (Sep 30 to Oct 20) and

Colombo Land & Development Company Plc (Oct 1 to 21 Oct), a CSE filing made on Oct 1 stated.

BoC Selects Misys BankFusion Universal Banking to provide application software

Bank of Ceylon (UK) Ltd has chosen Misys BankFusion Universal Banking, the global application software and services company for trade finance processing, Message Manager for payments and messaging and the innovative Misys Personal Finance Portal for its consumer customers.

Bank of Ceylon in the UK was an international branch of the Sri Lanka state-owned Bank of Ceylon until early 2010 when the bank was granted a UK licence. The business will be the hub for the bank's expansion programme both in volumes and new geographies to service overseas Sri Lankans.

US businessmen to meet in Sri Lanka

Washington, Oct 1 (IANS) A second annual conference to attract US investment to Sri Lanka will be held in Colombo Oct 12-14, giving business executives a chance to expand businesses in the island.

The conference is organised by the Sri Lankan embassy here and the Office of the US Trade Representative, the US Department of Commerce, the US embassy in Colombo and the Sri Lanka Trade Ministry.

'Our first conference last year gave people a good look at Sri Lanka, and the potential for businesses there,' said Jaliya Wickramasuriya, Sri Lanka's ambassador to the US.

'Now some of those businesses are planning to begin operations in Sri Lanka. We want to make sure that business people know the advantages of investing here,' he said.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa met US investors during a business development luncheon last week. He explained to them the benefits of doing business with Sri Lanka.

Those benefits include Sri Lanka's free trade agreements with India and Pakistan that gives US businesses duty-free access to those large markets, as well as relaxed foreign investment regulations.