ASPI crosses 3,000 milestone :
Channa Kasturisinghe

COLOMBO: The stock market continued to record high turnover levels and the indices reached new highs as investors chased fundamentally strong counters yesterday.

The All Share Price Index surged past the 3,000 mark for the first time in history as highly enthusiastic locals boosted the turnover to reach an impressive Rs. 1.6 billion at the close. This was more than three times last year's average daily trading volume of around Rs.400 million.

Analysts said the present performance of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is a sign of improved investor confidence due to positive political developments coupled with strong corporate results.

The ASPI closed at 3,016.42 points gaining 22.65 points while the Milanka Price Index gained 34.20 points to close at 4,194.34 points. This surpassed the previous life closing high of 2,993.77 points hit on Monday. 

President Mahinda Rajapaksa called for constant evolution of bilateral relations between the Maldives and Sri Lanka. “From now on, we need to take our bilateral relations to greater heights to ensure development of our economies and to generate prosperity. Let us continue with vigour and earnest effort at this special occasion to work together to achieve common goals. Let our actions reflect what we want to achieve in the future,” he said.
Speaking at the dinner hosted by the Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in his honour last night, President Rajapaksa said that the recently established, more comprehensive Joint Commission between the two countries is a welcome step towards further enhancement of bilateral ties in the fields of economic, trade education, immigration and emigration, tourism, fisheries, culture, history and arts and health.

The Department of Elections has successfully converted the manual operating system used in registering voters in to an automated form. The official launch of this event was held at the Department premises today with the participation of the Commissioner of Elections Mr. Dayananda Dissanayake.

Up to now three electoral registers have been already computerised and initiative steps were taken to computerize 19 other electoral registers.

The official website of the Sri Lanka Embassy in Kuwait was launched by the Ambassador HE S.A.C. Mohamed Zuhyle. The website address is http://www.slembkwt.org This website aims to provide comprehensive information including up-to-date news updates to its visitors. The Ambassador speaking after the launch said that the Sri Lankan Expatriate community in Kuwait and Bahrain can now easily access relevant information through this website. He also said the embassy will introduce many online services in the future to enable the Sri Lankans living in Kuwait to interact with the embassy.

The Sri Lankan Mission in Kuwait completes 25 years this month. During the past 25 years we have had cordial relationship between the two countries. In 2006 the Mission set its course on a new Vision focusing on Mahinda Chintana.

The Mission developed its Strategic Plan in August 2006. The Vision, Mission, Objectives and Strategies were developed to achieve the vision of H.E. the President Mahinda Rajapaksa as promulgated in the "Mahinda Chintana".