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Sri Lankan products to be showcased in Chennai
CHENNAI (Hindu) - The Export Development Board (EDB) of Sri Lanka proposes to open a showroom-cum-retail outlet in Chennai to enable the country's products to reach a wider market in South India, according to the Chairman of the board, R. Sivaratnam. Initially, the outlet is to be franchised for three years and is likely to be opened early next year, possibly in the Spencer Plaza, Sivaratnam said. Addressing a meeting organised by the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) here on Tuesday and in his subsequent reply to questions, Sivaratnam said the first India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which took effect in the year 2000, remained on paper because of restrictions like specification of only a few ports for import into India and quotas on garments. It had not led to substantial expansion in Sri Lanka's exports to India and bridging of its huge trade gap vis-a-vis India. He hoped that the framework for an FTA-II between the two countries now under preparation would prove more effective. Sivaratnam said at least 60 percent of the garment export units in Sri Lanka would be able to survive the opening up of the global market in 2005 and the network of FTAs that the U.S. was creating with countries in the Caribbean basin, Africa and South America since the Sri Lankan units had excellent plant and technology and had acquired dynamism in global marketing. The EDB Chairman emphasised the scope for joint promotion of tourism by India, Sri Lanka and Maldives in the global market. SICCI President, R. Muthu, said there was a need to facilitate increased imports from Sri Lanka into India with due regard, however, for prevention of practices like dumping.

JKH comfortable with Fitch decision
Fitch Ratings Lanka Ltd, following discussions with John Keells Holdings Ltd (JKH), told the group that it would be downgrading its national rating for JKH's Implied Long-term unsecured Senior Debt to SL AA+ from SL AAA.

The management of JKH, said in a statement, it firmly believes that in the current improved economic scenario, especially in light of the peace process, there would be attra-ctive investment

opportunitiesto enhance shareholder value, such as Lanka Marine Services, which was acquired by the Group in August "However to maintain a SL AAA rating, the group would have to adhere to certain stringent requirements vis-à-vis its balance sheet, which may hinder the Group's ability to take advantage of growth opportunities. The Group doesnot wish to be constrained in such a manner and is comfortable with Fitch Ratings Lanka's decision," the statement said.

Data recovery solution for PCs
IBM Sri Lanka has announced the availability of 'Rapid Restore PC' on all its new IBM ThinkPads and NetVista systems.

The IBM Rapid Restore PC is an advanced managed data recovery solution designed to protect both user data files and software running on a corporate system. It has been developed by IBM in conjunction with Xpoint Technologies Inc. and is available as a free download for all new IBM ThinkPad and NetVista systems.

"With IBM Rapid Restore PC, users are better protected against unexpected computer disasters such as image corruption and data loss," said Chetiya Bopearatchy, Team Leader, Personal Computing Division, IBM Sri Lanka. "This will also help to avoid the expense of sending a technician or using bandwidth to transmit a new image to a system."

It provides a one-button backup of a user's hard drive to a hidden partition on the drive to enable a quick recovery from operating system crashes and viruses, reducing loss of data and support requirements.

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