Knowledge Update

​Colombo, June 28 (IANS) The Sri Lankan government on Tuesday said it will focus more on Asia, particularly India and China, to boost the local economy after Britain, in a historic referendum, decided to pull out from the European Union.

​Beijing, June 28 (IANS) A continental market with China, Russia and India as key stakeholders can be formed to reshape the global energy sector, a Chinese expert has said.

The three countries can also insist on an Asian pricing system, Xinhua news agency quoted Ren Zhihong of the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences as saying.

​New Delhi, June 28 (IANS) Privately owned pan-African telecom group Liquid Telecom has entered into an agreement to acquire South African network operator Neotel, owned by Tata Communications and Nexus Connexion, for South African Rand 6.55 billion (Rs 29 billion), a company statement said on Tuesday.

​Dhaka, June 26 (IANS) The World Bank has approved $150 million in additional financing to help strengthen Bangladesh's health systems and improve its services.

The financing will support implementation of the government's health sector-wide programme, Xinhua news agency cited the World Bank as saying in a statement on Sunday.

​London, June 28 (IANS) Britain's National Audit Office on Tuesday put the country's biggest ever rail project under the spotlight, warning of rising costs and the project's timetable.

​Bratislava, June 27 (IANS) Britain's exit from the European Union (EU) will greatly weaken the bloc, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic has said here.

"If a country like Britain exits, it must be perceived by the outside world as weakening the Union and as a demonstration of the crisis that the EU is undergoing," said Sefcovic on

​London, June 24 (IANS) BlackBerry, the Canadian mobile company sold just 5 lakh phones globally in the first fiscal quarter - down from six lakh in the previous quarter - reporting a $670 million loss which is its biggest loss in over two years.

​Brasilia, June 22 (IANS) The full Chamber of Deputies of Brazil on Wednesday approved an executive order allowing foreign investors up 100 per cent ownership of Brazilian airlines, compared to the current 20 per cent limit.

New York, June 21 (IANS) In order to reportedly finance its $67 billion acquisition of IT storage company EMC, US tech giant Dell has sold Dell Software Group to Francisco Partners, a US-based private equity firm and Elliott Management, an American hedge fund management firm.

Tehran, June 19 (IANS) Iran has reached an agreement with the US Boeing to purchase 100 passenger planes to renew the country's aging fleet, the media reported on Sunday.

The deal awaits the US government's approval, head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation (CAO) Ali Abedzadeh said, Xinhua reported.