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Sri Lanka Tiger key front line taken: defence ministry
Dec 22, 2007 (AFP) – Government forces captured a key defence line of Tamil Tiger guerrillas in northern Sri Lanka Saturday in fighting that killed six rebels and one soldier, the defence ministry said.Norwegian-brokered 2002 truce began to unravel in December 2005. Security forces smashed five bunkers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) […]
Easier Shipments
Dec 21 (LBO) – The threat of higher freight rates on Sri Lankan exports to Europe is easing, former Sri Lanka Shippers’ Council chairman Jayanath Perera said. Exporters were forced to pay high rates six months ago when a surge in Chinese exports led to space shortages for Sri Lankan cargo on ships calling Colombo […]
Watching Brief
Dec 21, 2007 (LBO) – Lanka Rating Agency said Friday it had placed BB3 rated Multi Finance Company on rating watch, pending a take-over from the Ceylinco group. Multi Finance, a small privately held finance company founded in the 1974, will initially get a 70 million rupee capital injection from Ceylinco Shriram Securities Holdings. Ceylinco […]
Literary Climate
Dec 21, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s second international literary festival in Galle next year will focus on the theme climate change and would reach out to get a new generation interested in English, its organizers said. The Galle festival was named as one of the best literary festivals in the world, by the American […]
Banished Sri Lankan air chief to run firm from Dubai
Dec 21, 2007 (LBO) – SriLankan Airlines chief Peter Hill would continue to run the airline from Dubai after his resident visa in the island was revoked by the government, managing shareholder Emirates Airlines said. SriLankan Airlines is 43.6 percent owned by Dubai-based Emirates air, and Hill was seconded to the airline in 1998 after […]
Sri Lanka insurers may escape sweeping downgrades over govt. move: Fitch
Dec 21, 2007 (LBO) – Fitch Ratings says Sri Lankan insurance firms may avoid sweeping downgrades after the government partially rolled back plans to force firms to re-insure with the state. “It is now envisaged that no insurance ratings in Sri Lanka will be affected by the introduction of the fund.” Sri Lanka only has […]
Spurned Tatas want apology from Orient-Express hotels
NEW DELHI, Dec 20, 2007 (AFP) – India’s Tata Group has demanded an apology from US-listed luxury hotel chain Orient-Express for rejecting its offer for a strategic tie-up on the grounds that its brand value might be diluted.Assocham, an Indian chambers of commerce body, slammed Orient-Express’s rebuff as one of “arrogance toward one of India’s […]
No play after lunch in England-Sri Lanka Test
GALLE, Sri Lanka, Dec 21, 2007 (AFP) – A heavy downpour that began at the lunch interval washed out the afternoon session on the fourth day of the third and final cricket Test between England and Sri Lanka here on Friday. Continued wet weather has been forecast for the next 48 hours. The ground was […]
Cook keeps England afloat in Sri Lanka Test
GALLE, Sri Lanka, Dec 21, 2007 (AFP) – Alastair Cook hit an unbeaten half-century as England began a long vigil to avoid defeat in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka here on Friday.The tourists, following on 418 runs behind after being dismissed for a new low of 81 against Sri Lanka in the […]
” England play in Sri Lanka
LONDON, Dec 21, 2007 (AFP) – After a dismal performance at the crease on Thursday in Galle, Sri Lanka, where they were bowled out for just 81 in the final match in the three-Test series, England’s cricketers will not want to eye the British newspapers. Described as “pathetic” and “spineless”, England were blasted in Friday […]