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Going Rural
July 22, 2007 (LBO) – ABC Investments, a new Sri Lankan Islamic investment group, plans to expand their business with branches outside the capital Colombo, especially in areas with large concentrations of Muslim people.The Islamic Takaful insurance concept has a growing customer base in Sri Lanka with Amana Takaful.The firm which provides Barakah Islamic financial […]
Small Cover
July 22, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should focus on giving insurance to the poor, regional experts in micro insurance say, with rural populations a largely untapped market. At present, insurance penetration in most South Asian countries is less than 10 percent, leaving over 90 percent of the market untapped. Two micro insurance specialists from […]
Former Bangladesh lawmaker gets 20 years for graft
DHAKA, July 22, 2007 (AFP) – A former Bangladeshi lawmaker was Sunday sentenced to two decades in jail by an anti-corruption court for illegally amassing more than a million dollars in cash and property, a government lawyer said.The court also ordered Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan’s property confiscated, public prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kazal said. “The judge in […]
Sri Lanka president rules out snap poll
July 22, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president has ruled out a snap parliamentary election to increase his slender majority, after battlefield success against the Tamil Tiger rebels boosted his government. President Mahinda Rajapakse said he was keen that the current parliament serve its full six-year term.It was elected in April 2004, while the president […]
‘s meet
July 22, 2007 (AFP) – A powerful bomb was found at a market along a road leading to a conference venue where Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse addressed workers from his Freedom Party Sunday, police said.The bomb weighing about eight kilograms (17.5 pounds) was hidden in a bag at the roadside market in the Colombo […]
Nobody Told
July 21, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s terror finance sleuths said two former ministers who had made claims about money being paid to Tamil Tigers are yet to complain to the unit that is charged with probing terrorist finance. Officials said persons could report suspicious activity in writing or email if they were satisfied that […]
Sri Lanka offers state land to agribusiness in profit sharing deal
July 21, 2007 (LBO) – The Sri Lanka is ready to give free land to agribusiness companies for cultivation on a profit sharing basis, a government minister said Friday. Minister of Agriculture Hemakumara Nanayakkara said the government was keen to meet the long-standing request by agribusiness for land from the government. State Land “The private […]
State Try
July 21, 2007 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan minister has travelled to Saudi Arabia with the parents of a teenage housemaid to help prepare her appeal after she was condemned to death for murdering a four-month-old baby, a Sri Lankan diplomat said on Saturday.Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Bhaila arrived in the Saudi capital on Friday […]
‘s tallest building: developers
DUBAI, July 21, 2007 (AFP) – Burj Dubai, a tower rising in the booming Gulf emirate, on Saturday became the tallest building in the world at 512.1 metres (1,680 feet), developers said.Burj Dubai, or Dubai Tower, now surpasses Taiwan’s Taipei 101 which is 508 metres (1,667 feet) tall, and has 141 storeys, more than any […]
Symonds urges Aussie fans to applaud Sri Lanka star Murali
SYDNEY, July 21, 2007 (AFP) – Andrew Symonds on Saturday urged Australian cricket fans not to taunt Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan if he passes Shane Warne’s Test wicket world record while touring Down Under this year.Australian crowds have regularly abused “Murali” since he was twice called for throwing, with even Prime Minister John Howard […]