Malik to captain troubled Pakistan

LAHORE, Pakistan, April 19, 2007 (AFP) – Pakistan Thursday appointed Shoaib Malik to succeed Inzamam-ul-Haq as national cricket captain, saying the young all-rounder symbolised the team’s future after a dismal World Cup.The 25-year-old Malik, who has played 18 Tests and 137 one-day internationals, was unveiled at a press conference here as captain of the Test […]

Ireland squad assist Woolmer inquiry

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, April 19, 2007 (AFP) – Ireland’s World Cup squad have supplied statements to police investigating the murder of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer.These were carried out Thursday at the team’s hotel in Grenada following Ireland’s final World Cup Super Eights match against Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Debutants Ireland caused one of the major […]

Lara seeks farewell win in England match

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, April 20, 2007 (AFP) – West Indies captain Brian Lara will be keen to cap his last international match with a win against England when the two under-performing teams clash in the World Cup here on Saturday.“I am bidding farewell to international cricket as a player after the game,” Lara said after his […]

Sri Lankan Tamil journalist shot dead

COLOMBO, April 20, 2007 (AFP) – Unidentified gunmen shot dead a Tamil journalist in northern Sri Lanka in the latest in a string of attacks against media personnel, a rights group said Friday.Subash Chandraboas, 32, editor of the Tamil monthly Nilam, was gunned down late Monday at his residence in Vavuniya, 260 kilometres (162 miles) […]

Sri Lankan authorities try to counter money printing culpability

April 20, 2007 (LBO) – Authorities in Sri Lanka are trying to counter growing public awareness that 38.5 billion rupees were printed to finance the budget deficit last year, which also drove inflation to 19.3 percent by December, despite the information being publicly available. Deputy Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya was responding to a news story […]

Lube Deal

April 19, 2007 (LBO) – Laugfs Holdings said Thursday it had signed an agreement with the government of Sri Lanka that gave it permission to import and market lubricants in the island. Laugfs group holds 30 percent market share for domestic Liquefied Petroleum Gas and around 55 percent for industrial bulk demand. The local market […]

Unfair Charge

April 19, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan exporters Thursday called for government intervention to prevent shipping lines imposing additional charges that were making exports uncompetitive and imports more expensive. Big buyers in the US negotiate freight rates with shipping lines for large volumes of cargo from different regions, such as south Asia where they might […]

Boxed Out

April 19, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lankan exporters are faced with a shortage of space on container ships for their shipments to Europe after several shipping lines diverted some of their services to India, an official said. The crisis is affecting exports of garments, tea and coir, Jayanath Perera, chairman of the Sri Lanka Shipper’s […]

Sri Lanka tourist arrivals fall sharply as violence escalates

April 19, 2007 (LBO) – Tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka fell by 36 percent to 35,031 in March 2007 compared with the same month last year as escalating fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels deterred holiday travel. But arrivals from Eastern Europe increased 60 percent with the number of Russian visitors increasing by […]

Sri Lankan February tea output lowest in decade

April 19, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s tea production in February fell to its lowest monthly level in 10 years because a strike by labour unions and bad weather affected the crop late last year, brokers said. Among the worst hit were top high grown tea growing areas like Bogawantalawa and Talawakelle. The February tea production […]

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