Sri Lanka president sacks three ministers in surprise move

COLOMBO, Feb 9, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president Friday sacked three ministers, including the former foreign minister, amid growing dissension within the newly-elected 54-member cabinet, officials said. With last month’s defections, Rajapakse’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) enjoys a majority and the sacking of the three ministers will not immediately cause any problems for […]

Sri Lanka town shuts down to mourn slain Hindu priest

Feb 9, 2007 (AFP) – A town in Sri Lanka’s embattled east shut down Friday as a sign of respect for a Hindu priest gunned down four days after he welcomed President Mahinda Rajapakse to a former guerrilla stronghold.Military officials said shops closed and transport was halted in Valachchenai to mourn Selliah Parameswar, who was […]

Alternative Fund

February 09 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will set up an agency to administer the renewable energy sector in Sri Lanka and also establish a fund to support newer forms of energy, a senior minister said. Sri Lanka’s cabinet of ministers had approved the setting up of Sustainable Energy Authority, but the draft law would have […]

Sri Lanka wants grow oil-bearing jatropha plants for bio-diesel

Feb 08, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is studying the feasibility of growing a new oil-bearing plant in marginal state land to make bio-diesel with private sector partners, an official said.Countries such as the United States have given tax-breaks for alternative fuels, and blended bio-diesel such as B5 with 5 percent vegetable based diesel is already […]

Jumbo Records

February 8, 2007 (LBO) – Guinness World Records could start a new record category on jumbo sized cabinets of ministers if a formal request is made, a Guinness official said. Rajapakse’s former ally, the Marxist JVP or People’s Liberation Front, said the huge cabinet for a country of 19.5 million people had made Sri Lanka […]

Broader Access

Feb 08, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s largest mobile operator, Dialog Telekom which helped make mobile phones a ubiquitous device in the country, says it wants to do the same to the digital pay TV industry. “If I were to trace back ten years, we took that device that was considered a luxury – a […]

Rain stops India-Sri Lanka one-dayer

KOLKATA, India, Feb 8, 2007 (AFP) – Unseasonal rain turned into a torrential downpour, forcing the first one-day international between India and Sri Lanka to be called off here on Thursday.A sell-out crowd of 88,000 at the Eden Gardens returned home disappointed as the weather ruined what promised to be an absorbing contest. Sri Lanka […]

” by US peace envoy call

Feb 8, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Thursday said it was not ‘unduly worried’ over a proposal to US President George W.Bush by American lawmakers to appoint a special envoy to help bring peace to the embattled Indian Ocean island.Sri Lanka cabinet spokesman and Media Minister Anura Yapa said Colombo believed the US would continue […]

Hindu priest shot dead after welcoming Sri Lanka president

Feb 8, 2007 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels shot dead a Hindu priest who welcomed President Mahinda Rajapakse to a former guerrilla bastion in the island’s east, military officials said Thursday. Selliah Parameswar was dragged out of his house in Batticaloa district and shot dead late Wednesday by a group of unidentified gunmen, officials […]

Not Funny

February, 08 (LBO) – A decision by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to tender its liquid petroleum gas output in the open market will re-create an absolute monopoly, Sri Lanka’s second gas retailer has said. CPC which produces about 10 percent of the country’s annual L P gas requirements now sells its production to Laugfs Lanka, […]

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