Author: lbostgadmin
Atapattu opts out of Sri Lanka team for Bangladesh series
June 17, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s former captain and opening batsman Marvan Atapattu has opted out of the Test series against Bangladesh, a top Sri Lanka Cricket official said Sunday.SLC secretary Kangadaran Mathivanan said the former skipper had told them he would not be available for the Bangladesh tournament despite being chosen for the […]
Disturbing Rule
June 17, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s insurance industry has voiced concern over a recent proposal by regulators to transfer the Strike, Riot, Civil Commotion and Terrorism Fund to the National Insurance Trust Fund. The industry is asking the government to relax the proposal for compulsory ceding of re-insurance premiums, said Marina Tharmaratnam, CEO of […]
Heaven Sent
June 16, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s power utility has increased its hydro storage after heavy rains in the last three days, and if the trend continues it may be able to avoid power cuts in the immediate future, LBO learns. The Ceylon Electricity Board warned that power cuts were imminent after monsoon rains were […]
Digital Sheep
WASHINGTON, June 15, 2007 (AFP) – The FBI is in the process of locating and notifying the users of one million computers controlled by hackers through automated crime networks or “botnets,” officials said Friday.The FBI warned computer users that it would not contact victims online, and said any e-mails suggesting this should be viewed with […]
Sailing Away
June 15, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence conglomerate is exiting from its ship-owning business because of lower earnings from chartering and rising maintenance costs, the company has said. The group has begun selling its fleet of small cargo ships which until recently helped boost the group’s bottom line. The group made a “strategic […]
Off-Grid
June 15, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will be able to light up 60,000 rural homes and also connect new private-sector renewable energy to the urban power grid with a new World Bank credit, the multilateral lender said. Only three-fourths of households in Sri Lanka have grid-connected power and it is too expensive for the […]
Sri Lanka urged to invite UN monitors to probe rights abuses
GENEVA, June 15, 2007 (AFP) – Amnesty International urged Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to invite UN monitors to verify claims of human rights violations by both sides in the country’s bitter ethnic civil war.After meeting the president here Thursday, the watchdog group’s Secretary General Irene Khan said an escalation of rights abuses over the […]
Sri Lankan President says own steps under way to probe killings
GENEVA, June 15, 2007 (AFP) – President Mahinda Rajapakse of Sri Lanka and senior Sri Lankan officials said Friday that they were taking their own steps to find the truth behind recent killings of humanitarian workers and alleged rights violations.However, Rajapakse stopped short of responding directly to an appeal Amnesty International made to him Thursday, […]
New coach say Sri Lanka can win World Cup
June 15, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s new coach Trevor Bayliss Friday said he was hopeful that the island could win the next World Cup.Bayliss, 44, was picked Thursday night to replace another Australian, Tom Moody, who quit last month to work with Western Australia after having guided Sri Lanka to the World Cup final. […]
Outrage as Chinese slave scandal deepens
BEIJING, June 15, 2007 (AFP) – More than 450 people, including young children, have been freed from slavery in Chinese brick factories and mines but hundreds of others are believed to still be trapped, police said Friday. “It is outrageous that transient rural labourers were forced to work 20 hours a day and one was […]
Tokyo bourse buys stake in Singapore exchange
June 15, 2007 (AFP) – The Tokyo Stock Exchange said Friday that it had acquired a stake of almost five percent in the Singapore stock exchange operator as part of its efforts to forge links with overseas bourses.The Singapore group welcomed the move and said it was ready to explore prospects for further collaboration with […]
‘s oldest monastery
BEIJING, June 15, 2007 (AFP) – Chinese authorities have removed a giant Buddhist statue from Tibet’s oldest monastery, in a move US-based rights group said Friday reflected an ongoing crackdown in the Tibetan region.The 30-foot (nine metre) gold and copper-plated statue of Guru Rinpoche, the founder of Buddhism, was torn down by Chinese police in […]