Author: lbostgadmin
Taking Flight
March 5, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s new state-run budget airline secured a provisional license to fly after technical problems delayed its maiden test flight by over eight hours, officials said. A Mihin Air flight flew to India’s southern city of Thiruvananthapuram from the island’s sole international airport late Sunday and returned around midnight, airport […]
Sri Lanka to play Scotland in World Cup opening round
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, March 4, 2007 (AFP) – Hosts West Indies, England, South Africa and Sri Lanka will fire the opening shots in their World Cup campaigns on Monday at the start of series of warm-up matches. West Indies, bidding to become the first host nation to win the title, face Kenya in Jamaica, England will […]
Still Grounded
March 4, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s new state-run budget airline cancelled its maiden flight on Sunday because of technical problems, airport officials said. A Mihin Air flight was due to depart for India’s southern city of Thiruvananthapuram from the island’s sole international airport, but the trip was scrapped due to problems with the plane’s […]
Sri Lanka steps up security for diplomats after attack
March 3, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is stepping up security for diplomats following a Tamil rebel attack against a helicopter in which envoys were travelling, the foreign ministry said Saturday. The ambassadors of Italy and the United States and a UN coordinator were among more than a dozen people wounded in a shell attack […]
Sri Lanka finds bodies of five victims killed execution-style
March 3, 2007 (AFP) – The bodies of five men shot in the head with their hands tied together and blindfolded were found Saturday by Sri Lankan police, who called the deaths an apparent “execution-style killing”. The grisly find in a marsh at Kandana, 15 kilometres (10 miles) north of the capital, was made after […]
Sharia Mortgage
March 03 (LBO) – HDFC bank is planning to offer housing mortgages based on Islamic finance principles, an official said.“We have already formulated to bring the Sharia concept into the housing loan portfolio,” says HDFC Bank chairman S M M Yaseen told ETV’s Money Report programme. “I am very keen and my board has given […]
Sri Lanka sovereign rating weighed down by weak budgets, war, public employment
March 02 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s weak public finances which leave little room for the country to counter shocks and an ongoing war are weighing heavily on its credit rating, Fitch Ratings said.Sri Lanka has a BB- sovereign rating with the outlook downgraded to negative in April 2006 after the conflict intensified, which is now […]
China Port
March, 02 (LBO) – The Chinese government would finance up to 85 percent of a planned 420 million dollar a port in Sri Lanka’s southern Hambanthota district, the government’s information office said. “Following the bilateral discussions with the Chinese Government with President Rajapaksa, the Chinese President and Prime Minister have promised to hasten the aid,” […]
Sri Lanka war planes bomb suspected Tiger camp
COLOMBO, March 2, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan war planes bombed a suspected Tiger rebel camp in the northeast on Friday as part of an increased offensive against the guerrillas, a defence official said.“Using MIG 27 jet planes, the air force took Tiger targets in the Thoppigala jungles,” military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe told AFP, […]
Indonesia would send Sri Lankans home
JAKARTA, March 2, 2007 (AFP) – Indonesia said Friday that dozens of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka would be sent home and not allowed to stay if Australia decides to send the group back its way.Australia picked up 85 boat people last month after they passed through Indonesia and are holding them on Christmas Island […]
‘s not just cricket
NEW DELHI, March 2, 2007 (AFP) – Where there’s cricket, there’s controversy and at the 2003 World Cup the phrase “It’s not cricket” vied for attention with on-field contests. The tournament, jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya, was not only the biggest in the history but also had more than its fair share […]
Warne says Kiwis, Sri Lanka main threats
SYDNEY, March 2, 2007 (AFP) – Shane Warne Friday rated New Zealand and Sri Lanka as Australia’s biggest threats at this month’s World Cup but gave recently-crowned world number one South Africa no chance of claiming the title.Warne said he expected Australia to overcome their recent slump of five straight one-day international losses to win […]