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Sri Lanka capital sealed off amid fears of Tiger attack
April 28, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police and security forces sealed off the capital on Saturday, searching every vehicle entering and leaving the city amid fears of a Tamil Tiger attack, officials said. Huge traffic jams were reported at every entry point to Colombo with motorists spending several hours before they could be allowed […]
Sri Lankans splurge on snacks and drinks for all night match viewing
April 28, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankans were stocking up on snacks, soft drinks, ice cream and liquor on Saturday to watch their home team battle Australia at the cricket World Cup finals in the Caribbean. Supermarkets, grocery and wine stores were reporting brisk sales as customers stood in lengthy queues. “It took us nearly […]
Small Credit
April 27, 2007 (LBO) – The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has joined hands with six Sri Lankan private banks to educate small and medium enterprise (SME) owners on getting loans to finance their business. Local banks are heavily weighted towards collateral-based lending, instead of project-based lending, which makes it difficult for smaller firms to access […]
Dollar Deal
April 27, 2007 (LBO) – State-owned Bank of Ceylon’s syndicated dollar loan has been able to raise more money than originally envisaged. (US Dollar = 110 rupees) Updated There had been substantial interest from prospective lenders allowing the loan size to be enhanced, an official said. The deal, arranged with bookrunner HSBC, was earlier scheduled […]
Sri Lanka plans performance based incentives to push value-added tea exports
April 27, 2007 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state tea promotion agency is planning a new initiative based on performance incentives to boost flagging valued added tea exports, an official said. The incentive is to be based on exporters performance in increasing the volume and value of such teas, Sri Lanka Tea Board Chairman Lalith Hettiarachchi told […]
Extra Year
April 27, 2007 (LBO) – International students graduating in Britain would be able to work for one year, helping them gain valuable work experience, the UK High Commission in Colombo said. International students bring many benefits to the UK. After the United States, the UK is the country which attracts the most international students and […]
Slave Records
LONDON, April 27, 2007 (AFP) – Britain said Friday it was putting colonial slavery records online for the first time, an archive which will eventually cover three million slaves in South Africa, Sri Lanka and the Caribbean. The collection on the ancestry.co.uk website is taken from registers lodged between 1812 and 1834. Britain has been […]
‘s inflation soars to 2,200 percent
HARARE, April 26, 2007 (AFP) – Zimbabwe, already battling to contain the world’s highest rate of inflation, announced on Thursday that the figure had soared once more to 2,200 percent. Before the devaluation, the Zimbabwean dollar had been trading at around 25,000 to the greenback, against the official rate of 250 dollars. After the official […]
‘s World Cup bid
April 27, 2007 (AFP) – The British diplomatic mission in Colombo shed diplomatic neutrality Friday to support Sri Lanka’s cricket team in their World Cup final against Australia. The top British envoy here, Dominick Chilcott, led high commission (embassy) staff in signing greetings to skipper Mahela Jayawardene and his team-mates ahead of Saturday’s game in […]
Final tuned for Malinga and Tait sling concerto
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, April 27, 2007 (AFP) – They’re the youngest slingers in town, but Shaun Tait and Lasith Malinga know that Saturday’s World Cup final shootout can produce only one winner.Malinga has never played a one-dayer against Tait’s Australians. But if the defending champions want information on how dangerous the Sri Lankan fast bowler can […]
Sri Lanka on alert after new flying Tiger threat
COLOMBO, April 27, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka was on high alert Friday over the threat of another Tamil Tiger air attack, the morning after a suspicious aircraft forced the closure of the island’s only international airport. “We are on alert. In fact, every day we are on alert now and we have beefed up […]
Sri Lanka shuts airport fearing Tiger attack
April 27, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops fearing a rebel attack fired anti-aircraft weapons and evacuated passengers from the international airport here late Thursday, an official said. Go to our front page www.lbo.lk for updates on this event. Latest – Katunayake civillian airport re-opens Sri Lankan troops fired anti-aircraft weapons, evacuated passengers and briefly […]