Sri Lanka tourist boom boosts beer sales

July 7, 2014 (LBO) – Strong tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka have boosted beer sales, with demand brimming over during the high season in popular tourist spots, the island’s top beer maker said. Sri Lanka has seen a strong increase in budget tourists who interact directly with the small businesses and enterprises. “Unlike in the […]

Football: Brazil players ready to cope in Neymar absence

TERESÓPOLIS, July 7, 2014 (AFP) – Willian and Bernard, the two leading contenders to replace Neymar in Brazil’s World Cup semi-final line-up against Germany insisted on Sunday that the team can still win the competition without their star player. “Neymar sets the standard for us.He is capable of deciding any game, so playing without him […]

Australia hands asylum-seekers back to Sri Lanka

SYDNEY, July 7, 2014 (AFP) – Canberra confirmed Monday a boat load of Sri Lankan asylum-seekers who attempted to reach Australia have been handed back to Colombo, sparking sharp criticism after a week of secrecy.“Australia’s international obligations are reliant upon a credible processing system and we have deep concerns about how that could have been […]

Football: Krul saves Netherlands as Costa Rica downed

BRASILIA, July 6, 2014 (AFP) – Dutch goalkeeper Tim Krul was the hero as the Netherlands beat Costa Rica to seal a showdown with Argentina in a heavyweight World Cup semi-final lineup Saturday.Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal stunned onlookers at Salvador’s Fonte Nova Arena by bringing on Krul to replace Jasper Cillessen in the final […]

Cricket: South Africa bat against Sri Lanka in first ODI

COLOMBO, July 6, 2014 (AFP) – South Africa captain AB de Villiers won the toss and chose to bat in the first of the three-match one-day international series against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Sunday.Star all-rounder Jacques Kallis was ruled fit to play after overcoming a neck injury that he picked during one of the […]

Australian minister to visit Sri Lanka amid boat dispute

COLOMBO, July 6, 2014 (AFP) – Australia’s immigration minister will visit Colombo this week for talks on illegal immigration following international concern at his country’s handling of Sri Lankan asylum-seekers, it was announced Sunday.The US and European Union member states have said rights abuses against the ethnic Tamil minority continued even after the war’s end […]

Sri Lanka stocks close up 0.2-pct

July 04, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s stocks closed 0.16 percent higher ending a week on a positive note with telco and diversified stocks gaining despite net foreign selling, brokers said. The Colombo benchmark All Share Price Index closed 10.23 points higher at 6,477.51, up 0.16 percent. The S&P SL20 closed 2.26 points higher at […]

Debt Sale

July 04 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s state-run Bank of Ceylon is planning to 8.0 billion rupees of debt which has been given an expected rating ‘AA(lka) (EXP)’ Fitch Ratings said.The Colombo-listed debentures will have tenors of 5 and 8 years and will have fixed and floating coupons. It will be used for Tier II […]

Paradise Isle: Fast police bikes, faster legs

July 4, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s police acquired its largest fleet of high-speed patrol motorcycles this week, but even before they could be unleashed to tame errant motorists, traffic police demonstrated their skills in…err running. Hopefully, there will be very little wear and tear because there aren’t many roads where a Yamaha 600 cc […]

Arrested

KUALA LUMPUR, July 4, 2014 (AFP) – Malaysian police on Friday said they have arrested four more suspected Tamil Tiger separatists, including a man allegedly involved in the attempted assassination of a former Sri Lankan president. In May, the agency said it was “deeply concerned” that three men registered with the agency were deported to […]

Sri Lanka to get US$800mn ADB loan for roads

July 04, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will upgrade and maintain roads connecting more than 1,000 villages to the highways and expressways in a 906 million US dollars project with 800 million US dollars coming from the Asian Development Bank, a minister said.Sri Lanka has strengthened its road network especially after the end of a […]

Sri Lanka stocks close up 0.5-pct

July 03, 2014 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s shares closed 0.54 percent higher on Thursday amid strong domestic participation, brokers said. The Colombo benchmark All Share Price Index closed 34.76 points higher at 6,467.28, up 0.54 percent. The S&P SL20 closed 30.48 points higher at 3,608.42, up 0.85 percent. Turnover was 1.51 billion rupees, down from […]

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