Tax Banditry

Apr 07, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s people are paying tens of billions of rupees to give state jobs to unemployable graduates from state universities where they have also studied at public cost, an official said. Sri Lanka has about 400,000 sitting for university qualifications exams and each year about 20,000 enter universities, and some […]

Gurkhas in first wave of British military job cuts

LONDON, April 7, 2011 (AFP) – Debt-laden Britain said Monday that 2,600 troops would lose their jobs in a first wave of redundancies forced by defence cuts, with 150 Nepalese Gurkha troops among the first to go. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that 1,000 soldiers and 1,600 Royal Navy personnel would be laid off. […]

Sri Lanka, UK flights to increase

Apr 07, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to sign an air services agreement with the United Kingdom enabling increased flights between the two countries, a government statement said. The air services agreement would enable the frequency entitlement to be increased to 21 flights a week from 14 today between the two countries. The increased […]

Sri Lanka cricket needs clean-up: Bayliss

April 7, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s outgoing coach Trevor Bayliss on Thursday said the country needed a strong and stable cricket administration to allow players to focus only on the game and not be distracted by politics. “On the field, we’ve done pretty well for past 18 months,” Bayliss said in an interview with […]

Sri Lanka gets Stuart Law as new coach

April 6, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Cricket on Wednesday promoted assistant coach and former Australian batsman Stuart Law to guide the national team ahead of next month’s tour of England. “He will be the new interim coach,” a spokesman for Sri Lanka Cricket, the governing body of the sport in the island, said. Law […]

‘s Muralitharan clears British visa hurdle

April 6, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s legendary spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who was worried about Britain’s new visa regulations, has secured a work permit to play county cricket, his manager said Wednesday. Kushil Gunasekera said the British authorities had expedited his visa as he had to leave for India on Wednesday to play in the […]

Sri Lanka court grants bail for detained editor

April 7, 2011 (AFP) – The editor of a pro-opposition Sri Lankan news website was released on bail Thursday, a week after his arrest sparked protests from international media rights groups. Bennet Rupasinghe had been taken into police custody on charges of allegedly threatening a suspect wanted for a January arson attack on the offices […]

Sri Lanka to get $300mn a year for infrastructure from ADB

Apr 07, 2011 (LBO) – The Asian Development Bank would finance Sri Lanka with about 300 million dollars annually over the next few years, with roads, water supply and sanitation getting attention, officials said. In the past three years Sri Lanka had got nearly a billion dollars of Asia Development Financing, with a peak of […]

Sri Lanka Treasuries yields flat

Apr 06, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Treasury bill yields were flat at Wednesday’s auction with six billion rupees of maturing bills being sold to real buyers, the government’s debt office said. The 3-month yield was 6.99, up one basis point, with 2,560 million rupees in bills being sold and the 6-month yield rose one […]

Sri Lanka shares end lower

Apr 06, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan shares closed lower Wednesday with poultry sector stocks again drawing interest along with a hotel that boosted turnover, brokers said. The All Share Price Index closed at 7,359.90, down 0.14 percent (10.12 points) while the more liquid Milanka index fell 0.37 percent (25.85 points) to close at 6,996.43, […]

Transport Trouble

Apr 06, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s supply chain losses are the highest in the region with a poor road network and congestion resulting in transport delays and higher costs, an expert said. Kumarage, a former chairman of the national transport commission, said better transport policies and implementation were required apart from building better roads […]

Scribe Network

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2011 (AFP) – Facebook on Tuesday launched a media resource page to help journalists use the social network as a reporting tool and better connect with their audience. The “Journalists on Facebook” page is intended to be “an ongoing resource for the growing number of reporters using Facebook to find sources, interact […]

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