Tag: news
Sri Lankan president visits Maldives
MALE, Feb 11, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse arrived in the Maldives on Sunday for a series of talks on bilateral trade, officials said.Rajapakse is due to meet Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom for a one-on-one meeting followed by lunch with key government officials here. The Sri Lankan president is expected to […]
Sri Lanka president strips security from three sacked ministers
COLOMBO, Feb 10, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse on Saturday withdrew the security detail from three ministers sacked a day earlier, following dissension within the newly appointed jumbo cabinet.Samaraweera was a key ally of Rajapakse during the 2005 presidential election campaign but fell out of favour after he criticised the president for […]
Alternative Fund
February 09 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will set up an agency to administer the renewable energy sector in Sri Lanka and also establish a fund to support newer forms of energy, a senior minister said. Sri Lanka’s cabinet of ministers had approved the setting up of Sustainable Energy Authority, but the draft law would have […]
Sri Lanka town shuts down to mourn slain Hindu priest
Feb 9, 2007 (AFP) – A town in Sri Lanka’s embattled east shut down Friday as a sign of respect for a Hindu priest gunned down four days after he welcomed President Mahinda Rajapakse to a former guerrilla stronghold.Military officials said shops closed and transport was halted in Valachchenai to mourn Selliah Parameswar, who was […]
Sri Lanka president sacks three ministers in surprise move
COLOMBO, Feb 9, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president Friday sacked three ministers, including the former foreign minister, amid growing dissension within the newly-elected 54-member cabinet, officials said. With last month’s defections, Rajapakse’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) enjoys a majority and the sacking of the three ministers will not immediately cause any problems for […]
Not Funny
February, 08 (LBO) – A decision by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to tender its liquid petroleum gas output in the open market will re-create an absolute monopoly, Sri Lanka’s second gas retailer has said. CPC which produces about 10 percent of the country’s annual L P gas requirements now sells its production to Laugfs Lanka, […]
Hindu priest shot dead after welcoming Sri Lanka president
Feb 8, 2007 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels shot dead a Hindu priest who welcomed President Mahinda Rajapakse to a former guerrilla bastion in the island’s east, military officials said Thursday. Selliah Parameswar was dragged out of his house in Batticaloa district and shot dead late Wednesday by a group of unidentified gunmen, officials […]
” by US peace envoy call
Feb 8, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Thursday said it was not ‘unduly worried’ over a proposal to US President George W.Bush by American lawmakers to appoint a special envoy to help bring peace to the embattled Indian Ocean island.Sri Lanka cabinet spokesman and Media Minister Anura Yapa said Colombo believed the US would continue […]
Oil Deposit
February 07, 2007 (LBO) — Sri Lanka has asked governments of India and China to make a 100 million dollar deposit each, for securing a block to explore oil off the shores of the island, a top official said.“Out of the eight identified oil blocks we have given one each to India and China on […]
Call to free detained journalists in Sri Lanka
Feb 7, 2007 (AFP) – International media rights groups have demanded the release of three Sri Lankan journalists who went missing earlier this week in the capital Colombo.Media organisations have described Sri Lanka as one of the most dangerous places for journalists in South Asia. The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urged President Mahinda Rajapakse […]
Gas Change
February 06, (LBO) – Ceylon Petroleum Corporation would call open tenders to sell the liquid petroleum gas produced at its refinery, Petroleum Minister A H M Fowzie said. Laugfs Gas, the company which had a 5-year contract to buy the LP Gas from Ceypetco had been given a 3-month extension until April 21. Laugfs now […]
US congressmen ask Bush to appoint peace envoy for Sri Lanka
WASHINGTON, Feb 5, 2007 (AFP) – A group of 38 US lawmakers have asked President George W.Bush to appoint a special envoy to help bring about peace in conflict-ridden Sri Lanka. The legislators from the House of Representatives said in a letter to Bush that they were troubled by renewed violence and a rising number […]