England will host Sri Lanka for two Tests and three ODIs in April and May next year. Sri Lanka's tour slots in the fixture gap caused by England's decision to suspend bilateral ties with Zimbabwe and the cancellation of their 2009 visit.
David Collier, the ECB chief executive, was pleased with Sri Lankan's willingness to step in and ensure England will have a competitive series ahead of the Ashes later in the summer.
"The strong and close relationship which we built up during our recent winter tours to Sri Lanka allowed the ECB, at short notice, to be able to approach Sri Lanka and confirm their availability for the international matches in the early part of next summer," he said.
The ECB cancelled Zimbabwe's tour last month, minutes after Gordon Brown, the prime minister, told the House of Commons that he wanted the tour scrapped. The ban on a team from Zimbabwe entering the country also put in doubt England's hosting of next year's World Twenty20 next year, but as of now the issue has been resolved with Zimbabwe pulling out of the event.
Sri Lanka play three three-day games ahead of the Tests series, followed by a warm-up one-dayer before the ODI series.
Source: cricinfo
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
England name Sri Lanka as Zimbabwe replacement
Turkish PKK running guns to tigers
Chief of Turkish General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit said on Tuesday that terrorism was the biggest threat for global peace and security in the age of globalization.
Gen. Yasar Buyukanit
"For instance, the terrorist organization PKK/Kongra-Gel is responsible for the 80 percent of heroin smuggled into Europe, extortion in several European countries, or even running guns to terrorist organization Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. These are all meaningful in terms of showing the activities of terrorist organizations in international level,"
Source: turkishpress
S.Lankan shares slide to 1-year closing low
Sri Lankan shares fell 1.19 percent to a one-year low on Tuesday as concerns about the impact of high interest rates and inflation on corporate earnings added to worries about the long-running civil war.
The Colombo All-Share index .CSE closed 28.67 points weaker at 2,372.50, a 10th consecutive fall that took it to its lowest close since July 19, 2007. The market has fallen 11.8 percent from an 11-month high on April 23.
"Investor sentiment is very weak, mainly on earning fears," said Geeth Balasuriya, assistant research manager at HNB Stockbrokers.
"High inflation and high interest rates are pressurising profit margins of the companies due to high costs, while some companies are discouraged to go for new investments due to high borrowing cost."
Later this month, companies are due to start releasing their results for the quarter ended on June 30.
Sentiment on the corporate sector has been hit by poor economic data. Annual consumer price inflation rose to a 5-year high of 28.2 percent in June, while annual economic growth in the March quarter slowed to 6.2 percent from 7.6 percent in the previous quarter. See [ID:nCOL109662].
Market heavyweight Dailog Telekom DIAL.CM fell 1.82 percent at 13.50 rupees a share calculated on a weighted average, and leading fixed-line telephone operator Sri Lanka Telecom SLTL.CM fell 2.38 percent to 41 rupees.
Top conglomerate by market capitalisation, John Keells Holdings JKH.CM closed 0.69 percent weaker at 107.25 rupees, and private lender Hatton National Bank HNB.CM fell 1.23 percent to 100 rupees.
Conglomerate Hayleys HAYL.CM closed 0.73 percent firmer at 137.75 rupees. Traders said four block deals in the stock were seen during trade.
Hayleys accounted for more than 32 percent of total turnover of 270.55 million rupees ($2.5 million), which was two-thirds of last year's daily average of 400 million rupees.
The rupee
The interbank lending rate CLIBOR rose to 14.906 percent, up from Monday's 13.650 percent. ($1=107.65 rupees)
Source: Reuters
Monday, 7 July 2008
India's Cairn to invest 100 mln dlrs to explore oil in Sri Lanka
Cairn India, a unit of British exploration firm Cairn Energy Plc, plans to invest 100 million dollars to explore oil and natural gas deposits off Sri Lanka's coast, officials said Monday.
Spread over three years, the investment includes conducting further seismic studies and drilling three wells off the island's northwestern coast of Mannar, Cairn India's chief financial officer Indrajit Banerjee told reporters here.
"Oil and gas exploration is a risky business and success is not always guaranteed. We plan to do more seismic studies because as of now we don't know what's down there," Banerjee said.
Sri Lanka, which imports all of its oil needs, offered three blocks to investors after seismic surveys showed oil deposits along the Gulf of Mannar close to neighbouring India.
Block two, an area that covers around 3,400 square kilometres (1,360 square miles) off Mannar, was offered to Cairn in June after a competitive bidding process.
"The Mannar basin has not been explored in Sri Lankan waters and as such represents a frontier petroleum province," Banerjee said.
Cairn has been in South Asia for more than a decade and has developed a good understanding of the region's geology, Banerjee said.
Banerjee added the company has made over 40 oil and gas discoveries to date in India, including the Mangala discovery onshore in the deserts of Rajasthan, which has an estimated total oil in place of 3.7 billion barrels.
Sri Lanka's north and east has seen heavy fighting over the past three decades as separatist rebels push to carve out a separate homeland for minority Tamils from the majority Sinhalese community.
Fighting has intensified since January, when the government pulled out of a Norwegian-brokered ceasefire with the Tamil Tigers.
"We have taken the security aspect into consideration in our bid. And the government has told us that the area is out of danger," Banerjee said.
Petroleum minister A.H.M. Fowzie said the government will provide adequate security when Cairn's project gets off the ground in six months.
"We can provide enough security for the project," Fowzie said.
Besides Cairn, India's state-run ONGC Videsh and Canada's Niko Resources bid to explore block two.
Sri Lanka has already allocated two other blocks to the governments of India and China.
Fowzie said Cairn deposited a one-million-dollar cheque with the Sri Lankan government during Monday's signing ceremony.
The island spent just under three billion dollars in 2007 importing oil and Fowzie expects the fuel bill to climb to four billion dollars this year.
Over 35 years ago, overseas companies explored areas off Sri Lanka's northwest coast, but failed to find any oil and gas reserves worth exploiting commercially.
Source: AFP
Sri Lanka warns of rebel attacks in Colombo
Sri Lanka beefed up security on Monday and warned of possible rebel attacks around the capital Colombo as the island's Tamil Tiger rebels marked the 21st anniversary of their first rebel suicide attack.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the weekend commemorated the 356 men and women who have blown themselves up suicide attacks since the first such attack on 5th July 1987, when the suicide bomber or Black Tiger drove an explosive-laden truck into a Sri Lankan Army garrison in northern Jaffna.
"According to the information bureau, the LTTE is planning disruptions in south - Colombo, the suburbs and other parts. We have put all police officers on alert," said police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekera.
Last year, Black Tiger commandos attacked the Sri Lankan airbase in north central district of Anudradhapura in the rebels' first combined Black Tiger and air attack, destroying several aircraft.
Separately, Sri Lanka's military said it killed 69 Tamil Tiger rebels in the island's far north in fresh weekend fighting. Five soldiers were also killed.
The fighting in the northern districts of Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar and Polonnaruwa came amid near daily land, sea and air attacks, as the government tries to gradually retake the rebels' northern stronghold in a bid to win the 25-year civil war.
"Troops killed 69 LTTE terrorists and injured 77 in fighting since Friday. Five soldiers died and 23 were injured from the fighting," said a military spokesman.
The military also said troops captured strategically important rebel bunkers in island's north on weekend while air force gunship helicopters attacked rebel positions.
The LTTE, fighting to create an independent state in north and east Sri Lanka for ethnic Tamils, a minority in the predominantly Sinhalese country, were not immediately available for comment.
Analysts say the military has the upper hand in the latest phase of the long-running war given superior air power, strength of numbers and swathes of terrain captured in the island's east, though they still see no clear winner on the horizon.
An estimated 70,000 people have died since the civil war began in 1983.
Source: Hindu
Bharti to start Lanka services by year-end
Bharti Airtel hopes to start providing services in Sri Lanka by the end of this year. Besides 2G, the firm is currently testing 3G services in the island.
"We will roll out both 2G and 3G network throughout Sri Lanka. The roll out will replicate the model currently followed in India," a source close to the development said. The company will initially start with Colombo and thereafter move to other towns and rural areas, he added.
Bharti has tied up with Huawei Technologies to build and manage GSM mobile infrastructure in Sri Lanka. Huawei will deploy and manage Airtel's core network, BTS and end-to-end 2G/3G network solutions. About 80% of Sri Lanka's mobile market is controlled by Dialog Telekom, a unit of Telekom Malaysia. "We will soon take a decision on the handset company with which we can tie up for bundled offers," the source said.
Meanwhile, Bharti intends to cover around 85% of India's rural population by the year-end. "We will expand in clusters to reach remote villages," said K Srinivas, Bharti executive director (east hub & Sri Lanka). Bharti currently enjoys 28.5% market share in eastern India. "We have already identified the areas that need to be covered," K Srinivas added.
Source: timesofindia
Canadian Tamils hold rally, condemn Ottawa's ban
Waving the flag of the Tamil Tigers guerrillas, thousands of Canadian Tamils gathered this weekend for their first rally since the federal government shocked the community by outlawing a Toronto-based Tamil non-profit group under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
A statement issued by the event's organizers condemned the government for last month's decision to ban the World Tamil Movement as a suspected financial front for the Tigers, and called on Canada to recognize guerrilla-held areas of northern Sri Lanka as an independent state, called Tamil Eelam.
"There is no other solution to this conflict," said Brian Senewiratne, a medical doctor from Australia who was the keynote speaker, addressing the large crowd at Downsview Park from a giant stage.
The Sri Lankan-born physician, who showed video clips of helicopter gunships firing rockets, called the Sri Lankan government a "murderous, barbaric regime" that was at war "against the Tamil people."
He said the Tamil Tigers, also known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, were a legitimate liberation movement. "There is a very clear distinction between terrorism and freedom fighters."
He urged the crowd to get more involved in the fight for Tamil independence.
"What I want to do is move you from watching things happen to making things happen." Canada's decision to ban the Tamil Tigers "has to be challenged," he said.
The rally was just the latest of many similar events that have taken place across Canada over the past decade but it came at a critical time: as the Tigers are apparently losing ground steadily on the battlefield and the Conservatives in Ottawa are taking a firm stand against Tamil Tigers activities in Canada.
Following a five-year RCMP investigation, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day announced in June that the government had placed the World Tamil Movement, which had offices in Toronto and Montreal, on Canada's list of outlawed terrorist groups because of evidence it was financing the Tigers.
The location of the rally was not announced until late Friday afternoon. The Sri Lankan United National Association of Canada had written to police asking them to cancel the event's permit because the Tigers are an outlawed terrorist group under Canadian law.
Participants were bussed in from around the region. They ranged from young children to the elderly, and carried signs that read: "O Canada you have a responsibility," and "Don't label us as terrorists."
Organizer Thiru Thiruchelvam said the location was only announced at the last minute because the event kept growing and they had to find a venue to accommodate the expected crowds.
"What we want is peace," said Thiruchelvam, who told how his 19-year-old son was killed by Sri Lankan government forces. "We are asking the Canadian government to get involved."
Sri Lankan Consul General Bandula Jayasekara denied Senewiratne's claim that Sri Lanka was at war with the Tamil people.
"The LTTE has killed more Tamil leaders than anyone else," he said. "Unfortunately the LTTE, a ruthless terrorist organization, has brought its ruthless war to Canada."
Source: canada.com
Sunday, 6 July 2008
48 LTTE rebels killed in Northern Sri Lanka clashes
At least 48 rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and a soldier have been killed in fresh clashes in Northern Sri Lanka.
At least 17 LTTE cadres were killed as soldiers yesterday captured a key LTTE's base in north-east Welioya, Sri Lankan Defence Ministry said in a statement at Colombo Saturday.
Seven more LTTE rebels were killed at North Kiribbanwewa area in Welioya yesterday.
Two LTTE cadres were killed in Ampaddankulam area in North-western Mannar yesterday, the Defence Ministry said.
Two more rebels were killed in Kiriththivu in Mannar yesterday. While two rebels were killed in Navathkulam in Vavuniya, three others were killed in Thunakkai area in the region.
Two LTTE cadres and a soldier were killed at Nochchikulam area in Vavuniya yesterday, the Ministry said.
In Nochchikulam, three cadres were killed. Six more were killed in Nauvi in Vavuniya yesterday. Four more rebels were killed in Kovitkanchikulam in Vavuniya yesterday.
Source: khabrein
Saturday, 5 July 2008
Fresh Clashes Kill 36 In Sri Lanka
At least 35 Tamil Tiger rebels and one security personnel were killed in fresh clashes in the country's restive northern region, defence ministry officials said on Saturday.
Government troops killed 35 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels and wounded an equal number in different places of Vavuniya, Mannar, Mullaitivu and Jaffna districts on Friday, the defense ministry said, adding that one soldier was killed and four wounded.
It was not possible to independently verify the military's claims because media are banned from the northern jungles where much of the fighting takes place.
The rebels have been battling for an independent homeland since 1972 in an ethnic conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Source: AHN
Indian Navy to operate UAVs from air station at Uchipuli
The Indian Navy, which commissioned its first Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) squadron at Kochi two and half years ago, plans to operate UAVs from the Naval Air Station at Uchipuli near here.
This is expected to enhance the Navy’s surveillance capability along the coast off Tamil Nadu from Tuticorin to Chennai and the sea around southern peninsula. The move is considered an “imperative” step in the context of the prolonged war between Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
The programme took shape after the recent visits of Vice Admiral Raman Prem Suthan, Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma, Flag Officer Commanding-In-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, and Commodore Phillip Van Haltren, Naval Officer-in-Charge, Tamil Nadu, to the air station.
At least two Israeli-built UAVs based at the Indian Naval Air Squadron at Kochi might be operated from the Naval Air Station at Uchipuli, to be upgraded as a regular commissioned air station. Its 3,000-foot runway will be expanded to 6,000 ft, keeping in mind future requirements. It has been proposed to acquire 343 acres in the nearby areas to facilitate the expansion.
“We will be in a position to station UAVs and operate them round the clock within a year,” Commander P. Rajkumar, Station Commander, Naval Air Station, Uchipuli, told The Hindu.
The focus of the programme was to operate UAVs at a higher altitude from remote.
Source: Hindu
