In a significant move, Sri Lanka Cricket has announced that it has granted the worldwide rights to broadcast India's upcoming cricket tour of Sri Lanka to the Nimbus Sports International. The Singapore-headquartered global sports management company will also be producing the television coverage for the series which will be broadcast worldwide. Neo Cricket will air these matches.

Colombo - One police officer was killed and 12 other people including four schoolchildren were injured when a bomb affixed to a bicycle exploded in an eastern town of Sri Lanka on Tuesday morning, a police spokesman said.

The bicycle was parked close to the main police station in Batticaloa, 240 kilometres east of the capital and a remote- controlled device was used to detonate the bomb, he said.

Police said they believe that rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were responsible for the explosion.

Colombo - Navy and ground troops battled Tamil rebels in separate confrontations Tuesday as security forces were closing upon the main rebel stronghold in northern Sri Lanka, military officials said.

New clashes between advancing security forces and rebels were reported in three locations in Mullaitivu district, 375 kilometres north-east of the capital Colombo.

The military said "fierce fighting" was reported in the areas and at least seven dead rebels were recovered. One rebel base with fortified bunkers also was found during the operation. The military made no mention about casualties of soldiers.

Karachi, Jan. 20 : Sri Lanka will have an edge over Pakistan in the upcoming one-day series, captain Shoaib Malik believes.

Malik said Sri Lanka will have an advantage because they have played more international cricket than Pakistan.

"They have an advantage of playing more international cricket and have greater confidence levels than us," The News quoted Malik, as saying.

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has been selected in India’s 15-member squad for the Sri Lanka tour while because of a hamstring injury off-spinner Harbhajan Singh had to be left out from the team.

Jadeja was rewarded for his fine performances in the Ranji Trophy in which he scored over 700 runs at over 67 per innings and picked 42 wickets.

However, right hand batsman from Delhi Virat Kohli was dropped from the team announced by BCCI joint secretary Sanjay Jagdale after a meeting of the selectors. Indian skipper MS Dhoni also attended the meeting.

New Delhi, Jan 19 : Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath today emphasised that there is a scope for further improvement for FDI inflows to India, and added that top sectors in which FDI has been approved from Sri Lanka are textiles, food processing industries, telecommunication, trading, chemicals, paper and leather industries.