Colombo, Feb 14, : Sri Lankan Government has appointed the founder of IT major Infosys, Narayana Murthy, as the international advisor to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona described this step as a bid to increase investments into the Information Technology sector in Sri Lanka.

"N. R. Narayana Murthy was appointed as the international adviser to the Sri Lankan President and he has accepted it," he said.

Colombo  - The ruling party was poised to win elections being held Saturday in two of Sri Lanka's nine provinces in what was widely seen as a prelude to snap parliamentary polls this year.

The voting to select members of provincial councils was being held in the Central and North-Western provinces, where more than 3.4 million voters were registered to vote.

Colombo- Sri Lanka has officially rejected a proposal by the British government to send a special envoy to Colombo to look into humanitarian issues and help work out a political solution to the conflict between the government and separatist Tamil rebels, a senior minister said Friday.

New Delhi, Feb 13 : Bhartiya Janata Party (BSP) prime ministerial candidate L K Advani accused the Congress- led UPA of being "insensitive" towards the Sri Lankan Tamils'' cause and dismissed the use of brutal force in resolving the grave issue.

Karachi, Feb. 11 : Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ijaz Butt has vowed to improve security arrangements for the 2011 World Cup in the backdrop of International Cricket Council deciding to move the 2009 Champions Trophy out of Pakistan due to security concerns raised by various teams.

"Pakistan would improve on the existing facilities for the World Cup while the International Cricket Council (ICC) would also make security arrangements," Butt was quoted by The News, as saying.

Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will jointly host the 10th world cup 2011.

Colombo- Hundreds of civilians fleeing the fighting between Tamil separatist rebels and the government attempted to enter government-controlled areas in northern Sri Lanka but were driven by guerillas back into rebel-held territory, military officials said Wednesday.

Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said civilians who were heading toward the military's forward defence lines were beaten by the rebels and sent deeper into rebel-held areas.