Aug 20 (DM) The JHU yesterday dissociated itself from the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) proposals for power devolution revealed in the media, referring to them as a step to impose a federal system even exceeding the parametres of the Indian and US constitutions. Launching a verbal barrage at APRC Chairman and Minister Tissa Vitarana, the JHU said even the SLFP and the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) which were parties of the ruling coalition had not agreed to this set of proposals. more..

Aug 20 (IANS) The thousands displaced within Sri Lanka because of fighting are leading a miserable life in refugee camps and are at times forced to return to their original areas of residence against their will, says a report. The refugees, categorised as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), are also used as "pawns" by both the Sri Lankan state and non-state actors such as the breakaway faction of the Tamil Tigers, says a South Asians for Human Rights (SHAR) study. more..

Aug 20 (AP) Sri Lankan soldiers and Tamil rebels clashed in northern Sri Lanka, killing ten combatants, the military said Monday. The fighting occurred in northern Vavuniya area, on the frontier between government-controlled areas and rebel-held parts of the north Sunday evening, military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said. He said seven insurgents and one soldier died. more..

Aug 20 (AFP) Sri Lanka’s new coach Trevor Bayliss will let his team play their naturally attacking style of cricket, a strategy that clicked for his predecessor Tom Moody. Bayliss, who took over from fellow Australian Moody after the World Cup in April, said he will continue the tactics that helped Sri Lanka reach the final of the cricketing extravaganza. “Sri Lanka have been successful with their attacking style. Not a lot will change as they have proved successful during the last 18 months or so,” more..

Aug 20 (GDI) Government troops engaged in their search operations in the recently liberated Thoppigala area have discovered the second hospital used by the LTTE. Media Center for National Security (MCNS) informs. The center named as ‘LTTE media Unit’ was located east of Narakamulla. According to MCNS, the hospital consists of a large drug store, dental section and facilities for surgery. more..

Aug 20 (GDI) Despite of the low prevalence of AIDS in Sri Lank where only 0.1% of the country’s total population is infected with it, President Mahinda Rajapaksa stated that the Government is committed in combating the scourge of AIDS. The President stated this while addressing the inauguration of the 08th International Congress on AIDS in the Asia\ Pacific region yesterday at the BMICH. more..

Aug 20 (Reuters) Sri Lankan tourist arrivals, hard hit by renewed civil war, have picked up in August thanks to international events and conferences that industry officials hope will help change perceptions about visitor safety. Tourist arrivals fell 23.7 percent in the first seven months of the year from the same period in 2006 to 268,963 visitors as the state fights a deadly new chapter in a two-decade civil war that has killed nearly 70,000 people since 1983. more..

Aug 20 (ANN) Prayers and commemoration ceremonies were held today in Colombo, Mannar and Jaffna to mark the first anniversary of the disappearance of Fr Thiruchelvam Nihal Jimbrown and his assistant, Wenceslaus Vimalathas. The day served to remember the priest’s selfless courage and to draw attention to all victims of daily abductions and killings in the northern peninsula of Jaffna. more..

Aug 20 (DNA) A man sits in a pub, taking digs at religion and other social issues, and his drinking buddy is no other than God himself. This is the theme of writer and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap’s stage production When God Said Cheers, which has been running for over four years on the parallel theatre circuit across the country. Now, the play has the distinction of being staged for a global audience at the ongoing International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) in Colombo, Sri Lanka. more..

Aug 21 (CI) Sri Lanka A progressed to the final of the triangular tournament after rain caused play to be abandoned in their encounter against Kenya in Nairobi. Sri Lanka A won the toss and chose to field but, with only five deliveries bowled, a downpour stopped play. Nearly three hours later, the match was called off due to a wet outfield. more..

Aug 21 (CI) Trevor Bayliss, Sri Lanka's new coach, believes that his teams attacking style of cricket would suit them in the upcoming Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. "Sri Lanka hasn't played a lot of Twenty20 cricket. But the style of cricket they play can be suited to the Twenty20 game. Sri Lanka is a team that plays an attacking style of the game. more..

Aug 21 (Reuters) Unknown gunmen shot dead a Tamil staff member of the Danish Demining Group in Sri Lanka's far north on Monday, the group said, the latest in a rash of aid worker killings on the island. The shooting took place in the army-held Jaffna peninsula, which is cut off from the rest of the island behind rebel lines and has been beset by shootings in recent months and attacks on troops blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels. more..

Aug 21 (AT) I apologise for the mistake I have made in my previous article confusing the identities of Professor Steven Knapp with Mr. Stephen Knapp. I thank Mr. Sumanadasa Wijayapala for pointing out this mistake. As the Chinese philosopher Confucius of 551 BC-479BC said: “Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.” more..

Aug 21 (AT) The 8th International Conference on Aids in Asia Pacific(ICAAP) began on 19th August at the BMICH and will continue until 23rd August 2007 with over 1000 thousand delegates participating it is learnt. No doubt it is very important to conduct seminars/workshops and conferences on the subject of AIDS/HIV with a view of making more and more people around the world, more..

Aug 21 (Hindu) Head of the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) Justice P.N. Bhagwati called on Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday to sort out the issues pertaining to the functioning of the Commission appointed by the latter on human rights violations. A senior official in the Presidential Secretariat told The-Hindu that the one-to-one meeting was “cordial”. more..

Aug 21 (AN) Saudi-Sri Lankan relations reached a new milestone during President Mahinda Rajapakse’s tenure, observed Mohammed Mahmud Al-Ali, who completes a six-year stint in Sri Lanka as the Kingdom’s ambassador in Colombo. Al-Ali, who was the first Saudi ambassador in Colombo ever since the Kingdom’s mission opened in 1995, was speaking to Arab News yesterday, following his farewell call on President Rajapakse at Temple Trees on Friday. more..

Aug 21 (wsws) Although an appeal has been filed in the Saudi Arabian Supreme Court, the fate of Sri Lankan maid Rizana Nafeek hangs in the balance. She was sentenced to death in June for the murder of her employer’s child. The case exposes not only the reactionary character of the Saudi legal system but the failure of the Sri Lankan government to defend hundreds of thousands of contract workers in the Middle East. more..

Aug 21 (ISL) LTTE head Arunachalam Chrishanthakumar alias A C Shanthan’s private secretary Charles Somasundaram has come from nowhere and has reflected his anger and hatred in a confused and desperate manner against me. By writing for Shanthan’s substitute Kannan who is managing a LTTE website, Charles Somasundaram adduce that he is now acting as Kannan’s private secretary. more..

Aug 21 (ISL) The government of Sri Lanka is maintaining silence over the degrading racist statement made by the President’s brother Basil Rajapakse who is holding a very high position as Presidential Advisor. It was widely reported Basil Rajapakse was engaged in an altercation with Muththu Sivalingam MP (a Tamil member of parliament representing the upcountry Ceylon Workers Congress) and had called him ‘Para Demela’ (Pariah Tamil). more..

Aug 21 (ISL) With the LTTE eviction from Batticaloa after a succession of reverses, and their eventual collapse at Thoppigala on July 11, 2007, the expulsion of the rebels from their strongholds in the Eastern Province was complete. Well before these successes, outlining the Sri Lanka Army’s (SLA) strategy, on January 4, 2007, the Army Commander, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, had declared, "After eradicating the Tigers from the East, full strength would be used to rescue the North." more..

Aug 21 (ISL) Finally, the Tamil National Alliance delegation that had been abroad for quite some time has returned to the country. The delegation visited several diplomats in the European countries during its nearly two-month long tour. The purpose of the visit was ‘to apprise the international community of the plights and the sufferings facing the North-East Tamils at present’. more..

Aug 21 (LeN) In view of the statements made by two members of the JHU, Environment Minister, Champika Ranawaka and the JHU representative at the APRC, Mr. Udaya Gammanpila, I wish to put the record straight so that there can be no misconceptions. As one who is influenced by the Buddhas' message of compassion, I shall not waste words on replying to the personal abuse and wild charges directed at me. more..

Aug 21 (LBO) The controlling shareholder of Asha Central Hospital said he was exiting while the stock of a rival hospital that has expressed interest also shot up on retail buying Tuesday. Euroam Management Services a family owned unlisted holding company said it had decided to sell its 82 percent stake in Asha. Euroam is controlled by Dr Neville Fernando. Asha Central share closed 75 cents lower at 84.00 rupees on Tuesday. more..

Aug 21 (LBO) Sri Lanka should guide youth to build skills and be more responsive by better aware of demand conditions, organizers of a national exhibition aimed at matching skills with market needs have said. "There is a greater responsibility cast on all of us, not only the government, the educators but as stakeholders of society, to equip the youth with the market-relevant knowledge, skills and the right attitude so they can have the right competencies to meet the challenges of today's world," more..

Aug 21 (AT) Jeyarajah Fernandopulle reminded that the international community must desist from promoting and glorifying Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, internationally the second largest terrorist organization, next to Al-Qaeda. He said that LTTE is an internationally proclaimed terrorist organization, proscribed in India after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and in almost all the first world country. more..

Aug 21 (AT) Internationally reputed jurist and author of the famous book , The Assasination of a Prime Minister, Lucien G. Weeramantry died in Colombo and his funeral took place, August 20 Monday at the General Cemetery Kanatte, his family announced. Lucien G. Weeramantry appeared for the assassin, Somarama, in the famous S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike assassination trial and wrote the book Assassination of a Prime Minister, which was published in Switzerland. more..

Aug 21 (LT) The Salaries assessment committee should take a firm decision to solve the salary issues in the teacher service says Minister of Education Susil Premajayanthe when ‘Lankatruth’ inquired regarding the crisis that has developed with the decision taken by certain teachers’ trade unions to boycott evaluation of A/L papers. more..

Aug 21 (LT) The evaluation process of the A/L examination scheduled to commence today has been completely disrupted due to trade union action begun by five teachers’ trade unions say reports. Eighteen out of twenty eight evaluation centers had to be closed down due to the boycott of evaluation by teachers. The workshops scheduled for examiners that were to be held on the 16th and 17th too had to be cancelled due to non participation of teachers. more..

Aug 21 (LD) Former cricket skipper and SLFP MP Arjuna Ranatunga had handed his resignation from his post as the party organizer in the Kotte electorate to the President last Friday (August 18th). Mr. Ranatunga revealed that his decision was based on problems he had with Kotte Mayor in executing his duties in the area adding it was pointless remaining in the position of the party organizer, unable to do any justice to his post. more..

Aug 21 (LD) Leader of the opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe says the UNP will stage a series of protest both in and out of the parliament against the restrictions imposed on the state media. Addressing the UNP parliamentary group meeting today he said the UNP would take measures to uphold the media freedom in the country. This gathering which was held at the parliamentary complex at around 3 this evening was opened for media and several both local and foreign journalists were present. more..

Aug 21 (GDI) A group of 200 students from Welikanda, a conflict affected area of the Polonnaruwa district, get an opportunity for a sight-seeing in Colombo, commencing today (21). They are arriving in Colombo this evening and on arrival they will be welcomed at the Army Camp at Panagoda. The group consists of 150 sinhala students, 39 Muslim students, 20 Tamil students, their parents and 12 teachers. more..

Aug 21 (GDI) The winners of the Shilpa-2006 handicraft, small and medium scale industry national exhibition held in November 2006 will be awarded with presidential awards on the 30th of this month. The recipients will also be awarded with cash prizes from Rs.5000/= upward to 50,000/=. The objective of this awarding is to appreciate and encourage the personals and communities engaged in local industries. more..

Aug 21 (GDI) Government will be taking steps to develop sacred sites in Sri Lanka, under which the historic and sacred areas of Matale Aluvihara Temple and Muttu Amman Kovil will be renovated and developed. This programme will be implemented as a special project conducted by Physical Planning Department under the directive of the Minister Urban Development and Sacred Area Development Dinesh Gunawardena. more..

Aug 21 (GDI) Sri Lanka Army completely foils the LTTE launched artillery attack from Poonaryn targeting the Palaly Military complex in Jaffna this morning (21), Media Centre for National Security states. Tigers have fired ten rounds of Artillery yet all have fallen outside the complex, reports further add. Troops have retaliated using Artillery and Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers, successfully neutralizing the Tiger positions. more..

Aug 21 (GDI) Under the theme of “Lets Grow and Develop the Nation” which is introduced to encourage the local production of agricultural products, a special discussion was held under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and several Ministers and officials at Temple Tree’s yesterday(20). It is estimated that the Government spend over Rs.100 billion to import 32% of the total domestic food demand annually. more..

Aug 21 (GDI) The members of the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) held useful and constructive discussions with President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday. The IIGEP said in a press release the meeting was a useful and constructive one in which ‘the main issues under consideration were freely discussed.’ The IIGEP concluded its third quarterly plenary meeting in Colombo yesterday. more..

Aug 21 (ANN) Although Sri Lanka’s tea export income increased in the first half of this year, tea smallholders, who account for more than 50 per cent of the production, are affected by several issues. The Joint Federation of Tea Smallholders said that the increasing price of fertiliser and other inputs is among one of the major problems they face today. Tea smallholders also complain that the cost of labour has increased manifold, which is adding to the cost of production. more..

Aug 21 (KT) BUREAUCRATS in our foreign ministry must be a sad lot. The blunders the government makes in its relations with the outside world make one believe that their advice is no longer sought. There was a time when the foreign ministry’s career diplomats were considered the cream of our intelligentsia. Still there are some in the service. more..

Aug 21 (LNP) The UGC and the IUSF are on a collision course over the need to implement the Anti- ragging Act introduced to stop freshers being subjected to `inhuman ragging` in universities. UGC Chairman Prof. Gamini Samaranayake told the Daily Mirror that ragging was taking place in universities to achieve political objectives and that parents had complained to him about their children being harassed under the guise of being ragged upon entrance. more..

Aug 21 (LNP) Teachers` unions are cock-a-hoop as their boycott has reportedly crippled the GCE (A/L) answer script evaluation. What an achievement! It is going to be a long wait for the students who are aspiring to higher education after years of hard work. Instead of letting out a strident cock-a-doodle-doo, they must hang their heads in shame for holding students to ransom to win their demands. more..

Aug 21 (SAMN) The Sri Lanka Embassy in Tehran in association with the Islamic Cultural Relations Organization (ICRO) of Iran has made arrangements for a seven member delegation of Lankan Buddhist monks to visit Iran during the third week of October on a mission to promote a dialogue between Buddhism and Islam. ICRO of Iran is the apex State sponsored body that overlooks the promotion of cultural relations and religious dialogues between countries and cultures. more..

Aug 21 (SAMN) The Public Accounts Committee will today start a two-day grilling session of senior officials of the Inland Revenue Department over serious allegations of irregularities in accounting in the department, PAC Chairman and Minister Rauff Hakeem said. Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera will also be present during the proceedings. more..

Aug 21 (TW) I read a fine Historical Romance recently. But it is more than that and it is not a romantic story either. It is partly history and partly a treatise in defense of a historical figure during the Kandyan Regime in Lanka. The icon in the estimate of the author was patriotic in his action in plotting against an ‘alien ‘. The hero is Ehelapola. And the ‘alien’ is the last king of Kandy, who was not a Sinhala. more..

Aug 21 (SAMN) Transparency International (TI) has expressed surprise at moves by Parliament to appoint another committee to look into the COPE report which triggered serious discussion on public sector corruption in Sri Lanka. As a country that has ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), all organs of the Sri Lankan government, including Parliament, are required to ensure that corruption is eliminated without any reservations in all fronts, TI said. more..

Aug 21 (DN) An attempt to sabotage the 08th International Congress on AIDS in the Asia\Pacific region had came a cropper, with as many as 2,500 delegates from more than 70 countries attending the event, Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition Nimal Siripala de Silva said. The 08th ICAAP got off the ground at the BMICH under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa with a large gathering of local and foreign delegates, and the deliberations to be continued till August 23. more..

Aug 21 (DN) The Sri Lankan Foreign Employment Bureau (SLBFE) has seen a welcome 41 per cent decrease in the number of complaints from Sri Lankan foreign employees in the first half of 2007 against the same period last year. This development in the foreign employment sector is attributed to new administrative regulations introduced by the SLBFE recently and strict monitoring of job agencies. more..

Aug 21 (DM) The controversy over school admissions to Grade 1 took a new turn yesterday when the Ananda College Old Boys Association went to the Supreme Court challenging the recent circular on the admission of children for grade one next year. Citing Education Ministry Secretary Ariyaratne Hewage, President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga and the Attorney General as respondents, the association’s joint secretary Jayasiri Ittapana asked court to set aside the latest guidelines needed to be followed for admission of students to Grade 1 for 2008. more..

Aug 21 (DM) Sri Lanka will manufacture the Indian Suzuki Maruti Motor Cars locally with the government engaged in the formulation to attract increased investments in the manufacture of motor cars. “We will take steps to manufacture the Indian Suzuki Maruti Motor Cars locally,” Industrial Development and Ranaviru Welfare Minister Kumara Welgama said recently. The objective is to create an opportunity to purchase Indian Suzuki Maruti Motor Cars at a low cost. more..

Aug 21 (ENI) An Anglican priest and senior leader in Sri Lanka's National Christian Council says that even the churches in this conflict-ridden country are ethnically divided, and need "to break down the walls of separation." So, he has outlined one way in which this might begin to happen. "Is it possible for the church leaders at national level to jointly commission clergy in regions to engage in a meaningful and relevant mission through ecumenical activities?" more..

Aug 21 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's rupee weakened to a ninth consecutive life closing low on Tuesday as importers bought dollars to settle trade bills, while stocks rose led by Asiri Surgical Hospital , dealers said. The rupee ended at 112.10/112.12 per dollar, surpassing the previous life low of 112.02/112.08 hit on Monday. The local currency has hit a series of new all-time lows in recent months. more..