Aug 7 (PISL) A bomb scare near the Indian High Commission was short-lived after it later proved to be an electrical short circuit. Confusion reigned near the bridge over the Colombo-Matara railway line close to the Indian High Commission when an alert policeman, attached to Kollupitiya police, on route clearing duties for VIP movements, heard a crackling noise emanating from the surface of the bridge. more..

Aug 7 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's rupee ended flat at new life lows on Tuesday in quiet trade, while stocks fell led by select blue chips like Sri Lanka Telecom and John Keells Holdings , dealers said. The rupee ended at 111.90/111.92 per dollar. compared to Monday's close of 111.88/111.94 per dollar -- itself the latest in a series of new all time lows in recent months. more..

Aug 7 (LNP) The Government yesterday said there was no room for inviting a UN human rights monitoring mission to Sri Lanka as such a move would be an infringement on the sovereignty of the country and would also throw in doubt the ability of the Sri Lankan authorities to carry out their own inquires. Government Defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwelle, responding to the damning report released by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), stressed the government was doing its best to deal with the allegations of human rights violations. more..

Aug 7 (LNP) Ceylon Workers Congress parliamentarians who pulled out of the government last week, yesterday pledged to continue supporting government moves which would have no adverse impact on the estate Tamil community. CWC member and former Minister M. Muttu Sivalingam told journalists his party had no interest in either forming or toppling a government. more..

Aug 7 (LNP) Explanations, charges and counter charges, challenges and counter challenges, condemnations and vilifications are galore over the subject of duty-free vehicles. Despite all these demonstrations before the media the subject is becoming murkier by the hour. This issue has now come to the fore submerging all other burning public problems thus providing further proof of mixed priorities in this country. more..

Aug 7 (LNP) Bindu Juneja, the renowned Odissi dancer from India and her troupe will perform at the Bishop`s College Auditorium in Colombo on August 15 at 6.30 p.m. Her programme in Colombo will also include performances at the Indian Cultural Centre on August 17 at 6.30 p.m. and in Kandy at the Dharmaraja College Auditorium on August 16 at 6.30 p.m. more..

Aug 7 (SAMN) The government Monday told John Holmes, the visiting UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs it was not happy with the results of humanitarian work shown by some International and local NGOs especially in the east. The Foreign Ministry said the government views were expressed to Holmes during meetings with Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona and top officials at the Foreign Ministry where the UN official raised concerns of the international community regarding issues of humanitarian access. more..

Aug 7 (SAMN) Parliament will debate the soaring cost of living today as an adjournment motion to be proposed by Chief Opposition Whip Joseph Michael Perera. The House will meet today at 9.30 am with Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara in the chair. UNP MPs Ravi Karunanayake and Lakshman Kiriella are to raise JHU MP Ven. Ellawala Medhananda Thera’s the Benz car issue today. In addition, the UNP parliamentary group decided yesterday to speed up their agitation campaign against the government targeting the forthcoming budget. more..

Aug 7 (SAMN) The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress has decided to contest three Pradeshiya Sabhas and the Batticaloa Municipal Council which have areas with a large concentrations of Muslims at the coming local government election in the East. SLMC General Secretary Hassan Ali said they decided to start electioneering at grassroots level in these areas. Eravur Pattu, Manmunai Pattu and Korali Pattu are the three Pradeshiya Sabhas to be contested by the SLMC. more..

Aug 7 (DN) The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probing the massive fraud at the Agrarian Insurance Board and Agrarian Service yesterday told the Colombo Chief Magistrate and Additional District Judge Kusala Sarojini Weerawardena that the investigations had revealed that Minister S. M. Chandrasena was not involved in any of the transactions in the Agrarian Insurance Board fraud. more..

Aug 7 (DN) The most Ven. Tibbotuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Mahanayake Thera of the Malwatte Chapter said he will never condone the allegations made by the main Opposition against Puravidya Chakravarti Ven. Ellawala Medhananda Thera a reputed Bhikkhu who had rendered a great service forwards the Archaeological sector of this country. more..

Aug 7 (DM) The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) is planning a major crack down on eating houses, shops and supermarkets in the city shortly. Chief Medical Officer of the CMC, Dr. Pradeeep Kariyawasam, told Daily Mirror the operation would start in a few days time. He said the CMC is keen on raiding eating houses, particularly those which sell Kottu Roti, as most of them are selling contaminated food. more..

Aug 7 (DM) Medical tests carried out on businessman Hemantha Nishantha are not substantial to indicate he was “abducted” as claimed by various parties, Police spokesman Jayantha Wickramaratne told the media yesterday. DIG Wickramaratne said the police had not recorded the complaint as an abduction, as Hemantha’s relative who lodged the initial complaint said he suspected Hemantha was abducted as the latter failed to turn up at a location where they were to meet. more..

Aug 7 (AP) A Tamil Tiger rebel blew himself up in northern Sri Lanka to avoid arrest Tuesday as soldiers shot dead his colleague, military said. Gunfire broke out as two insurgents attacked army troops on patrol in northern Vavuniya district near a front line separating government and rebel-held regions in the north, said an officer at the Defense Ministry's media center. more..

Aug 8 (OW) Any suspect unlucky enough to be detained in Sri Lanka's brutal conflict risks being hung upside down by their thumbs, beaten with metal poles, burnt with cigarettes, have petrol poured over their heads and boiling water forced down their throats. This is the unsavory image to emerge from a new publication on torture from the Home for Human Rights (HHR), a leading advocacy organization in Sri Lanka. more..

Aug 8 (AFP) The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) yesterday unveiled the draw for the first round of regional qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, saying champions Iraq were unable to play at home. Qatar, who are seeded 16 play Sri Lanka in the opening round on October 8. Afghanistan and the Palestinian team were also barred from playing home matches for security reasons, AFC tournament director and assistant general secretary Carlo Nohra told reporters. more..

Aug 8 (PTI) Lashing out at the ICC for bending rules to aid "chuckers" like Muttiah Muralitharan, former Indian spin legend Bishan Singh Bedi said the Sri Lankan off-spinner is a "monster" who is killing the game by setting a wrong precedent for youngsters. "That man (Muralitharan) is the best shot-putter in the history of cricket. People like him are just killing the game and nobody is doing anything about it," Bedi said at a function here. more..

Aug 8 (DN) Lladro Gallery on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills sits on some of the world's most expensive real estate. The Mawella refugee camp in Sri Lanka sits on some of its poorest. In a few weeks, the two worlds will come together, thanks to the humanitarian efforts of Dr. Martina Fuchs, a 44-year-old pediatrician from Studio City. Her mission started in December 2004, as she watched the news broadcasts of the devastating tsunami that killed an estimated 300,000 people. more..

Aug 8 (LeN) United National Party (UNP) questions why the Auditor General is not granting permission to audit the accounts of the Sri Lanka Logistics Company in which Gotabhaya Rajapakse holds a director post. The company handled the controversial purchasing of the outdated Mig-27 assault aircrafts that came to public as a massive misappropriation of billions of rupees. more..

Aug 8 (GDI) "The military defeat is essential to force the LTTE to participate in the negotiation table" said Government Chief Peace Negotiator Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva in a television interview with a foreign media. Minister who urged the Government of Australia to take stern action to ban the LTTE terror movement said that the LTTE is being announced as an international terrorist outfit in many countries including USA, UK and Canada. more..

Aug 8 (AFP) Sri Lanka's president hit back Tuesday against a new report on rights abuses saying the allegations are out of date, too generalised and do not warrant a special UN observer mission for the island. New York-based Human Rights Watch on Monday said there was a "shocking" rise in rights abuses and blamed government troops for intensifying unlawful killings and abductions. more..

Aug 8 (BBC) The Government of Sri Lanka says the report issued by New York based Human Rights Watch is full of "largely unconfirmed and unsbsatantiated allegations". In a statement issued from the President's office, the government says the report is inaccurate and biased. "The report of the Human Rights Watch entitled “Return to War – Human Rights under Siege” is largely tendentious, and is replete with generalizations. It refers to issues that have been largely resolved". more..

Aug 8 (BBC) The judiciary in Sri Lanka has issued a Notice of Interim Stay Order against the leader of the opposition. Colombo additional Magistrate issued the notice as a result of a petition to the courts by his former colleagues from the United National Party (UNP). The notice was issued asking Ranil Wickramasinghe to present a statement to court by 21st of August to prevent an Interim Stay Order being issued against him. more..

Aug 8 (IN) Ethnic conflict has plagued the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka for 35 years and claimed 60,000 lives. In late 2005, after a peace process and ceasefire fell apart, the fighting only intensified. For many Sri Lankan journalists, the conflict has colored their coverage of local issues. To address this problem, Internews is fostering more balanced reporting by bringing Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala journalists together in more..

Aug 8 (TW) The much awaited annual awards ceremony for the journalists in Sri Lanka got under way glamorously last night. Journalism Awards for Excellence 2006 was held at the BMICH on August 7 th 2007. There have been more than 450 applicants for the awards this year. Journalism Awards for Excellence 2006 was organized by the editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Press Institute. more..

Aug 8 (ML) The military victory gained by the State in Thoppigala has raised the stakes and brought the country to a most critical strategic conjuncture. The People’s Alliance government has two diametrically opposed paths it must choose to follow: Either to hold elections in the east, place Karuna as Chief Minister, unfold the ‘Nagenahira Navodaya’ (Resurgence of the East) development programme, consolidate the east politically and militarily, and more..

Aug 8 (ML) Two issues emerged as the week dawned. The controversy created by the luxury Mercedes Benz car worth over Rs. 28 million of JHU Leader Ven. Dr. Ellawala Medhananda Thero continued to rage while the Arumugam Thondaman led Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) shifted positions and decided to continue in government. more..

Aug 8 (ML) Public Administration Minister, Karu Jayasuriya told parliament yesterday that there was a conspiracy by an infamous Tamil businessman with LTTE links to pay large sums of money to UNP dissident MPs to topple the government. Making a special statement in parliament yesterday (7), Minister Jayasuriya alleged that that he was reliably informed about the conspiracy and the offer of money to the tune of Rs 10 million per government MP who consents to vote against the government by the businessman Charles Gnanakoon. more..

Aug 8 (ML) Employees of Lanka Phosphate are up in arms against the setting up of the proposed rubber fertiliser mixing plant in Kalutara. The proposed plant is to be set up in Kalutara which is also the constituency of Industrial Development Minister Kumara Welgama. Employees have protested alleging that the proposed project is yet another step that would lead to the company’s closure. more..

Aug 8 (ML) A SHORTAGE of ticket checkers has resulted in bus conductors not being diligent in issuing tickets to passengers. Despite a new law imposed by the Western Province Chief Minister’s office where passengers who travel without bus tickets and conductors who do not issue bus tickets will be charged, the government has not employed sufficient ticket checkers. more..

Aug 8 (FI) The importance of implementing the 17th Amendment to the Constitution and re-activating the Constitutional Council (CC) was highlighted at a seminar held last week. Speakers at the event Dr. Jehan Perera, Rohan Edrisinha, R. M. B. Senanayake and Elmore Perera drew attention to the nexus between independent commissions and good governance, while stressing that democracy requires a politically neutral public service. more..

Aug 8 (FI) The military victory gained by the State in Thoppigala has raised the stakes and brought the country to a most critical strategic conjuncture. The People’s Alliance government has two diametrically opposed paths it must choose to follow: Either to hold elections in the east, place Karuna as Chief Minister, unfold the ‘Nagenahira Navodaya’ (Resurgence of the East) development programme, consolidate the east politically and militarily, and more..

Aug 8 (TC) The National Hero popularly known as Veera Puranappu was originally Veera Hennedige Franciscu Fernando. He was born on November 7, 1812 in Moratuwa and was executed by the British in Kandy on August 8, 1848. Francisco attended the Wesleyan school in Moratuwa and was a very mischievous boy. After a fight with the village headman he fled from Moratuwa in 1825 at the age of 13. He travelled about the country, mostly the hill country - Haldummulla to Badulla and other places. more..

Aug 8 (LT) A petition was filed at Colombo district Court yesterday, requesting the cancellation of MoU signed between UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe and SLFP (People's Faction) convener Mangala Samaraweera. Former UNP minister Anura Bastian and former provincial councilor Anil Kumara Wijesinghe have filed this petition nominating the respondents as Ranil Wickremasinghe and Mangala Samaraweera. more..

Aug 8 (ISL) Prabhakaran has always been lucky. Whenever he fights his way into a cul-de-sac and is about to be done for, someone rushes to his rescue. In 1987, when he was trapped in Vadamarachchi, where he would definitely have perished, India intervened, dropped parippu and whisked him away in a chopper thus ensuring the protraction of her neighbour’s conflict, which has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths ever since. more..

Aug 8 (ISL) We wish to reiterate that the accusations made by New York based Human Rights Watch with regard to our organization in its report issued yesterday (2007-08-06) are unsubstantiated and baseless. We as a responsible political party consider it appropriate to give some explanations in regard to our stance. We have joined the democratic stream, and we are fully committed to safeguard democracy at any cost. more..

Aug 8 (LBO) Sri Lanka's Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said he will look at the banking sector's reluctance to lend to ship-owners and called for new methods of financing that may allay the concerns of lenders. The island's banks had hitherto been reluctant to provide ship financing as they were unfamiliar with the business and its risks, he told a conference on the island's prospects of becoming a maritime hub. more..

Aug 8 (LBO) A Sri Lankan ICT project using a digital, interactive educational content system in the Sinhala language aimed at developing self-learning capacity among rural students has won an international award. The 'Shilpa Sayura' project was awarded the Information for Development (i4d) award at the recent eINDIA 2007 Conference in New Delhi, India. more..

Aug 8 (LBO) Sri Lanka's new fuel pricing formula, seen as crucial to maintain economic stability and low inflation, is under threat barely two months after it started as opposition groups mounted pressure on the government. Sri Lanka moved into a monthly fuel price adjustment formula last month and has made two price adjustments on June 29 and July 28, but a statement from a committee headed by Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake promised no further price rises. more..

Aug 8 (LD) Education Minister Susil Premajayantha told Parliament yesterday (August 07th) that the new school admission criteria for Grade One, as proposed by the Supreme Court (SC), gives rise to various practical problems. In a speech made in response to a special statement by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe earlier in the day, the minister distanced himself and his ministry from the formulation of the suggested criteria, saying that they had not been party to the process. more..

Aug 8 (GDI) “United National Party, which claims that the party focuses on the development of this country is the party which is obstructing the current development process of the Government,” said Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle. Minister Fernandopulle addressing the media today (08) in Colombo said that the UNP is now carrying out a secret agenda to financially disable the Government by trying to impede the Government’s recent attempt to obtain US Dollar 500 million for development activities. more..

Aug 8 (GDI) The Director of Information has sent a correction to the Human Rights Watch pointing out factually erroneous reports in the chapter on media. The report has alleged that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has shouted at an editor of the newspaper at an Editors’ Meeting held at the Temple Trees in August last year. more..

Aug 8 (GDI) The fifteenth death anniversary of Late Lieutenant General Denzil Kobbekaduwa, then Division Commander of the Jaffna Peninsula and eight other War Heroes, who sacrificed life along with him, is commemorated today (08). 08 August 1992, Lt. Gen. Denzil Kobbekaduwa, along with Major General Wijaya Wimalarathne and several other officers and soldiers died in an LTTE terrorist blast at Arialay Point, Jaffna. more..

Aug 8 (GDI) Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said that the country’s HR situation is regularly evaluated at the HR council’s universal peer review, a forum where council members discuss respective country situation. “We have been very open in welcoming and facilitating High UN dignitaries to visit Sri Lanka,” Minister Samarasinghe added. more..

Aug 8 (GDI) Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat, Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, said that the Human Rights Watch report on Sri Lanka is misleading, rife with contradictions and could be used by organizations like the LTTE to disrupt the democratically elected governments like Sri Lanka. In a letter to Brad Adams, Director of the Asia Division of the Human Rights Watch, Prof Wijesinha accused the Human Rights Watch of being selective in its release in concentrating criticism on the human rights record of the government. more..

Aug 8 (LD) President Mahinda Rajapaksa officially launched the construction of the Norochcholai Coal Power Plant began in Puttalam yesterday (August 06th). Speaking on the occasion, he said that the project initiated a few years ago by the then President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Minister Susil Premajayantha had to be abandoned following opposition from various quarters. more..

Aug 8 (CI) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has said that it would adopt the same stance as the ICC with regard to the Indian Cricket League (ICL) which is threatening to sign up some of the top cricketers in the game. The board arrived at this decision at their monthly meeting held at its headquarters in Colombo on Monday. Kangadaran Mathivanan, the board secretary, said the ICC was due to meet in October where a decision is expected. more..

Aug 8 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's rupee ended firmer on Wednesday, pulling back from new life lows in quiet trade, while stocks ended firmer in thin trade as retail investors bought select shares, dealers said. The rupee ended at 111.85/111.90 per dollar, firming from Tuesday's close of 111.90/111.92 -- which in turn equalled new life lows hit at 111.88/111.94 per dollar on Monday. The rupee has hit a series of new all time lows in recent months. more..

Aug 8 (PISL) The Howard Government, of Australia, risks harming its re-election chances in two marginal Sydney seats, including Prime Minister John Howard’s electorate of Bennelong, if it moves to list the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist organization, according to research conducted by ‘The Weekend Australian’ newspaper. The paper highlighted the danger of an ethnic voter backlash if the Government proscribes the LTTE. more..

Aug 8 (LNP) The Sri Lanka National Tennis Championships moves up to the Mercedes Benz class ? with the 92nd edition this week being staged under the banner of the vehicle regarded as a symbol of distinction. The name-change to the country`s premier tennis championships is the consequence of Dimo Agencies, the Benz people in Sri Lanka, securing the event`s sponsorship rights. more..