July 27 (LNP) The Industrial Development Board (IDB), identifying the importance of spreading the leather and foot wear industry throughout the country, anticipates opening its second leather and footwear manufacturing village in Anuradapura by the end of this week. `Although Anuradhapura is synonymous with agricultural activity, we see people are keen on conducting self- employment ventures such as footwear manufacturing to earn an additional income. more..

July 27 (SAMN) The All Party Representative Committee (APRC) will solve the ethnic problem successfully because all the parties truly want to find a solution, Social Service and Social Welfare Minister Douglas Devananda said Thursday. "In the past no party had a real urge to solve the ethnic problem and that is why all former All Party Conferences failed. But the present APRC will be successful as all parties want a solution," the Minister told the Daily News. more..

July 27 (SAMN) The United States yesterday stressed on the need for peace in Sri Lanka and human rights protection which has deteriorated since the resumption of hostilities. Deputy US Human Rights, Democracy and Labour Assistant Secretary Jeffrey Krilla told the Daily Mirror the Bush administration was looking for ways to build human rights capacity and support increasing staffing and activities for the Colombo office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. more..

July 27 (SAMN) The Kelaniya University was closed indefinitely following clashes between two rival students’ groups on Tuesday evening resulting in several undergraduates being injured. The university authorities were even compelled to summon police who were compelled to use tear gas to disperse the unruly student mob. Vice Chancellor Prof. Jayantha Wijeratne told the Daily Mirror that they witnessed student violence at the university several times during the last three months. more..

July 27 (SAMN) The Government hopes to develop urban habitats with meagre facilities into modern townships and make their inhabitants partners in the national development effort, said Urban Development and Sacred Area Development Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. He was speaking at a meeting which followed the inauguration of work on the first stage of a housing scheme for less privileged at Moratuwa, Ussawiwatta recently. more..

July 27 (DN) A survey by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has revealed a majority of the Sinhala community, 54.6 per cent supports an expansion of a military offensive to weaken the LTTE. When they were asked to chose between a military solution to peace talks, 52.9 per cent of the Sinhala community voted for peace along with the Muslims with 93.1 per cent and Up Country Tamils 95.4 per cent. One thousand three hundred people in 17 districts participated in the survey. more..

July 27 (DN) The SLFP held its first phase, one day, one time, 150 islandwide rallies under the theme "One Agenda for all Patriots", yesterday. The rallies were held in several locations in the districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Kurunegala, Puttalam, Ampara, Trincomalee, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Ratnapura, Kegalle, Matara, Hambantota, Kandy, Nuwaraeliya, Matale, Galle, Kalutara, Badulla and Moneragala. more..

July 27 (DM) The deputy chairman of the Tissamaharama Pradeshiya Sabha was yesterday arrested and produced in court for allegedly molesting two 14-year-old girls of Tissa Maha Vidyalaya. The suspect, a JVP activist, was reportedly a teacher at Tissa Maha Vidyalaya and had allegedly molested these two grade nine girls on several occasions, police said. The parents of the girls had complained to the Tissamaharama police recently and more..

July 27 (DM) The UNP Democratic Group is to launch an islandwide, door to door campaign against the MOU signed between the UNP and SLFP (M) Wing, Minister of Sports and Public Entertainment, Gamini Lokuge said yesterday. Addressing the media at the Group’s Head Office, Meth Sevana, he said the Group would also see the possibility of taking legal action, challenging the constitutionality of the agreement. more..

July 27 (IANS) Two decades after India's bid to bring peace to Sri Lanka ended with a bloody nose, moderate Tamils in the island want New Delhi to take decisive steps to end the raging conflict there. Political and rights activists from the Tamil community also insist that the India-Sri Lanka agreement of July 29, 1987, could have led to a lasting solution if only it had not been sabotaged by Colombo and the Tamil Tigers. more..

July 27 (MoD) Minister of Foreign Affairs Rohitha Bogollagama will lead the Sri Lankan Delegation for the 14th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Manila from 1st - 2nd August 2007. Sri Lanka's admission to the foremost political and security forum in Asia as its 27th member is a clear reflection of Sri Lanka's pro-active role in regional and multilateral fora for the promotion of peace, dialogue and cooperation for the greater benefit of the Asia Pacific region in particular and the world at large. more..

July 27 (Xinhua) A joint police and Army search has been launched to track down two paramilitary home guards who have been reported missing, Sri Lankan defense officials said Friday. The two home guards have been missing since Thursday night at Aluthgama in the north central Anuradhapura district, police said. They had departed riding their cycles for a personal matter and had been reported missing since then. more..

July 28 (UCAN) Church leaders have joined the general public in condemning a government directive that forced schools to celebrate a recent armed forces "victory" over Tamil guerrillas. The government announced on July 11 that its armed forces had overtaken the last stronghold of the LTTE in the eastern part of the island. Calling it a "second independence," the government celebrated the event with great pomp and pageantry in Colombo on July 19. more..

July 28 (BBC) Shambo the "sacred" bullock at the centre of a controversial three-month legal fight had lesions typical of TB, it has been confirmed. The Welsh Assembly Government has said the result of a post mortem examination on Shambo meant "a positive TB breakdown is confirmed in the herd". It is now considering what is needed "to protect human and animal health". more..

July 28 (RW) 109 tsunami affected families in Trincomalee District received permanent houses constructed in two villages Sumedankarapura and Thamaravil 24th of June 2007. These 109 houses were built with the financial support from Japanese Red Cross Society. The families have been provided with common amenities such as drinking water, access roads, electricity, and sanitation facilities. more..

July 28 (AT) Eric Ellis, South East Asia correspondent for ‘Fortune’ magazine who was in Sri Lanka twice this year, observes that ‘an unwinnable war and dubious politicians are blighting beautiful Sri Lanka.’ His observation was sent to this writer by a onetime prominent Sri Lankan physician and now retired Ranjan Hulugalle who travels to his native country from his adopted land U.S. many times within a year. more..

July 28 (Times) John Carr, the director of England cricket, has travelled to Sri Lanka with a security expert to assess safety relating to England’s tour this winter. The England squad is due to arrive there for five one-day internationals in October with the Test side following for the three-match series that takes place in Kandy, Colombo and Galle before Christmas. Sri Lanka’s chronically unstable political scene is particularly sensitive at the moment. more..

July 28 (LBO) A new joint venture with a Spain-based firm will fill a gap in synthetic fabric printing capacity, especially in swimwear, Sri Lanka's MAS apparel group said Friday. The group through its unit, MAS Capital (Pvt) Ltd had inked a deal on July 19 with Textprint S.A of Spain to start a fabric printing facility in Sri Lanka at the MAS Fabric Park in Thulhiriya. more..

July 28 (AT) The Sri Lanka market is gathering momentum towards the 'Islamic Concept' of investments and financing and under the new Banking Act, all commercial banks and designated Banks are permitted to have 'Windows' for operation under the Islamic Concept. ABC Group of Companies added another Company ‘ABC Investments Ltd’ (Barakah Islamic Financial Services) a finance company under Islamic Shareeah Concept which bases their transactions on ‘Profit Sharing Basis’ rather than on ‘interest’. more..

July 28 (BBC) Peace activists in Sri Lanka have accused supporters of the main opposition of beating them while distributing leaflets calling for resumption of peace process. Dharshana Ariyawansa, a convenor of Forum for Life (FfL) told BBC Sandeshaya that a group of UNP supporters assaulted FfL activists in Colombo on Thursday. The FfL activists have distributed pro-peace leaflets among those attended a anti-government rally organised by the UNP and the SLFP (Mahajana wing). more..

July 28 (UNI) Sri Lanka today banned the imports of birds and chicken flesh from India, after the outbreak of bird flu in north-eastern state of Manipur. "After receiving reports of outbreak of bird flu in Manipur, we have imposed a temporary ban on imports of all birds and chicken flesh from India with immediate effect," Deputy Minister of Livestock Development K A Bayis told UNI over the phone. more..

July 28 (TN) The health of several of the dozens of Tamil asylum seekers on hunger strike at British detention centers is deteriorating rapidly with some being rushed to hospital, detainees and lawyers said Friday. However, enforced deportations from the centers are continuing regardless of the now weeklong protest, they said. more..

July 28 (LT) Mr. Sripathy Suriyarachchi, Chief Organizer of SLFP (M) wing filed a case against disciplinary inquiry being held against him by the SLFP. In his petition Mr. Suriyarachchi states that the inquiry held by the SLFP is not justifiable. According to party constitution a permanent committee should be appointed for the inquiry. However, the committee appointed to inquire into allegations against him is only a temporary committee of five individuals states Mr. Suriyarachchi. more..

July 28 (LT) A prime minister is not authorized to sign an agreement pertaining to the country's future, Chief Justice Sarath N Silva said, allowing the Supreme Court cases based on three petitions filed, challenging the MoU signed in 2002 February between former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and Wanni Tiger leader, by JVP and other parties. CJ also stated that it is noteworthy to find out whether former PM held a right to sign and authorize an agreement, behalf of the soverign power vested on the parliament. more..

July 28 (LT) Tilak Karunaratne, the Bandaragama electoral organizer of UNP has resigned from all the portfolios. He has informed the resignation in a letter to UNP leader. The main reason for this resignation is reportedly, the UNP leaders decision to appoint followers of Mr.Mangala Samaraweera for some electorates including Bandaragama, following the MoU signed between UNP and SLFP(People's Faction). more..

July 28 (AT) Thai Immigration authorities have confirmed that they will deport the 113 Sri Lankans held in three detention centres back to Sri Lanka provided air tickets from Bangkok to Colombo and valid travel documents are issued to them. It is learnt that all most all those Sri Lankans held in Thailand have overstayed their visas and many of them are listed as illegal entrants into the country as they have neither valid passports nor visas to prove that they entered the country legally. more..

July 28 (AT) 20 Years have elapsed since a streak of light brought hope into the lives of the Tamil-speaking people. The Indo – Sri Lanka agreement was that streak of light. We could have achieved our political target easily if we had handled the situation with responsibility or made use of the opportunity. It was a golden opportunity missed by the Tamils because the LTTE launched a war against the IPKF without any far sightedness and the failure of some Tamil leadership to form a united democratic front and use the pact correctly. more..

July 28 (ISL) The Tamil Lawyers who are in the forefront of the campaign to halt the deportation of Tamil asylum seekers held in detention centres must take greater blame for the predicament faced by them. The legal firms that mainly specialise in asylum work had put many individual cases in peril by not taking due care and attention. more..

July 28 (ISL) We appeal to the Sri Lankan Diaspora living in Europe, Canada and North America to donate generously to the "THE HALO TRUST", a non-political, non-religious, not-for-profit NGO which specialises in the removal of the debris of war. In Sri Lanka, landmines were laid by both the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka, to protect military bases and defensive areas. Following a ceasefire agreement, both sides have made demining a priority. more..

July 28 (ISL) Minister Douglas Devanada’s Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) has snubbed the Asian Tribune without naming the web media for publishing false news implicating the EPDP leader. The Asian Tribune published an exclusive news headlined ‘Disarm Karuna group – Douglas Devananda’ datelined Wed, 2007-07-25 (published below). In that, the Asian Tribune published forthright statements sourcing the EPDP leader Douglas Devananda. more..

July 28 (GDI) The second Gold medal of the 17th Asian Athletic Championship for Sri Lanka was won by Prasanna Amerasekara for the 400m men’s final. He clocked a time of 46.71 secs. Asoka Jayasundara also representing Sri Lanka finished the race as the fifth with a time of 47.07 secs. This is the first time that Prassanna won a solo event in a Asian Championship. Meanwhile, Susanthika Jayasinghe clocked an amazing personal best of 11.9 seconds and clinched the 100 metres gold medal. more..

July 28 (GDI) Sri Lanka is to be given the honour of fully fledged member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for its contribution in promoting peace in Asia- Pasific region. According to the Minister of Foreign Affaires Rohitha Bogollagama, Sri Lanka delegation will participate at the ARF Foreign Ministers meeting on August 1 as a fully fledged member sealing the formal admission of Sri Lanka as the 27th member of the ARF. more..

July 28 (GDI) The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) told the Peace Secretariat yesterday that it had initiated an inquiry into allegations that the LTTE has demanded that every family living in areas controlled by it contributes at least one member to its activities. The SCOPP also inquired about the widely-reported threat of the LTTE to attack economic targets and the SLMM agreed that this should be investigated. more..

July 28 (GDI) The Government should nurture the development of the export sector which could be termed as the core element of the whole economy for economic progress, Export Development and International Trade Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris said. The Minister was speaking at a meeting of farmers from the Nuwara Eliya district at the old Kachcheri building. It was convened to inform farmers of the need to grow green peas locally and the profitability of such a venture and more..

July 28 (FI) India will be celebrating her 60th anniversary of Independence from the British on August 15th. Three weeks prior to that on July 25th Pratibha Patil was sworn in as the first woman President. of India. India’s new President was born on 19th December 1934 in the district of Jalgaon in what is now Maharashtra state. Her father was Narayana Rao Patil. She has an MA and LLB degree and practised as a lawyer before taking to active politics. more..

July 28 (TW) Udappu is a traditional Tamil fishing hamlet, situated 150kms North of Colombo. The fishing folk of this pristine coastal village have a different custom compared to the other fisherfolk living in rest of the country. Devotees flock here during this time of the year, to attend the festivals of Thiraupathathevi Devasthanam. Rukmani Sathyapama Sametha Sri Paarthasaarathy Thiraupathathevi Devasthanam’s first day of annual festival began with flag hoisting, on July 25 th 2007 and ended in the night with fire walking. more..

July 28 (TC) The twentieth anniversary of the arrival of the IPKF in the North-East of Sri Lanka falls on the 30th July 2007. On this occasion I gratefully admire and remember those fine Indian soldiers who helped me in saving the life of a young Tamil mother who was gravely ill and fighting for her life in the outskirts of Trincomalee. One afternoon in April 1988, I was travelling from Colombo to Trincomalee on a bus and it was getting dark as we reached the outskirts of Thamapalakamam - a beautiful traditional Tamil village. more..

July 28 (FI) Neelan Tiruchelvam was removed in a dreadful tragic manner - when he was far too young and many fruitful years before him. He could have achieved so much more for the benefit of Sri Lankans, especially the disadvantaged and deprived Tamils, who were living in a depressed state in the island. However, whatever Neelan did during those relatively short years, not only benefited us but also redounded to the advantage and credit of all Sri Lankans including many of us here and elsewhere. more..

July 28 (LBO) People’s Bank is on an aggressive drive to raise deposits this year, with an enhanced target of 30 billion rupees, a top official said. With the re-launch of the bank’s ‘Jayasiri’ low cost mobilisation scheme, People’s Bank is geared to reach the higher target and promote the saving habit in the country, Ashoka de Silva, General Manager of People’s Bank said. more..

July 28 (LBO) An anti-graft action plan developed with the involvement of civil society and state agencies was presented to representatives of Sri Lanka's judiciary, government and parliament at conference in Colombo Saturday. The National Anti-Corruption Action Plan prepared with funding from the United States Agency for International Development, proposes actions to be taken by government, civil society, the private sector, the media and donors to reduce corruption and enhance accountability. more..

July 28 (LBO) Bogawantalawa Tea Estates Ltd. has reported loss last year but its marketing subsidiary, about whose viability auditors have raised doubts, has made a breakthrough in overseas markets with contracts to pack teas for private labels. Bogawantalawa Tea Estates reported a group net loss of 121.6 million rupees for the year ended March 31, 2007 compared with a net profit of 20 million rupees the year before. more..

July 28 (LD) “The petition regarding the Secret Defence pact signed between the US ambassador and the SL Defence Secretary was dismissed without giving proper reasons to the prosecutor” said senior President advisor- Vasudewa Nanayakkara. The Senior President advisor had illustrated the loopholes in the pact such as the inability of coming into such an agreement without the Cabinet approval, the US gaining a one party advantage and military right, more..

July 28 (LNP) The UNP, which is a respectable party, is now being led to its ruin by its dictatorial leadership through the signing of a pact with Mangala and Sripathy, former UNP parliamentarian and spokesman for the UNP rebel group R. A. D. Sirisena told The Island yesterday. He said the UNP has now become a political joke with funny posters and muppets on show at its public meetings. `As I see it, Mangala and Sripathy are two new washing machines taken in to wash political dirty linen. more..

July 28 (LNP) The ruling Blues and the opposing Greens are poised to stage a mega muscle-flexing today. The UNP will hold its Jana Rela protest in Colombo, while the SLFP is scheduled to demonstrate in most parts of the country in support of the government. What the public will be treated to is predictable. Both parties will disport themselves in their favourite sport? mud slinging and a show of bravado to impress the voting public. more..

July 28 (LNP) The irresponsible decision making with overnight policy amendments that has bungled the smooth operations of a century old school cricket structure saw one of its terrible consequences produced yesterday when Sri Lanka Under-19 were routed by India Under-19 in the Tri Nation Limited over match played at NCC Ground. Having being beaten by both visiting teams in previous outings, Sri Lanka`s last hopes of finding a final berth evaporated under overcast conditions when more..

July 28 (SAMN) A US Marines team is now in the east to carry out a fact-finding mission in preparation for an upcoming visit by high level US military medics as part of a humanitarian assistance programme. “A high-level medical team will be here in September for one week to conduct a series of medical assistance programmes for the eastern people, especially in the newly captured areas,” a senior defence official told the Daily Mirror Friday. more..

July 28 (SAMN) The government weekly media briefing at the information department auditorium becomes lively whenever Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle occupies the Chair. Despite his support to reintroduce the dreaded Criminal Defamation Law, Minister Fernandopulle always maintains a cordial relationship with journalists. Though he never seems to lose his temper, he is well known for an occasional flippant but witty rejoinder. more..

July 28 (SAMN) The Government has already resettled over 95,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) affected by the recent fighting in the East. There are only 37,000 more persons to be resettled and the Government has planned to complete resettling soon, Information and Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said. Addressing a special press briefing at the Government Information Department Auditorium yesterday, Yapa said many speak about IDPs as a major issue. more..

July 28 (SAMN) Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardana Friday said he would be making a request to President Mahinda Rajapaksa to restore the civic rights of former minister and UNP National Organizer S.B.Dissanayake so that he could protect the UNP from its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. Mr. Abeywardana claimed Mr. Wickremesinghe was doing little good to the party and described the MoU with the SLFP (M wing) as the work of a few royalists. more..

July 28 (DN) The National Policy on Disaster Management which proposes mechanism to decentralise disaster management from the Ministry to Pradeshiya Sabha level will be tabled for approval on July 30. A Disaster Management Ministry spokesperson said the policy is to get the greenlight for implementation when the National Committee on Disaster Management chaired by the President meets on Monday. more..