Nov 21 (FL) SRI LANKA’s undeclared war between the Mahinda Rajapaksa government and the LTTE is taking an irreversible path to greater escalation in both scale and intensity. The tragedy is that there are many people inside and outside Sri Lanka who want and encourage such escalation. Those who foresee the catastrophe and abhor it are few in number. Hence they are unable to do much to prevent the entire country from slipping into war madness. more..

Nov 21 (FL) WITHIN 24 hours of Tamilselvan’s death, Tiger supremo V. Prabakaran made Balasingham Mahendran alias Nadesan the new political division head of the LTTE. Nadesan was formerly in charge of the Tiger police, known as “Kaaval thurai”. A new police chief is likely to be appointed soon. Nadesan cut his teeth as political commissar on November 8 when he met Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission head Maj. Gen. Lars Johann Solvberg for a 75-minute powwow at Kilinochchi. more..

Nov 21 (FL) EARLY in the morning on November 2, Suppiah Paramu Tamilselvan, the 40- year-old political division head of the LTTE, was killed in an air raid along with five other Tiger cadre. The fatal attack was carried out by two jet bombers, an Israeli K-fir and a Russian-built MiG-27; their target area was suburban Thiruvaiyaaru, about three kilometres from Kilinochchi town in the Wanni region, controlled by the Tigers. more..

Nov 21 (AN) Hostilities between the Sri Lanka Security Forces and the LTTE were concentrated over the past month in the Mannar and Jaffna districts in the north of the country. The fighting was restricted to the uninhabited area of Muhamalai, south of the Jaffna peninsula and the sparsely populated area of Madhu, to the north-west of Vavuniya. As a result, 22,000 persons have been forced to flee their homes since the beginning of September, more..

Nov 21 (LBO) Central Bank has rejected allegations it had sold tonnes of gold reserves to fund government expenditure in recent months, while criticism mounts on the way foreign reserves are used by the authorities. It said in a statement that a fake letter was circulating that it had sold 7,000 kilos of 24 carat gold bullion. The bank said the Ministry of Finance and Planning had complained to the police Criminal Investigations Department about the letter. more..

Nov 21 (IFRC) The Sri Lankan Red Cross Society and the American Red Cross are equipping communities affected by the 2004 tsunami with the know-how to purify their drinking water and avoid disease. A Bodhi tree in Matara, Sri Lanka, is traditionally the site of a Buddhist temple, but earlier this month the tree was the focus of a different pilgrimage—families coming from surrounding areas to receive ceramic water filters from the American Red Cross and Sri Lankan Red Cross. more..

Nov 21 (BBC) The main talking point on the opening day of England's Test tour of Sri Lanka wasn't how their pace attack adapted to the heat and humidity. It wasn't even about which of their spinners performed the best. Oh no, the big question was just how big were the snakes discovered on the boundary edge? We were all busy watching the Sri Lanka Cricket Board President's XI rack up the runs at the Colombo Cricket Club when just before the lunch interval we became aware of a commotion by the side of the field. more..

Nov 21 (AFP) A media rights group on Tuesday asked the government to help find a Sri Lankan Tamil journalist based in embattled Jaffna who it believed was kidnapped by paramilitary forces. Vadivel Nimalarajah, a proof reader with the Jaffna-based Uthayan newspaper, was "abducted by an unidentified group" in the state-controlled northern town as he cycled home on November 17, said Free Media Movement, a Sri Lankan group. more..

Nov 21 (LR) The traditional approach of teaching politics in Sri Lanka has been based on concepts of executive power (President & Cabinet), legislature (Parliament) and judiciary (Courts) with mention on media as a supporting entity. However this traditional approach is no longer adequate to analyze and identify the intricacy of contemporary politics. There is buzz in the society that politicians having interest in money, however more..

Nov 21 (LT) When members of Security Forces lay down their lives fighting separatist tiger terrorists to defend sovereignty and national security of the Motherland, which patriot could engage in stealing and committing frauds asked JVP Leader Somawansa Amarasinghe. He raised this question at a media briefing held today to apprise the media regarding the decision to vote against the budget proposals at the2nd reading of the 3rd budget of Mahinda Rajapakse government. more..

Nov 21 (ML) The government has sailed through the second reading of the budget comfortably. Yet the opposition promises that all is not over yet. There is the vote in December. The Tamil and Muslim parties that are part of the government and voted with it, seemed to have saved its bacon on the day. The opposition was unable to attract cross-overs from the government ranks thus allowing the JVP to vote against the budget without risking the collapse of the government. more..

Nov 21 (ML) The TMVP yesterday said the TNA had agreed to abstain from voting at the budget, which the latter rejected that any such understanding was reached between the two. The TMVP said TNA MPs representing the east had met Pillayan himself on November 17 and had agreed to abstain from voting. The TMVP said they were asked not to oppose the budget, as it would result in the government ignoring the east. more..

Nov 21 (ML) Despite growing international pressure from human rights organisations urging the British government to prosecute TMVP Leader, Vinayagamoorthi Murali- tharan alias Karuna for his war crimes, the Sri Lankan government however said yesterday that it would not interfere or call for any action against the Tamil rebel leader as he was not detained on Sri Lankan soil. more..

Nov 21 (ML) While the government is going gaga over the "victory" on the second reading of the budget, the opposition is gearing up for a final showdown on December 14 – when the vote on the third reading of Budget 2008 is taken. The government managed to win the vote on the second reading by 16 votes with MPs Wijedasa Rajapakshe and Nandana Gunathileka abstained from voting. Two TNA legislators were absent on Monday when the vote was taken. more..

Nov 21 (PTI) The Indian government's policy on Sri Lanka is confined to strategic aspects of peace process involving the LTTE to avoid controversies due to its "survival pre-occupations", a leading Sri Lankan newspaper said here on Tuesday. "India, the 'reluctant big brother', has been studiously avoiding any open or close involvement in (Sri Lankan President) Rajapakse's style of running the country. more..

Nov 21 (LBO) An armed group wearing masks that entered the premises of an independent Sri Lankan newspaper house has set on fire and destroyed its printing press early Wednesday morning. The rights body, Free Media Movement which expressed outrage at the latest act against freedom of the press in the island said authorities were responsible for not being able to protect the printing house. more..

Nov 21 (BBC) War of words erupted between Sri Lanka's Sinhala nationalists after the crucial vote for budget proposals on Monday. Buddhist monk-led JHU accused JVP of working on secret agendas while 'pretending to be a patriotic force'. All JHU parliamentarians voted for President Mahinda Rajapaksa's budget proposals while 37 JVP legislators voted against. Only JVP dissident Nandana Gunathilake voted with the government. more..

Nov 21 (BBC) President Mahinda Rajapaksa's political ally, JVP, has warned the 'second part of budget vote drama' has begun despite government's win on Monday. The party also categorically rejected accusations that their action to vote against the 2008 budget proposals was anti-patriotic. 37 JVP parliamentarians casted their votes against the budget while dissident MP, Nandana Gunathilake, abstained from voting. more..

Nov 21 (ISL) Crazy it was the past few days with people forgetting how incomprehensively expensive it is to live in this paradise isle whilst watching who jumps to which one’s roof, from whose roof for a better perch. Speculation was reaching dizzy heights with numbers ticking fast, going from 06 to 23 within Thursday alone and that included 04 JHU monks as well. As a rule every one tipped to be on another’s roof by the Budget vote, refuted such claims expecting the voters to be as gullible as ever before. more..

Nov 21 (ISL) A prominent international news agency places the following statement at the end of each of its press releases on the war between the Sri Lanka Government and the LTTE. The Tigers have fought the government since 1983 to create a separate homeland for ethnic minority Tamils in the island country's north and east after a history of discrimination by successive governments controlled by the majority ethnic Sinhalese. more..

Nov 21 (LG) One morning, when Raghu wanted a fresh shirt for work, he asked his friend, with whom he had spent the night, to spare one. After rummaging through his wardrobe, the friend found only one clean shirt but was reluctant to part with it since it was a gift. Assuring him that he will return it, Raghu took it but subsequently gave it away to another friend in the armed services when he had come down to Chennai. more..

Nov 21 (BL) Sri Lanka’s two main opposition parties showed little remorse on their decision to vote against the budget on Monday, with both the UNP and the JVP vowing to take on the government head-on owing to its anti-people policy which has been displayed in the Budget. JVP Leader Somawansa Amarasinghe told reporters that his party did not regret Monday’s decision on voting against the government’s Budget, and more..

Nov 21 (BL) US Ambassador Robert O. Blake is in the centre of a controversy over the second reading of the Budget held on Monday. Ambassador Blake was having tea with UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday evening around 4 p.m. when several TULF MPs complained to Wickremesinghe and Blake that the son-in-law of Eastern MP Kanagasabapathy had been abducted and that the security of several eastern MPs had been withdrawn. more..

Nov 21 (BL) National list MP and President’s Counsel Wijayadasa Rajapakshe yesterday sent two letters of demand to Associate Newspapers Ltd. (Lake House) and the Silumina Editor claiming Rs. 500 million as defamation charges. In the letter of demand send through his lawyer, G.G. Arulpragasam, he noted that the article published in the November 18, 2007 issue of Silumina under the heading ‘Wijayadasa gets lost inside Chief Justice Palace dream,’ was a malicious attempt to defame him. more..

Nov 21 (BL) A jubilant government and an opposition that is vowing to get its own back at the third reading the budget on December 14 – that appears to be the immediate political reaction to Monday’s crucial budget vote. But having observed the voting patterns in the House, it is now clearer than ever that both factions had better be ready for a bigger fight on their hands next month, given fallout of this week’s vote result. more..

Nov 21 (LBO) Sri Lanka could boost economic activity and social well-being through a knowledge economy (KE) strategy that makes better use of 'grey matter' the World Bank has said. "With globalization and the technological revolution of the last few decades, knowledge has clearly become the key driver of competitiveness and is now profoundly reshaping the patterns of the world's economic growth and activity," more..

Nov 21 (CI) Marvan Atapattu's retirement announcement was widely expected in Sri Lanka after the second Test in Australia. All his recent public comments, most obviously the amusing "muppets and joker" broadside at the selectors, indicated a man poised to bid farewell. Tragically, one of the finest batsmen in Sri Lanka's history, a technical artisan with a cover-drive from heaven, has ended his international days in a fog of injustice. more..

Nov 21 (AT) Today I chose a Buddhist teaching & a scientific teaching which are really parallel. Before moving into the topic I would like to share that in the Western hemisphere there is a growing interest in Buddhism observed among the general population. Some years ago two prestigious magazines “Le Nouvel Observateur” & “La Psychologie” conducted an opinion poll on Buddhism in France. more..

Nov 21 (AT) Highligting corruption and mismanagement as the main causes for the JVP's decision to vote against the budget Somawansa Amarasinghe, leader of the JVP, told the Asian Tribune that the government can;t defeat the LTTE with rampant corruption. He told “As far as the budget is concerned the 'first part of the drama is over.' These words are not mine. These words belong to one of the pro-government national newspaper.” more..

Nov 21 (LG) The United States Department of the Treasury designated the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) under Executive order 13224 on the 15 November 2007. This move by the Office of Foreign Assets Control aims to target financing vehicles of terrorist groups. TRO branches globally reportedly collected in excess of US$20m in post-2004 tsunami fundraising alone. World-Check has once again kept clients ahead of financial, regulatory and reputation risk by profiling the 18 TRO's and their numerous locations up to one year ahead of OFAC. more..

Nov 21 (GDI) The Parliament took up the Committee Stage of Appropriation Bill for debate yesterday (20). The debate was on the institutions coming under the purview of the President and several other institutions. Clarifying the various statements Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickramanayake mentioned that out of Rs.5,759 million allocated under the Presidential vote, but for two programmes covering six different projects were not for the expenditure of the President. more..

Nov 21 (GDI) Following the US Government naming the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) as a front for the LTTE operating to obtain funds and procure weapons, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama called upon the international community to follow suit. The minister made this appeal especially to the governments of Australia, Canada, Denmark, France and the UK, pointing out more..

Nov 21 (LG) Mr. President, by shielding the 17 corrupt UNP politicos who sought shelter under your Satakaya from prosecution, you have proved that yours is a thoroughly corrupt government. The No-Confidence motion against Minister Moragoda which seemed assured of success in the House was blatantly blocked by your government’s refusal to take it up in parliament. The ‘Pulle’ can make excuses till he is blue in the face, but they will not be believed or accepted as anything but efforts to cover up corruption. more..

Nov 21 (TN) TNA parliamentarian, Mr Eelaventhan, currently visiting Canada and United States met with Canada's ruling Conservative Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and politicians from other parties during the early part of November, and also met with United States State Department officials on the 14th of November, briefing them on the worsening humanitarian conditions in Tamil areas of North East of Sri Lanka, and more..

Nov 21 (TN) Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna has imposed new traffic restrictions covering key main roads in the peninsula to facilitate safe passage to SLA convoys, severely impacting revenues of the Northern Sri Lanka Transport Service (NSLTS), transportation officials in Jaffna said. SLA orders all public traffic to stand still, sometimes nearly for three hours, and stops all vehicular traffic in main arteries between Palaly, Jaffna and the Forward Defense Lines (FDLs) in Vadamaraadchy east during movement of convoys. more..

Nov 21 (LBO) Sri Lanka's benchmark 3-month Treasury yields shot up 33 basis points to 16.07 percent Wednesday, ending a near month long honeymoon from a sovereign bond that made markets liquid and sent rates plummeting. The government's debt office said 12-month yields went up 83 basis points to 18.07 percent while 6-month bills went up 76 basis points to 17.79 percent. Earlier in the week the government rejected bids for a bond issue week indicating that the market was starting to demand higher yields. more..

Nov 21 (BT) A new vocational training centre is coming up for the differently-abled in Sri Lanka by two apparel sector giants, Sri Lanka’s Brandix Group and the UK’s Marks & Spencer along with other suppliers to Marks & Spencer in Sri Lanka. The bricks made from primary sludge generated by industrial waste conversion will be used for construction of the training centre. The first consignment of these unique bricks developed and produced by Brandix Finishing at Ratmalana after extensive research and testing, more..

Nov 21 (LNP) The TNA in parliament yesterday said the government had not tabled any proposals to solve the ethnic problem and justify the war, which would cost the country over Rs. 166 billion next year according to budgetary estimates of the 2007 Appropriation Bill.Speaking on the first day of the committee stage debate of the Budget, TNA Leader R. Sampanthan said the Tamil people wanted the right to internal self determination in the areas of historical habitation of the Tamil speaking people in the North and East. more..

Nov 21 (LNP) K. Sasitharan, the son-in-law of the Batticaloa District TNA MP, who was kidnapped on Sunday night, had been released yesterday, reports from Batticaloa said. TNA Parliamentary Group leader R. Sampanthan raised the issue in Parliament on Monday morning in view of the voting on the Second Reading of the Budget 2008 due to be held that evening. Kaluwanchikudi Police said that eight unidentified men had arrived in a white van and kidnapped him on Sunday night. more..

Nov 21 (LNP) The main opposition UNP yesterday charged that the move to omit budgetary estimates for more 30 institutions coming directly under President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the committee stage of the debate on the budget was illegal. UNP frontliner Lakshman Kiriella who started the debate in parliament said `this illegal act` had been committed by the President who he said was elected to office through fraudulent means preventing nearly 300,000 people from exercising their franchise at the election. more..

Nov 21 (LNP) Rathu Sahodarayas have a puckish sense of humour and a superb knack for turn of phrase and coinage, which others can hardly match. JVP Propaganda Secretary and Parliamentary Group Leader Wimal Weerawansa told Parliament on Monday that the cynical public had come to call MPs `pieces`: Because of the attempts made in the run up to Monday`s budget vote to buy parliamentarians, on seeing a parliamentarian, the people said, `There goes a fifty-million-rupee piece!` more..

Nov 21 (SAMN) The Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP - Pillayan faction) has warned the TNA to move out from the East, claiming that the political party had reneged on an “agreement” reached between the two sides prior to Monday’s budget vote in Parliament. A Pillayan spokesman claimed the TNA had agreed either to vote in favour of the budget or abstain, following a meeting between the two sides. But it had subsequently reneged on the agreement and voted against it. more..

Nov 21 (SAMN) The JVP Tuesday claimed the government was planning to offer defaulters a tax amnesty amounting to Rs.147 billion next year, while imposing new taxes on the masses through the 2008 budget. JVP MP Wasantha Samarasinghe challenged the government to deny the claim that a Bill would be presented next year to grant a tax amnesty of Rs. 147 billion, while new taxes amounting to Rs. 125 billion would be clamped on the masses. more..

Nov 21 (SAMN) A Government Minister had told JVP MP Bimal Ratnayake shortly after the vote on the second reading of the budget on Monday that he would have crossed over to the opposition had he known the JVP’s stand two hours before the vote. Ratnayake revealed the matter in Parliament yesterday during the committee stage debate, but withheld the name of the Minister citing restrictions arising from the standing orders. more..

Nov 21 (SAMN) The Government is committed to full devolution to assure the minorities of their political and social rights, Peace Secretariat Chief Dr. Rajiva Wijesinha told BBC World in a recent interview. "The most important thing is negotiation. Unfortunately, the Tigers have not been willing to negotiate, basically for four years, although there were brief talks last year. What the Government has done is, it has thought that it should really discuss a future constitutional package with the non-LTTE Tamils plus other minorities. And there is an on-going process," Wijesinha said. more..

Nov 21 (DN) The Government has succeeded in surmounting all barriers and obstacles originating in Parliament and outside it that could impede its forward march, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday. President Rajapaksa was speaking at the presentation of books published by S. Godage publishers for 2007 at Temple Trees yesterday. Over one thousand books authored by 260 writers were presented to the President on this occasion. more..

Nov 21 (DN) Iraqi soldiers detained two US security guards along with 21 Sri Lankans, nine Nepalis and 10 Iraqis, after guards in their private convoy opened fire in Baghdad, wounding one woman. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday they were in touch with the Lankan envoys in Kuwait and Lebanon to get further details as Sri Lanka does not have an embassy in Baghdad. Deputy Foreign Minister Hussain Bhaila has also met the Iraqi Charge d Affaires in Colombo to ascertain more details. more..

Nov 21 (DM) The Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Serious Violations of Human Rights has been compelled to postpone its planned Public Inquiries, which were to begin yesterday -- as the necessary Amendments to the Commissions of Inquiry Act have not been passed by Parliament, the CoI said in a statement. The amendment to the Act that would allow sittings of the Commission with a quorum is necessary for the public hearings to begin. more..

Nov 21 (DM) The JVP yesterday slammed the government for trying to paint the Party’s voting against the budget as an affront to security personnel, adding that none of them would be so gullible as to believe such cheap government propaganda. “The present budget is unprecedented in that no previous one has generated so much political heat – as much as a general election would -- as this,” said JVP Leader Somawansa Amarasinghe. more..

Nov 21 (CI) Steve Harmison had to wait until the 118th over of the Sri Lankan innings to make his long-awaited tour debut, after a farcical kit delay scuppered his chances of a lengthy work-out at the Colombo Cricket Club. The situation typified another frustrating day for England's cricketers, who were made to toil for their breakthroughs as Chamara Kapugedera and Thilina Kandamby both emulated Upul Tharanga in reaching three figures. more..