Aug 11 (Island) The National Police Commission has declined to interfere with a major dispute in the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption over the transfer of two Inspectors investigating undeclared assets of a prominent politician by the IGP. The NPC yesterday said that it wouldn’t interfere with IGP Jayantha Wickremaratne’s right to transfer police officers of the rank of Inspector and below. more..

Aug 11 (Island) With the LTTE retreating on the Vanni front, the Colombo based diplomatic community is keen to re-evaluate the ground situation amid reports of rapid depletion of LTTE units resisting the advancing army west of the Kandy-Jaffna A9 road. The LTTE, struggling on the Vanni front, is widely believed to be re-deploying its units, artillery pieces and mortars to resist the army on multiple flanks while maintaining a sizeable force on the northern front. more..

Aug 11 (DM) A tense situation prevailed in the Nivitigala town yesterday after several people were injured when two groups of UPFA and JVP supporters clashed with each other, reports from the area said. The reports said the JVP supporters were marching from Nivitigala bus stand towards the town demonstrating against Friday night’s attack on some of their party colleagues and as the procession approached the Sunday fair it came under attack with stones and rotten eggs. more..

Aug 11 (DM) JVP Parliamentarian, K. D. Lalkantha is of the opinion that Minister Mervyn Silva is kind and innocent but has been corrupted by the people holding power at Temple Trees. The JVP parliamentarian made this comment while addressing the sixth anniversary and annual general meeting of the workers union of the Cultural Triangle in Anuradhapura. Mervyn Silva is like Ahinsaka in one of the Jathaka stories, but he was made a Angulimala by his gurus at Temple Trees. more..

Aug 11 (CI) Drip by drip, Sri Lanka made their way to a comprehensive series win, their first over India since 2001. On what turned out to be the final day of the series, Sri Lanka did not attack overtly, and kept their composure at crucial junctures - when Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman had a long partnership, and also when India struck with two early wickets, after Sri Lanka came out in pursuit of 122. more..

Aug 11 (LD) Supporters of Minister Mervyn Silva, under the banner of a hurriedly formed 'People's Media Movement', protested against Sirasa Media Network at Lipton Circus in Colombo this afternoon (Aug. 11th). 'Prabhakaran's media bomb is Sirasa' was the slogan, which was also carried in a banner campaign across the city last night. The protestors, brought in buses from Kelaniya, urged the government to ban the private broadcaster and called Mervyn Silva a god. more..

Aug 11 (LD) President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Minister Maithripala Sirisena could attain godly status by holding a proper disciplinary inquiry against Minister Mervyn Silva, said JVP Parliamentary group leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayake. At a press conference at Colombo Nippon Hotel yesterday (August 10th), Mr. Dissanayake was responding to the SLFP General Secretary’s recent statement that God would punish Minister Silva. more..

Aug 11 (Reuters) Sri Lankan troops killed 115 Tamil Tiger rebels in weekend fighting in the far north of the island, the military said on Monday, as government forces continued their push into the rebels' northern stronghold. Government jets also bombed rebel positions in rebel-held areas in the north, military officials said. "Troops had killed 60 LTTE terrorists and 28 were wounded from Sunday's confrontations," said military spokesman more..

Aug 12 (LG) Vanni faces threats pf aggression. There have been aerial bombings, shell and multi barrel attacks causing deaths and injuries to people and destruction to property. Having kept the A9 route closed, Colombo has commenced military operations resulting in displacement and human tragedy that is indescribable. On top of all that, these operations are carried out in the name of humanitarianism. more..

Aug 12 (LG) I am certain that most of the readers would have read the following somewhere and sometime. “When they came on the Jews I didn’t do anything as I was not a Jew. When they came on the Communists I didn’t do anything as I was not a communist. When they came on the Trade Unionists I didn’t do anything as I was not a Trade Unionist. When they came on to Me there was no one left to do anything.” more..

Aug 12 (LG) We Sri Lankans love to drop names…. We want to drop names like it is going to out fashion tomorrow. I know Him, He was in my class, we went Uni together, we are at that club, my friend, ‘the rich’ guy, ah, you know him, he is the friend of my uncles neighbor whose dog was killed by so and so’s black Mercedes….. you know what I mean. However at the same time we are really good at name calling too. more..

Aug 12 (LG) President Mahinda Rajapaksa who arrived in Beijing to attend the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games 2008, was given a rare opportunity to meet with President Hu Jintao on 7th August. During the bilateral meeting President Rajapaksa thanked China for the excellent arrangements that have been made for the Games and expressed the hope that it would be a resounding success. more..

Aug 12 (CI) It began long before Mahela Jayawardene cut Sourav Ganguly's wide delivery for four to cue emotional scenes of victory. It started before Kumar Sangakkara found awe-inspiring determination to bat India out of the deciding Test. It started in Galle, when Sri Lanka allowed India to level the series. There began a fierce determination to defend a proud home record, and to show Sri Lanka could deliver under pressure. more..

Aug 12 (LBO) Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa has discussed further funding from China's Export Import Bank to expand a coal power plant, a highway and a bunkering project, the foreign ministry said. President Rajapaksa who is on a visit to China has also met Chinese president Hu Jintao and China has agreed to "favourably" view concessions for Sri Lanka tea as the trade deficit was heavily weighted in favour of China. more..

Aug 12 (LBO) Ceylon Tobacco Company, the Sri Lanka unit of British American Tobacco, said sales volumes were falling but profits were up 43 percent to 533 million rupees in the quarter ended June 2008. "Tobacco industry volumes continued to decline during the quarter mainly due to a drop in the smoker base and a decline in consumers’ average daily consumption," Ceylon Tobacco Company told shareholders. more..

Aug 12 (LD) UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake says war, which is giving out an empty noise today, is being waged with a big bang especially during times of elections. He told the media at the Opposition Leader's residence that none of the heads of state attending the Colombo SAARC summi had uttered a single word about war in Sri Lanka. The UNP had opposed not the regional meeting, but the unnecessary expenditure of Rs. 5,900 million spent on it, Mr. Karunanayake said. more..

Aug 12 (LD) The Rs. 3,800 million wasted on the bankrupt Mihin Air could easily have gone to relieve the burden on the poor people, said UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake. The airline had incurred losses of Rs. 3,700 m, and runs on a bank overdraft or Rs. 1,200 m - thus losing Rs. 3,800 m to the country already, he noted. This money could have gone to reduce the price of milk powder for innocent children by Rs. 100, to reduce the price of bread for the poor man by Rs. 20 and kerosene oil by Rs. 19, more..

Aug 12 (LD) Key government affiliate JHU has refused to accept the recommendation by the UN Human Rights Commission that civic rights be restored to UNP National Organizer S.B. Dissanayake. The party's spokesman Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe said the rulings of the local judiciary could not be challenged by international charters or tribunals. Mr. Warnasinghe described such recommendations as bad precedence. more..

Aug 12 (FI) Dayan Jayatilleka's review of Tamil Nadu and the Indian model is a sensible, measured, lucid articulation of the problem at hand. His article makes a compelling and convincing logical exposition of the parameters within which the possible settlement of the ethnic conflict can meaningfully take place - and partisans of all stripes should be forced to read it. Arguably there is little new here, but it nevertheless manages to untangle the present knot of possibilities with more..

Aug 12 (TC) In 1958, ten years after Independence, Sri Lankans of my generation were shocked by the anti-Tamil riots. We had complacently assumed that that was the sort of thing that was endemic in India but could never take place in Sri Lanka. Thereafter we came to a proper appreciation of what those riots were really about. They were an episode in the inevitable assertion of the dominant position of the island’s Sinhala Buddhist majority. more..

Aug 12 (TC) 1956, half a century ago, the year I was born, was a strangely seminal year: it was the year that Fidel and Che landed on the shores of Cuba, the year of the Suez crisis, of the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist party and de-Stalinisation; it was the year of Elvis Presley and rock-and-roll. It was also the year that Alan Ginsberg published his poem 'Howl', which began unforgettably: "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked". more..

Aug 12 (LG) The Sri Lankan government’s ultimatum to all deserters from the armed forces to return to duty is one indication of the stresses that exist in society due to the ongoing war which is gaining in intensity in the north of the country. As the army advances deeper into LTTE controlled territory there is a greater need for larger numbers of troops to be deployed to secure the newly captured areas. more..

Aug 12 (LG) Velupillai Prabhakaran made no bones about where he stood when he asked his followers to kill him if he were to betray the cause of Eelam. He is no chicken-hearted person to backtrack on that. Ranil W. who gave him all the international exposure on a platter via the Wanni media conference (which he could have not achieved on his own even if he was prepared to spend millions), had egg on his face when more..

Aug 12 (LG) Celibacy is deliberate refraining from sexual activity usually in connection with a religious role or practice. It has existed in some form in most world religions and may indicate a person’s ritual purity, or may be adopted to facilitate spiritual advancement. In shamanistic religions, shamans are often celibate. In Hinduism "holy men/women", who have left ordinary secular life to seek final liberation are celibate. more..

Aug 12 (LG) Alas, that vociferous volcanic voice of the Tamils of our time is no more. Yes it is now eight years, snatched away at the dawn of 2000, the first martyr of this millennium. Had he been alive, he would have counted his 70th birthday on August 12. That was my great late leader Kumar Ponnambalam, the son of G.G. Ponnambalam, acknowledged leader of Tamils of the bygone era. He always behaved in a highly refined and civilized manner so much so he had never been hesitant to express his apology when he was wrong. more..

Aug 12 (LG) Kiran from London has circulated a statement in Tamil via email which has been published in the ‘Thesam’ website. In his personal statement Kiran has asserted his involvement with the SLDF. Quoting external factors he had justified that there is no reason for the SLDF to respond to the news implicating them in the burglary at the Tamil Broadcasting Corporation (TBC). more..

Aug 12 (GDI) The Ministry of Education has take steps to include "Mass Media" as a subject for the General Certificate of Education (Advance Level) school syllabus. According to the Minister of Education, Susil Premajayantha Government schools will teach Mass Media commencing from next month. The Ministry also expects to obtain support of Embassies for the students to enhance their knowledge of foreign languages, more..

Aug 12 (GDI) Middle Eastern countries are exploring the possibility of investing in Sri Lanka especially in infrastructure development projects, including highways, airports, hotels and shopping complexes, Kuwaiti Ambassador in Sri Lanka, Fahad Almetairi said. Mr. Almetairi saod that Kuwait and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are interested in implementing several mega developments in the island. more..

Aug 12 (BBC) Police in Sri Lanka have accused a major political party of inciting violence against political rivals in the run up to local elections. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police in charge of Sabaragamuwa province, Upali Hewage, said JVP incited violence on Sunday in Nivithigala. Five JVP supporters, three of them injured, were remanded in custody on 10 August after clashing with supporters of ruling UPFA. more..

Aug 12 (GT) THE Sri Lankan embassy and the community moved a step closer to setting up a cultural centre to promote and showcase members’ talents. A meeting at the embassy on Sunday decided to set up a 21-member steering committee to evaluate the feasibility of such a facility, counsellor at the embassy, A Dharmakulasingham, told Gulf Times yesterday. The committee would be formed as soon as those on holidays returned to Doha by September. more..

Aug 12 (ANI) Sachin Tendulkar is ruled out of the five-One Day ODI series in Sri Lanka, after injuring his left elbow during the ongoing third Test match in Colombo. Tendulkar had also missed last month's Asia Cup in Pakistan because of injury but was later recalled for the one-day series against Sri Lanka. Secretary of BCCI Niranjan shah announced in Rajkot on Monday that S. Badrinath would replace Tendulkar. more..

Aug 12 (TS) Majority of the people in Tamil Nadu are supporting the LTTE, despite accepting that the organisation was behind the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, according to a survey conducted by a leading Tamil weekly here. The shocking results of the survey published in this week's Ananda Vikadan, which tops the circulation among weeklies in Tamil Nadu said that 54.25 per cent of the respondents said that they have always supported the Tigers and their goal of a separate Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka. more..

Aug 12 (Times) Shielding his brow from the midday sun, Father Emilianuspallai surveys the grounds of the Madhu church - Sri Lanka's holiest Roman Catholic shrine and the army's latest prize in its 25-year conflict with the Tamil Tigers. Since recapturing the 400-year-old shrine of Our Lady of Madhu in April, the army has repaired the shell damage to the church roof. It has whitewashed the outhouses that it says the rebels used as a regional headquarters and cleared the booby traps they left behind. more..

Aug 12 (GT) SRI Lanka’s Deputy Minister of Tourism Faizer Musthapha is to visit Qatar on August 27 and 28. He would meet large scale hospitality industry operators, including tour operators, travel agencies, and hoteliers, to explore the chances of promoting tourism to Sri Lanka as well as to promote Sri Lankan staff in the industry. He would also visit Dubai on a similar mission. Musthapha was last in Doha in February. more..

Aug 12 (GV) Now that the government appears to be fighting the war to a finish, it behoves concerned members of our civil society to put their heads together to evolve an optimum Peace Package that could win over as many contenders as possible in our ethnic dispute. Once I blamed a Tamil friend of mine who is a leading professional, for not taking an active part in the search for a solution to the ethnic impasse. more..

Aug 12 (UCAN) Even though Buddhist militants have occasionally attacked Christian churches in Sri Lanka's religious heartland, one group of Catholic priests has just built a hostel for Buddhist novices. Salesian priests on July 27 presented the hostel's keys to the temple's head monk, Udadeniye Wimalagnana Thero, for his novices at Sri Priyadharshanaramaya Temple in Megodawewa, Anuradhapura district, North Central Province. more..

Aug 12 (TW) A severe fuel shortage is hampering important life saving medical procedures at the Kilinochchi Hospital, according to a report published on Sri Lanka’s premier Tamil daily - Virakesari’s website. Patients requiring respiratory therapies and ventilation also refrigeration needed for certain medicines - are depended on fuel using generators for electricity at the Kilinochchi hospital. more..

Aug 12 (LT) Parents have been barred from entering any center where scholarship examinations are to be held on the 17th says Commissioner of Examinations Anura Edirisinghe. He said such a measure had to be taken as parents had entered centers where examinations were held earlier and had helped the students. The students will answer the first paper of the scholarship examination between 9.30 a.m. and more..

Aug 12 (GDI) Thirty two year old Anurudda Ratnayake will create history a short while from now when he becomes the first boxer to represent the country in an Olympic Games in 40 years. Anuruddha will box for Sri Lanka in the flyweight category in Beijing today (August 12). He will face the Brazilian boxer, Robinson who is also a Latin American medal winner in this category. Ratnayake won a third round bout in the 51kg category at last year's AIBA World Boxing Championship more..

Aug 12 (GDI) The 'Randoli' Perahera of the Kandy Esala Perahera will parade the streets of Kandy today (12). The perahera will start from the Sri Dalada Maligawa facing the East at 7.32 pm, a spokesman of the Sri Dalada Maligawa told www.news.lk. The procession, proceeding along the Dalada Veediya and D.S. Senanayakae Veediya will reach Wella Veediya via Temple Road. It will also parade on the street of Sir Bennet Zoysa and then proceed to Kotugodalla Veediya. more..

Aug 12 (GDI) Ex-Tamil Tiger commander of the East, Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman has warned that the LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran suffering defeat after defeat at the hands of the advancing security forces may use chemical weapons to protect his life. Muralitharan, under whom the LTTE scored a string of significant successes, said that the LTTE' ability to defend territory under its control has been severely hampered. more..

Aug 12 (GDI) The Fisheries harbor in Puranawella in the Matara District, which was severely damaged in the tsunami, has been fully revitalized with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Puranawella project is the largest of three fisheries harbours rehabilitated under USAID's Sri Lanka Tsunami Reconstruction Programme and cost almost US$5 million to complete. more..

Aug 12 (GDI) The Government has made all the necessary arrangements to open the Madhu church for devotees from August 12 to 17. Accordingly 200 devotees will be given the opportunity of engaging in religious observances at the statue of Our Lady of Madhu everyday. Security Forces will also provide food and other facilities to the devotees worshipping the Madhu Shrine. The church has been provided with supplies of water, electricity and other sanitary facilities. more..

Aug 12 (GDI) It is estimated that the LTTE terrorist outfit earns an annual income of US$ 200-300 million both by legal and illegal business recording the second biggest income among such group, the August issue of Jane's Intelligence Report said. The report said the huge income is generated perhaps from shipping to drugs and extortion by a network of professional managers -both Tamils and others- across a string of countries and more..

Aug 12 (LNP) TMVP Leader Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman has warned the frustrated LTTE Leader Velupillai Prabhakaran might use chemical weapons to protect his life in the future and also due to a series of military setbacks in the northern region. Claiming the LTTE organisation is now militarily weaken, Mr. Amman said during the last 25 years, he was the one who defeated almost all the offensives launched by the then Sri Lanka government, when he was in the LTTE. more..

Aug 12 (LNP) Air Quality Management of Sri Lanka is planning to introduce laws to cut down the number of two-stroke motor cycles brought into the country. AIRMAC, an institution under the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has identified a large number of motor bicycles go unnoticed because they are free from registering the Department of Motor Traffic. The two-stroke motor bicycles are not only mushrooming but also contributing significantly towards air pollution. more..

Aug 12 (LNP) Minister Mervyn Silva has made a statement to the Peliyagoda police over the incident in Kelaniya involving a Sirasa TV media crew. According to his statement, the Minister had asked for the cameras from the TV crew as he was worried footage of himself would fall into the hands of the LTTE. The Minister claimed he and his supporters arrived at the ceremony to open the second stage of the new flyover bridge at Kelaniya when the TV crew had videoed him. more..

Aug 12 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's tourists arrivals in July fell by a quarter from a year earlier due to security concerns fuelled by intensified fighting between the state and the Tamil Tiger rebels, tourism authorities said on Monday. Arrivals in July fell 25.3 percent to 32,982 and totalled 257,345 in the first seven months of 2008, down 4.3 percent from the same period a year earlier, the state tourism authority said in a statement. more..

Aug 12 (LBO) The rapid growth of the world's shipping fleet is opening up employment opportunities for Sri Lankan seafarers but training is constrained by a shortage of berths for cadets to get seagoing experience, officials said. The worldwide shortage of officer grade seafarers is growing and with more ships being built at a phenomenal rate, the shortage is expected to worsen, they said. more..

Aug 12 (DN) Musician Alston Koch has been appointed as an Ambassador for Tourism by Tourism Minister Milinda Moragoda. With three Gold Records and 18 international releases, including musical videos and the now famous Murali Song, Koch migrated to Australia in 1969, having had a vibrant musical career in Sri Lanka for over a decade before that. He is also a recipient of three ARIA (Australian Record Industry Award) awards. more..