Apr 1 (Island) President Mahinda Rajapaksa has ended a simmering controversy over the move to recall Sri Lankan Ambassador in Geneva Dayan Jayatilleke on the completion of his two-year term by extending it by another year. Political sources said that the President had informed Jayatilleke of his decision on Monday (March 30) in recognition of his significant contribution to Sri Lanka’s more..

Apr 1 (Island) UPFA Gampaha District leader for the forthcoming Western Provincial council elections, Prasanna Ranatunga, commenting on the ialleged assault on one of his supporters by Gampaha District MP Sarana Gunawardena, said that he was unaware of the circumstances that led to the fracas and did not to be involved. "I only visited the injured in Hospital since Primal, a former driver of MP Sarana Gunawardena was one of my supporters. more..

Apr 1 (Island) The problem with creating monsters to harm others is that they inevitably come home to roost. All the countries that sponsored terrorism to further their geo-political or economic interests have finally found themselves hoist with their own petard. The US is battling Al Qaeda, which once proved to be a potent weapon against Russians in Afghanistan. And India has had to live in the shadow of LTTE terrorism which it created to tame Sri Lanka over three decades ago. more..

Apr 1 (DM) The private bus operators are to introduce a ‘pay fare by credit card’ system for their regular commuters. Private Bus Operators Union Chief Gemunu Wijeratne said yesterday that his union had already conducted several rounds of talks with two companies in this regard. “Passengers can pay the fare with the Electronic Bus Pass (EBP) which is reloadable. The bus conductor will deduct the fare of the journey from the EBP using a machine more..

Apr 1 (DM) The Supreme Court suggested two alternative sites -- one at Mahara and the other a site belonging to the Sri Lanka Ports Authority -- that could be used to dump accumulated garbage. This proposal was made by the bench when a fundamental rights petition complaining of garbage accumulation was taken up on Monday. Bench also directed the Colombo Municipal Council to take steps to set up a recycling system and more..

Apr 1 (DM) Eastern Province Chief Minister and TMVP leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan is expected to switch his support to the UNP due to continuing differences with his former ally and Minister Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman. A top official of the TMVP told Daily Mirror the Chief Minister had reportedly met a top official of the UNP and more..

Apr 1 (TC) LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran’s eldest son , Charles Anthony has sustained injuries in the on going battle against the Armed forces of Sri Lanka. According to reports from Wanni 23 year old Charles Anthony’s injuries are not life threatening. Charles Anthony it is learnt has been wounded on his shoulder and fore arm. He is now receiving treatment at the clinic run by the LTTE medical unit at Valainjarmadam. more..

Apr 1 (ANN) The Sri Lanka Army’s 58 Division on Monday (March 30) captured an LTTE truck mounted with 12.7mm Anti Aircraft gun during counter terrorist operations carried out in the Irnapali area, Puthukkudiyiruppu East. Battlefield sources said that infantrymen of 20 Gajaba Regiment (20 GR) successfully repulsed an LTTE bid to breach the forward boundary in the afternoon causing heavy damage to the terrorists. more..

Apr 1 (ANN) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Sri Lanka’s economic growth is expected to fall to 4.5 per cent in 2009 while the country faces major challenges in controlling its fiscal deficit, balance of payments position and maintain export competitiveness. ADB said the global economic slowdown means that Sri Lanka faces tighter access to capital markets for government to borrow and a weaker demand for the country’s exports. more..

Apr 1 (LBO) A one-third stake in Seylan Bank being offered to new investors by the regulators will be in new shares with the cash going into boost the capital of the bank. Seylan bank was put under state owned Bank of Ceylon’s management and a new board installed after, a collapse of a Ceylinco group financial firm caused a run on deposits. The Central Bank is now seeking an investor to buy 33.3 percent of its stock to recapitalize Seylan, more..

Apr 1 (LBO) Sri Lanka is in talks with the Asian Development Bank on ways to raise funds to build the last stretch of a key highway linking the island's south with the capital Colombo, a senior ADB official said. The ADB’s Country Director for Sri Lanka, Richard Vokes said the talks were on how to fund the last 30 kilometre stretch of the southern highway for which no funds have been allocated. more..

Apr 1 (NZH) Sri Lanka's minister of livestock development would like New Zealand's help to develop dairy farming in the troubled island state. R.C.M.B. Rathnayaka said providing 15,000 dairy cows and bull semen to breed herds would boost milk production. But he said Sri Lanka would have to make aid repayments over time. "We don't have money to pay right now", he said through a translator. more..

Apr 1 (Hindu) It is not only the fratricidal war among Tamils in Sri Lanka that is responsible for the dream of Tamil Eelam not being achieved; it is also a similar war among those who support the cause in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said. He said he had said many times that the main reason for the struggle not yielding the desired result was the war among the Tamils in the island nation. more..

Apr 1 (PTI) Sri Lanka has said it defeated a "desperate attempt" by certain "pro-LTTE lobby" countries by raising human rights issue against it, which was aimed at throwing a lifeline to the few remaining Tiger rebel leaders during a recent U.N. Summit in Geneva. "A desperate attempt to throw a lifeline to the few remaining LTTE leaders, hiding behind a forcibly kept human shield in the remaining uncleared pockets in Mullaitivu, had been defeated, with the majority support of the Council," more..

Apr 1 (Guardian) Campaigners who have collected 400 tonnes of food and medical aid for the 150,000 Tamil civilians trapped by the fighting between the Sri Lankan army and the Tamil Tigers have reacted angrily to claims from Colombo that the aid mission could be a cover for supplying weapons to the rebels. A coalition of charities, celebrities and politicians gathered in central London yesterday to publicise the voyage of the Vananga Man, the ship that will set out with the humanitarian supplies early next week. more..

Apr 1 (IANS) Sri Lanka has summoned Norway's envoy and expressed its displeasure after Oslo arranged a meeting between a Tamil Tigers representative and a UN official. The foreign ministry summoned ambassador Tore Hattrem Tuesday to know 'why (the) meeting was arranged without consulting the Sri Lankan government'. Norway facilitated talks between UN Humanitarian chief John Holmes and Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP, the new international representative of the LTTE. more..

Apr 1 (Reuters) The son and heir apparent to Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has been wounded in a gunbattle with soldiers trying to crush the separatist rebels, the military said Wednesday. The battle to end the quarter-century war is centred around 25 square km (10 sq miles) of the Indian ocean island's northeastern coast, where the army has encircled the Tigers and tens of thousands of civilians trapped there. more..

Apr 1 (DBS) A “humanitarian catastrophe” is unfolding in what’s remaining of territory controlled by the LTTE. Also, there is the very real danger of the conflict escalating to a level where massive loss of human life and limb could occur. At one level this on going tragedy is quite personal as I’ve lost loved ones and friends in the bombing and shelling. Many have been injured. This is the KNOWN. But even worse, is the UNKNOWN. more..

Apr 1 (AP) More than 23,000 civilians escaped last month from a war zone in Sri Lanka's north, where the military appears close to crushing the Tamil Tiger rebels, the government said Wednesday. Tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped by the fighting as the military has rolled up a series of battlefield victories and pushed the rebels into a small sliver of beach and land — measuring just 8.4 square miles (21 square kilometers) — on the northeast coast. more..

Apr 2 (GDI) 408,487 Hectares land acquired and vested with the Land Reform Commission on the basis of declaration from 6480 persons, Minister Dew Gunasekera said. He pointed out that first stage for 240373 hectares were assigned to 19 state institutions for management or use and for 2nd stage140,761 Hectares transferred to JEDB and 109428 Hectares transffered to State Planationa Corporation. more..

Apr 2 (HM) A SCHOOL has united in a bid to inundate Government officials with letters of support for two teenage students facing deportation. Pupils, staff and governors at English Martyrs School and Sixth Form College are writing letters and poems to immigration bosses encouraging them to re-consider their decision to send the two sisters and their mother back to war-torn Sri Lanka. more..

Apr 2 (LBO) Sri Lankan retailer Odel said it has opened a fashion accessories store for women called 'Backstage' in Singapore with more overseas outlets planned. The company, a clothing and fashion products retailer, said in a statement the move puts it among the few local brands to go overseas. "Singapore will be a great test for Backstage," said Otara Gunewardene, founder and chief executive of ODEL who conceptualized and owns the brand. more..

Apr 2 (LBO) Central bank said it has promoted four Assistant Governors, Rose Cooray, K G D D Dheerasinghe, Uthum Herat and D S Wijesinghe to the post of Deputy Governor. Cooray's promotion was with effect from March 13 while the others will be promoted in May and July 2009. "These promotions have been made in line with the succession plan of the bank and to address the new challenges of the Central Bank," it said in a statement. more..

Apr 2 (TC) Two people of Sri Lankan Tamil origin were named in the Forbes Billionaire list, released on 11th March 2009. Forbes magazine presents an annual list of the world's richest people. Both are major investors in their country of origin. Mr.T Ananda Krishnan, a Malaysian of Sri Lankan Tamil origin, was named the 62nd richest person in the world and the richest Malaysian. more..

Apr 2 (BBC) A postmaster who refused to serve customers unless they spoke English is set to stand for election as a Euro MP for the UK Independence Party (UKIP). Sri Lankan-born Deva Kumarasiri told customers at his Nottingham post office they had to speak the language so he could understand them. But he was forced to leave his job after going public with his demand. more..

Apr 2 (TC) Former Sri Lankan Attorney - General , Mr.Shiva Pasupathy has written to UN Human Rights High Commissioner Ms. Navanetham Pillay about the plight of Civilians in the Northern mainland of Sri Lanka. Mr. Pasupathy has urged Ms. Pillay to ensure that all citizens are allowed to remain wherever they want to stay and that none should be compelled to move to detention camps against their will. more..

Apr 2 (CI) Basnahira South, Wayamba, Kandurata and Ruhuna have qualified for the semi-finals of the Inter-Provincial Twenty20 tournament following the completion of the round robin stage of matches on Tuesday. Basnahira South came through the initial round unscathed winning five games on the trot to finish on top of the pile with 21 points. They will meet third-placed Kandurata in one semi-final at the SSC on Saturday. more..

Apr 2 (LG) Nationalism is not a political pariah. It could play a positive role, especially in the decolonization and nation-building processes. Nationalism can also be rightly perceived as a bourgeois ideology for mystifying the contradictions, oppression and exploitation within the ‘nation.’ Nationalism becomes a problem when it oppresses other nations and threatens the co-existence and solidarity among diverse peoples. more..

Apr 2 (LG) An IANS report from Puducherry, March 25 read as follows: ‘Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Wednesday said he was not ‘particularly fond’ of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers because they killed his father Rajiv Gandhi. He told a press conference here: "The LTTE is a terrorist group. I am not particularly fond of the LTTE myself. It killed my father."…Gandhi, however, said that India was doing its best to protect Tamil civilians more..

Apr 2 (LG) The Sri Lankan Government has been able to defeat militarily, the armed struggle waged by the LTTE. This has caused surprise and shock not only among the Tamil people of Sri Lanka, but also among Tamil people the world over. Earlier, none of them thought the LTTE could be defeated militarily. It had the capacity to safe-guard its existence in any kind of arduous war situation. more..

Apr 2 (LG) “Sri Lanka is a progressive and modern industrial country with a multi-religious and multi-ethnic society. It is so easy for the armed forces of Sri Lanka to implement the Invincible Defence Technology,” Lt. Col Gunter Chassé, Rtd Air Force Officer in German Air Force , said on present situation in Sri Lanka in an exclusive interview with Sri Lanka Guardian. more..

Apr 2 (LBO) Aitken Spence group said it has opened its latest Maldivian luxury resort called Adaaran ‘Prestige’ Vadoo. The resort, 15 minutes by speed boat from Male’ International Airport, has 50 villas including six Japanese concept rooms on the ocean, a company statement said. The company said each villa comes with a personal butler, in-room spa therapy facilities, private dining area on deck, Jacuzzi, plunge pool, DVD player, home theatre system, and espresso machine. more..

Apr 2 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's rupee hit a new life low on Wednesday on importer dollar demand amid expectations the currency will fall after an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan comes through, dealers said. The bourse closed flat with foreign investors selling shares to save money in case the global lender requires the government to let the rupee float as a condition for a $1.9 billion loan now under discussion. more..

Apr 2 (PTI) The Ecumenical Clergy Forum for Human Rights (ECFoHR), an umbrella organisation of Christian bodies, on Wednesday urged the United Nations to take up the Sri Lankan Tamils issue with the island government and 'warn' them to stop the war against innocent civilians. "We expect the UN to take up this issue seriously to warn the Sri Lankan Government to stop the inhuman, unlawful war against innocent minority civilian victims in Sri Lanka and more..

Apr 2 (GDI) It is indeed a pity that the opposition levels are trying create a wrong appearance about the Government and opposition levels false allegations in sheer desperation, and they are the people who publicly announced about the economic crises, Minister of Agricultural Development & Agrarian Services Development said at the media conference held at the Government Information department today (01). more..

Apr 2 (PR) The Management Committee of the Gods Own Children Foundation, is pleased to announce, to all our Donors and Well Wishers, that the European Union has pledged, to Support and Fund, an Art Exhibition, of all disadvantaged children, in the Jaffna Peninsula & the East. The Art Exhibition will display the Art Exhibits of all the disadvantaged children in the Jaffna Peninsula & the East. more..

Apr 2 (PTI) Calling for measures by Sri Lankan government to safeguard and protect Tamils in the island nation, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said the "first step" needed was cessation of hostilities to enable "innocent people to move to safety zones". "We believe strongly that it is necessary for the Sri Lankan authorities to take whatever steps are needed to safeguard and protect them and their interests," she said. more..

Apr 2 (LBO) The Commercial Bank has been adjudged Sri Lanka’s ‘Best Bank’ for the 11th successive year by the financial publication Global Finance (USA). The ranking comes in a year when some of the best banks of previous years have lost their places to competitors due to the credit crunch and turmoil in financial markets, it said. This is the 16th year that Global Finance has published the results of its annual survey of Best Emerging Market Banks. more..

Apr 2 (AT) The three member World Heath Organisation team of Doctors which was in Sri Lanka on the invitation of Health Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva following the Rubella catastrophe, has recommended that the innoculations have to be done under the supervision of an MBBS qualified doctor. This follows the recent death of Peshala Hansani a 12 year old student from S. Thomas Girls School Matara and where 29 students from the same school were hospitalised following more..

Apr 2 (AT) A Tactical Meeting on "LTTE Front Organisations", was hosted by Eurojust (the EU institution responsible for co-ordination of investigations and prosecutions between competent authorities in the Member States), on 30-31 March 2009 in the Hague, Netherlands. The Meeting was attended by representatives of the Intelligence and Criminal Justice communities of EU member states, non-EU countries including Sri Lanka, and the Europol. more..

Apr 2 (AT) Eight thousand employees in 23 Ceylon Electricity Board Unions will stage a token strike Friday (3) in protest of the Government not providing its salary increases due January 2009, and due triennially. This is absurd as the Government and more so, Power and Energy Minister John Seneviratne has assured us that they will be giving us the due alary increase which is due triennially (one in three years) and it has gone back on its word, more..

Apr 2 (LG) The controversy over the establishment of a new private medical college has surfaced again with the Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF) planning protests. With plans being unveiled to open a private medical faculty being constructed at Malabe in affiliation with a university in Russia, various persons expressed their views. The issue is not new with the debate dating back to 1981 with the establishment of a private medical institute, more..

Apr 2 (LG) During the early days of the human shield crisis, a group of some two hundred civilians conspired to breakaway from the clutches of the Tigers and escape through the jungles and into the territory under the control of the Armed Forces. Soon this group swelled into about five hundred and most of them with a mamotty in their hands were ready to move just before midnight. Their one hope was that there were no Tigers nearby. more..

Apr 2 (LG) UNP M.P. Gayantha Karunatileke said, the Govt. must be hoping that every day will be an April fool’s day, like today, so that it can fool all the Sri Lankans all the time. After a gazette notification earlier withdrawing many rights and privileges of the Govt. servants, the Ministers who realized that the postal voting for the forthcoming elections is beginning tomorrow have now started contradicting the notice stating that the Govt. has not decided on the withdrawals yet. more..

Apr 2 (LG) Every act has an opposite reaction; some may peter out tamely, others may be hard and a few catastrophic. There is no point in crying at this point of time. The LTTE never had any political ideology and repeatedly truned down or ignored possible solutions though they did not fully meet the needs of the Tamil but yet they were a move towards a goal. The LTTE wanted a state of a dictator and only whose voice counted. more..

Apr 2 (LG) Your browser may not support display of this image. Arundhati Roy is certainly an iconic presence in the progressive world I inhabit, but I am inherently suspicious of people who make public pronouncements but act differently in private. Her one visit to Sri Lanka - as far as I know - was in the aftermath of THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS when she stood on a podium at the British Council, to scoff at the Booker and more..

Apr 2 (TN) “The international community has started planning for the post-conflict period”, said a letter written a week ago by US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton to US Congress members who had shown concern to the humanitarian situation in the island of Sri Lanka. “I emphasized that the Sri Lanka Army should not fire into the areas where civilians are trapped in the conflict zone. I urged President Rajapaksa to devise a political solution to the ongoing conflict”, more..

Apr 2 (TN) Jaffna University students of Medicine, Science and Agricultural Faculties joined in the boycott of lectures launched by the Arts Faculty students Wednesday demanding the immediate release of lecturer Selvarajah Raveendran, the younger brother of Jaffna District TNA parliamentarian, Selvarajah Kajendran, sources in Jaffna said. All educational activities in Jaffna University ceased as the entire students joined in the boycott more..

Apr 2 (GV) Marine archaeologists have just discovered evidence of a large submerged landmass southeast of Sri Lanka. They believe it could be a legendary lost island closely linked to the culture and history of Sri Lankan people. The discovery was made by a team of Dutch and Sri Lankan scientists based on satellite maps and underwater sample extractions from the deep sea. more..