July 21 (Sun) A pregnant mum stabbed two of her kids to death and tried to murder a third - then took rat poison, a court heard yesterday. Distraught Sasikala Navaneethan, 37, who had convinced herself her husband was having an affair, dialled 999. She told the operator: "I also want to die. I want to go with them. I murdered the children. I stabbed them by knife. I have just drunk poison, sleeping now." more..

July 21 (GDI) The Government is now tasked with the responsibility of developing the region. It will not shirk its responsibilities. The era has dawned to fulfill the responsibility on behalf of the country liberated by the war heroes. A Special Presidential Unit will handle the welfare of the disabled and the disabled will be made contributors to the nation building task, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said while addressing a gathering of disabled persons at the premises of the Pelwatte sugar factory. more..

July 21 (GDI) The problems related to the implementation of development projects could be minimized if members of local bodies and Provincial Councils unite, Senior Presidential Advisor and Parliamentarian Basil Rajapaksa said at a special discussion on the implementation of development schemes in the Hambantota District. The meeting chaired by him reviewed progress on the projects of the District. more..

July 21 (GDI) A special joint train and bus service will become operative tomorrow to August 6 to benefit devotees paying homage to the Kataragama Esala Festival. This service will be for the passengers to travel from Matale, Haputale and Bandarawela railway stations to Kataragama and to return from Kataragama. Several train services have been organized from Maradana to Matara from tomorrow. more..

July 21 (GDI) IGP, Jayantha Wickremeratne has ordered a massive crackdown on organized crime and police said the progress so far looked satisfactory with several under world criminals being tracked down. Some leading under world figures who retaliated at the time of arrest using weapons were killed by the police in self defense action. A number of criminals in custody have spelt details of top under world king pins and their ganga operating at town and city level. more..

July 21 (MoD) The stage is set for the people of the North to enjoy their democratic freedom after 30 long years, Transport Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said yesterday (July 20). The next goal of the President who has liberated the country from terrorism is to allow the free expression of the people's will which was suppressed for three decades, through the popular vote, he said. more..

July 21 (GDI) The National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) has launched a countrywide programme, , to provide housing facilities to Ranaviru families. In the bid to promote the concept ,Ocean View Development Company Ltd. made a financial contribution to the Housing Ministry for the proposed Phase - I of the Ranaviru Housing Programme to be to be launched at district level. Selection of suitable Ranaviru families under this scheme will be handled by more..

July 21 (TC) On the 15 July, the British High Commissioner Dr. Peter Hayes commenced an official three-day visit to Trincomalee and Batticaloa where he met with politicians, civil society, and business community. The High Commissioner also attended a Forum Theatre Performance organised the British Council, visited the Commonwealth War Grave in Trincomalee, and several other archaeological sites, more..

July 21 (GDI) Construction work on the main road leading to the Madhu Shrine will be completed by August 6, well ahead of the church feast on August 14 and 15, T. B. Ekanayake, Minister of Highways said. “The cost of the construction is Rs. 157 million and the roads within the Madhu shrine will also be reconstructed before the pilgrimage begins,”the minister said. He added that construction work on the Murunkan – Silawathura road in Mannar has also commenced and would be expedited shortly. more..

July 21 (GDI) Job Centre for the persons with disabilities will be opened at 10.30 am on July 22 at the Manpower and Employment Division at Battaramulla under the patronage of the Minister of Labour Relations and Manpower Aathauda Senevirathne. The aim of this centre is to provide information to persons with disabilities. The government as a policy has expressed deep concern to help uplift the disabled community in the country. more..

July 21 (GDI) There will be a solar eclipse tomorrow morning (22) Though this is visible as a total solar eclipse to some countries like India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China, to us in Sri Lanka and most countries in eastern Asia, Indonesia and Pacific Ocean it will appear as a partial solar eclipse. For Sri Lanka, the eclipse will appear from the time of sunrise. When the maximum eclipse occurs at 6.21 a.m. about 40% of the Sun will be covered by the moon more..

July 21 (GDI) The Sri Lanka Air Force has now commenced domestic flight operations to any destination departing from Katunayaka and Ratmalana, Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara told www.news.lk. The general public can now seek any air route to any interested local destination. The new service is also available from Katunayaka International Air Port enabling passengers arriving at the airport to take an air route to the domestic destination. more..

July 21 (GDI) Sri Lanka earned a massive foreign exchange of three billion US dollars last year through income generated from migrant workers. Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare said a sizable quantum of this sum had been remitted through women domestic workers employed overseas. He claimed that Sri Lanka was the first nation to formulate a National Policy on Labor Force in Asia. more..

July 21 (LNP) Cometh an election, cometh a dramatic turnabout in policies of many a party! The UPFA, as a local saying goes, is behaving like `a mute after a dose of bitter decoction` on the question of devolution. It is unable to express itself. We only see grimacing government worthies. The UNP has sought to cash in on the government`s predicament. It is now insisting that Sri Lanka remain a unitary State! Curiouser! Curiouser! more..

July 21 (LT) The solution he expects for the national question is the implementation of a devolution package that goes beyond the 13th amendment says Minister of Social Services and Social Welfare Douglas Devananda. Speaking at a media meeting held in Jaffna yesterday the minister said the government had held several discussions based on this stand. more..

July 21 (LT) Reports received by ‘Lankatruth’ states that a crown and a sword are being created on behalf of President Mahinda Rajapakse who has been introduced as ‘Maharajano’ (great king) by certain media and politicians. The crown and the sword are being created at Kotavehera Purana Rajamaha Vihara temple at Paragahakele in Ampara District. The crown and the sword have been created with a gold mixed metal and has cost a lot of money. more..

July 21 (LT) Two Cuban epidemiologists are expected to arrive in Sri Lanka today, a Health Ministry official has told Daily Mirror. Two Cuban epidemiologists who were invited to help Sri Lanka to handle the fast spreading Dengue epidemic in the island did not arrive in Colombo on Saturday as expected. Cuba's chief epidemiologist Aramis Martinez and assistant epidemiologist S. Yalina were expected to arrive here on 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. more..

July 21 (LT) The tendency to commit suicide in Ampara district is relatively high says director of Ampara Hospital Dr. Lankathileke Jayasinghe. According to Dr. Jayasinghe about 635 patients who had attempted to commit suicide were admitted to Ampara Hospital in 2008 out of which 46 died. He said about Rs.20 million is spent on the ICU unit in the hospital for a year to treat those who attempt to commit suicide. more..

July 21 (LNP) I am a medical doctor in a Sri Lanka Government hospital. I am amazed at the way UN is treating the people and Government of Sri Lanka, even after finishing a fearsome war with the LTTE to save over 300,000 Tamils. I have been working in hospitals attached to IDP camps in Sri Lanka where we have been visiting and treating those patients from war areas on rotational basis continuously. more..

July 21 (Island) Assistant Secretary of the UNP Dr. Jayalath Jayawardane said there was an urgent need for life saving drugs for patients who have undergone kidney transplants in several major hospitals. The Kandy General Hospital is the worst affected as it houses one of the main kidney transplant units, he said. In a letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, he said yesterday (20) that more..

July 21 (LP) Troops conducting search operations in areas of Mullaittivu recovered Gold jewellery from the area yesterday (20). According to the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS), troops of the Task Force VIII recovered the jewellery weighing 37.5kg. Search operations were conducted at around 11.45 am in the Puthukuduirippu area. In another search operations troops recovered a large haul of weapons from the same area said the MCNS. more..

July 21 (LP) ‘Nenasa’ - a state-of-the-art Digital Satellite Television based Distance Education Bridge was launched by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. ‘Nenasa’ which is managed and operated by the Ministry of Education and the National Institute of Education (NIE) will connect 1,000 rural schools in Sri Lanka to high-quality rendition of the national curriculum, developed by the NIE over a digital satellite television broadcast medium. more..

July 21 (DBS) The Anglican Bishop of Colombo , Rt. Rev Duleep de Chickera is one of those leaders from the Christian clergy who strives to promote inter-ethnic understanding, justice and equality. Bishop Duleep as he is generally known concluded a pastoral visit to Jaffna some weeks ago and issued a public statement afterwards. I was very happy to post the statement on this blog on June 18th. more..

July 21 (CT) Troops of Sri Lanka Army's Task Force 8 on July 19 unearthed 113 parcels containing VCD footages of LTTE attacks and bio-data of over 1,000 LTTE cadres from Pudukudirippu West area of Mullaitivu. The parcels were waterproof sealed and concealed six feet deep in underground. The parcels have been handed over to intelligence officials for further investigations. more..

July 21 (CT) A fisherman in Chilaw has died after choking on a climbing perch, reports say. The victim has been identified as a 35-year-old a father of three. He was holding in his hand a climbing perch he had just caught, when he saw another fish. He had freed both hands after holding the perch between his teeth. However the fish he was holding between his teeth has slipped in the attempt, choking him. more..

July 21 (DN) After the young miscreants were weeded out never to re-enter school, Ananda College settled down peacefully under the new Principal L. H. Mettananda to resume its educational activities. Mettananda despite his ordeal, was not bitter or rancorous: his was a lofty personality characterized by rare Buddhistic virtues. Veteran journalist and brilliant newspaperman D. B. Dhanapala who once shared Mettananda’s academic profession in later years after his retirement admiringly agreed that Mettananda was a nationalist. more..

July 21 (Island) The Tamil Diaspora is expected to participate, in their thousands, in this year’s Nallur Kandasamy Kovil festivities, Tourism Promotion Minister Faizer Mustapha said. He said that already over 180,000 members of the Tamil Diaspora had inquired about the facilities available to attend the festival. Minister Mustapha, told hoteliers and media at the Jaffna Kachcheri during a more..

July 21 (DN) The Mahinda Rajapaksa Government has taken a number of steps to protect the farmers and boost local food production, said Trade, Marketing, Cooperatives Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Bandula Gunawardena. The Minister was addressing the Private bus owners, Three wheel drivers Trader Association members and youth clubs in the Moneragala district at the Pelwatte Sugar company premises on Sunday. more..

July 21 (DN) Every inch of land liberated by our valiant soldiers at the risk of their lives will be utilised for development. It is also the responsibility of everyone who loves this country to look after the parents of these war heroes as well as to build and ideal society for their children, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said. President made these observations at a meeting he had with members of Maha Sangha from temples in Moneragala district more..

July 21 (LT) All honourary degrees conferred by various organizations except those awarded by universities, Sangha Sabhas and by the President should be abolished. This has been proposed to the government by the cabinet subcommittee appointed to study honourary degrees conferred by various organizations said the president of the committee Minister D.M. Jayaratne. He said drafts have been drawn to make it a criminal offence that more..

July 21 (Island) Arguably Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC), maintains its single entity highest tax payer status in the country. Taxes on cigarettes are now at approximately 80 odd %, leaving the Company about 19, % to carry out other functions. ‘We work in strict compliance with the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol. Having done that social reporting dialogue is conducted by Bureau Veritas, an independent facilitator to ensure transparency in all we do’. more..

July 21 (Island) PCOI declared Naddalamottankulam training centre falsely called Sencholai orphanage by the LTTE was a camp situated in jungle area where school children were forcibly taken by the LTTE for training purposes. The air raid took place on August 14, 2006 and by that time the LTTE had commenced a series of attacks on the Security Forces under the cover of the CFA and the retaliatory action by the Air Force was justified as Sencholai was a military target. more..

July 21 (DM) A serious lapse in security provided to ICC match officials doing duty at the third cricket Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka which is currently in progress at the SSC Ground caused a heated situation last morning and some officials had threatened to leave unless they are provided security. Arrangements had been made for the bus ferrying match officials from the Taj hotel to the SSC to travel with the Pakistani bus which was scheduled to leave at 8.30 a.m. from the hotel yesterday. more..

July 21 (DN) Text of speech delivered by Higher Education Minister Prof. Wiswa Warnapala at the launching of the World Bank’s Sri Lanka Higher Education Sector Report at the Galle Face Hotel on July 17, 2009. The legacies of the colonial model, primarily the Colonial University, in a way, still persist within the system as this tradition made a significant impact on the institutions of higher learning which came to be established in the 20s. more..

July 21 (DM) Around 20 Sri Lankan domestic workers were seeking shelter everyday at the Kuwait safe house which was maintained by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Kuwait due to work difficulties, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare, Sunil Sirisena said. Ministry of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare with the Foreign Employment Bureau has made arrangements for these workers to return to Sri Lanka within shortly, he added. more..

July 21 (DM) A disabled Constable attached to the Weligama Police Station succeeded in saving the life of a 28-year-old mother of one who had attempted to commit suicide by jumping into the Polathumodera Ganga from the Denipitiya bridge. The woman, a resident of Udukawa in Weligama had decided to commit suicide after a family quarrel. When she jumped into the river, although there had been a large crowd present, no one had tried to save her as more..

July 21 (LBO) Sri Lankan shares rallied Tuesday on news the government had secured a long-awaited loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that brokers said could boost investor confidence and bring in more foreign investors. Share prices shot up over 2.5 percent in early morning trade as news broke the government had secured a 2.5 billion dollar IMF loan, brokers said. more..

July 21 (LBO) Over 200 Sri Lankan firms have qualified for a government export incentive scheme the first payments of which are expected next month, but many claims have been rejected owing to errors in applications, officials said. Commerce Department officials said funds to pay the claims for the first quarter, which are evaluated on a first come, first served basis, would take at least another two weeks to come from the Treasury. more..

July 21 (DM) Foreign powers that killed even children during the 1818 UVA rebellion when patriotic forces fought against oppression are now trying to preach human rights to Sri Lanka in an attempt to hide their past sins, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday. He told a gathering of differently-abled people at the Pelwatte Sugar Factory premises in Moneragala during a more..

July 21 (LBO) If listed stocks are made more popular it may help wean people away from Ponzi style high yield scams, a number of which have collapsed in recent months leaving many destitute, a senior government minister said. "All of you here would prefer large investors but you have to think of small investors," deputy finance minister Sarath Amunugama said at the re-opening of a public gallery at the CSE. more..

July 21 (CI) A superb spell of legspin from Danish Kaneria soon after tea earned Pakistan a 66-run lead on the second afternoon at the SSC. Mahela Jayawardene was denied a fifth successive century at his favourite venue, and only a bold innings of 44 from the injured Tillakaratne Dilshan allowed Sri Lanka to get within distance of Pakistan's total. Dilshan smashed sixes off Kaneria and Umar Gul and protected the tail-end batsmen by more..

July 21 (NP) Canada was one of the top sources of funding for Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers rebels, providing up to $12-million a year, says a secret intelligence report obtained by the National Post. The Tamil Tigers were defeated in May, ending Sri Lanka's long civil war, but in a classified report last year federal officials wrote that the rebels were getting much of their money from Canada. The rebels are also known as the LTTE. more..

July 21 (Reuters) Sri Lanka is meeting global investors in New York, Boston and London this week to appraise them about the situation in the country after the end of its 25-year civil war, a source close to the development said. Although a global bond issue is not imminent, the possibility of such a debt offering cannot be ruled out, the source said. Officials from the South Asian country met with investors in Hong Kong and Singapore last week. more..

July 21 (LBO) Sri Lanka is planning a budget deficit 7.0 percent of its economy under a plan agreed with the International Monetary Fund, which will help improve the country's rating and open the way for foreign financing, a top official said. The IMF said it had reached a deal to give 2.5 billion US dollars to Sri Lanka with the first tranche of 313 million US dollars to be disbursed on July 24 after formal board approval. more..

July 21 (IRIN) A detailed plan to resettle almost 300,000 IDPs in Sri Lanka is needed to sustain donor assistance, the UN says. Thousands of Tamil civilians are in some 35 government camps in the northern districts of Vavuniya, Mannar, Trincomalee and Jaffna after fleeing fighting between government forces and the defeated LTTE, who had been fighting for an independent homeland for more than two decades. “It’s very important that there be clear plans and timelines for people to return,” more..

July 22 (BBC) Police authorities in northern Sri Lanka have rejected accusations by opposition parties that the government is terrorising the region in the run up to Vavuniya Urban Council elections. The main opposition, UNP, says party's organisers are continuously threatened and intimidated by pro-government supporters. UNP Vanni district organiser PA Karunadasa told BBC Sandeshaya that people travelling in motor bicycles without number plates prevented their supporters from canvassing. more..

July 22 (LG) In late July 1983, Colombo literally burst into flames as angry mobs of Sinhalese went on a rampage burning, looting and terrorising the occupants of Tamil homes in an orgy of violence unparalleled in the Island’s history. The Government line was that this was a spontaneous backlash by the Sinhalese people to the killing of thirteen Sinhalese soldiers in the north by LTTE fighting for an independent state of Tamil Eelam comprising the North and Eastern parts of the Island. more..

July 22 (LG) International media reports and unofficial local reports say that Sri Lanka government's military strategy to suppress the nationalist sentiments among the Tamils displaced from the formerly rebel-held Vanni in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka is under pressure due to international human rights concerns, lack of resources to hold people for long period of time and also due to the unrest among the inmates of the military-run refugee camps. more..

July 22 (LG) After Sri Lanka became a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on March 30, 2007, action has been taken to make amendments to the existing Act No. 28 of 1996 - Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act. The new legislation will be titled 'Disability Rights Act' and subject to the approval of the Parliament. more..

July 22 (LG) Development, it is often said from the highest level of the administration in the country, is the key policy objective of the government. We hear many an administrative head of Ministry, Department, state or public sector institute expressing the same sentiments on various occasions. It is emphasised that whatever the work their respective establishments engage in, they are contributions to the overall goal of national development. more..