May 11 (AT) A new regional broadcasting service in Tamil and Sinhala for listeners in the Wanni district will be inaugurated by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation shortly. Chairman SLBC Hudson Samarasinghe told the Asian Tribune that all plans have been finalized for the inauguration of this FM radio broadcast on a daily basis. "One of the aims of this service is to resuscitate the music, the traditions and customs of the people of the Wanni area which have gone into abeyance, more..

May 11 (AT) Liberal Democrat Chairman of the Commons International Affairs Select Committee and MP for Gordon, Malcolm Bruce accused Tamil Tigers as terrorists and said "unless you end terrorism you can’t actually build the united Sri Lanka". He made this eye opening statement on BBC Radio-4 interview after coming back to UK from a two day visit in Sri Lanka. more..

May 11 (LG) While killing hundreds of civilians in Afghanistan and in Iraq, cries of United States and its allies on Sri Lanka (who has “Zero Civilian Death Policy” when fighting terrorism) remind us the story of a tricking thief who cried “thief, thief catch a thief”, just to avert the attention and as a part of a ploy set to escape from the crowd around him. As per the media reports, US is planning to rush hundreds of millions of dollars to Pakistan help fight the Taliban and al-Qaida. more..

May 11 (LG) Director Mani Ratnam has reportedly sought permission to shoot in Sri Lanka for his forthcoming film Raavan, which is apparently based on the religious epic Ramayana. According to insiders, since the film is based on Ramayana, Mani Ratnam wants to shoot at certain locations discovered in the island nation like Lankapura, Ashok Vatika among others which matches with the sites mentioned in the epic as demon king Ravana’s strongholds. more..

May 11 (NP) Tamil protesters have made their way onto the Gardiner Expressway tonight, closing six-lanes of traffic in both directions and attracting a massive police contingent. Police put out a city-wide alert, calling for all available officers to the highway at Spadina Road. Some officers were reportedly hurt on the scene. Two weeks ago, thousands of protesters began a five-day demonstration in front of the U.S. Consulate on University Avenue to draw attention to the on-going civil war in Sri Lanka. more..

May 11 (TimesNow) In a revelation that is bound to embarrass the UPA government in front of his pro-Tamil allies, Sri Lanka's former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe speaking exclusively to TIMES NOW said that India has actively helped the Sri Lankan army in its fight against the LTTE. In the interview Wickremesinghe admits India has played a key role in decimating the LTTE from its strongholds. more..

May 11 (DNA) With his trademark black shawl, Vaiko definitely looks formidable. Congress candidate Manik Tagore, who is pitted against the MDMK chief, knows the power of his opponent -- the most vociferous supporter of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka. The Lanka issue indeed threatens to shatter Congress' dream in Virudunagar. "The sun is beating down, like fire. Muthukumar embraced this fire, for the Lankan Tamils...," Vaiko says, more..

May 11 (TC) These closing climactic weeks of the conventional war have been accompanied by tremendous external pressure on the Sri Lankan state. This has its upside because it illuminates. It reveals to us the world as it is and how it might be. It tells us who our friends are. It tells us also who our enemy’s friends are. It educates us as to what we must and must not do, including in the coming weeks and days. more..

May 11 (AT) Pakistan is at war with the Taliban. The Prime Minister of Pakistan has said his Armed Forces will crush Taliban militants and will minimize collateral damage (polite way of saying civilian deaths will be minimized) and they will try and end the war as soon as possible. Many civilians have reportedly been killed in artillery and air attacks launched by the Pakistan Armed Forces. more..

May 11 (LG) LTTE Political Wing leader B Nadesan’s letter ‘guaranteeing’ safety for ICRC personnel bringing in food and medicine into the eternally depleting ‘No-Fire Zone’ area under their control should be welcome – but with a caveat. This coincided with Government complaints about the ICRC’s unwillingness to do so. If the LTTE is serious about it, the best, and possibly the only acceptable way would be for the militant outfit to let the entrapped civilians more..

May 11 (LG) Here below is the feature by Satchi Sithananthan in Frankurt we published Tuesday May 5, 2009 exposing its mischievous and fraudulent activities in Sri Lanka. We have also raised many issues especially regarding child soldiers when we begged the UNICEF three years ago to take a fleet of coaches to Wanni and collect the children conscripted by the LTTE and let them go free with their parents. more..

May 11 (LG) I read with interest, the feature published on Friday, 8 May, in the Daily News and other media, attributed to Bishop Duleep Chikera. The Rev. Father begins by saying "We require a visible shift from sympathy for the IDPs to an affirmation of their rights and dignity". He concludes: "But, if a lasting solution to our larger and more tragic conflict is ever to be reached we need to engage in two more crucial shifts. more..

May 11 (wsws) N. Vithyatharan, chief editor of the Tamil newspaper Sudar Oli, was released from detention on April 28, four days after police admitted in court that there were no grounds to charge him. His treatment further exposes the lawless character of the Sri Lankan government of President Mahinda Rajapakse. Vithyatharan had been accused of aiding a LTTE air raid on Colombo on February 20. more..

May 11 (AT) The news story carried by certain Foreign news agencies alleging that 378 civilians were killed and 1,122 injured due to artillery shelling by the Sri Lanka Army on a hospital at Vellamullivaikkal in Mullaitivu has been strongly denied by the Sri Lanka Army. The news reports quoted a government doctor named Dr. V. Shanmugarajah working within the No Fire Zone. This raises doubts as to the veracity of the story. more..

May 11 (LG) The campaign in Tamil Nadu for the elections to the Lok Sabha, which comes to an end on May 11,2009, saw copious shedding of crocodile tears not only for the plight of the Sri Lankan Tamils, but also for the cause of a separate Tamil homeland as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) of M. Karunanidhi put it or for the cause of an independent Tamil Eelam as the Anna DMK of J.Jayalalitha and other Tamil parties put it. more..

May 11 (GDI) Iran Aid Project, Asian Development Bank, International Co-operative Agency and NORAD organizations have granted loans to supply electricity to villages in the North and East, the Ministry of Power and Energy said. The Ministry has taken measures to implement several rural power projects to provide electricity under the concept of providing electricity to Villages Island wide with the help of the Foreign Organizations. more..

May 11 (GDI) The Italian government will offer 40,000 employment opportunities to Sri Lankans in the next few months. It is scheduled to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Sri Lankan Government in this regard without delay, the Ministry of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare revealed. It was a magnanimous gesture of the Italian government to offer employment opportunities in the midst of global financial crisis and more..

May 11 (GDI) Rates charged by three-wheeler drivers are to be standardized, streamlined, and made applicable countrywide. The Transport Ministry has also taken steps to provide a special advisory scheme to three wheel drivers. This measure is among a series of steps taken by the Ministry of Transport to introduce new standards for such vehicles which provide transport facilities to the public. more..

May 11 (GDI) Sri Lanka values the friendship with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries since the island nation has deep rooted relations with the Middle East region from time immemorial, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said. The Minister Bogollagama reached Saudi Arabia Saturday night on an official invitation from his counterpart Prince Saud Al Faisal. The Saudi Fund For Development (SFD), has given a grant of SR 40 million for more..

May 11 (GDI) Health Department has decided to introduce tablets instead of vaccines to thalassaemia patients and there were about 1,600 patients in the island, the Deparment of Health revealed. According to these sources, the treatment with tablets would be more convenient for children suffering from thalassaemia. At present the disease is prevalent in the North-West, North-Central and Uva regions. more..

May 11 (LT) All alliances formed by the government intending to grab power on conditions that exist at present are unholy alliances says UNP Parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekera. Mr. Jayasekera said so when ‘Lankatruth’ asked him regarding the reports on the attempt of the UPFA to form a new alliance to contest the Jaffna and Vavuniya MC elections. more..

May 11 (GDI) Several thousands of Tamil candidates who had sat for the GCE O/L examination last December would be given an opportunity to sit a fresh Mathematics II paper, Examination department sources said. Nearly 8,000 candidates who have sought refuge in government-held areas could sit for the examination in a few months. Students in some parts of the Vanni region couldn’t sit the special paper due to the disturbed situation, sources added.

May 11 (LT) It is reported that Editor of ‘Lanka Guardian’ web site Nilanthe Ilangamuwa was called to the CID and had been questioned for nearly five hours on the 8th of this month. He has been questioned on several pro-terrorist statements made by certain individuals published in the web site. According to the CID the Editor of ‘Lanka Guardian’ was questioned on the manner the web site received information. more..

May 11 (LT) The government has decided to carry out a special investigation into the ‘Eelam bank’ maintained by the tiger organization as a monetary institution. Tiger terrorists had ordered the people in the North to credit their money to the bank launched with wide publicity by them. Also, tiger organization had asked the people in the North to deposit their money in the ‘tiger bank’ without going to state banks. more..

May 11 (LT) Kalutara Chief Magistrate has ordered Commissioner General of Prisons to provide special security to the prisoners who give evidence at the Magistrate’s inquiry into the incident where 7 inmates of Kalutara prison were shot dead on the 15th of last month. The Magistrate made the order when prisoners who were produced as witnesses in the incident told the magistrate that they were subjected to various harassments since the 14th of last month and more..

May 11 (LT) Cancer patients at Cancer Hospital at Mahargama have been severely inconvenienced due to scarcity of 20 essential drugs in the hospital. Among the drugs that are not available in the hospital are Sisplatinum, Carboplatinum, Anastrozole, Letrozole, Exemestane, Flutamide, Dexorubicin, Thalimodide, Temosolomide, Cytarabine and interferon. As these drugs are very expensive in the open market patients refrain from using them say doctors. more..

May 11 (LT) It is reported that three official of Schools Wushu Federation have been attacked at Katuwawala. A senior official of the Schools Wushu has received injuries on his face and has been admitted to hospital for treatment. The other two officials have escaped by fleeing the area. A group of people who were angered by the officials’ false statements at the funeral of the student who died after a wushu competition have carried out the attack on the officials state these reports.

May 11 (CT) After a tour of Italy, Labour Minister Mervyn Silva has asked President Mahinda Rajapaksa to investigate and recall inefficient Sri Lankan diplomats in foreign countries. The minister has told the president that it was degrading for Sri Lanka that Tamils were holding pro-LTTE public protests in foreign countries, even in a place like Italy. more..

May 11 (CT) An US organization, Inner City Press has sealed a million dollar contract with the LTTE's chief negotiator, K.P. in a bid to save the LTTE, the 'Divaina' reports. Reporting from Berne, Switzerland, the newspaper's defence columnist, Keerthi Warnakulasooriya says Inner City Press has urged the UN to send another representative to Sri Lanka.Under this contract, Inner City Press has published 170 false reports against Sri Lanka, more..

May 11 (CT) A gang of 12 youths has been arrested in connection with a prostitution racket in which around 80 young girls had been raped and sold as prostitutes. Members of the gang had cheated the girls, aged around 16 years, with promises of marriages, taken them to hotels and abused them. Thereafter, the girls had been sold to various hotels. After the suspects were arrested by Katuwana Police, the Walasmulla district court has sent them to remand custody until May 18. more..

May 11 (CT) Relatives suspect foul play in the death of a soldier of 4th Sri Lanka Army Women's Corp, who had reportedly shot herself while on duty. Parents of 21-year-old K.V. Chamila Ishani have complained to police, calling for a proper investigation into the incident. Her brother told Meetiyagoda Police yesterday that Ishani had had no reason to take her own life. Even on the day of her death, she had telephoned home, he said, adding that justice be done to his sister.

May 11 (HRW) Dear Prime Minister Taro Aso, We are writing to you in connection with the grave and worsening humanitarian and human rights situation in northern Sri Lanka. The undersigned nongovernmental organizations call upon Japan to play a more active role in confronting the unfolding catastrophe in what may be the military endgame between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE. more..

May 11 (MoD) On the eve of the scheduled informal UN Security Council meeting on Sri Lanka where the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and his French Counterpart Bernard Kouchner will attend on Monday May 11th, the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) who is constantly attacking the Sri Lankan government has written, this time, to the Japanese Premier. In a joint report with representatives from other similar agencies that show clear sympathy towards LTTE, more..

May 11 (MoD) Video footages showing civilian casualties that claimed to be taken in the civilian safety zone (CSZ) in the Vellamullai Vaikkal, in Sri Lanka are being often aired by many international media. Voices that said to be from pro LTTE sources are being heard blaming the government for constantly shelling the civilians. However, there is ample evidence suggesting that LTTE has been taking the whole world for a ride with its well engineered propaganda ploys. more..

May 11 (IBN) Tamil Nadu with 40 seats up for grabs - if you include Puducherry - goes to polls on Wednesday, which is why Congress President Sonia Gandhi was there reaching out to voters and to her ally, the DMK. However, what was noteworthy was that though the Congress describes the LTTE as a terrorist group, Sonia Gandhi sat silent when Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi read out a tribute to slain LTTE leader Tamilselvan. more..

May 11 (DN) With the latest detection of two bogus foreign employment recruiting agents in Ja-Ela, authorities said they had nabbed over 80 such rogue agents during the past four months, who had swindled millions of rupees by fraudulent means at the expense of prospective job seekers abroad. The SLBFE said its sleuths took into custody two suspects who were posing as authorised agents at Kandawatte, Ja-Ela along with 24 passports in their possession. more..

May 11 (DN) Over 1,500 civilians who were forcibly held by the LTTE terrorists, crossed over to the cleared areas yesterday. Troops advancing further into the No Fire Zone amidst heavy resistance by the LTTE, yesterday, rescued over 650 civilians while the Sri Lanka Navy freed over 300 people who were fleeing the area by boats. According to Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, 174 of 528 civilians evacuated by the Green Ocean ship yesterday were patients. more..

May 11 (DN) It doesn’t take much to be in the news if you are Anarkalli Aakarsha. Everything she does or even tries doing, turns out to be news. Be it her professional life or personal, Anarkelli had been a magnet of attraction since her initial days as a celebrity. After a considerable lapse the charming young actress is once again in the spotlight with her performance in Roy de Silva’s ‘Sir Last Chance’. more..

May 11 (Island) UPFA General Secretary Minister Susil Premjayanth yesterday expressed confidence that the ruling coalition could find a winning combination to win the forthcoming elections to the Jaffna Municipal Council and the Vavuniya Urban Council. Premjayanth told The Island that the SLFP would discuss ways and means of reaching an agreement with its coalition partners in this regard. more..

May 11 (Island) An employee of the Kandy General Hospital has been nabbed by the Investigations Unit of the Ministry of Health in the act of using the Cobalt Therapy Machine of the Cancer Unit to treat common geuda (a kind of mineral corundum) stones and make them look like blue sapphires. The suspect together with bags full of geuda stones found near the machine were handed over to the Kandy police. more..

May 11 (Island) A group of almost 3700 Sri Lankans living in various parts of the world urged the United States to support the Sri Lankan government’s fight against LTTE terrorism. Full text of the petition: "Mr. Barack Obama, the President of the USA, Mrs Hillary Clinton, Secretary of the State, USA, Mr. Robert Blake, US Embassador to Sri Lanka, Mr. Dan Clune, US Charge D’Affaires, Australia, more..

May 11 (IE) Like his 'idol', LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, MDMK general secretary Vaiko alias Y Gopalasamy is an elusive person — at least in this constituency, from where he is contesting as the candidate of the AIADMK-led alliance. In this final surge of campaigning in the state, as the opposition tries to force the UPA on to the backfoot on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue, Vaiko, one of the most potent speakers on the topic, is absent from his constituency. more..

May 11 (DM) The UNP and the JVP the two opposition parties in the Eastern Provincial Council are to protest the ruling party’s decision to withdraw the controversial Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Bill midway through the debate without taking a final vote. Local Authorities Elections (Amendment) Bill which among other matters was set to increase the cut-off point for a party from the present five per cent of the votes polled to 12.5 per cent was presented to parliament in December last year. more..

May 11 (DM) Despite the government facing a major financial crisis with the Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves dwindling to precariously low levels, the Central Bank maintained yesterday the country was well within its capacity to meet local and foreign obligations. The latest Central Bank statistics show that at the end of February, the Gross Official Foreign Reserves of the country stood at a mere US$1.3 billion only sufficient to service seven weeks of imports and more..

May 11 (DM) Vavuniya District Secretary Mrs. P.S.M. Charles said yesterday that the displaced Tamil civilians who arrived in Vavuniya had a lot of jewellery items in their possession, and the banks had started distributing safety lockers among them to safeguard their valuables. Mrs. Charles told Daily Mirror yesterday that Tamils used to invest their money in gold traditionally and they had a lot of jewellery items compared to other communities living in Sri Lanka. more..

May 11 (LBO) Sri Lanka's state revenues have fallen 10.6 percent in the two months to February 2009, amid a slowing economy and collapsing imports while expenses are still rising, the latest official data shows. In the two months to February 2009, total revenues fell to 90.8 billion rupees from 102.8 billion rupees last year, provisional data published by the Central Bank shows. Meanwhile current expenses increased to 163.1 billion rupees, up 27.1 percent from last year's 128.3 billion rupees. more..

May 11 (BBC) About 500 protesters calling for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka have blocked roads outside the Houses of Parliament. Police said the demonstrators had spilled through police lines and taken to the streets in Westminster. Protesters, including hunger strikers, have been camped in Parliament Square since early April. The United Nations has described the situation in northern Sri Lanka as a "bloodbath" after reports of heavy civilian casualties at the weekend. more..