Feb 18 (CT) A special commissioner has been tasked with administering the Tissamaharama Pradeshiya Sabha previously run by the JVP. The assistant commissioner of local government in Hambantota district is the officer appointed to the post. This has been confirmed by local government commissioner of southern province Saman Pandikorale. He earlier removed the chairman of the Tissamaharama PS after investigating corruption accusations leveled against him. more..

Feb 18 (Dawn) A year ago, as Sri Lanka’s long and agonising civil war entered its endgame phase, there was little indication that the bloody denouement would make way for the healing and reconciliation that the island-nation so desperately needs. The manner in which the army conducted its final assault in the Tamil-dominated north and east precluded such a possibility in the short run. more..

Feb 18 (AFP) A court in Sri Lanka on Wednesday freed 14 men held on suspicion of plotting a coup with opposition leader and ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka, an official said. Colombo Magistrate Champa Rajaratne released the men, including 10 retired army officers, as police had failed to indict them since their arrest on charges of a conspiracy after Fonseka lost last month's presidential vote. more..

Feb 18 (LBO) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan will provide support to Sri Lanka to improve its power transmission system and expand rural electrification, an ADB statement said. This will contribute toward the Sri Lankan government's goal of widening public access to electricity services from 80 percent to 98 percent by 2016. "Power sector development will be critical to Sri Lanka's post war development,” more..

Feb 18 (BBC) An opposition journalist in Sri Lanka claimed that President Mahinda Rajapaksa was not instrumental in securing his release after eighteen days in detention. Irida Lanka editor Chandana Sirimalwatta told journalists in Colombo on Wednesday that he was released due to external pressure. Media reports carried a media release issued by the president's media division in Sinhala saying that more..

Feb 18 (SA) SriLankan Airlines has embarked on an exciting new journey that would give their passengers a richer Taste of the Paradise, they already know and love. The Airline is introducing a whole new experience on ground and in the air, that promises its passengers a total “Change in the way You fly !” Beginning the journey with its iconic logo the monara or the peacock, more..

Feb 18 (UPI) China's construction of a port in Sri Lanka and a Chinese admiral's suggestion Beijing build a naval base in the Gulf of Aden has raised fears in the Middle East that a confrontation between China and India is looming along vital energy export routes. Both the Asian titans, whose economies continue to expand despite the global financial meltdown, are heavily dependent on Middle Eastern oil and more..

Feb 18 (AFC) Sri Lanka coach Mohideen Mohamed Amanulla has backed national pride to be the driving force behind the AFC Challenge Cup hosts getting their campaign back on track against Tajikistan on Thursday following their heavy opening day defeat. Sri Lanka succumbed 4-0 to Myanmar in their Group A opener on Tuesday after being forced to play for over 70 minutes with 10 men more..

Feb 18 (AAP) THE notorious Indonesian people-smuggler behind the failed attempt to bring 254 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers into Australia last year is facing trial for breaching sailing laws. Abraham Louhenapessy, better known as Captain Bram, faces a maximum two years in prison for hiring crew members who did not have proper documents to man his boat, the Jaya Lestari 5. The boat sailed from the Indonesian island of Batam bound for Christmas Island in late September, more..

Feb 18 (FP) The USAID is linking more than 2,000 farmers in Ampara and Monaragala Districts to new markets for a special variety of papaya, providing supplemental income to participating families. USAID partnered with Anoma Agro Based Products Pvt. Ltd., a member of the Daya Group of companies, on the project. Anoma identified a demand in export and domestic markets for Red Lady, a high-quality hybrid papaya that more..

Feb 18 (BBC) The British opposition says that the victory of Sri Lanka's president is overshadowed by the situation faced by his main opponent. Speaking to the BBC in Colombo Shadow Foreign Secretary Liam Fox said,"it is a great pity to me that the president having won a great victory, is having it overshadowed by the situation regarding General Fonseka". more..

Feb 18 (KT) It is welcome news that there is some movement on the India-Pakistan talks issue. There is also the prospect of SAARC meeting up quite soon. But what should occupy the SAARC countries, especially India, is the double tragedy unfolding in Sri Lanka. As the region’s oldest democracy, Sri Lanka is not a failed state. It is, however, at the present, an injured state. It has just ended a 28 year-long ethnic civil war with the LTTE. more..

Feb 18 (Scoop) Even some analysts supporting the president have stated that the arrest of the common candidate for the opposition, Sarath Fonseka, was unwise. They have said that this action will create unfavourable impressions of the president. The glory earned by the president’s electoral majority may be slighted by such actions. Others have gone on to say that the arrest was unbecoming of a victor. more..

Feb 18 (LG) It is to the credit of the people that there was no necessity to impose a curfew like in earlier timesafter the hard-fought Presidential election of last month. The final result clearly came as a surprise to most, but that the private sector deemed it unnecessary to follow the Government's decision to declare a pre-emptive holiday for the state sector indicated that there was little likelihood of unwarranted incidents. more..

Feb 18 (LG) The word 'stability' has been abused one too many times for my liking. It is what most people in Sri Lanka craved for three decades. As the conflict raged around them, nothing was guaranteed. Their children could be taken at any moment, whether to fight and die on the battlefield or in a terrorist attack as they travelled to school on the bus. They wanted to live in peace. They still do, and the results of the presidential election indicate that more..

Feb 18 (LG) During the period of the notorious Norway Brokered Ceasefire Agreement between Ranil Wickremesinghe and Velupillai Prabhakaran, Dayan Jayetileke Tisaranee Gunasekere and I were among the few left intellectuals (I am not sure if TG regards herself as such) who in our writings took a principled stand against the substance of the Ceasefire Agreement, Agreement, Wickremesinge’s policy of appeasement and Norwegian manipulation of the so called peace process. more..

Feb 18 (LG) People of this island nation know as to why Ranil Wickramasinghe refused to field himself for the just concluded Presidential election and agreed to support General Sarath Fonseka instead. It is very sad but a fact that Ranil is a fatal failure as a leader, and because of this man, the UNP, a formidable political party in this country for so many decades, has lost so many party loyalists, more..

Feb 18 (LG) Lawyers for Democracy (LfD), a body of lawyers representing over 300 lawyers around the country, committed to democratic values, are deeply concerned with and condemn the events of the past week where a person’s right to protest and expression guaranteed in the Constitution of Sri Lanka were severely undermined by the law enforcement authorities and supporters of the government. more..

Feb 18 (FT) As one drives towards Sri Lanka’s war-torn northern Jaffna Peninsula on the A9 Highway, the island’s main north-south arterial road, the landscape takes on echoes of the Somme, the French battlefield of the first world war. At the old front line between government-controlled Jaffna and the former Tamil Tiger rebel-held territory to the south, blackened coconut trees rise like telephone poles from the landscape, their palm leaf tops blown off by artillery fire. more..

Feb 18 (LG) The prelates in the three great Buddhist chapters in Sri Lanka, in issuing a statement on the 16th February,stated that due to the situation prevailing in Sri Lanka and considering the security of the Buddhist monks and the people who would gather for the Maha Maluwa on the 18th of the month and also the security of the Sri Dalada Maligawa they have called off the meeting of the three chapters indefinitely. more..

Feb 18 (Hindu) A Sri Lankan national who was allegedly in possession of fake credit cards was arrested by the Central Crime Branch police here on Wednesday. According to police sources, on a tip-off from a bank official that one Sanjeev Kanth was trying to purchase a laptop and computer accessories by using a fake credit card at a shop in Egmore, a special team of the CCB arrested the accused. He was in possession of three fake credit cards. more..

Feb 18 (LT) The government is attempting to create a country without an opposition and in trying to make this a reality it is treading on a path of dictatorship says the General Secretary of the JVP Tilvin Silva. Taking measures to hand over Tissamaharama Pradeshiya Sabha to a special commissioner is a step towards such a path pointed out Mr. Silva. The General Secretary of the JVP said this at a press conference held at the party head office at Pelawatta. more..

Feb 18 (MoD) Nearly 600 passengers commute daily via the newly introduced bus service on the Jaffna-Colombo A-9 road. SLTB and private buses ply on this route. A Transport Ministry spokesman said the Colombo-Jaffna bus service, supervised by the Transport Ministry, is successfully operated with security forces assistance. SLTB operates 10 buses from Jaffna to Colombo, four buses from Jaffna to Kandy, more..

Feb 18 (GV) There is a joke that has been floating for a while with regard to the value added by lawyers to our daily existence. It asks the question whether you know the difference between a lawyer and a catfish. If you are interested, the answer is; one is a fish and the other is a bottom dwelling scum sucker. In fairness to the lawyer fraternity, it should be noted that the above only applies to a miniscule number among them. more..

Feb 18 (LG) When an individual repeatedly fails to achieve his aims in life, it is only natural that he look inwards and analyze the reasons for his failure. The same principle would apply to a people. The Sri Lankan Tamils had fared well before independence. I attribute this to its vibrant Tamil Hindu political, religious and intellectual leadership. Arumuka Navalar, Muttu Coomaraswamy, Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Ponnambalam Ramanathan, more..

Feb 18 (BBC) Sports and business must grow simultaneously if they are to play a role for reconciliation and nation-building to succeed in post-war Sri Lanka, experts say. The civil war, which ended in 2009, cast a long shadow on the sporting activities in the island nation. Sri Lanka had a popular sporting culture in the past, but now it needs help from the government to produce proper policies for its development and more..

Feb 18 (TC) On this 15th day of February 2010. The Petition of Sarath Fonseka the Petitioner above named, whose name is subscribed below, respectfully states as follows:- 1. The Petitioner, Sarath Fonseka, is a person who was a candidate at the above election, and claims to have had a right to be returned or elected at the above election. 2. Consequent to a Proclamation made under Article 31 (3a))(a)(i) of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka more..

Feb 18 (UCAN) Having undergone hardship during a bitter 26-year civil war, people in northeastern Sri Lanka are doing what they can to help victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Their response comes in the wake of a nationwide Church appeal to raise funds and relief material. The Sri Lankan Catholic Church is to send cash donations to Caritas Haiti, the Church social service agency in that country. more..

Feb 18 (wsws) Despite the efforts of the Sri Lankan government and Central Bank to paint a picture of a vibrant economy on the brink of an historic expansion, the island confronts a worsening economic crisis. Like a number of European countries, Sri Lanka is burdened with heavy foreign debts and a ballooning budget deficit, in large part due to the huge military spending needed to wage war against the separatist LTTE. more..

Feb 18 (TN) Paramilitary men alleged to be collaborating with Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Intelligence Unit in Jaffna lobbed two hand grenades on the house of a person in Araali East in Valikaamam Tuesday night in an attempt to threaten him to pay two million rupees demanded by them, sources in Jaffna said. One of the grenades had exploded and following the attack the person had been threatened on phone that his life will be in danger next time if more..

Feb 18 (GDI) The Government has taken steps to develop the Middeniya Road which links the Ratnapura and Hambantota Districts. It runs via Embilipitya and Dambarella. Accordingly, the stretch coming under the Southern Province has already been developed. Chief Minister Maheepala Herath has taken the necessary initiatives to accelerate the development of the stretch coming under the Sabaragamuwa Province. more..

Feb 18 (GDI) British Shadow Defence Secretary and member of the Conservative Party Liam Fox said that no foreign country or foreign body should interfere in the legal process in another country. He emphasized that foreign influence should not affect the enforcement of the law in a sovereign state. The visiting Shadow Defence Secretary stated this at a joint a media briefing with Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama more..

Feb 18 (MoD) Major General Prasad Samarasinghe, in addition to his present appointments as Chief Signal Officer and Military Spokesman cum Director Media, AHQ took office this morning as Colonel Commandant, Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps (SLAMC). Major General Samarasinghe inspected the guard turnout accorded in his honour on arrival at the Regimental Headquarters premises more..

Feb 18 (TN) Australian authorities must cease bowing to influence and pressure from the Sri Lankan Government in its handling of asylum seekers said former Australian diplomat Bruce Haigh in a letter to the editor appearing in the Canberra Times. Condemning the Rajapaksa administrations slaughter of “anywhere between 10-40,000 civilians”, its censoring of the media and rapid descent into dictatorship, more..

Feb 18 (TC) We have to find a new direction to lead our country to a peaceful, prosperous and democratic future. War has given us an opportunity to rethink, reassess and change our traditional values and attitudes. While proudly following the footsteps of our forefathers, we as a generation need to develop a strong unified foundation This article will aim to explore concept and strategies for a new urban and rural built environment, more..

Feb 18 (UL) In a letter to the secretary to the ministry of media, NTUC insists in withdrawal of illegitimate punishment orders offered against 13 employees by the chairman of SLRC. The letter has been sent today with the signature of chairman of NTUC, Mr. K.D Lal Kantha. National Trade Union Centre states that political vengeance has been taken against 13 employees after the recent presidential election and more..

Feb 18 (LP) The Central Bank has learnt that there are scams that are being perpetrated once again by some unscrupulous persons who claim that they have been authorized to sell gold belonging to the Central Bank. On that basis, various offers have allegedly been made by such persons to members of the public. Steps will be taken by relevant authorities to trace, identify and take the necessary legal steps to deal with such offenders. more..

Feb 18 (LP) Initial discussion of accelerated development programme for “Nagamu Purawara” or lets develop cities was held this morning at Temple Trees with the participation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Addressing those present president stated that political leaders and public servants should realize their responsibilities and serve the people and the state not bearing in mind narrow gains at elections or their salaries. more..