June 7 (LT) Mahinda Rajapakse regime is engaged in an attempt to extend its term through an amendment to the Constitution, has sought assistance from India for this sordid act and it is known that during his visit to India President Mahinda Rajapakse would sign several agreements. Information is that his visit is also aimed at getting India’s assistance to get the amendment to Constitution says General Secretary of the JVP Tilvin Silva. more..

June 7 (DN) The Government will evolve a mechanism to import spare parts required for Sri Lanka Central Transport Board (SLCTB) depots from bus manufacturing companies directly to avert exploitation by third party. Transport Ministry officials have discussed with Indian bus companies from which 98 percent of buses in the SLCTB are imported, for a mechanism to purchase spare parts to SLCTB buses sans third party involvement. more..

June 7 (DM) Making it clear that Sri Lankan government would not tolerate any groups in the East carrying arms, former Prabhakaran aide and present minister Vinayagamurthy Muralitharan, asked to disarm themselves. "We cannot accept anybody carrying weapons in that area, because now people are enjoying freedom, after thirty years. They have suffered a lot. Now they are starting to enjoy their lives," Muralitharan said. more..

June 7 (AD) There was the new Minister of Sport, C. B. Ratanayake, Yahaluweni, telling world cricket and the nation, what most of us have known for a long time, and that is what a corrupt bunch of fellows are those at the helm running Sri Lanka Cricket these days. It was finger wagging and rhetoric at its thespian, or political, best. Among comments made is how he refused a ‘bribe’ in what was the offer of an all-expenses paid trip to the Caribbean and the ICC World T20 event. more..

June 7 (Island) The private sector of India had handed President Mahinda Rajapaksa a white paper containing its position on the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the need for both countries to enter into a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), a trade official said. The FICCI presented the white paper (a term usually used for an authoritative report or guide that often addresses issues and how to solve them. more..

June 7 (DM) The Sri Lanka Freedom Party is to present a special gold award to President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a special committee meeting at Temple Trees today. General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena said that the award would be presented to the President for completing 40 years since he first got elected to parliament and for ending the thirty year old war and bringing peace to the country. more..

June 7 (AD) The emphasis of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is not on retribution, not on punishment, or the imposition of sanctions. But, rather, on restorative justice, enabling people to pick up the pieces, to get on with their lives. The State is firmly resolved to put at their disposal all the resources that would facilitate this difficult task, Prof. G.L. peiris told the 9th IISS Asia Security Summit on Sunday. more..

June 7 (NS) Two recent issues of the UK-based Economist magazine have been withheld by Sri Lankan customs officials, reportedly because they contain articles about the island nation, The Sunday Times paper of the island nation has reported. The customs authorities have not given any reasons for detaining copies of the international magazine, according to leading books and magazines distributor, Vijitha Yapa. more..

June 7 (IANS) Formerly a Tamil Tiger child soldier, Sri Lanka's only Tamil chief minister is visiting India to learn a little more about how to run local self government. Sivanesathurai Chanthirakanthan, better known by his former nom de guerre Pillayan, says he would be happy to pick up points that can help him tone up his administration in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province. more..

June 7 (DN) Inspired by the call of his legendary father, the late Don Alwin Rajapaksa who was popularly known in politics as the 'Brave Son of Ruhuna', and also the co-founder of the SLFP, young Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa walked the 'Well' of the historic old Parliament in Colombo Fort exactly forty years ago today to be sworn-in as the youngest Member of Parliament in that House after being elected on May 27, 1970. more..

June 7 (Island) The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) says the country has not received any benefits from having the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards ceremony in Colombo. The JVP-led political alliance said that though President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government had spent Rs. 600 million for infrastructure development and propaganda, several top stars had skipped the event. more..

June 7 (DM) The government is to increase milk powder prices shortly as demanded by importers citing fluctuations in the world market, Deputy Minister of Internal Trade Neomal Perera said yesterday. The Deputy Minister said the prices of milk powder had increased in the world market during past months, and therefore the government had to listen to the request by importers at this hour. more..

June 7 (MoD) The lead news item in the Sunday Times today (June 06) titled "No show by President at IIFA" is wholly incorrect. The reference to the President's absence at this event in the news item which states that "President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday kept away from the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards' night at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium along with almost all of Sri Lanka's cinema personalities", more..

June 7 (BBC) The Sri Lankan government has threatened to execute Sarath Fonseka, the army commander who delivered victory over the Tamil Tigers, if he continues to suggest top officials may have ordered war crimes during the final hours of the Tamil war. The threat, issued by Sri Lanka's powerful defence secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is the latest sign of a bitter and intensifying feud within the Sri Lankan political establishment, little more than a year after the end of the Tamil war. more..

June 8 (IANS) India, heavily involved in the reconstruction of Sri Lanka's northeast, will discuss the process of political reconciliation in the country when President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrives here Tuesday on a state visit. On the agenda of the official discussion will be how and what kind of plans Rajapaksa has in his mind to give the Tamil and Muslim minorities self-governance they can be proud of. more..

June 8 (CI) Who'd a thunk it? Zimbabwe finished the league stage at the top of the table, winning comprehensively all their 50-over matches, and losing the one that was truncated to 26. Even in the first quarter of the final league match, a dead rubber, Sri Lanka seemed to have run away with the game, having scored 122 for no loss thanks largely to a rollicking start from Tillakaratne Dilshan. more..

June 8 (FP) A project to develop legume and fruit cultivation in the Northern, Eastern, Uva, North-Central and Southern Provinces will be launched soon, said Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. He was addressing a World Bank delegation at the Ministry. The Minister said there is an urgent need to rebuild the Karadiyanaru Agriculture Complex in Batticaloa and the Tinneveli Agriculture Research Institute in Jaffna which had been destroyed by LTTE terrorists. more..

June 8 (IANS) After wrapping up official talks in New Delhi, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa will Thursday head to the cooler climes of Shimla, an unusual destination for visiting heads of state. Rajapaksa, who arrives here Tuesday, will travel to Chandigarh en route to Shimla Thursday morning after holding wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the previous day. more..

June 8 (AFP) Sri Lanka's new venues for next year's World Cup are on track but the refurbishment of an existing stadium is behind schedule, the International Cricket Council said on Monday. Sri Lanka, which is co-hosting the tournament with India and Bangladesh, is set to stage 12 matches at the Premadasa stadium in Colombo and at the newly built grounds in Pallekele and Hambantota, outside the capital. more..

June 8 (CSM) One year after Sri Lanka’s decisive victory over Tamil insurgents, controversy still swirls over the bloody end to the 26-year civil war. Sri Lankan officials argue that they defeated an outlawed terrorist group, the LTTE, which had refused to make peace. They insist that their military strategy was legitimate and had popular support. Political leaders have drawn parallels to America's wartime actions and asked why nobody calls Western powers to account for civilian suffering. more..

June 8 (BBC) A year on from the Sri Lankan Army's defeat of the Tamil Tigers, many thousands of civilians are only just beginning to rebuild their lives. Almost 300,000 were held in the Menic Farm camp alone, and they are slowly being moved back to their villages. But many have lost everything and are reluctant to return to homes now under Sri Lankan authority. Stephen Sackur was given rare access to some of the former conflict zones, from where he sent this report. more..

June 8 (NF) Last Thursday, Action TV revealed that an investigation launched into an examination malpractice, which had taken place at the final year examination of the Medical Faculty of the Colombo University in March 2009, has been restricted to a mere document. Responding to the report filed by Action TV, the vice chancellor of the Colombo University said that the report in that regard along with more..

June 8 (LG) I have had a most interesting letter from a friend in the US which raises a few questions regarding the walk out by Minister Peiris from the briefing at the National Press Club; apparently the briefing had been, according to my correspondent, arranged or rather organized by the PR firm Patten Boggs retained at great cost by the Embassy though the Embassy has in its services amedia relations officer, a US national, who would also be drawing a high salary, more..

June 8 (GV) The recent discovery of mass graves at Ganeshapuram in Kilinochchi and at Nachchikuda in the Mannar Districts has been very much in the news during the past weeks. Such finds need not surprise anyone. Following an analysis of satellite images taken during the height of the war, the American Association for the Advancement of Science has already reported that on 19th April , 2009 the images showed the roads in the ‘Civilian Safe Zone’ to be mostly deserted. more..

June 8 (BBC) President Mahinda Rajapaska has held his first meeting with the main Tamil political party since elections earlier this year. While the talks were cordial, the two sides remained at odds on key issues. The TNA have scaled back earlier demands, including for a separate Tamil state. Mr Rajapaska is due in India on Tuesday, where he is likely to be asked how his government is reaching out to the ethnic Tamil minority. more..

June 8 (TC) When Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa visits New Delhi from June 8 to June 11 he will be stronger than ever before. The three things he achieved in his first term of office – wiping out Prabhakaran and his Tamil Tigers, re-election for a second term with increased margin of votes and an unprecedented victory in parliamentary poll with 60% mandate from the voters - give him the confidence to talk from a position of strength to New Delhi. more..

June 8 (LG) That basis of social organization of Sri Lanka, at least by Polonnaruwa Period was the ‘caste system’ is recognizing as a historical fact. However what has not been revealed is the manner in which such social organization on the basis of caste, was established. The analysis of history in terms of caste has not yet been done. However analyzing from this point of view can throw light on many of the problem still persisting on contemporary Sri Lankan society. more..

June 8 (UCAN) A Vatican official has opened a Salesian vocational training centre in Sri Lanka to boost employment prospects for youths entering what is a difficult job market. Unemployment is a major problem in Sri Lanka, which is struggling to recover from decades of civil war. Figures taken in the third quarter of 2009 showed 5.9 percent unemployment, with 18.3 percent among youths. more..

June 8 (MoD) The Ambassador of Netherland, Mrs. Leoni M Cuelenaere, met with Eastern Province Governor, Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama at theGovernor's Secretariat in Trincomalee on 2nd June. A brief discussion was held between Governor and Ambassador on development projects underway in the Eastern Province assisted by Netherland government. Further, Mrs. Leoni M Cuelenaere discussed on further needs to uploft the living condition of the civilians in more..

June 8 (LBO) Sri Lankan retailer Odel plans to raise 250.5 million rupees through an initial public offer, according to a Colombo Stock Exchange statement. The company, a clothing and fashion products retailer, will issue 16.7 million ordinary voting shares at 15 rupees a share with subscriptions opening on July 5, the Colombo Stock Exchange said. It said the CSE has approved in principle the listing of more..

June 8 (MoD) The State-sponsored national Vesak Celebration in Colombo was made more attractive on Saturday (05 June) evening with recitation of Sinhala and Tamil Buddhist devotional songs by a section of students and teachers of Jaffna together with a few Army soldiers, for the first time in recent Sri Lankan history. Arrangements for their Colombo tour that signified national harmony were made by more..

June 8 (NF) Rat fever or Leptospirosis could be more dangerous than dengue fever in certain instances, says Dr. Anil Jasinghe, Director of the Colombo South Teaching Hospital. “Even though rat fever is not as widespread as dengue, in some instances it could be more dangerous than dengue. If you look at the mortality ratios, the number who die as a result rat fever is higher than dengue. more..

June 8 (NS) Two days after accusing Sri Lanka Cricket interim committee officials of corruption, Sports Minister Chandrasiri Bandara Ratnayake did a complete U-turn and decided to retain the top three officials who run cricket administration in this country. By this surprise act of his, the Sports Minister not only brought the ire of the entire Sri Lanka media upon him, but made himself look a complete ass in the eyes of the Lankan public. more..

June 8 (LB) President Mahinda Rajapaksa is due to visit India shortly. We are told that he’s been asked to come up with a ‘plan’ for resolving some conflict that the Indians imagine exists in Sri Lanka. All I know is that India was more part of problem than part of solution, beginning with offering training to terrorists and later moving to legitimate a terrorist outfit until the entire project backfired. more..

June 8 (ST) Only the suite, not the star: A deputy minister was highly enamoured by his film idol, Shahruk Khan. He made plans weeks ahead to check into a five-star hotel where the star was expected to check in for the International Indian Film Academy Awards. However, SRK did not turn up. Yet, the deputy minister wanted a suite and be at the centre of activity. It was some consolation that the hotel gave him the room that was meant for SRK if he did come. more..

June 8 (NS) War has given us nothing but tears and blood. The depressing memories are still raw in the minds of the people affected by the terrible curse of the ethnic war. The memories of losing everything that was earned through hard work and losing loved ones are still very much alive in the broken hearts of many. Years of suffering have taught them how to survive, but having hope was a miracle before the war ended. more..

June 8 (LP) Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to visit India since tomorrow and the bilateral talks are expected to focus Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement (CEPA) that was supposed to be signed two years ago but stalled. Two weeks back, several hundreds of protesters took to the streets against CEPA claiming it would hugely benefit the neighboring country by forcing the domestic industry into appalling risks. more..

June 8 (LB) The plastic menace has ravaged the nation for decades now. ‘Solutions’ to curb it have withered through a lack of interest. However, a novel and an innovative way to utilize used plastic has now been thought of by a dedicated and bright inventor who has been able to produce fuel by using plastic as the raw material. Invented by a humble but a man voracious in apetite for learning the inner mechanics of things, more..