Mar 2 (DM) Anoma Fonseka is on record that her CDS turned politician husband is languishing in a navy villa without adequate ventilation. In addition to what she told media on Sunday she had also confided to many that the ventilation ducts of her husband’s room had been blocked with planks. This, she says, is detrimental to her husband’s health since the General got his lungs damaged due to the LTTE suicide attempt on his life on April 25, 2006. more..

Mar 2 (LT) The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) took measures yesterday (1st) to get signatures to an online petition to bring pressure on the government of Sri Lanka to release Gen. Sarath Fonseka who was illegally arrested by Military Police and is being arbitrarily kept under detention. However, the web site www.freesarathfonseka.com launched yesterday is being obstructed by the government say reports. more..

Mar 2 (DN) The Sri Lankan economy has made a remarkable turnaround, Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. P. B Jayasundera said. “This is a reflection of the recovery in exports, imports, domestic construction , tourism, manufacturing activities, plantation and agriculture,” he added. He said "the economic outlook has dramatically improved towards the last quarter more..

Mar 2 (LNP) Has Mervyn stopped being Mervyn? This is the question we raised in a headline yesterday for a news item on Minister Mervyn Silva`s `unbelievable change`. This swashbuckling hero walked into a rival`s party office uninvited the other day and shook him by the hand instead of the neck and promised to conduct a violence free election campaign! The Opposition politician must have pinched himself hard in a bid to wake up, thinking that it was a dream. more..

Mar 2 (LNP) The National Freedom Front (NFF) has accused a section of the SLFP of targeting its Nuwara Eliya District candidate Nimal Piyatissa and his supporters. A gang of SLFP supporters had stormed Piyatissa s main campaign office at Walapane last Friday, the final day to hand over nominations. Sources said the gang had warned Piyatissa that he should be ready to face the consequences unless he stopped political activity in the electorate. more..

Mar 2 (LP) A pair of White tigers arrived at the Dehiwala National Zoological gardens. The tigers will be on display from today for those who visit the Zoo and according to Officials at the Zoo the tigers are well tamed, can be touched or stroked by anyone and very friendly. This is also the first instance where the Dehiwala Zoo will have white tigers. more..

Mar 2 (DN) The glory of the mark that SLAF left on the saga of the greatest Humanitarian Operation in the world, from Mavil Aru to the LTTE’s last hold, Puthumathalan, is unsurpassable. SLAF men and machines soared to sky, along with the military thrust that started from Mavil Aru. They touched down, only after victory was declared by the Commander-in-Chief of Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces, after eliminating the LTTE. more..

Mar 2 (DN) I had the privilege of attending the UN’s first World Conference on Women in 1975 in Mexico City where Sirima Bandaranaike was the Keynote Speaker as the world’s first woman Prime Minister and Head of State. I also attended the fourth Conference in 1990 in Beijing and the fifth in 1995 in New York. All these and many others have resulted in a mountain of documentation on platforms and plans for action and a plethora of pious resolutions being adopted. more..

Mar 2 (Island) Commissioner of Elections Dayananda Dissanayake was strongly of the opinion that some remedial action needed to be taken to curb the increasing number of Independent Groups entering the fray as this has caused unnecessary problems for the Elections Department and a greater burden on the public purse, Elections Secretariat sources said yesterday. more..

Mar 2 (Island) Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva revealed that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had formulated a plan to hand over the country’s future to the educated and courageous young generation after the parliamentary elections. The President had also realized the importance of the latent talent of the younger generation. He was speaking at a public meeting held at Girandurukotte on the handing over of title deeds to 2,500 families. more..

Mar 2 (DN) The effects of the suspension of the GSP+ facility by the European Union will not be felt in the next six months. The European Union has indicated its willingness to discuss unresolved issues to which the Government has responded positively, Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera told Daily News Business. There is still a possibility of reviving the GSP+ concession for the country. more..

Mar 2 (DM) At least 50 people have died in just two months after being diagnosed with dengue, the Health Ministry said and warned that the situation could get out of control of proper precautions are not taken. Meanwhile the government has suspended the decision to purchase 30000 liters of Bacillus Thuringiensis Israelensis (BTI) bacteria from a Cuban company to control the spread of dengue. more..

Mar 2 (DM) The Supreme Court yesterday informed the Attorney General to consider providing security to UNP mps whose securities were withdrawn following the dissolution of parliament. The bench comprising Justices N.G. Amaratunga, P.A. Ratnayake and Ms. Chandra Ekanayake directed senior state counsel Viveka Siriwardena de Silva who appeared for the Attorney General to check the possibilities of providing security to former MPs considering earlier precedents. more..

Mar 2 (DM) One of the least noticed features in this year’s nomination lists is the appearance of only four politicians who had been in parliament since 1977. UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and Sarathchandra Rajakaruna, P. Dayaratne of the UPFA and TNA leader R. Sampathan are the only ones who have since 1977 successfully contested at the general elections. Mr. Wickremesinghe was Opposition Leader in 1994, 2000 and 2004 and was Prime Minister in 1993 and 2001. more..

Mar 2 (DM) The JVP is to lodge a complaint with the Telecom Regulatory Commission claiming that the online petition of General Sarath Fonseka has been blocked by the authorities. However Director General of the TRC Anusha Pelpita said that the government has no need to block the website and so rejected the claims by the JVP. JVP MP Vijitha Herath claimed that the website had been blocked since last evening. more..

Mar 2 (LP) The government of Somalia is set to release the Sri Lankan crew, including the captain, of a cargo ship this week. The UAE owned cargo ship was held at gunpoint at a port in Berbera since September 15, 2009 following diplomatic intervention under a court order in a legal dispute between Somaliland authorities, cargo owners and the ship-owner. The roll-on-roll-off vessel MV LEILA consists of 14 seafarers more..

Mar 2 (Island) The police, investigating the alleged removal of final year question papers by a group of students, from the National College of Education, Uva on Sunday (Feb 28) have arrested 33 persons. Examinations Chief Anura Edirisinghe said that after consulting Education Minister Susil Premjayantha, he decided to cancel the five-day examination which was scheduled to begin on Monday (March 1). more..

Mar 2 (IL) The United States Embassy is pleased to announce that Ms. Jansila Majeed has been selected by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be one of ten recipients worldwide of the Department of State’s International Women of Courage award. Ms. Majeed is the Managing Trustee of Community Trust Fund in Puttalam District. more..

Mar 2 (LNW) A top government official had asked Chief Justice Ashoka Silva to leave the country without hearing the FR petition filed by General Sarath Fonseka, which was granted leave to proceed by the Supreme Court, reliable sources told Lanka News Web. The official had asked the Chief Justice to leave due to the fear that he may have allowed the General’s release since more..

Mar 2 (GDI) Leader of the NFF Wimal Weerawansa said JVP political journey will come to an end in the upcoming general election. In 1994 the JVP became a strong political party with the support of every member. Later, in the general election held in year 2004, the JVP was able to secure 39 seats in the parliament. However, recently a group of high level leaders of the party were engaged in a conspiracy to destroy the party. more..

Mar 2 (DN) President Mahinda Rajapaksa said it is time for all to put a stop to hate politics adding that politicians should take the lead in this regard. As people representatives they should set an example to others, the President said. He was speaking at a religious ceremony to invoke blessings on him and the country by the Maha Sangha at the Pelmadulla Raja Maha Viharaya premises Sunday. more..

Mar 2 (Island) "I have no time to waste on answering questions posed by politicians. I have an agenda and target even in politics like in Cricket. I have already attended 30 meetings in the Matara District only yesterday." This was the reply given by UPFA candidate for the April 8 Parliamentary Elections, Sanath Jayasuriya, the Sri Lanka cricketer, when ‘The Island’ sought his comment on a statement made by more..

Mar 2 (IPS) Local and foreign non-governmental organisations have had a liberal existence in Sri Lanka, but this may not last for much longer under the government’s plans to amend a 1980 law that would tighten control over them. But if activists have an ominous feeling about the proposed law, government officials like Newton Perera, additional secretary to the Ministry of Internal Administration that oversees NGOs, says the amendment would just bring the country’s laws in line with modern developments. more..

Mar 2 (IE) A key member of the LTTE's international finance wing has been arrested by Sri Lankan police after he arrived here from Geneva to look into the businesses once owned by the Tamil Tigers. He was arrested recently from a house at Dehiwela area in Colombo suburbs where he was hiding, state-owned radio reported today, without identifying him. more..

Mar 2 (LBO) Sri Lanka is planning a budget with a deficit of over 7.9 percent of gross domestic product for 2010, a finance ministry report said, after provisional data said the 2009 gap has increased to 10.3 percent of the economy. In 2009 the government hoped to run a deficit of only 7.0 percent of gross domestic product and trim it further to 6.6 percent in 2010. The government expected revenues of 824.6 billion rupees (15.0 percent of GDP) in 2010 and more..

Mar 2 (AFP) Sri Lankan police are to question dozens of military intelligence officers in connection with the internationally condemned assassination of a senior editor, a spokesman said Tuesday. Investigations into the January 2009 slaying of Lasantha Wickrematunga, chief editor of the anti-establishment Sunday Leader, had led them to military personnel, said police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody. more..

Mar 2 (IE) China is an important partner in the development of the war-ravaged northern region where the process of resettlement of Tamils has gained momentum. "China, as one of the leading international partners for northern development, has also donated 6,252 tents and 34 more heavy machinery and equipment to be used for resettlement and reconstruction work in the North," more..

Mar 2 (Hindu) President Mahinda Rajapaksa has extended the emergency laws by another month invoking powers conferred on him under the executive presidency. The validity of the emergency regulations extended by the Parliament which was dissolved on February 10, in the run up to the general election scheduled on April 8, expired on the mid-night of March 1. Under the Constitution, emergency laws could be passed only by the Parliament and more..

Mar 3 (BBC) The Supreme Court has ordered the police to restore appropriate security for the leader of the SLMC, Rauff Hakeem. The court made the decision after considering a petition filed by Mr. Hakeem against the removal of his security by the police chief just after the dissolution of the parliament on 09 February. The IGP has agreed to provide four police officials but more..

Mar 3 (BBC) A group of Sri Lankan asylum seekers who has launched a hunger strike in a detention centre in Indonesia has ended their protest after the intervention of immigration officials. The officials have pledged to bring in UNHCR officials to the centre to look into their plight within three days. The group has been demanding an immediate release from the centre in Tanjung Pinang Island where they have been kept for more than a year. more..

Mar 3 (HT) Sri Lanka usually doesn’t often get good press in the west. Rights violation at the end of the war against the Tigers, summary executions and the plight of the Tamil refugees mostly make up stories on Sri Lanka. The government’s attitude too has been confrontational; British journalists have been thrown out, a Swiss reporter was about to be thrown out and so on. A January-story in the New York Times provided a rare layer of balm. more..

Mar 3 (GDI) ‘The allegation made by JVP MP Vijitha Herath against Director General of the Telecom Regulatory Commission Anusha Pelpita on the deactivation of the web site which includes the “Online Petition” launched seeking the release of Rtd. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, is a total lie and the SINHALAYA News Agency can confirm with credible evidence. The SINHALAYA News Agency conducted a special technical review on the issue. more..

Mar 3 (AN) Catholics of Sri Lanka should play an active role, along with other religious communities, in creating a united country, giving space and respect to different ethnicities, faiths and political organizations. This is the appeal launched by Mgr. Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, during the annual awards ceremony at the St. Joseph College in the capital, more..

Mar 3 (TN) TULF leader, V. N. Anandasangari, released the election manifesto of TULF Tuesday at the party office in Stanley Veethi in Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said. He said that the Tamil MPs elected in the last general election in Jaffna district had done nothing for the good of the Tamils and that they should withdraw from contesting so as to pave the way for TULF. more..

Mar 3 (Age) muthiah Muralidaran has forgiven John Howard for calling him a chucker but says the former prime minister faces a challenge to win over the subcontinent when he assumes the post of International Cricket Council president in 2012. The veteran Sri Lankan off-spinner, infamously refused to tour Australia with Sri Lanka in 2004 after having his action questioned by Howard and more..

Mar 3 (GV) Sri Lanka has been increasingly the scene of much ethnic violence. The Northern Muslims are the victims of the earliest large scale act of ethnic cleansing in our history. Close to 80,000 persons, constituting the entire Muslim population of the five Northern Districts of Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaithivu and Kilinochchi were summarily expelled from the province by the LTTE on one fateful day in October 1990 at a few hours notice. more..

Mar 3 (PTI) In a fresh incident of violence against Asians in Australia, a Sri Lankan man and his Indian wife were attacked and racially abused by a group of drunken men at their home here. A group of 25 drunken thugs bashed up 60-year-old Ranjit Sahasranaman, who is married to Indian-origin Agalya Sahasranamn, outside his own home in Carrams Down suburb on Sunday morning. Sahasranaman, a Sri Lankan national, revealed his over two-and-a-half hour ordeal of more..

Mar 3 (LG) David Miliband the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary of England and its colonies in the British Isles has addressed delegates of a so called Global Tamil Forum in the buildings of the House of Parliament in Westminster. It is true that Global Tamil Forum is not formally associated with the LTTE and it is also true that the British Foreign minister has not addressed formally an organisation banned in Britain. more..

Mar 3 (LG) It is time for the Sri Lankans to bury UNP forever. Among myriad of reasons I would like to highlight a few. 1. UNP’s J.R Jayawardana was the father of numerous political and social evils that we experience in today’s Sri Lanka. He introduced a system of political malpractice for the UNP to abuse and deprive the developmental opportunities of an entire generation of young people who opposed the UNP. more..

Mar 3 (LG) The Global Tamil Form is LTTE's premier terrorist front led by Father S. Emmanual, the Prabhakaran's envoy to Europe. The world was shocked when the British Foreign Secretary David Milliband showed up at the Global Tamil Forum’s inaugural meeting in London on Wednesday, 24 February. This was a few days before he was drawn into a debate on if the M16 the spy net work was passively involved in torture of suspected Islamists terrorists. more..

Mar 3 (BL) The Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC) is seriously looking at slashing the brokerage fee substantially in a bid to lure more foreign investors to the Colombo bourse that was rated as the second best performing market, globally in 2009. Accordingly, several senior SEC officials are to meet representatives from the 21 stock broking houses in the country today to discuss the matter in detail and more..

Mar 3 (BL) The cost of living is a subject that is highly debated on, especially when an election is around the corner. With the General Election looming in the near future, The Bottom Line spoke to the general public to get their views on the cost of living and whether the price of goods will play a part in how they vote at the election. Piyasena Botheju (taxi driver) – “The cost of living is too high. I don’t think it’s ever been this bad. more..

Mar 3 (BL) It is encouraging to note the national lists of the two key political parties in the upcoming General Election displaying some degree of professionalism, something Sri Lanka lacked for a long time. Although the motive behind adopting a national list under the new Constitution introduced by the J.R. Jayewardene regime was to obtain the contribution of the professionals, experts and persons in the academia in the governing process, this purpose was hardly served by more..

Mar 3 (LG) On 23rd February 2010 International Crisis Group (ICG) issued a report (hereafter: the Report) titled “The Sri Lanka Tamil Diaspora After The LTTE”. The obvious message of the Report is that the Diaspora must give up on Tamil Eelam. In addition, just beneath the Report’s polished exterior, there are two other rather ugly messages for the Diaspora: ‘democracy’ is all that Tamils in Sri Lanka will be allowed; more..

Mar 3 (BL) JVP leaders have to their credit two failed uprisings (1971 and1988/89) as well as being rejected politically in the 1982 presidential election where JVP leader Rohana Wijeweera contested. It is poignant to know how they benchmarked their failures against the unnecessary loss of lives most of whom were innocent youth mesmerised by false notions of a Marxist philosophy! It is possibly in this context that they decided to make a u-turn in politics more..

Mar 3 (LG) Lord Acton's words, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” is a dictum that perfectly fits Mahinda Rajapaksa as his political manoeuvers and attempts to subvert the existing political order in the country and usurp the power of the people gains in intensity. The guns have fallen silent, the war on the Tamils has come to an end, and with the presidential election over, and Rajapaksa assured of another seven years as president, more..

Mar 3 (AT) Ananda and Nalanda will clash for the 81st time in their annual Battle of the Maroons encounter on March 6 and 7 at the SSC ground. This is the first time these two teams are meeting after the war. The sacrifice made by Ananda and Nalanda for the war victory is enormous. It is not surprising that those who led the battle were mostly coming form these two schools. Every Anandians and Naliandians inherits that sense of love for more..

Mar 3 (LG) We don't often have much in the way of good news to report. These days, a vast amount of ink is wasted on what are no morethan petty issues - who will contest where, in alliance with which parties and under what symbol. These are supplemented by the all too common stories of accidents, murders and suicides, the occasional abduction and a whole lot of double dealing and crookedness. more..