Oct 22 (TN) Fishermen in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) occupied areas in Vadamaraadchi East in Jaffna peninsula accused the SLA officials for bringing in Sinhala fishermen from South who catch sea cucumber and conch shells in great quantities in the seas of Kudaththanai and Ma’natkaadu where local fishermen are not permitted to fish freely by the SLA. The Sinhala fishermen, numbering from 600 to 800 occupy the houses of local people who are not allowed to more..

Oct 22 (TN) Jaffna Sri Lanka Electricity Board (SLEB) is forced to impose one hour power cut during nights in entire Jaffna peninsula as ‘Northern Power’, the Chinese firm which had entered into a contract to supply the electricity needs of the peninsula has failed to do so, its officials said. Though the officials had attempted to suspend the contract of Northern Power high level officers of Sri Lanka government had obstructed it. more..

Oct 22 (PTI) India and Sri Lanka will be hot favourites to win next year's cricket World Cup which would be held in the sub-continent, according to former Australian wicketkeeper Rodney Marsh. Marsh feels Asian countries will have an edge during the February-March tournament which would be jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Marsh said Australia's chances in the World Cup would more..

Oct 22 (IRIN) The government of Sri Lanka has dismissed widespread criticism of a government-appointed commission to probe “lessons to be learnt from events” in a civil war that led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians and an unknown number of deaths. “Sadly, their [human rights groups’] technique is to make generalized allegations, with sensational press releases not borne out even in their reports and then avoid any further debate,” more..

Oct 22 (LP) President Mahinda Rajapaksa has ordered the Highways Ministry to speed up the completion of the Sangupitya Bridge which joins Poonaryn and Jaffna by December. The construction of the bridge began under the development drive, “Uthuru Wasanthya”. The bridge boos the economical activities of the people of Jaffna and Poonaryn. President also instructed the officials at the Ministry of Highways to complete the Southern Highway by the year 2011. more..

Oct 22 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's economy will expand by close to 8 percent in the third quarter of 2010 and full-year growth could hit the upper limit of 8 percent, the central bank governor said on Thursday. The $42 billion economy expanded at an eight-year of 8.5 percent in the second quarter, which prompted the central bank to revise up its full-year growth estimate to between 7.5 percent to 8 percent on Sept. 21. more..

Oct 22 (DM) A Sri Lankan parliamentary delegation will visit India soon on an invitation by the Speaker of Lok Sabha and the Chairman of Rajya Sabha of the Indian Parliament, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said. High Commissioner of India Ashok K. Kantha called Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa and handed over the joint letter of invitation from Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Chairman of Rajya Sabha and Meira Kumar. Speaker Rajapaksa accepted the invitation. The visit will be arranged later.

Oct 22 (PTI) A top Indian Naval officer today said that there was no "pre-planned" method adopted by Sri Lankan Navy in attacking Indian fishermen who strayed into their waters. "These are transitional incidents and there is no pre-planned method adopted by Sri Lanka (Navy) in attacking fishermen, who strayed into its border," Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Southern Naval Command,Vice-Admiral K N Sushil told reporters. more..

Oct 22 (DN) President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday stressed that Sri Lanka could face upto any challenge and realize its cherished goals, that of transforming the country into the ‘Wonder of Asia’ by inspiring and promoting positive attitudes and wholesome conduct of the people. “At a time when terrorists were promoted as an invincible force by both local and foreign vested interests and with a low morale prevailing in the country, more..

Oct 22 (DM) Sri Lanka has failed to obtain a seat in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Council, in Geneva. Sri Lanka lost out to Bangladesh in the Asian region. Bangladesh got 123 votes out of 161 and acquired the sixth position, beating giants like Australia, India and Thailand, to become the member. Sri Lanka got only 79 votes while Pakistan got 93 votes. The membership tenure will be four years. more..

Oct 22 (Island) Of the 26,000 doctors in the country including consultants and surgeons 15 per cent are currently abroad for postgraduate studies but a majority of them do not want to come back due to unfavourable conditions here pertaining to their profession, the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) says. The GMOA yesterday said that it wanted to take up the issue with the government and more..

Oct 22 (DN) The Government will streamline industries in the North and the East which were hampered by three decades of LTTE terrorism, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said. Under the initiatives, the Government will allocate Rs 563 million for infrastructure development in the North and the East, aiming to recommence dilapidated industries and factories including 36 factories in the Atchuvely Industrial Estate, Jaffna. more..

Oct 22 (DN) The number of arrests for cannabis and heroin related offences in 2009 has declined considerably compared to the year 2008. According to the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board there have been only 13,300 cannabis related arrests in the country during 2009 whereas the corresponding figure for 2008, was 20,097. Similarly heroin related arrests in 2009 were only 5,431 compared to 8,050 in 2008. In both cases the arrests have been reduced by about one-third. more..

Oct 22 (Island) Twelve out of 13 undergraduates of the Kelani University who had been asked to vacate a hostel managed by the University, appeared before Colombo Additional Magistrate Mahi Wijeweera on Thursday (Oct. 21). The Court issued a fresh notice on the missing undergraduate to appear in Court at the next hearings on October 28. The Magistrate ordered the respondents to be enlarged on Rs.100, 000 personal bond. more..

Oct 22 (IL) 03-day workshop jointly organized by Sri Lanka Social Security Board (SLSSB) and the Sri Lankan Manpower Welfare Association (SLMWA) under the patronage of the Sri Lankan Embassy was held from 7 - 11 October at Mirage Hotel in Kuwait aimed at creating awareness on "Surakuma", a newly introduced pension and social security scheme and its benefits to the migrant workers. more..

Oct 22 (LBO) Sri Lanka has been awarded the record for the world's "largest cup of tea," but the stunt earlier this month may have also earned the island some gargantuan and enormously meaningless records. An advertising gimmick saw the Guinness World Records recognising the contraption with a capacity of over 4,000 litres as the largest "cup of tea." more..

Oct 22 (EB) The Vikramajit Sen tribunal going into the ban on the LTTE in India appears to have got entangled in the question of who can legitimately plead on behalf of the banned organisation. Supporters of the LTTE like Tamil Nationalist Movement leader P Nedumaran, MDMK chief Vaiko and Tamil Nadu People’s Rights Forum counsel M Radhakrishnan have told the one-man panel that more..

Oct 22 (Island) Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralidharan says at the time fighting erupted in the Batticaloa district in June 1990 during the Premadasa administration, he wasn’t even in the East. "I was in Jaffna," an irate Minister Murralidharan aka Karuna told The Island yesterday, denying any direct or indirect role in the massacre of several hundred policemen. more..

Oct 22 (Island) Teachers of Ruhuna University withdrew from academic activities yesterday in protest against the attack on Vice Chancellor, Student Counselor and former Science Faculty Dean. Students of the Arts Faculty had allegedly attacked them on Wednesday. The academics said they refrained from carrying out their duties in seven faculties including Medicine and Engineering in Galle and more..

Oct 22 (Island) Australian High Commissioner Kathy Klugman says their efforts to thwart boats carrying would be immigrants leaving Sri Lanka for Australia has been successful. Ms. Klugman says vessels haven’t left Sri Lanka for one year due to action taken jointly by Sri Lanka and Australia. High Commissioner Klugman was responding to a query by The Island regarding ongoing efforts to stem influx of Sri Lankan refugees to Australia. more..

Oct 22 (DM) While expressing his regrets as well as those of the government for the alleged police attack on journalists when they were covering the violence by university students at the UGC premises last week, the cabinet spokesman, Keheliya Rambukwella yesterday said these unfortunate incidents wouldcontinue as long as students behave unlawfully. He told journalists at yesterday’s weekly cabinet briefing that more..

Oct 22 (DM) Police are looking for five students in connection with Wednesday’s attack on Prof. Susirith Mendis, the vice chancellor of Ruhuna University.The vice chancellor and three members of the staff of Ruhuna University who went to stop a clash between two student factions were attacked by a group of students. Police sources said that Ranjith Padmasiri, Senior SSP Matara, had appointed three Police teams more..

Oct 22 (Island) UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is visiting Oslo in the midst of a Norwegian evaluation into their failed peace bids in Sri Lanka (1997-2009), with the focus on the last attempt made during Wickremesinghe’s tenure as the Premier. Sources say the Norwegian inquiry will come up for discussion during Wickremesinghe’s visit. Among the officials, the Opposition Leader is scheduled to meet is Norwegian Minister Erik Solheim, more..

Oct 23 (GN) A bus driver faces three months in jail after a court yesterday incriminated him of sexually molesting a female passenger on board a Roads and Transport Authority's (RTA) bus. The 31-year-old Sri Lankan RTA bus driver claimed when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance that he pacified the weeping passenger when he touched her shoulder and denied molesting her. "The accused, K.R., will spend three months in jail followed by deportation," more..

Oct 23 (BBC) A Sri Lankan politician has demanded that the government return gold and jewels seized during the final stages of the war against Tamil Tiger rebels last year. Mano Ganesan's demand comes after the government reportedly disclosed details about gold jewels "collected" by the army in the Wanni region. Reports say the jewels weighed 110kg and were valued at about $4.4m. They have been handed over to the country's central bank, reports say. more..

Oct 23 (LP) Sri Lanka Department of Immigration and Emigration will set up a new unit at the Katunayake Bandaranaike International Airport to detect fraudulent documents. This high-tech unit to investigate suspicious documents can accurately check passports and visa certificates etc. for their authenticity. Australian government has assisted Sri Lanka to set up this unit. more..

Oct 23 (DM) Parliament yesterday approved a gazette notification almost 30 years after it was issued by the late Minister Gamini Dissanayake under the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka Act. Irrigation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva who sought parliamentary approval for this gazette notification, said all successive governments had forgotten to attend to it. “The successive governments have forgotten it by mistake. Recently, I found this notification when more..

Oct 23 (NF) Deputy Solicitor General Farzana Jameel told the Court of Appeal yesterday that when a parliamentary seat falls vacant, it is the Elections Commissioner and the General Secretary of Parliament who have to act in that regard. She also said that there was a difference in the petitioner's prayer and the submissions made on his behalf. She said this when the petition filed against vacating the seat of former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka was taken up for more..

Oct 23 (CI) Sri Lanka rested four of their stars but Kumar Sangakkara's century was enough to kick off their tour with a comprehensive win over Queensland. The visitors left out Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan, but still managed to register an imposing 7 for 301 after winning the toss at the Gabba. Sangakkara racked up a brisk 110 and more..

Oct 23 (AD) Following the rejection by JVP member Lakshman Nipunarachchi to fill the seat which the Secretary General of Parliament has deemed vacant, the next question is who would be willing to fill it. Following the imprisonment of former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, who is also the leader of the DNA which contested the last General Elections with the JVP as a constituent partner, The Secretary General of Parliament had informed the more..

Oct 23 (Island) The Government Nursing Officers’ Association (GNOA), yesterday accused the Healthcare Ministry for allegedly amending the contents of the Service Minute of nurses. The draft copy of the Minute would be submitted to Cabinet for approval by the Healthcare Ministry Secretary. In protest against this action, nurses attached to the GNOA would stage a walk out in 10 major hospitals run by Provincial Councils on October 25 from 8.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m., more..

Oct 23 (DN) As part of the events to mark the inauguration of the second term of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his birthday, 1.1 million saplings will be planted on November 15. "This islandwide tree planting campaign will be held on November 15 to mark the second term inauguration of President Mahinda Rajapaksa," Environment Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa told media chiefs at the Environment Ministry yesterday. more..

Oct 23 (SL) The Administration Board of the Ruhuna University is to hold an urgent meeting to discuss the current situation in the university. Vice Chancellor of the Ruhuna University, Prof. Susirith Mendis has said the meeting is to be held tomorrow (23). Prof. Mendis has been quoted in the local media as saying that an internal investigation will be conducted regarding the incident where he was assaulted by a group of students on Wednesday (20). more..

Oct 23 (SL) The government has said it would establish a permanent National Police Academy by an Act of parliament. Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that the Legal Draftsman has been assigned to draft the necessary legal documents for the legislation following Cabinet approval. He has been quoted as saying that the Defence Ministry has considered the necessity to establish such an institution to enhance the capacity of the Sri Lanka Police Department. more..

Oct 23 (SL) The government has stated that while Rs. Rs 475 million had been spent on the Indian International Film Awards (IIFA), only Rs. 25 million was earned through ticket sales. Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa had informed this to parliament in response to an oral question posed by UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake. Rajapaksa has stated in his answer that 25 VIP packages of US$ 10,000 each have been sold. more..

Oct 23 (LG) While the Sri Lankans were celebrating the wining of a gold medal by one of their boxers, Manju Wanniarachchi, Sri Lankan Catholics are celebrating Mgr Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of Colombo, being elevated to the office of Cardinal. While the boxer has won his medal in a hard fight, the Bishop has become a cardinal by his diplomacy rather than his holiness. The conservative Pope, who was responsible for the excommunication of Fr. Tissa Balasuriya, more..

Oct 23 (LG) Arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings are an almost daily occurrence in Sri Lanka today. The police system and additional institutions expected to be the protectors of law have become so dysfunctional and politicized that illegalities predominantly are carried out in their names. Extrajudicial killings are marked illustrations of how lawlessness reigns in the country after the rule of law system has broken down. more..

Oct 23 (Independent) The eyes have it. At least they do when it comes to spotting small nocturnal mammals in dark treetops. And the two eyes that suddenly materialise in our torch beam stop us in our tracks: twin points of disembodied light fixed in the blackness, like candles in a cave. We crane up through the foliage for a better view. Then just as suddenly – as though switched off at the wall – they disappear, leaving our beam to play aimlessly over a bare branch. more..

Oct 23 (LG) We have borrowed the title for this week’s column from the recent statement by Bishop Duleep de Chickera and the quotation above from a statement by Oscar Arias Sanchez, twice President of Costa Rica and a Nobel Prize Laureate. Bishop de Chickera, who has been following in the tradition of another (former) Anglican Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe as a stout defender of civil rights, was forthright in his statement. more..

Oct 23 (LG) According to reliable information, the government minister Douglas Devananda is said to be stretching his business wings to the United Kingdom. A source close to Douglas Devananda said, the Minister has set up a supermarket business in Birmingham by bankrolling rupees to sterling pounds with the help of an estate agency business in the East London. The estate agency business is presently building hotels in the north of Sri Lanka. more..

Oct 23 (ST) In the little village of Kalasirigama, (formerly Henavala) in Menikhinna, in the Dumbara Valley of the Kandy district, a small group of families are engaged in their traditional craft of weaving Dumbara mats and tapestries. This age-old craft has been practised by people from the Kinnara community since the days of the Sri Lankan kings, when they enjoyed royal patronage and the craft flourished. more..

Oct 23 (TC) Three International Non-governmental Organizations (INGOs), namely the London-based Amnesty International (AI), the Brussels-based International Crisis group (ICG) and the New York-based Human rights Watch (HRW) had earlier this month rejected an invitation by the Lessons Learnt and reconciliation Commission (LLRC) to testify before it. The INGOs have in their joint letter to the LLRC on October 14 cited many serious matters to justify more..

Oct 23 (ST) I set off from our quarters situated opposite the Tissamaharama Rest House on the road to Kataragama with the first light of dawn. The view from the bund of the Tissa tank early in the morning is unbelievable. On the right is the water spread of the tank. Darters and cormorants are already busy. Sometimes there are teal as well, both whistlers and cotton. Towards the end of the bund before the road descends to join the main road to Hambantota, a huge Mara trees spreads its branches over the water. more..

Oct 23 (Island) Controversial Secretary of the Cricket Interim Committee Nishantha Ranatunga has manipulated his position in such a way for personal gains that he even went to the extent of getting rid of former Test captain Duleep Mendis from the position of CEO. When he continuously started attending the ICC CEO’s meetings, we were made to wonder whether Ranatunga was eyeing the most lucrative job at Sri Lanka Cricket. more..

Oct 23 (GV) Reams have been written on the two main topics widely discussed in Sri Lanka today. One is the fate of the army commander who chose to defy the authority of the Rajapakse brothers and the other is the 18th amendment that was passed with a large majority in parliament (161 for and 17 against) on Sep 8. It gives the president absolute power. In an article published on Oct 9th the writer says Che was not an anarchist but he wanted a strong handed moral government. more..

Oct 23 (NS) After the three decade-old bloody civil war Sri Lanka has embarked on a new journey. In that new economic growth there’s no doubt that the tourism industry which had been at the receiving end of the war, is on the threshold of a new era. Sri Lanka is hopeful of attracting nearly 2.5 million tourists by 2016 and furthermore the year 2011 is named as the “Visit Sri Lanka” year. Sri Lanka’s national parks and other wildlife sanctuaries are very popular attraction for more..

Oct 23 (IBT) Sri Lanka is famous for tea and also for its picturesque plantations where the commodity is grown. The tea plantations are located in some of the most beautiful regions of the country and the Bogawantalawa Valley, just four hours by car from Colombo, is one of the most scenic of these regions. To explore this gorgeous area of verdant tea-plant covered hills, travelers can stay at a plantation bungalow. more..

Oct 23 (TN) “People should be aware of persons who betray the Tamils for petty concessions of Sinhala chauvinists,” TNA key person in Ampaa’rai district, Chelliah Rasaiah, the Executive Director of Kaarainakar Pushpa Social Development Society said in a meeting held in Ampaa’rai by TNA to create political awareness among people, sources in Ampaa’rai said. “The Prethesa Chappais administered by elected Thamizh Arasuk Kadchchi (TAK) members are disregarded by more..

Oct 23 (TC) Proposed new legislation aimed at tackling human smuggling falls far short of Canada’s international human rights and refugee protection obligations and will result in serious violations of the rights of refugees and migrants, said Amnesty International in response to the tabling in Parliament of Bill C-49, the Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada’s Immigration System Act, on October 21st. more..

Oct 23 (DM) Q: You’ve said that the Prisons Ordinance of 1867 is to be revised, what changes does your Ministry intend to make? A: Clearly this is a very outdated Prison ordinance, the prison was set up in 1844 and the first enactment was in 1867 and there have been amendment under the colonial Government, but since independence there have been only three minor amendments. So it is really a legacy of colonialism. more..