Apr 4 (National) While India started the party, Kumar Sangakkara, the beaten Sri Lanka captain, reflected that his own side had a "strange feeling of satisfaction" from what they achieved at the World Cup. They are a relatively small island nation and were only trumped in the final by cricket's one great behemoth. It is something to be proud of, he reasoned, fairly. But the bottom line is they were the bridesmaid again. They have now been runners-up in three of more..

Apr 4 (Island) Post Master General M.K.B. Dissanayake says he will not give in to threats by a section of postal workers to cripple services unless he quits. Dissanayake insists his hands are clean and there is absolutely no truth in allegations of waste, corruption and irregularities in the department. He vowed that he would not allow trade unions to sabotage the department. Last week about 300 postal workers launched a protest outside postal headquarters to pressure more..

Apr 4 (DM) Changes in legislations are on the cards whereby the Elections Commission would be vested with the authority to fix dates for elections and make re-poll compulsory in the event of an annulment, sources said. These are the major proposals among others made to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms, (Committee) chaired by Minister Dinesh Gunawardana. The all-important ‘Local Government (Special Provisions) Bill to more..

Apr 4 (Stuff) Total shock was the way Wellington captain Grant Elliott greeted news that he could be setting fields for Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan next season. Media reports out of India, where Muralitharan retired from international cricket following his team's loss to the hosts in yesterday's World Cup final, suggest the game's greatest wicket-taker is headed for the capital. Formerly with the IPL franchise the Chennai Super Kings, Muralitharan said he had more..

Apr 4 (PTI) Dejected after Sri Lanka's second successive loss in the World Cup finals and prone to injuries, pacer Lasith Malinga on Sunday announced that he would not be around to play the next edition of the mega event. “I hope to be of service to my team as long as I can, but I won't be able to play in the next World Cup in 2015. “I have been carrying injuries for the past few weeks and with little rest,” the 27-year-old told a local TV channel here. more..

Apr 4 (Island) The US embassy says Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake talks regularly with Sri Lankans of all ethnicities on a wide range of views. A meet on March 28 was one of a continuing series of meetings Assistant Secretary Blake has had with the Tamil Diaspora since his appointment. He has met most if not all of the participants at the March 28 meet before, a US embassy official says. more..

Apr 4 (ET) This morning many Sri Lankans woke from their cricket coma. Many would've raised their heads, still throbbing from buckets of arrack, to finally notice that petrol prices are up, that inflation is galloping, and that Sri Lanka are yet again losing World Cup finalists. We were dreaming for another '96, but have to settle for another '07. This time the man nailing our coffin wasn't an Aussie wicket-keeper with a squash ball in his glove. more..

Apr 4 (Island) The number of preferential votes polled by successful candidates at the recently concluded LGpolls will be the basis on which Mayors, Chairmen and their deputies will be appointed to the nine local government institutions under its control, the UNP says. UNP Parliamentarian, Lakshman Kiriella, told The Island that in some areas his party reached a consensus on the appointments of Mayors and Chairmen. The nine local government bodies that the UNP controls are more..

Apr 4 (Island) UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe says that the Opposition is ready to cooperate with the govt if the latter is willing to place full confidence in the Opposition and work for the benefit of people. The forthcoming two years would be very difficult and hard for the nation and the govt must brace for the hard times, Wickremesinghe said addressing a special session of the newly elected UNP members of the Passara Pradeshiya Sabha more..

Apr 4 (Island) A brief glimpse of Mahela Jayawardene’s stunned features at Wankhede Stadium Saturday night told it all. Having scored what was a World Cup century of sublime artistry in an emotional and often highly-charged arena, the taste of defeat came as a bitter experience. Two finals, two defeats: that Yahaluweni tells the story of how Sri Lanka ended up with a shattered dream and as the ghostly nightmare of 2007 returned. It is also so easy to blame Nuwan Kulasekara for more..

Apr 4 (CI) Sri Lanka is recovering. And recovering is something it has had to get used to in the last few years. Whether it's from the devastation of a tsunami, a three-decade civil war or surging costs of living, Sri Lanka has been a resilient nation. In this period of collective convalescence, though, they needed some hope. A second successive World Cup final provided it. For the first time in they country's battle-scarred recent history Sri Lankans were able to congregate in public parks, more..

Apr 4 (LBO) Sri Lanka's foreign reserves were flat at 6.7 billion US dollars in February 2011, helped by a 200 million dollar injection form the International Monetary Fund, though reserves measured in months of imports have fallen slightly. Sri Lanka's foreign reserves rose to October to 6.7 billion dollars from 5.7 billion in August helped by the sale of billion dollar Euro bond and a 200 million dollar injection from the International Monetary fund a month before. more..

Apr 4 (BBC) The team had high hopes of winning the World Cup but it is very sad that we lost to India in the final. I have only taken part in two World Cups, but it is sad - really a very bad feeling - that Sri Lanka were runners-up on both occasions. Full credit to India. India played better cricket, they outplayed us in all three areas - batting, bowling and fielding. I would have been happy with my performance had I stayed in for 10 more overs and more..

Apr 4 (Island) Minister Maitripala Sirisena has suspended about 400 tenders on the grounds that the local agents of some foreign medical suppliers have manipulated the tender procedure to their advantage. Minister Sirisena told The Island that suppliers, their agents and some of the high ranking officials in his ministry had caused artificial shortages of medicine and medical equipment to cash in on the situation. more..

Apr 4 (NP) He once earned his living exporting Indian-made leather jackets to Paris but Sathiyaseelan Balasingam has since found a more lucrative business: selling passage to Canada in rusty cargo ships. The 41-year-old, who goes by the nickname Praba, is the suspected leader of a human smuggling network that has been collecting money from Sri Lankans willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars to board ships to Canada. more..

Apr 4 (Hindu) As the deadline of meeting the Millennium Development Goals nears (2015), south Asian nations got together here to deliberate on strategies to reach sanitation facilities to the uncovered 700 million plus people in the region. India has the largest uncovered population in the world. “The MDG clock is ticking away. It is very easy to become discouraged,” said Daniel Toole, UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia. more..

Apr 4 (ST) A petition was filed in the Court of Appeal on behalf of two petitioners against the admission requirement in respect of an upper age limit stipulated in the Sri Lanka Law College entrance examination. Petitioners W.A. Rohan Weerasinghe and Priyantha Rajapakse cited the Incorporated Council of Legal Education, Law College Principal Dr. W.D. Rodrigo, Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem, Examinations Commissioner General Anura Edirisinghe and more..

Apr 4 (DM) The bus fares should be increased due to the recent increase in fuel prices and other items related to it, Sri Lanka Private Bus Owners’ Association said. President of the Association, Gemunu Wijeratne said that a decision in this regard would be made at the board meeting of the Association scheduled for Wednesday April 6. The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation increased auto diesel prices by Rs. 3 while the Lanka IOC increased diesel prices by Rs.7 more..

Apr 4 (AT) Sri Lanka’s United Nation office in Colombo has held several rehearsals on Thursday (31st) for its staff to face an emergency situation, the sources said. The rehearsals were intended at a situation that might arise following the release of the report of the panel of experts appointed to advise the UN Secretary-General on Sri Lanka. The staffs were trained on ways to face agitations, hostage takings and more..

Apr 4 (E24/7) Sri Lankan cricket supporters were torn by the various factors that they see as contributing to the defeat of their national cricket team in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup on Saturday in Mumbai, India. With an angry and judgmental local press on side and the soothing consolation of the President of the country on the other, the die-hard cricketing nation seemed to be stuck in between. more..

Apr 4 (E24/7) Media speculation is rife in India as regards the trophy that was handed out to the Indian team at the World Cup final ceremony. While several media reports stated before the final that the actual World Cup trophy was not cleared by Indian Customs officials, as duty had not been paid on it, sources have now said that a ‘fake’ was given. If this is true it has never happened in the 36-year history of the World Cup competition. more..

Apr 5 (BBC) Sri Lanka’s great spin bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan, says he has “never touched” a computer and “hates” the thought of it. Murali was speaking to the BBC at a reception given in honour of the national team by President Mahinda Rajapaksa two days after they lost the ICC Cricket World Cup final to India. It was Murali’s final match for Sri Lanka, and a disappointing one for him as he failed to take any wickets, but the team were in good spirits after receiving a more..

Apr 5 (BBC) The London based human rights watchdog Amnesty International has expressed concern over the lack of proper investigation into the abduction of a whistle blower. DM Thushara Jayaratne, a final year Law College student was abducted, interrogated and threatened with death on 04 March, according the rights watchdog. The Human Rights Commission in Sri Lanka (SLHRC) has refused to pursue the case after Mr Jayaratne filed a complaint about his abduction. more..

Apr 5 (LBO) Incentives given for new private universities will be open to all qualified parties and is not limited to foreign universities, Sri Lanka's higher education ministry secretary Sunil Nawaratne said. "If you are not in the government you are eligible," Nawaratne told a forum of state and private educators called together by the Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM). "The only issue you have to prove your quality. more..

Apr 5 (DM) The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) has rejected all the applications by milk powder companies to increase their milk powder prices, CAA Chairman Rumy Marzook said today. “All the companies forwarded their applications to increase the milk powder prices but we have rejected all of them,” Mr. Marzook said. According to him the Ministry removed a tax a few months ago as relief for the Milk powder companies. “We are not considering a price revision at this point of time. more..

Apr 5 (LBO) Sri Lanka plans to have a separate terminal for domestic airline operators at its international airport in Katunayake, north of Colombo, an airports official said. Johanne Jayaratne, executive director of Airports and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka), a state agency which operates airports, said a building previously used for catering services is being converted as a domestic terminal. more..

Apr 5 (LG) While SriLanka lost the final match in the world cup, it gained enormously by way of support and understanding from millions of cricket fans around the world. The quality of character and resilience exhibited by the Srilankan cricketers during the entire tournament is praiseworthy and admirable. Compared to countries like Australia, India, England, West indies, Sri Lanka was a late entrant in the international cricket scenario. more..

Apr 5 (LG) Somebody from somewhere finally thought of the wisdom to restore the lost reputation of Daily News since veteran journalist Manik de Silva left to take over the editorship of the Island. In appointing Lynn Ockersz as its editor Lake House has gained some of its lost glory. If Lake House never had independence in reporting at least its literary standard was of the highest calibre in the whole of the island until 20 years ago. more..

Apr 5 (LG) Somebody from somewhere finally thought of the wisdom to restore the lost reputation of Daily News since veteran journalist Manik de Silva left to take over the editorship of the Island. In appointing Lynn Ockersz as its editor Lake House has gained some of its lost glory. If Lake House never had independence in reporting at least its literary standard was of the highest calibre in the whole of the island until 20 years ago. more..

Apr 5 (LG) ‘U.S. Embassy cables accessed by The Hindu through WikiLeaks reveal that Sri Lanka was excited about the proposal of concerted international action started in the first half of 2006 to curb the fund-raising and weapons procurement by the LTTE and wanted to bring India on board to operationalise the contact groups. The Americans believed that India “was on the same page” as them on what to do about the stalled peace process — “getting the President more..

Apr 5 (LG) I refer to the article ‘On Lankan history and reconciliation’ by Professor Nalin de Silva, published in Sri Lanka Guardian on 02 April. Professor Nalin de Silva says ‘The Sinhalas never wanted a separate state nor wanted the Tamils to leave Sri Lanka and it was the Tamils influenced by the myths spread by the English speaking Vellalas who agitated for a separate state. Prabhakaran also took about thirty years to realise his folly of more..

Apr 5 (TC) The TNA –The ITAK has been elected to power in every one of the predominantly Tamil populated Local Authority areas to which elections were held recently in the North East. In the predominantly Tamil speaking Local Authority areas in the North East, with a sizeable Tamil population, the TNA – ITAK has performed creditably. The Tamil people have thereby continued to endorse clearly the political goal of the TNA – the ITAK, that there should be more..

Apr 5 (DM) Mahela scored the only ton in the finals, yet his Sri Lanka did not win the cricket World Cup. Sachin was out there, to score his 100th 100 in the only World Cup that his India has won in his 21-year long cricketing career. His team won but he will have to wait for another day. Murali was there in his last outing before retirement. Cricketing world’s top wicket-grabber did not take one in the historic final. He did not finish his 10-over quota. more..

Apr 5 (DM) The revolutionaries of the 20th century were, admittedly, influenced mostly by the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the Germanic notion of ‘stages’, the on-the-ground example of the Russian Revolution and the voluminous theories it engendered, Euro-Centric, deterministic and in other ways flawed of course. The formulation included an observation that the capitalist epoch would obliterate things ancient and even new-formed opinions and prejudices would themselves be more..

Apr 5 (NS) “I have a vision. I have the capability and wisdom to make Sri Lanka a better country.” These were the words expressed by the UNP MP Sajith Premadasa, popularly known as ‘young Sajith Premadasa’ to The Nation in an interview. Following a prolonged battle with the party hierarchy, finally Premadasa was elevated to the post of deputy leader of the party, much to the chagrin of a few of the working committee members and a large number of more..

Apr 5 (SL) Mercifully, the end, temporarily at least, has been written to that sorry saga in the UNP’s recent history, parading as a leadership crisis/competition. I will not launch into a discussion of the issue with that most-applied cliché, “The proud history of the Grand Old Party ….,” for the very good reason that enough time has not elapsed to draw conclusions about any “proud history” of a political entity that came into being thanks to several people of more..

Apr 5 (SL) Cricket World Cup 2011 is now over. Sri Lanka was better and bigger than the Pakistanis in India. They had their President in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, when Mohali had only PM Yousuf Raza Gilani for the Pakistanis and not President Zardari. President Rajapaksa took a bigger cheering squad too than PM Gilani. Here in Colombo, around small and large screens, there was perhaps more cheering and praying for a Pakistani victory on Wednesday last, than in the Mohali Stadium. more..

Apr 5 (SO) Jaffna afforded an opportunity for artistes to come on a common platform and showcase their talents and abilities. The much anticipated and spirited Jaffna Music Festival (JMF) has concluded. It was an exhilarating three nights filled with diverse forms of folk music and dance and artistes participated in workshops for three days. This was a meeting of Northern, Southern, Eastern and Hill Country Artistes in one setting for the first time more..

Apr 5 (Island) Our omniscient politicians or Mahadenamuttas are now performing a postmortem on Sri Lanka's defeat in last Saturday's World Cup final. They are entitled to their views and comments but shouldn't they get their act together before teaching their grandmas to suck eggs (read teaching Sanga et al to play cricket)? The UNP yesterday faulted the cricket interim committee, among others, for Saturday's defeat. It also had some swipes at the government more..