Aug 4 (Hindu) Barely three days after Sri Lanka’s top cop, IGP N.K.Ilangakoon, was asked to investigate the attack on a senior journalist of a Tamil newspaper based in Jaffna, he submitted an interim report on the incident. Gnanasundaram Kuhanathan, 59, the news editor of Uthayan was beaten by unidentified men with iron bars and left for dead near his home, on Friday. This was the second such attack on anUthayan journalist in the past two months. more..

Aug 4 (PTI) Citing the plight of Tamils in the island nation, PMK on Monday slammed the Centre for according a 'red-carpet welcome' to a Sri Lankan Parliamentary delegation, led by Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa on a visit to India. Tamils all over the world were demanding that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and others be tried for alleged war crimes in the last phase of the battle against LTTE, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader Ramadoss said, adding it was not proper at more..

Aug 4 (GDI) The National Identity Card has been made compulsory for the G.C.E A/L Examination that will be held this month. The Commissioner General of Registration of Persons Department in Sri Lanka Jagath Wijeweera said that applicants who do not have National ID Cards can obtain it through the special service being carried out by the Department. The A/L Examination will commence on the 8th of this month. Meanwhile, The Commissioner General of Examination Anura Edirisinghe said more..

Aug 4 (AD) The then Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara in writing requested the President for Dr. Eliyantha White to be taken for the World Cup, Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said last night. He said this while participating in the ‘Wada Pitiya’ programme on TV Derana last night. When questioned by former JVP MP Bimal Rathnayaka on Dr. White who was embroiled in a recent controversy over allegedly administering banned drugs to one of Sri Lanka’s more..

Aug 4 (DM) The Transport Ministry said today commuters who wished to complain about any shortcomings in the service provided by the SLTB could call the SLTB hotline 011-7555555 or its inspection unit or the nearest police station. Deputy Transport Minister Rohana Dissanayake said the SLTB received more than 150 complaints a day from commuters about conductors who do not issue tickets, who do not give the proper balance, about bus conductors who misbehave and the irregularity or more..

Aug 4 (LT) The tusker 'Millangoda Raja' has died today (Wednesday 03). The tusker was 60 years old. The tusker which was considered with longest tusks in Asia had been ill for some time according to the owners. Its tusks are nearly 6 feet long and had difficulty while taking food because of the length of the tusks. Millangoda tusker had been carrying 'Karanduwa' in several main processions including Kandy Perahera which had become a traditional symbol. more..

Aug 4 (DM) The voluntary administrative positions of University teachers would depend on the outcome of the case in the Appeal Courts today, sources said. FUTA President Dr. Ranjith Nirmal Dewasiri said today stated that since the case in Appeal Courts and the prevalent issue between the academics and Vice Chancellors were linked, they would most likely take a decision concerning the situation following the outcome of the court case. more..

Aug 4 (LT) National Trade Union Centre has started a struggle demanding a salary increase by Rs 10,000/-. A spokesman for the Centre said that they will launch the struggle by an island-wide poster campaign. He said with the increasing cost of living all public and private sector employees' salaries should be increased by Rs 10,000 minimum. An average monthly cost of a family when Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa came into power in 2006 was Rs 25,344/- whereas more..

Aug 4 (GDI) The International Cricket Council is partnering with Ten Sports and Sri Lanka Cricket to deliver the first simulated TV umpire technology training course at Galle, Sri Lanka, on 30 August 2011. The course will be run by the highly respected Australian umpire and member of the Emirates ICC Elite Umpires panel Simon Taufel, who has been named Umpire of the Year at the LG ICC Awards on five occasions. This decision has been conveyed by ICC UAE issuing a media release. more..

Aug 4 (IRIN) Sri Lankan rights activists say the Defence Ministry report released on 1 August, acknowledging for the first time civilian deaths in the final days of the war, is a step forward, but caution that much depends on the govt’s next move. “It’s a step in the right direction, but a lot will depend on the next step by the government - whether it is willing to engage or whether it will harden its stance,” Jehan Perera, director of the NPC, told IRIN. more..

Aug 4 (DM) In another twist to the burning controversy surrounding contaminated petrol, the main opposition UNP today accused the govt of selling to vehicle owners’ new stocks of petrol mixed with the low quality petrol imported last month. UNP MP Dayasiri Jayasekera said that the new consignment was mixed with the low quality petrol which was being stored in the Kolonnawa storage tank 41. He said the petrol consisted of some tar-like substance which he displayed showed the journalists. more..

Aug 4 (AFP) Cameron White, the Australia Twenty20 captain, said that he expects a tough contest against the hosts Sri Lanka during two upcoming matches. Australia will play the Twenty20 games on Saturday and Monday at the newly-built Pallekele International Stadium near Kandy, before taking on the hosts in five one-day internationals (ODI) and three Tests. "The Sri Lankan team is obviously a very strong one," said White, who is slated to return home after the more..

Aug 4 (LBO) Sri Lanka plans to revive its handloom textile industry in the war-torn north-east with a project modelled on the Rwandan Peace Collection where baskets woven by war-widows were sold at Macy’s department stores. The project by the Minister of Industry and Commerce is meant to help revive livelihoods of families in the north-east after the end of the 30-year ethnic war in May 2009. "The number of this socially vulnerable group including more..

Aug 4 (AD) Instead of gaining the tag of ‘Wonder of Asia’, Sri Lanka is fast earning the right to be called the ‘Wonder of corruption’, the UNP stated. UNP MP Dayasiri Jayasekera stated that there were clear signs of large scale misappropriations in the recent laying of railway lines. He reminded the public that with the use of domestic engineers, domestic resources and local raw materials the laying of the railway lines in the South that were destroyed in the tsunami took 56 days while more..

Aug 4 (AT) Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) pledges to continue their economic cooperation and extended assistance to develop a digital map for Northern Province which was completely released from the LTTE terror outfit and at present on mega development projects. This was revealed at a meeting taken place between the JICA’s Senior Vice President Kenzo Oshima and Minister Basil Rajapaksa at the Economic development Ministry premises more..

Aug 4 (DPA) Thousands of villagers protested in north-western Sri Lanka Wednesday over the murder of an aid worker, alleging that prosecutors were delaying the case because of the main suspect's political connections, police said. The body of Pattani Razeek, the head of a Muslim relief fund, was found buried at a building site last week, 17 months after he disappeared. The police have arrested Shabdeen Naushad, who witnesses say bundled Razeek into more..

Aug 4 (FT) The 32nd Anniversary of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) was celebrated yesterday at the Chaithya Premises of SLPA with the initiative of Deputy Minister of Port and Highways Rohitha Abegunawardane and with priorities to religious activities. Expressing views at the occasion Dr. Priyath B. Wickrama – Chairman of SLPA stated that currently a number of long awaited key issues have been accurately addressed to boost the efficiency and productivity of SLPA. more..

Aug 4 (DM) Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) said today that the University of Kelaniya has begun a new disciplinary inquiry against the organization’s Executive Director, Keerthi Tennakoon. CaFFE’s Director Legal, Harindra Banagala said that the new disciplinary inquiry was initiated to remove Tennakoon from his position and to intimidate civil society activists from the academia. He said the move to remove Tennakoon from his position came after he more..

Aug 4 (LG) In pre-independence years, as Dharmadasa shows, ‘ethnicity seemed to provide the strongest and most reliable base for political action’ for Sri Lankan nationalists. Accordingly in 1934 the All Ceylon Moors Association was formed, followed by the Sinhalese Maha Sabha in 1935, the Burgher Political Association in 1938, and the Ceylon Indian Congress in 1939.52 In this milieu, language and religion became prime symbols of identity. Tamils, too, particularly the land-owning more..

Aug 4 (LG) Mr. Basil Champika and Sunethra Kumari of No: 100, Kandy Road, Manikhinna in Kandy district are the parents of a 15- year-old girl, Malathi. Malathi was abducted on 2 June 2011, by her school van driver and the parents made a complaint to the Manikhinna Police Station in Kandy. Basil and Sunethra were finally able to locate the child at a remote location in Badulla and the police arrested the culprit together with the victim who was admitted to more..

Aug 4 (Cimic) The 521 Brigade troops serving at Point Pedro extended humanitarian assistance to civilians recently resettled in Rajagaman and Nagarkovil villages providing parcels of dry rations last week. One hundred parcels of essential food items, each to the value of about Rs. 1000/= were distributed among needy families on 30th and 31st July by the 521 Brigade soldiers at respective villages. The donation organized by the Civil Affairs office of more..

Aug 4 (LG) The series of dramatic episodes enacted recently by maverick Galle District MP Nishantha Muthuhettigama has, among other things, drawn public attention to an important aspect of the country’s administration, namely the line to be drawn between the functions performed by politicians and administrative officers. MP Muthuhettigama in his recent forays into areas of development activity, visited the Karapitiya Hospital where he gave instructions to more..

Aug 4 (LG) I respond to the report ‘Sri Lanka updates request to the EU to list LTTE front organizations as terrorist entities’,. Reading the headlines, I thought ‘so! the Sri Lankan Govt is yet to defeat the LTTE. What’s worse – they need foreign help – help from the same source they kept out of Vanni to claim victory over Tamil insurgency No Sri Lankan Govt is not independent of foreigners nor could they be trusted in terms of global level certificates’ more..

Aug 4 (SO) The establishment of the National Youth Parliament seems to have opened a new chapter in the socio-political environment of Sri Lanka providing an opportunity for the youth to familiarise with the traditions and procedures of the National Parliament. It will be the springboard for future Parliamentarians. Although the Youth Parliament will tasked with the affair of the Youth Affairs Ministry and its affiliated institutions, more..

Aug 4 (LG) Child psychologists trace human behaviour to childhood traumas. I was only about 6-8 years old, and there lived in our neighbour hood a family. The father is an abusive man and he after taking alcohol always beat up his wife for any number of reasons, then I noticed that their older son started beating up their innocent calf. It registered in my head and it came to back to me when I see Rajapaksa’s behaviour. Let me come to my life, one day by accident I hit my son with more..

Aug 4 (LG) What is the aim of Channel 4 & its persistence to tarnish the image of a sovereign Government? LTTE is an internationally banned terrorist group & a sovereign Government has all the right to militarily eliminate it for the protection of its citizens. Sri Lanka remains the only nation to have given plenty of chances to LTTE terrorists to give up terrorism & enter democratic governance by coming into power by a vote & not through bullets. more..

Aug 4 (SO) No human rights watchmen seem to remember what happened on June 15, 2006 around 7.30 in the morning in Kebithigollewa, a remote village in the Anuradhapura district. To Sri Lankans that was the climax of terrorist destruction. It was a few days after the collapse of the peace talks between the Sri Lankan Govt and the LTTE. Two directional claymore mines were triggered off targeting a jampacked bus plying to Kebithigollewa in which infants, more..

Aug 4 (NS) Years ago, when I was an undergraduate, there was among us a highly talented boy. He was extremely intelligent and although he hardly ever studied or visited the library always produced excellent results at examinations. He was also a musician and one of the most accomplished I’ve heard on the Israj. He was an actor and a sportsman too, his pet discipline being wrestling. He was literally all over the university, engaging in numerous activities even though more..

Aug 4 (NS) As you all know so far few days have been past after a terrorist suspect carried out a twin attack in Norway. I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of Sri Lankans to condemn those attacks and extend my sympathy to the families and people who lost their loved ones. At the same time if we take our memory a few years back, as you all know, people who live in Sri Lanka suffered almost 30 years of bloody war and it caused significant hardships for the population, more..

Aug 4 (FT) Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) Chairman Dr. Priyath Bandu Wickrama stated that plans are underway to move imported cars to Hambantota. He noted that discussions were ongoing with car importers to move the clearance facilities of all car imports from Colombo to the Hambantota harbour as it would bring several benefits to the businessmen. “So far we have always had problems because thousands of cars are kept at the port awaiting clearance. more..

Aug 4 (Island) Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa must have found a real home away from home when he and some other Sri Lankan parliamentary delegates visited the Indian Parliament the other day. They were met with a cacophony of catcalls from about half a dozen MPs of Jayalalithaa's AIADMK, who proved, beyond doubt that, in spite of their anti-Sri Lankan frenzy, they and their Sri Lankan counterparts had one thing in common––predilection for booing. more..

Aug 4 (DM) Whatever decisions were arrived at yesterday’s decisive meeting between UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and the group of reformists led by Sajith Premadasa, the fact remains that the damage done to the Party’s discipline and future unity is irrecoverable. The grand old Party of Asia once the abode of some of the most professionally and academically qualified and respected members of society, today tragically stands, virtually in tatters. more..

Aug 4 (Island) The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is planning to mobilise investments amounting to US$ 5 billion during the next five years for port development projects, the bulk of which would be channelled towards the Hambantota Port. "We are planning to call for two RFPs (request for proposals) from investors for the second and third phases of the Hambantota Port Development Project and a third round of RFPs would be called to develop a dry port as well," more..

Aug 4 (DN) Prior approval has to be obtained from the Education Ministry to hold any public event at national schools, Education Ministry Secretary H.M. Gunasekara said. “School principals have to obtain prior approval from the Education Ministry for public events. Without proper ministerial approval, no event can be held at school premises. This decision has been taken by the ministry since it has been reported that school playgrounds, main halls, and other places are used for various events," more..

Aug 4 (LT) The Socialist Youth Union (SYU) of the JVP, had launched several programs at the event held to mark the 'Brotherhood Day' on 23rd July, says the media unit of the Union. A cricket match and a cultural show were organized by the SYU. The army interfered and asked the organizers to come to the army camp and give a statement. Notwithstanding these interruptions, with the enthusiasm of the youth who participated in the event the match was continued, says the SYU. more..

Aug 4 (SL) President Mahinda Rajapaksa has probably heard the proverb ‘set a thief to catch a thief.’ Which is perhaps why he picked business tycoon Harry Jayawardena as Chairman of the loss making CPC. The results of the “Petrol Fiasco” is in all probability the worst embarrassment and humiliation CPC has faced in its fifty year history. This was when it imported and distributed 20,000 metric tonnes of low quality petrol. more..

Aug 4 (Island) Transport Minister Kumara Welgama said that special trains and buses will be operated from August 6 to 15 for the Madu Festival. The Ministry expects that around one million pilgrims will travel to Madhu for the festival. Special trains, with enough carriages and SLTB buses would operate up to Madawachchiya from the four corners of the island. Arrangements had also been made to open bus and railway counters at main camp for the convenience of pilgrims, more..

Aug 4 (Island) The first group of students from the island’s war torn North have commenced a Tourism and Hotel Management training course at the Koggala regional center of the SLITHM, said Deputy Minister Laxman Yapa Abeywardene. The children of Samurdhi beneficiary families will also be recruited to the training programmes which are held by SLITHM. Samurdhi beneficiary families will also enjoy all the benefits of the tourism industry, he said. more..

Aug 4 (FT) For the first time in Asia, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Accelerating Information Technology Innovation Initiative (MIT AITI) in collaboration with the University of Moratuwa hosted Demo Day 2011 yesterday, the culmination of a unique start-up incubator during which six teams of young entrepreneurs from the UOM pitched six start-ups based on mobile technology before an audience of distinguished guests from more..