May 7 (Island) Restaurants and eating houses with ‘Kottu roti’ on their menu will have to pull up their socks where hygiene is concerned as the Colombo Municipal Council has decided to unleash its public health inspectors on them. Head of the CMC’s Public Health Department Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam said on Friday (06) that they had received several complaints from consumers regarding unhygenic food being served at some of those places. more..

May 7 (Island) The British govt is taking measures to thwart an attempt by the LTTE rump to disrupt the Sri Lankan cricket team’s forthcoming tour of England. In spite of the LTTE being a proscribed organization in the UK, those overtly supportive of the macabre project continue to flex their muscles, a senior official monitoring the developing situation said. He said that Diaspora activists had planned to launch a high profile campaign on more..

May 7 (AFP) Sri Lanka's interim coach Stuart Law said cricket administrators should schedule a window for Indian Premier League fixtures to stop players choosing club over country. Law, who has stepped in to fill the job left by outgoing coach Trevor Bayliss, has a tough assignment ahead as Sri Lanka leave for a gruelling tour of England on Tuesday. The touring squad will be without eight players, including new skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan, who are in India for more..

May 7 (AT) Sri Lanka’s Minister of Power and Energy Patali Champika Ranawaka plans to shave his head and spend a hermit’s life for 10 days, from May 08 with his twenty-five Jathika Hela Urumaya party supporters said Ministry statement. Coincide with the 2600th Sri Sambuddha Jayanthi, they will observe the 10 precepts and spend the duration at Sandaham Sevana in Rajagiriya the statement said. more..

May 7 (DM) The fertilizer subsidy given to paddy and a few other crops has been extended to all crops with immediate effect. A five kg sack of fertilizer for paddy farmers will continue to be sold at Rs. 350, the government information department said. For all other crops, a 50 kg sack of unmixed fertilizer will be available for Rs.1200 and a mixed fertilizer sack for Rs.1350. The fertilizer was earlier sold at Rs. 3500 and Rs. 4000. more..

May 7 (Hindu) More than 2,500 fishermen of Rameswaram, including around 1,000 women, on Friday observed a day's fast at Thangatchimadam, demanding a White Paper from the Centre and Sri Lankan government on the suspicious death of four fishermen in Sri Lankan waters in the second week of April. U. Arulanandam, Tamil Nadu's representative in the Alliance for the Release of Innocent Fishermen (ARIF), presided over the agitation carried out under the more..

May 7 (DM) The Bribery Commission will be reactivated within the next few days after the nomination of members through the Parliamentary Council set up under the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, House Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva told parliament. He said on Thursday that members had been appointed to the Human Rights, Finance and Public Services Commissions. “We have received the names of people selected to the Bribery Commission. Their appointment will be confirmed in a few days,” more..

May 7 (DM) Former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva warned that the proposed 19th Amendment to the Constitution was a serious interference by the President in the independence of the judiciary. He said if the proposed Amendment was introduced it would allow the President to limit the term of office of the Chief Justice to five years and appoint the Judicial Services Commission Secretary which in effect means the President would take control of the higher and lower courts. more..

May 7 (DM) The Colombo Municipality yesterday warned that dengue was on the increase in Colombo with 175 dengue cases reported last month bringing the number of cases reported so far this year to about 700. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam said the number of dengue patients could increase further because of the present weather pattern and added that Borella, Cinnamon Gardens Thimbirigasyaya and Kirulapone were among the worst affected. more..

May 7 (NN) Opposition leader Ranil Wickramasinghe met the Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigme Thinley today while on a three day visit to Bhutan, the opposition leader’s office said. The UNP leader had discussed matters relating to the SAARC region during his meeting with the Bhutanese Premier. According to the opposition leader’s office, Wickramasinghe had discussed the need to strengthen ties among SAARC countries. He had also called for a new economic policy in the region, more..

May 7 (BBC) University teachers in Sri Lanka are resigning from all administrative positions to protest against government’s failure to resolve their salary anomalies. Dr Mahin Mendis, the spokesman of Sri Lanka University Teachers’ Association (SLUTA), said that the teachers will be relinquishing their administrative positions from 09 May. “The senior lecturers are only resigning from the administrative positions they voluntarily took over. more..

May 7 (MVN) Maldives Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem has told journalists in Colombo that the UN report into human rights abuses in the closing days of the country’s civil war is “singularly counterproductive.” The report was leaked to the Sri Lankan media several weeks ago and contains allegations that the army shelled hospitals, UN facilities and aid workers with the ICRC in the final days of more..

May 7 (Island) Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said on Friday (6) that by increasing energy efficiency and minimising waste, electricity bills could be reduced considerably. The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) would carry out a number of energy efficiency programmes and consumers could contribute to their success by eliminating waste, the Minister said. more..

May 7 (DM) Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayaka yesterday asked university academics not to go ahead with the proposed trade union action and said they were granted 36.25 per cent salary increase in the 2011 budget while only a five per cent increase was granted to other public servants. “We accept that university academics need a pay increase. But not at a time the country is facing a difficult situation politically and economically. more..

May 7 (DM) There are 444 appeals pending before the Court of Appeal filed by persons who have received death sentences, Minister of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Chandrasiri Gajadeera informed Parliament yesterday. Speaking during the debate on a private member’s motion moved by DNA MP Ajith Kumara in the House yesterday, Minister Gajadeera said this is one of the reasons for prison congestion. more..

May 7 (DN) Leader of the House and Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said that the LTTE rump and the NGOs trying to destabilize the country and tarnish its image will definitely make use of the Darusman Report at the UN Human Rights Council and in other forums to achieve their sinister motives. He said that the country is faced with this threat and the government is in the process of facing this imminent threat against the country. more..

May 7 (Island) As the main body with the legal powers related to environment, the Central Environmental Authority plans to conduct environmental programmes among the school principals to create awareness. CEA Chairman Charitha Herath says the key to building a vibrant society is to link the schools with the society. In operating different CEA programmes to control environmental pollution and more..

May 7 (DM) The process to hold the elections to the remaining 90 local govt bodies has hit a legal snag with the election authorities stressing the need to amend the relevant law to rectify it, election monitors said yesterday. The PAFFREL said the new electoral register based on enumerations done in 2010 was expected to be released on May 31, but there was no clarity in the present law whether the new register could be used for the rest of the elections. more..

May 8 (TC) I thank you in advance in the hope that you might be able to allow me a few lines to point out a fatal flaw in the Ban Ki-moon Report.In Paragraph 51 of the Report the Panel sets out the burden of proof that they utilized to determine the difference between fact and fiction from the voluminous material both oral and documentary provided to them. The panel wrote in this regard: “The Panel has determined an allegation to be credible if there is a reasonable more..

May 8 (TC) The situation that the majority of Muslims faced after the killing of Al-Queda founder and its leader Osama Bin Laden on May 2 by the US Navy SEALs in Pakistani was very much similar to that faced by the Tamils after LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed by the Sri Lankan forces on May 18, 2009 on the banks of Nandikadal in Mullaitivu District. This was more so when the dilemma faced by the Muslims who live as minorities in their countries is considered. more..

May 8 (TC) The Government’s decision to respond in detail, to the Darusman report, is welcome news for me. I had been, from the very inception, always of the view that the government should face it and try to exonerate itself from the charges lest it remain as a permanent stigma in the country’s history. The report had been submitted to the Secretary General of the United Nations and not to Hon Ban Ki-moon in his individual capacity. more..

May 8 (SO) The killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden last week was welcome news for all peace-loving people the world over. Bin Laden not only masterminded the 9/11 terror attack in the United States, but also unleashed terror and instilled fear in people in most parts of the West. In similar vein, Velupillai Prabhakaran inflicted untold misery on people in this part of the world, especially those living in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka. more..

May 8 (SL) An undisputed similarity drawn between the two terrorist leaders, Osama bin Laden who was killed last week and Velupillai Prabhakaran who met with a similar fate two years ago has been that both ‘liberators’ have caused more deaths of their own people by tens of thousands than those of other religions and communities. The Al Qaeda leader caused the sad and untimely deaths of thousands of Muslims in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Indonesia and more..

May 8 (TC) According to a CNN poll, the majority of Americans want the post-mortem photographs of Osama bin Laden to be made public. Yet President Obama decided against it. “We don’t trot out this stuff as trophies”, he told CBS; “This is not who we are”. When Velupillai Pirapaharan was killed, the Rajapaksa administration released his post-mortem pictures/video-footage. Pirapaharan’s body was ‘discovered’ fully clad in more..

May 8 (NS) Osama bin Laden is dead. And no nation - not even the United States of America - knows the feeling of relief that engulfs a country at the death of a terrorist leader better than Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, it is time to take stock of the aftermath of Bin Laden’s death. US President Barack Obama revels in the limelight. Leaders of the western world are falling over each other to congratulate him. Bin Laden’s death has become Obama’s personal triumph. more..

May 8 (LB) Notwithstanding a flurry of commentary regarding last week’s spectacular news story about the killing of Osama bin Laden, certain necessary observations have to be made in this editorial space about the issue, as it has tremendous relevance to Sri Lanka, particularly as a parallel to the killing of V Prabhakaran in the last stages of Sri Lanka’s own war in 2009. President Obama now they say, stands shoulder to shoulder with President Rajapaksa in doing the duty by more..

May 8 (NS) The newly-appointed National Organiser of the UNP and Colombo district Member of Parliament Ravi Karunanayake says the party spirit is fractured and his role will be to unite the party. He says he feels there is a conspiracy against him and added it was hurtful to realize that his own friends tried to shoot him while trying to kiss their enemies. “They will not succeed in doing both. They have to be disciplined,” he told more..

May 8 (TC) At last the USA has been able to assassinate Bin Laden, America’s No. 1 enemy, the terrorist who terrified the whole of America. Some time earlier, the American intelligence sources were able to track down that Bin Laden was hiding in a mansion in Abbottabad, Pakistan. When the findings were confirmed, the operation to kill Bin Laden was launched whilst the President of the USA and his senior aides were watching the video screens of the operation more..

May 8 (TC) Less palmyrah trees, more coconut palms; less typical leaf fences due to less houses; hotels sprung up while there were hardly any long ago; a distinct military presence similar to khaki-clads in Colombo roads and of course the high security zones and check points. Devastated houses, decrepit buildings, deserted homes with shelled walls. The most shocking – the yellow tape with black letters warning of mines – strung round certain areas and more..

May 8 (NS) Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunewardene says unorthodox development strategy adopted by the present government has helped foreign agencies like WB, IMF and ADB look at Sri Lanka more closely and further expressing willingness to help. He said when Sri Lanka was moving away from its traditional methods and started introducing new techniques and mechanism in dealing with development, some countries were angry while many others were admiring. more..

May 8 (Island) Both Pakistan and the United States are precariously perched on a tight rope with statements emanating from both sides on how Osama bin Laden was killed loaded with what Sir. Winston Churchill famously called 'terminological inexactitudes.’ It is obvious now that outright lying is part of the spin doctoring but the free press in the US as well as outspoken commentary in Pakistan (we publish one example in this page) is taking the world closer to more..

May 8 (ST) It would be amusing if it were not so serious, to see how the United States of America is justifying the unlawful violation of the sovereignty of another nation in the pursuit of its single-minded objective, and its use of force in the execution of an unarmed though sworn enemy. The US has given four different versions in as many days as to what happened in this week's assassination of Osama bin Laden, the founder of the al Qaeda terrorist organisation and more..

May 8 (SO) The Government has not taken any decision to introduce the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem said yesterday. “Any amendment to the Constitution will be made by the Government only after a comprehensive study on the Constitution, not as a piecemeal amendment,” Minister Hakeem said. The Minister categorically denied a report in an English daily yesterday (not of the Lake House group), more..

May 8 (NS) The attention of the world was focussed on the killing of Osama Bin Laden this week and the incident was not without significant political and diplomatic ramifications for Sri Lanka. Even if Bin Laden’s death was welcomed by most nations, there has been controversy surrounding the circumstances of his killing. The White House changed its version of events and embarrassingly for the United States, it has transpired that Bin Laden was unarmed at the time of his death. more..

May 8 (NS) The May Day rally was a promising start for the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration, against the UN expert panel report, in terms of the massive crowd that attended the meeting. The climax of the Workers’ Day rally was the inspiring delivery of the President where he questioned the motives behind the United Nations expert panel report. His speech was filled with patriotic rhetoric and was able to effectively pass down the message to the more..

May 8 (ST) The number of voters in the Jaffna electoral district has dropped by more than 400,000 or by 50 percent of the previous figures, according to latest data collected by the Elections Department. Earlier the voter registry for the Jaffna district had 815,000 voters on the list, but the new one being compiled has only about 430,000 names. “The numbers have gone down since tens of thousands of people have gone overseas or more..

May 8 (Island) On April 12, 2011, the daily Lankadeepa carried a news item which stated that UNP general secretary Tissa Attanayake had issued a statement to that newspaper alleging that a certain German NGO had been providing money to the Sajith Premadasa faction to oust Ranil Wickremesinghe and that the UNP was preparing a paper to be presented to the diplomatic community in Colombo about this German NGO. If not for the intervening Sinhala and Tamil New Year and the more..

May 8 (SL) In order to meet the growing electricity need of Sri Lanka till 2030, the government has conducted pre-feasibility studies to generate electricity from ocean waves. Minister of Power and Energy Patali Champika Ranawaka in response to a question in Parliament last week stated that although Sri Lanka is interested in generating electricity from ocean waves no feasibility study has yet been carried out thus far to use ocean waves as a source of generating electricity. more..

May 8 (BBC) The main opposition in Sri Lanka has accused the government of militarising several aspects of civilian life including the urban development in the south. Mangala Samaraweera, MP, told BBC Sinhala service, Sandeshaya that the defence ministry is interfering in urban development in Matara town weeks before the municipal council elections. “We do not need army to develop a town,” the United National Party (UNP) Matara district MP said. more..

May 8 (LB) The govt and the TNA have come to an agreement to annul the concurrent list that was introduced through the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, according to informed political sources. Both the government and the R Sampanthan led TNA have decided to hold further talks regarding police and land powers mentioned in the concurrent list of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, these sources disclosed. Meanwhile, the government and the TNA have also decided to more..