Sept 8 (LG) In a widely reported incident it has been revealed that a former air force officer has raped a ten-year-old girl when she accompanied her mother as she was preparing a school for the coming term. This happened at the Telijewela Royal College where the school was a centre for the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level examinations. After the holding of exams a group of teachers and other govt servants held a drinking party to which this former air force officer was invited. more..

Sept 8 (TC) The Sri Lankan govt’s inquiry into the country’s civil war is fundamentally flawed and provides no accountability for atrocities, according to a new Amnesty International report. When will they get justice? exposes the shortcomings of the inquiry, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). These include its failure to properly pursue allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity levelled against both government forces and the LTTE. more..

Sept 8 (LG) I respond to the article ‘Tamils, we need a new generation of leaders to lead the struggle for freedom’ by Subramaniam Masilamany, published in Sri Lanka Guardian. I dedicate this response to Mr. Kumarasamy of Tamil Senior Citizens' Association NSW Australia, who sought me out at a recent meeting to express appreciation for my service to the Tamil Community. Mr. Kumarasamy is also a regular reader of Sri Lanka Guardian and discovered my work through this Common medium. more..

Sept 8 (LG) India may be a single state nominally. It claims to have a pseudo federal constitution and has a Lok Sabaha in Delhi. However, are the citizens of India, Indians first and then Sikhs, Tamils, Bengalis etc., or is it the other way round? If not for cricket, of course introduced by the British Raj and Hindi films, is there an Indian identity as such? India which had never been a single polity until the English came to that part of the world, is ruled according to the structures more..

Sept 8 (LB) Gamani is a movie which describes our ethnic divide in different perspectives; it analyses and identifies the root causes very clearly -- whereas, our traditional movie directors, novelists, and song writers described our ethnic issues only from the surface and covered only one or two issues with solutions such as giving equal recognition to minorities, encouraging mixed marriages, and unconditional acceptance of demands made by terrorists. more..

Sept 8 (TC) The denunciatory critics of the Rajapaksa Presidency are at total variance with the overwhelming majority of Sri Lankan people, not only on domestic matters but also on Sri Lanka’s external relations. The recent Gallup poll reveals that 9 out of 10 Sri Lankans approve of President Rajapaksa’s leadership; a colossal 91 percent which significantly exceeds the share of Sinhalese (74%) in the island’s population. The same Gallup poll shows that China is easily the most popular country among the Sri Lankan people. more..

Sept 8 (SL) Over a year ago, when President Rajapaksa swept the boards clean to secure a two thirds majority in parliament, the talk was, he would thrash Champika and his JHU, lock, stock and barrel. The reason? There were no clear explanations, except for the gossip that indicated Champika was seen by Rajapaksa as a political troublemaker within his Sinhala camp. What ever reason(s) President Rajapaksa had, the outcome was that the JHU mellowed down on more..

Sept 8 (Island) The IMF is urging the Central Bank to monitor the growth of domestic credit and allow the exchange rate to reflect market demand more closely as importer demand continues to pick up, adding pressure on rupee depreciation which compelled the Central Bank to follow suit by depreciating the US dollar trading band to Rs. 109.70 – Rs. 110.20. Dealers said importer demand continued to rise on three fronts; consumer items, fuel and intermediary goods more..

Sept 8 (Island) Prabhakaran, wherever he may be, must be ruing the day he took up arms to grab part of this country and cursing those who got him to do so. Having destroyed many lives, he died a violent death, in vain. He succeeded in capturing a sizeable chunk of Sri Lankan territory and holding on to it for years before taking a dip in the Mavil Aru and meeting his Waterloo. Had he been wise, he could have owned half of this country without firing a single shot. How? All he should have done was to set up more..

Sept 8 (DM) Aggravating situations does not fall within the line of duty of the media whose key obligation is to give an unbiased report on incidents that hold a prime importance in every citizen's life. In a scenario like this, it is high time the local media institutions renew their methods of reporting crime; for it seems their reporting has been doing more harm than good. It was not very long ago that the ascending suicide rate was directly blamed on the media for their sensationalized reporting and giving away too much information; more..

Sept 8 (Island) Following discussions with Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena the Government Medical Officers’ Association called off their strike scheduled for yesterday morning. GMOA President Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya, addressing a press conference yesterday, said that the Minister had agreed that the gazette was without value. The Minister, he said, had agreed to appoint a five-member committee to review the gazette and identify the necessary requirements. more..

Sept 8 (Island) The police are investigating a Colombo-based lawyer staging his own abduction with the help of the head of a private security service, who happened to be a close friend. The police tracked down the lawyer and the private security chief on Wednesday afternoon in the Kiribathgoda police area. The police quoted the security officer as having said that he along with ten security men had stormed a private hospital at 3.30 a.m. and taken the lawyer away after receiving a call from more..

Sept 8 (Island) The Sri Lanka Port Authority is planning to reduce the number of its employees countrywide to 10,000 by the end of this year, an SLPA official said. "A committee has been appointed to check on the number of employees needed for each division of the SLPA and the report will be finalized soon to take further decisions in this regard," Nalin Aponso, Deputy Chief Manager, Media and Public Relations, said. Nearly 2,500, of the current staff of 15,000, have consented to go on voluntary retirement and more..

Sept 8 (DM) Sri Lanka’s Cargills (Ceylon) PLC and its holding company CT Holdings, which was earlier known as Ceylon Theatres Group, have partnered to set up their own bank, leveraging on Cargills brand name and the distribution channel emulating what the UK super market giant Tesco did over a decade ago. The two companies yesterday informed the Colombo bourse that they received the provisional approval to set up Cargills Agriculture and Commercial Bank (CACB) from more..

Sept 8 (DM) Deputy Chairman of Committees, Murugesu Chandrakumar, speaking in Parliament yesterday, charged that three TNA MPs, after creating a fear psychosis in the minds of people in Jaffna about the mythical ‘Grease Devil’, had flown to London to collect funds from the Tamil Diaspora, allegedly to help fight grease devils. Mr. Chandrakumar was speaking during an adjournment motion, moved to thank President Rajapaksa for lifting the emergency regulations yesterday. more..

Sept 8 (LeN) Last Sunday Leader, Editor Fredrika Janz wrote her column, as “Moragoda vs Muzzamil – No Contest”. She wrote it for Milinda Moragoda. Whether she was paid or not, that was not professional work. The arguments were all “montessori” level. Ms. Janz assumes, Moragoda is honest politician. Has she forgotten that he crossed over sides ? Why did Moragoda cross to the govt after winning from UNP? Because he is honest and good gentleman ? He betrayed all the UNP voters in Colombo district to more..

Sept 8 (DM) The parents of medical students at the Private Medical Institution, Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) yesterday called on the authorities to give legal recognition to the institution. The former Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Terrance De Silva addressing a media conference with other aggrieved parents said that the private medical institution should be accepted and monitored by the authorities to ensure its functioning. more..

Sept 8 (LeN) Senior members of the SLFP party are thoroughly disappointed and dismayed over the non reference of the name of former President Chandrika Bandaranaike at the 60th party convention on 2nd September by the Rajapakses. Her name was ‘expunged’ so much so that it was questioned in whispering tones then, and openly now by the seniors and Ministers of the party whether there had been such a leader at all in the party. Any party when celebrating its 60th anniversary uses it as more..

Sept 8 (Island) The UNP’s Dehiwela-Mount Lavinia, Kandy and Matara mayoral candidates pledged clean administrations and environmental friendly cities, if elected to office at the Local Government Elections to be held on October 8. Sunethra Ranasinghe, Niranjan Wijeratne and Upali Nishantha, the mayoral candidates for the Dehiwela-Mount Lavinia, Kandy and Matara Municipal Councils, briefly outlined their proposed programme of work at a news conference in Colombo. more..

Sept 8 (Island) The govt of Sri Lanka is quietly pushing Norway to investigate the circumstances that led to Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik, 32, adopting tactics used by the LTTE, an organisation proscribed in 32 countries. Authoritative diplomatic sources said that Sri Lanka expected the July 22 Commission, headed by lawyer Alexandra Bech Gjørv, to delve into a possible LTTE link to the killer. Referring to a statement attributed to Norwegian Prime Minister more..

Sept 8 (Island) President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in a message to Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh yesterday evening, said the Govt and the people of Sri Lanka joined him in condemning in the strongest terms, the terrorist attack outside the Delhi High Court. President Rajapaksa said: "We stand in solidarity with the Govt and the people of India. We will continue to be an active partner in working towards combating violent extremism and terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and more..

Sept 8 (DM) An Indian national who had been charged with having claimed he was a confidant of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his son, MP Namal Rajapaksa and defrauding a Sri Lankan businessman of Rs.2.5 million on the promise of getting him a large loan at low-interest rates was acquitted by a Colombo Court yesterday. When the case came up before Colombo Fort Magistrate Ms. Lanka Jayaratne, Senior Counsel Lal Kularatne who appeared on behalf of the accused informed Court that more..

Sept 8 (Hindu) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) held a dharna at Jantar Mantar here on Wednesday demanding equal status, maximum autonomy and a political solution for Sri Lankan Tamils. Senior CPI(M) leaders, including its general secretary Prakash Karat, Polit Bureau members Brinda Karat and K. Varadarajan, the party's Tamil Nadu State secretary, G. Ramakrishnan, and All India Democratic Women's Association general secretary Sudha Sundararaman, besides Communist Party more..

Sept 8 (Island) The Court of Appeal yesterday re-fixed, for further hearing, the Writ application, filed by Gen. Sarath Fonseka against the decision of Court Martial II for Sept. 12, 2011. He was convicted of disgraceful conduct by the Court Martial II and sentenced to 30 months of rigorous imprisonment. He requested the Court of Appeal to quash the decision of the Court Martial, which he said, was unreasonable. Romesh de Silva, PC appeared with Sugath Caldera and Viraj de Silva for Gen. Fonseka. more..

Sept 8 (Island) Arrangements have been made to make available Robbialac paints, manufactured by Lankem, through the Building Materials Corporation’s island wide network of outlets from today. Minister Johnston Fernando told The Island that he was determined to make the BMC a profit making institution once again. He said that through the BMC all building materials needed for the construction industry will be made available. He said he will ensure that there will be no shortage of goods. more..

Sept 8 (DN) Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Dr. Palitha Kohona yesterday said that Sri Lanka is booming economically and the President and the govt are enjoying unprecedented approval ratings. He also said, the democratic process has been restored in the North. Access to the North is open. Dr. Kohona was speaking at the screening of video, 'Lies Agreed Upon,' which is a point by point response to the Channel - 4 video which more..

Sept 8 (DN) The Cooperative Board said that the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) has given permission to release three containers consisting of over 14,000 cement bags from the harbour. This stock would be released to the market within few days. This cement consignment imported from Pakistan was held by the Customs at harbour when the Sri Lanka Standards Institution informed that it has not given SLSI certification for the import of this cement consignment. more..

Sept 8 (DN) The Education Ministry in collaboration with the National Child Protection Authority has made arrangements to set up School Child Protection Committees in all government schools in the country. Education Ministry Secretary H.M. Gunasekara has instructed all Provincial Directors of Education in a circular to direct all school Heads and Pirivena Heads to form these Child Protection Committees. The committees should consist of head prefects, senior teachers who have won the hearts of more..

Sept 8 (DM) With the lapsing of the state of emergency, the govt has sought parliamentary approval to extend the period for holding a suspect in police custody from 24 hours under normal law to 48 hours before producing him or her before a magistrate. In this regard regulations under the Criminal Procedures Code Amendment Bill will be presented in Parliament today. The Bill was made a law in 2007 as a temporary provision for two years on the grounds that more..

Sept 8 (Island) Two of the seven persons charged with conspiring to assassinate President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the then Army Commander Sarath Fonseka were acquitted by Mt. Lavinia Additional Magistrate Ruchira Weliwatte yesterday on the Attorney General’s advice. The two accused thus discharged were Velappuli Dharmasiri and Balasingham Jeyabalan. The first accused, who had been enlarged on bail earlier, was issued with notice to be present in Court on Oct. 14. more..

Sept 8 (DM) Minister Basil Rajapaksa in Parliament came down hard on the TNA saying that some of their MPs were making false allegations against the govt that the north was being forcibly colonized by the Sinhalese. Minister Rajapaksa, who vehemently denied this allegation, said that the TNA MPs were misleading the House by making such false statements. “You should remember that it was the LTTE who evicted Sinhalese, Muslims and your own people from the North. more..

Sept 8 (DM) A week after the lifting of emergency regulations, the government yesterday issued a new proclamation under the Public Security Ordinance allowing for the deployment of the army, navy and air force in addition to the police for the maintenance of law and order in all districts of the country. Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody read out the gazette notification issued by President Mahinda Rajapaksa under the Public Security Ordinance. more..

Sept 8 (Island) Udaya Pushpakumara and Wijayamuni de Zoysa, of the ‘Janasetha Peramuna’ yesterday filed a Writ application, against the rejection of their nomination to contest the polls to the Municipal Council of Kotte. The petition said that on August 25, 2011, the nomination had been rejected by the Returning Officer owing to an alleged irregularity in the affidavit of a candidate. The petition said the decision to reject was baseless and wrongful. They wanted the Court to quash the more..

Sept 8 (DN) The time has come to find lasting solutions to problems faced by the people by ending the era of resorting to mere patchwork, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa when he addressed a group of MPs from the Kandy District at Temple Trees on Tuesday. The President said Kandy is a heritage city which sheltered the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha and as such people of Sri Lanka as a whole should honour and respect it and hold it in high esteem. The MPs present lamented that colossal funds allocated for more..

Sept 8 (SL) 78 year old M. Z. A. Ismail of 68, Leynbaan Street, Fort, Galle, who underwent open heart surgery at the Durdans Heart Surgical Center in April 2011 alleged that he was charged for services that were not provided. “This is the hospital that boasts of their heart care service. However only a few may have understood how they have been cheated by this institution systematically. The patients walk into the hospital to get the necessary medication for more..

Sept 8 (Island) Private buses on eleven routes launched a strike yesterday in protest against a new route permit issued between Udugampala and Panadura by Western Province Chief Minister Prasanna Ranatunga. Hundreds of office workers, school children and other commuters were inconvenienced due to the strike. The LPBOA President Gemunu Wijeratne said that unless the new bus service was immediately withdrawn, the LPBOA would request the more..

Sept 8 (Island) The govt has allocated Rs. 5.5 billion, with the assistance of national banks and the Central Bank, to purchase paddy from farmers in order to stabilize the selling price and maintain a fixed rate during the Yala harvesting season (May to August). The Maha season is from September to March. The national banks, operating in the various districts, will facilitate the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) and Divisional Secretariats with loans to purchase more..

Sept 8 (DM) Releasing the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) for 2011-2012, World Economic Forum (WEF) yesterday said that Sri Lanka has made an impressive jump of 10 places in the rankings to 52nd place from the 62nd in the previous year. In the 2009-2010, Sri Lanka was ranked 79th position. The Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS) was the Sri Lankan Partner Institute in conducting the Executive Opinion Survey which more..

Sept 8 (Island) Michelle Mitchelle and Natalie Loos Moutou, two sisters of Sri Lankan origin living in Sydney, Australia were on holiday in Arugam Bay and they were mesmerised with its bounden beauty, the sandy beaches and calm waters. But they had a word of caution "Arugam Bay should retain its tranquility and rustic charm and the authorities should not allow unnecessary development such as high rise buildings and overcrowd the area. more..

Sept 8 (DM) An anonymous caller who had called the UNP Secretary Tissa Attanayake had warned him to be cautious over an attempt to harm his life, said the Cinnamon Gardens Police to the Colombo Chief Magistrate yesterday. Sergeant Ajith Mendis of the Cinnamon Gardens Police filing a report in court submitted to the Chief Magistrate Rashmi Singappuli that the Chief Security officer of Tissa Attanayake complained to the Police that an anonymous caller who called to more..