Apr 18 (GDI) Sri Lanka Police yesterday launched a special vehicle equipped with mobile Close Circuit TV (CCTV) operation in Colombo. N.K.Illangakoon , Inspector General of Police speaking at the launching ceremony said that the mobile CCTV has been introduced for the first time in the country to detect traffic law violators as well as criminals.The special vehicle is equipped with highly sophisticated equipment. more..

Apr 18 (LT) Fifty doctors have complained to the IGP that the private hospital with a capacity of thousand beds to be built at the premises of controversial Malabe private medical school is illegal. Despite not having any permission for the Ministry of Health to construct the hospital, the Ministry of Higher Education has agreed through a gazette notification to make available Rs.600 million from the Bank of Ceylon for the construction of the hospital. more..

Apr 18 (LT) The Malabe Private Medical Faculty has been recognized as a degreeawarding institution by the UGC and the Higher Education Ministry with the concurrence of the Sri Lanka Medical Council, the Higher Education Minister said yesterday. He said the medical faculty also known as the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) would become a fullyfledged medical degree awarding institution no sooner its 1,000-bed teaching hospital was opened and more..

Apr 18 (LBO) Sri Lankan shares closed weaker Wednesday with trading remaining lacklustre following a holiday for the traditional new year last week, brokers said. The main All Share Price Index fell 0.09 percent to 5,407.47, while the more liquid Milanka index fell 0.06 percent to close at 4,907.15. Turnover was 250 million rupees, according to stock exchange provisional figures. Turnover was 250 million rupees, according to stock exchange provisional figures. more..

Apr 18 (DM) In the aftermath of the massive undersea earthquake off Sumatra and the four-and-half-hour tsunami warning, which eventually did not bring tsunami waves but sent shock waves and panic waves throughout Sri Lanka and 27 other countries, the Government now needs to take immediate and effective action to curb global warming. Top geologists here are warning that Sri Lanka now appears to be on the earthquake belt via the Indian Ocean although there was an earthquake more..

Apr 18 (CT) “The Secretary sought Indian assistance to persuade the Govt of Sri Lanka (GSL) to resettle the internally displaced persons in Sri Lanka.” a US State Department cable says. The cable was signed on October 27, 2009 by the US Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton. The cable seems to be written after a meeting with India’s External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna. (Paragraph 10 of the original cable is missing from the WikiLeaks database.) more..

Apr 18 (DM) Sri Lanka beat Singapore by 35-10 in the HSBC Asian Five Nations (HSBC A5N) Division I tournament match in Manila on Wednesday, April 18. In their bid to put themselves among the top five Asian Rugby Nations, Si Lanka has now won two games out of two and eager to meet Philippine on Saturday. The winners led 14-10 at the lemons. Sandun Herathge, a product of Maliyadewa and St. Peters's College, Bambalapitiya, scored two tries for Sri Lanka while Riza Mubarak more..

Apr 18 (GDI) The Director General of the Census and Statistics Department Mrs. Suranjana Vidyarathne said that preliminary data of Sri Lanka’s Housing and Population Census held recently will be furnished to President Mahinda Rajapaksa before the end of this month. The Director General said the census was a complete success and it was held throughout the country after three decades. One of the objectives of this census was to provide information to govt’s more..

Apr 18 (CT) The Terrorist Investigations Division (TID) has launched a probe into LTTE propaganda activities in the Kantale area. This probe comes in the backdrop of today’s arrest of four individual’s from Mohontuwarama in Eechalanpattu area. The Senunuwara police acting on a tip off had arrested the suspects for possessing LTTE propaganda material. They had uncovered several DVDs and VCDs containing LTTE operations and battle strategies. more..

Apr 18 (AD) The Habbegamuwa Police Criminal Division OIC was arrested by the Bribery or Corruption Commission for soliciting a bribe of Rs. 10,000 from a farmer in Ruhunupura, Thanamalwila today. The suspect is scheduled to be produced before the Moneragala Magistrate Court, a Bribery Commission official said. The suspect OIC is alleged to have solicited a bribe of Rs. 10,000 from a farmer who was nabbed for cultivating 160 cannabis plants in his garden. The OIC has agreed to more..

Apr 18 (SM) The inquest into the death of a 24-year-old Sri Lankan woman at a Riyadh building in Saudi Arabia has been ruled as murder. Minoli Dharmasiri, a mother of one, had died due to a broken neck, the result of which is a fatal blow, determined Negombo inquirer-into-sudden-deaths Dr. K.S. Wickramaratne. The post-mortem was conducted by CJMO Dr. A. Dayapala at the Negombo district Hospital. It was earlier reported that the woman had died after falling from a four-storey building. more..

Apr 18 (AD) The statement made by UNP Chief Organizer MP John Amaratunga that the govt is attempting to undermine the May Day rally organized in Jaffna by UNP Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe cannot be believed, UNP SPC member Maithree Gunaratne stated. He said that if there is such an attempt by the govt he is totally against it but felt that the govt is more in favour of Ranil Wickremasinghe’s UNP faction than opposed to it. more..

Apr 18 (NS) A Sri Lankan woman was attacked and raped in Cyprus, media reports said today. The incident took place in Nicosia the capital of Cyprus. The victim who is a Sri Lankan woman said she was walking through the Nicosia suburb Aglandjia at around 4.30pm on Monday when a car pulled up beside her. The driver asked her to get in the car so he could take her to her destination. She said when she refused the stranger used violence to force her into the vehicle. more..

Apr 18 (DM) A difference of opinion between a top official at the Treasury and the Central Bank has inordinately delayed the process of introducing a new law to regulate the activities of organisations and institutions engaged in micro-finance lending, officials said yesterday. The proposal for the introduction of such a law was mooted in 2002 under the Rural Finance Sector Development Project launched by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The total cost of the project was US$50 million. more..

Apr 18 (ANI) A high level Indian delegation visited a war displacement camp in the north of Sri Lanka on Wednesday and interacted with the people. The Sri Lankan Resettlement Ministry said that the delegation led by Indian opposition leader in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj inquired on the wellbeing of the displaced people at the camp in Chettikulam. Minister of Resettlement Gunaratne Weerakoon informed the delegation that some 6,500 war more..

Apr 18 (BBC) India has postponed the planned test launch of a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads, officials say. The locally-developed Agni-V missile was originally scheduled to have been launched on Wednesday in the eastern state of Orissa. Defence officials said they had delayed the launch until Thursday because of heavy lightning in the area. The missile has a range of more than 5,000km (3,100 miles), more..

Apr 18 (LBO) Foreign buying of Sri Lankan stocks so far this year have exceeded the selling for the whole of last year, with most investments in banks and conglomerates, according to data from a brokerage. The net foreign inflow into the Colombo stock exchange up to April 11 this year amounted to 21 billion rupees, Lanka Securities said in a report. The net foreign outflow from foreign investors selling shares for the whole of 2011 was 19.2 billion rupees. more..

Apr 18 (DM) A Chinese woman who pleaded guilty to loitering on a street in Kollupitiya at night without giving a reasonable answer to police was ordered to pay a fine of Rs.10 by a Colombo Court today. The Chinese woman was arrested by Kollupitiya police while she was wandering near Sea Avenue in Kollupitiya at night. The Kollupitiya police charged that the accused had been loitering on the street to be solicited. Police further stated in Court more..

Apr 18 (FT) Lak Sathosa has made the highest turnover of its history during the New Year season, according to its Chairman K.N.R Fernando. He said that on 14 April its turnover amounted to Rs. 1,400 million, and the highest turnover on this day was reported from the Kalutara district. Sathosa branches throughout the country sold items at a uniform price. The Chairman said that Sathosa was able to curtail price increases in the open market during the festive season and if more..

Apr 18 (BBC) The government of Sri Lanka gave an assurance of resettling all internally displaced people by the end of June. Gunaratne Weerakone, Minister of Resettlement told the BBC that the last phase of de mining will be completed before the end of June. The minister was accompanying a visiting Indian parliamentary delegation to meet the war displaced in Menik Farm refugee camp on Wednesday. Six thousand five hundred people still remain in Menik Farm refugee camp. more..

Apr 19 (TC) No ship in history has captured the world’s imagination like the Titanic – once dubbed the greatest ship on earth, a product of man’s superior engineering feat of the early 20th century. It was built with the kind of solid workmanship that was noted back then for British or Irish manufactured goods. Of course, today thanks to our computer based technology we know that the iron used for the building of Titanic was flawed but they did not know it at the time. more..

Apr 19 (TC) Recently, Colombo Telegraph carried a five-part critique of the “New Synthesis’ developed by Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party-USA (RCP-USA) posted by the Workers Dreadnought (WD). It carried a reference to my comments in its first posting, where I had upheld the new synthesis. This is an initial response. The essence of the critique by WD consists of three main points: 1. That there is nothing new in the new synthesis, in that more..

Apr 19 (DBS) Each generation brings its own collective formation and experience to the Left project. Each historical period produces its own Left or mutates the existing Left. An abiding failing of older leftists is to fall prey to two opposite responses to a newly emergent left, or a left born of different experiences at a different time. The older generation of leftists, be they activists or academics, cadres or commentators tend either to more..

Apr 19 (DBS) In considering again the extraordinary attack on Dayan Jayatilleka by the destructive elements in the Ministry of External Affairs, being indeed forced to do so by their gratuitous inclusion of me therein, it occurred to me that one reason for the ongoing dysfunctionality of govt at present is the contradictory motivations of some of those who exercise influence with regard to not just international relations but also those subjects that are of more..

Apr 19 (DBS) The UNHRC at its recent sessions held in Geneva, adopted a US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka, expressing dissatisfaction with the pace of reconciliation and accountability since the end of the war with the LTTE, urging the govt to make haste in implementing the recommendations of its own LLRC, and also calling for other more credible measures to ensue accountability. The resolution also promises “technical assistance” to further these ends. more..

Apr 19 (CT) The Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) was launched in Colombo, amidst international media outcry about the illegal abduction of four of its activists in the lead up to the launch by security forces. Two of these abductees, Premakumar Gunaratnam and Dimuth Atygalle (a prominent woman leader of the group) have since been released. Gunaratnam, who has been deported to Australia, says he was tortured before being released. more..

Apr 19 (SL) All the bafflegab that has emanated from a multiplicity of pundits since the recent Geneva meeting of the UNHRC proves one thing if no other: the Sri Lankan govt and its multiplicity of (well compensated) supporters have one thing in common: a refusal to deal with the issues and a policy of abusing and attacking, legally and extra-legally, those they see as “enemies of the state.” There has been an endless stream of drivel, often invoking the more..

Apr 19 (Island) The UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka means different things to different people. Its opponents and proponents keep contradicting themselves. The govt which made it out to be a frontal assault on Sri Lanka's sovereignty in the run-up to last month's Geneva vote is now claiming that it is non-binding. If so, why on earth did it make such a song and dance? The UNP sought to pooh-pooh the govt's frantic efforts to defeat the resolution by claiming more..

Apr 19 (DM) The letter informing me of the date of the interview had been delivered to my Colombo office address. However on the very last day before the date on which the interviews were to be held I suddenly decided to come to Colombo to meet some friends. As I opened the letter, I found that the interview was to be held the following day, but I had not come prepared to face an interview nor had I brought my lawyer outfit. more..

Apr 19 (Island) Although this article may not be directly connected with "The mythical ethnic problem" it has some relevance as many people are of the opinion that it is the Sri Lankan govt, meaning the SLFP-led coalitions that internationalized the so-called ethnic problem. This idea on the internationalization is one of the biggest myths claiming that the dispersed Tamils living in the western countries have been influential in convincing those countries that the Sri Lankan govts have been discriminating against the Tamils in Sri Lanka. more..

Apr 19 (Island) Education as a catalyst for change is widely accepted and given great importance in contemporary political discourse relating to national integration and social cohesion. It has often been emphasized that education builds mutual respect, tolerance, trust and promotes social cohesion. In addition to the promotion of these ‘threshold values’ of, and for, civilized society, it is often argued that education can develop necessary skills for conflict prevention more..

Apr 19 (DBS) The enforced “disappearance” and dramatic “re-appearance” of Premakumar Gunaratnam alias Kumar/Kumara Mahathaya a.k.a. Noel Mudalige has evoked much interest into the revolutionary antecedents of this colourful personality who was at one time a key leader of the JVP. Even though Gunaratnam has now broken away from the JVP and together with comrades of a similar mindset, formed a new political party known as the more..

Apr 19 (FT) Despite being Asia’s worst performer, there is some news for cheer as the Colombo Bourse has achieved the milestone of over half a million local individuals dabbling in shares though not regularly. The total operative CDS accounts of local individuals by end March grew to 500,198, thereby crossing the half a million mark for the first time in Bourse’s history. As per the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), this figure excludes the number of multiple more..

Apr 19 (Island) The country’s hydro electricity generation capacity which remained low for many months has increased substantially following rains during the last two weeks. An official of the Systems Control Department of the Ceylon Electricity Board yesterday said that the hydro capacity that stood at 20 per cent had increased to 33.7 per cent. He said that there was a possibility that spill gates would be opened in Kotmale. The Victoria reservoir was not yet brimful, more..

Apr 19 (Island) Colombo’s ever changing skyline will soon see a dramatic transformation with a brand new 45 storeyed apartment complex with 160 units to be built with local investment of Rs. 3 billion in the outskirts of Rajagiriya. The piling and the civil works will commence early May and it is going to be the tallest high-rise in Colombo when it is completed in June 2014, the developer/ architect Milroy Perera told more..

Apr 19 (Island) Some of Sri Lanka’s top athletes including 400 metre specialists Prasanna Amarasekara and Chandrika Subashini who are averaging below the Olympic qualifying mark will get probably their only international competition to qualify for the multisport event in London when they take part in the three legged Asian Athletics Grand Prix in another fortnight’s time in Thailand. But peaking within eight days in three competitions will be their challenge as a more..

Apr 19 (DN) The Coconut Development and Janatha Estate Development Ministry has taken measures to distribute Dimo Batta vehicles to people who engage in coconut related industries, said Minister Jagath Pushpakumara. Participating at the Dimo Batta vehicles distribution ceremony held yesterday at the ministry premises, Minister Pushpakumara said that under the Kapruka Purawara program which was launched under the Mahinda Chinthanaya the Ministry more..

Apr 19 (Gulf) Arjuna Ranatunga, who lifted Sri Lanka from minnows of the game to 1996 World Cup champions, was not only an outstanding all-rounder but an astute captain too. Ranatunga, known for his ability to inspire his players as well as his frank views on the game, is today a politician. He is on a mission to rescue Sri Lankan cricket. Ranatunga, who is in Dubai to give away the Shyam Bhatia annual cricket awards, took a trip down memory lane. more..

Apr 19 (Island) Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem, who is currently on an official visit to Qatar, met the Justice Minister of Qatar, Abdullah AI Ghanem and held a lengthy discussion on bilateral issues beneficial to both countries. The purpose of the visit was to strengthen existing cordial relationship between the two countries and to further consolidate and the implement the Agreement that was signed between the countries a few months ago. more..