Aug 7 (Island) President’s Counsel Faiz Mustapha yesterday gave an undertaking to the Supreme Court that no admission would be made to any of the universities for the academic year commencing on Oct 15 until the complaint filed by the old syllabus students was settled. Mustapha made the submission appearing on behalf of the UGC in the fundamental rights violation application filed by a group of GCE A/L students who sat the more..

Aug 7 (Island) The Examination Department said that it had strictly prohibited any outsiders entering exam centres, other than the candidates, exam staff or persons authorized by the Commissioner General of Examinations. Exam Chief W.M.N.J. Pushpakuma said that it was also prohibited for outsiders to enter the exam coordinating centres except those who were authorized by him. "We took this decision to prevent unnecessary incidents at the exam and coordinating centres," he said. more..

Aug 7 (Island) UNP MP Prabha Ganeshan on Sunday warned Eastern Province Tamils to throw their weight behind the SLFP-led UPFA at the Sept. 8 elections to the Eastern Provincial Council or face the consequences. He was addressing a UPFA media briefing at the Mahaweli Centre. Ganeshan, who contested the last General Election in April 2010 on the UNP ticket, switched his allegiance to President Mahinda Rajapaksa subsequently. more..

Aug 7 (LB) An old man stood resolutely outside a house, facing a roaring, depraved mob. They had weapons. “You kill me,” the man said, in Sinhala, his language. “Then you can go in.” S.C. Chandrahasan remembers that old man. Where many have chosen to dwell on the savageness and brutality of the 1983 anti-Tamil riots, he focuses on what he calls “some of the remarkable things that happened during more..

Aug 7 (SL) Parents of students who are now stranded at the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) have lodged complaints at the Human Rights Commission seeking redress. A group of parents and guardians who had enrolled their children at SAITM hoping to give them a good medical education in their own country now laments over their failure to pay attention to repeated newspaper advertisements published by the Sri Lanka Medical Council more..

Aug 7 (ST) Almost five months on, the National Museum robbery remains an unsolved case, despite a Rs. 1 million reward for information leading to the arrests of suspects, Police Spokesman Ajith Rohana said yesterday.Not even the release of a computer-generated sketch of a suspect has brought any worthwhile responses either, he said. “To date, we haven’t got any promising responses to the sketch, but more..

Aug 7 (LBO) Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves stood at over 7 billion dollars as at end July largely due to proceeds from the one billion sovereign bond, the central bank said. The island’s foreign reserve stock stood at 7.2 billion dollars, just enough to cover four months of imports, bank said Tuesday. The one-billion 10-year debt issue, the island’s third Eurobond, was sold in July with a yield of 5.875 percent. The bond was oversubscribed 10 times, despite being marketed in more..

Aug 7 (CG) External Affairs Minister G L Peiris said that Tamil diasporas are still ‘rigid’ against stability in Sri Lanka even after the end of 26 years of military conflict. “During the conflict, there was also fear of LTTE among the Tamils living inside Sri Lanka,” he said while presenting a paper titled ‘Equity, Opportunity and Empowerment, A South Asian Perspective’ during a discussion in the Bangladesh capital yesterday. more..

Aug 7 (Island) University non-academic staff yesterday once again threatened to launch an all out strike, if the government did not meet their demands before August 10. Spokesman for the Inter University Trade Union Joint Committee Wijayathilake Jayasinghe told The Island that when they struck, from June 06 to 26, the government promised to rectify their salary anomalies before August 10. more..

Aug 7 (AD) The Ceylon Electricity Board Joint Trade Union Federation stated that it was ready to engage in continuous trade union action from August 10 after the CEB allegedly failed to keep promises made to the workers. Ranjan Jayalal, a member of the trade union federation stated that all the CEB unions will join in the protests together. He stated that the CEB had still not delivered on promises made following the trade union more..

Aug 7 (Reuters) Sri Lanka kept its policy rates unchanged on Tuesday, as expected, aiming to lift economic growth amid a spike in inflation that the central bank attributed to adverse weather conditions disrupting domestic food supplies. The central bank held the repurchase and reverse repurchase rates at 7.75 and 9.75 percent, respectively, for a fourth straight month, the highest levels in more than two years and in line with more..

Aug 7 (Island) The Sri Lanka army has organised a three-day seminar to examine issues as regards post-war recovery, rehabilitation and resettlement process. Three key people involved in the post-war recovery process, namely External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris, Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa are scheduled to address the seminar. more..

Aug 7 (Island) Striking university teachers are awaiting Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s call for the next meeting as a sequel to last Wednesday’s discussion. FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri said that at the end of the discussion they had agreed to meet shortly. He said that the FUTA members had met Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on the invitation of the UNP in Parliament yesterday. "Not only us, but also all trade union members of the education sector more..

Aug 7 (DM) More than 231,000 students are sitting this year’s GCE (A/L) exam on the new syllabus and up to 31,000 on the old syllabus with their minds not fully focused on the subjects but more on last year’s Z-score fiasco over which tension and controversy still prevail with thousands of students uncertain as to whether they will be able to enter university. The Supreme Court and the educationist who formulated the Z-score marking system have said the marks are being recalculated based on the SC ruling, more..

Aug 7 (LT) Minister Susil Premajayantha has stated in an interview that purchase of fuel is done by a Tender committee and that he is not aware of the members of the Committee. The questions and answers as follows: “Who does the purchasing of fuel?” Minister: “The Tender committee.” “Who appoints the Committee?” Minister: “The Treasury” “How many are in the Committee?” “Five” ‘Who are those five?” Minister: “I don’t know them. more..

Aug 7 (AD) The Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) has suffered losses of around Rs.6 million due to the use of substandard diesel, Transport Minister Kumara Welgama stated. Speaking at a press conference held today, the Minister said that ten busses operating on the expressway have stalled 38 times on the road while the he added that it costs Rs.600,000 to change the filters alone. A three-member committee was appointed by more..

Aug 7 (CG) Two passengers, who were flying onboard a Sri Lankan airlines flight, were arrested today for smoking in the plane. Both passengers had been smoking in the toilet of the plane while returning from Kuwait late last night, the police media unit said. The two Sri Lankans were initially warned by the Sri Lankan airlines flight crew after the smoke alarm had been set-off. However the two passengers had got unruly with the crew after they were warned, more..

Aug 7 (CI) Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has said there are four-five open spots in the squad for the World Twenty20, and that the side will use their final Twenty20 international before the tournament, against India in Pallekele tomorrow, to identify roles for a few players. Jayawardene said Sri Lanka was trying to develop a team for the future and that he was excited by the young talent available. more..

Aug 7 (GDI) Construction of the main tunnel of the Uma Oya multi-purpose reservoir project started this morning under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The project will benefit the farmers in Moneragala, Badulla and Ampara districts, and will provide irrigation facilities as well as generate electricity. This multi-purpose project will include construction of two rolling compact concrete dams, an underground hydro power plant with more..

Aug 7 (CNA) Kerry Logistics, a provider of logistics services, continued its expansion across Asia with two new offices, one in Myanmar and another in Sri Lanka. The new offices are part of Kerry Logistics’ strategy of building its presence and network in emerging markets across the region. The new offices will complement the company’s existing freight network in Vietnam, Thailand, India and Bangladesh. “The new office in Myanmar will more..

Aug 7 (Xinhua) Central Bank has admitted that inflationary pressures are being felt after July figures nearly touched double digits for the first time in over three years but insists that it can be controlled. Inflation has picked up with year-on-year inflation, the Central Bank said, increasing to 9.8% in July 2012, from 9.3% in the previous month, although annual average inflation has continued to remain at around 6% since Feb more..

Aug 7 (NF) A UPFA candidate contesting the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council, who attended a state function in Kegalle has been removed from the event by the police. The Kegalle Police said that they had removed the candidate from the function after the Complaints Unit of the District Returning Officer's office received an anonymous phone call. The district elections officers had confirmed the presence of the candidate by dispatching one of its officials to the event. more..

Aug 7 (Reuters) Sri Lankan stocks fell 0.6 percent on Tuesday in thin trade after authorities delayed promised policy measures aimed at boosting sentiment. The Colombo Stock Exchange's main index lost 0.61 percent, or 30.28 points, to end at 4,898.22, its lowest since July 26. "The market fell due to the lack of positive news after waiting almost a week for the promised measures, including more retail credit," a stockbroker said. Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundera made the promises more..

Aug 7 (BN) Sri Lanka’s efforts to narrow its trade deficit and contain inflation will place the island on a platform for faster economic growth, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, governor of the Central Bank, said today. Cabraal spoke in an interview with Bloomberg Television after the central bank held interest rates for a fourth month. On the decision to keep benchmark interest rates on hold: more..

Aug 7 (LT) Bodies of a Sri Lankan Tamil refugee and her two children, inmates of a refugee camp near Dindigul, in Tamil Nadu, were found in a dry well on Sunday, police said. They are two sons and the mother. According to PTI the deceased were identified as Kalaiselvi (35) and her sons Vinod (12) and Gautam (7), all residents of the Sri Lankan Tamil refugee camp at Thotanoothu. It is reported that there have been many instances that authorities had been reminded regarding more..

Aug 7 (CT) Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa today directed relevant Ministers who are chairing parliament consultative committees to be present in the chamber to submit reports of the respective committees to the house. He said this when relevant Ministers of Industrial and Commerce, Housing and Common Amenities and Civil Aviation were not presented in the House when their names were called to table relevant committee reports. Only Deputy Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene was present to submit the report of more..

Aug 7 (DM) Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) has agreed to pay compensation for the damage caused to private and SLTB buses due to the use of substandard diesel fuel, the National Transport Commission (NTC) said. NTC Chairman Roshan Gunawardena said that the CPC had agreed to pay compensation on account of buses that had been damaged due to the use of substandard fuel. He said it was uncertain of the terms of payment, but the CPC had decided more..

Aug 7 (GDI) A new traffic plan will be implemented in and around the Colombo National Hospital from today (6). Vehicles will not be allowed to turn towards the E.W. Perera Mawatha, which runs through the emergency unit, from the Eye Hospital. Only vehicles which belongs to the hospital staff, ambulances, patients vehicles, emergency vehicles, security vehicles and vehicles which come to the Presbyterian College can turn towards E.W.Perera Mawatha from Kynsey Road. more..

Aug 7 (SM) The Colombo additional magistrate has dismissed a request that Hirunika Premachandra cannot be tried by the court on a contempt of court charge. Hemantha Warnakulasuriya, lawyer for MP Duminda Silva, made the request today when additional magistrate Prasanna Alwis took up the case pertaining to the killing of presidential advisor Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and three others. The court told the lawyer that a contempt of court case could be filed in a more..

Aug 7 (SM) Signalling his possible entry into politics, former high court judge W.T.M.P.B. Warawewa has accepted an appointment by the UNP to head a committee to initiate an extensive dialogue on national educational issues. Other members of this committee are Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri, Joseph Stalin, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam and former exams chief A.M.R.B. Amarakoon. The appointment of the committee came during a meeting opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had with more..

Aug 7 (AD) The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is preparing to spend a large amount of people’s money as commissions and corruption by importing substandard fuel once again, the UNP said. UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake stated that up until 1994 the CPC was a profit making institution and was amongst the top establishments which provided profits to the country’s income. However after 1994 the CPC was subject to a drastic decline and started to more..

Aug 7 (AD) Minister Maithripala Sirisena today said that his recent remarks regarding Ranil Wickramasinghe not backing Gamini Dissanayake at the 1994 Presidential Election, should come as no surprise to those who were alive at that time and witnessed the election campaign. He had claimed that UNP Leader Ranil Wickramasinghe had provided critical information to former President Kumaratunga to ensure the defeat of Gamini Dissanayake in the 1994 election. more..

Aug 7 (DM) Examinations Commissioner W.M.J. Pushpakumara said the Examinations Department had received several complaints regarding a complication in the Combined Mathematics question paper at yesterday’s GCE A/L exam. He said the Professor who set the question paper had been asked to submit a report on this matter. “However, when considering the total marks of paper I and II, this particular question contributes to only 1.5 marks. So if the report agrees with more..

Aug 7 (DM) Lawyer of MP Duminda Silva informed the Colombo Magistrate today that Mr.Silva would not be able to come to Sri Lanka for at least two months as he had to undergo another surgery in Singapore today. President’s Counsel Hemantha Warnakulasuriya said former presidential adviser Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra’s daughter Hirunika was continuing to make media statements on the court and its proceedings. He said she must stop this or else he would expose to more..

Aug 7 (CRI) The Chinese embassy in Sri Lanka said on Tuesday that an earlier report stating that Sri Lanka's navy was still holding 37 Chinese fishermen is not accurate, Chinadaily.com.cn reports. The fishermen are free to leave the trawlers and the incident was a misunderstanding, the embassy said. The fishermen's freedom was never limited during the incident, and it is now up to the fishermen whether to stay on the trawlers or to leave, said Yuan Baisheng, a consul more..

Aug 7 (Xinhua) Two boatloads of illegal migrants have been arrested in Sri Lanka while attempting to reach Australia, bringing the number of asylum seekers arrested within the last two days to 67, an officials said Tuesday. Sri Lankan navy arrested on Tuesday morning 26 people that were sailing to Australia, about 10 to 15 nautical miles from the island nation, said the police. This raised concerns that the number would continue to rise this month. "The two trawlers more..

Aug 7 (LT) The Department of Education for Southern Province that was housed in a building paying a monthly rent of Rs.200,000 has been taken to a building that costs Rs. 1 million a month as rent say reports. On a directive from southern Provincial Minister Chandima Rasaputhra the Ministry has been shifted to the first floor of Keels Building in Galle town. The building where the Ministry was housed earlier too was in Galle town. This arbitrary decision by the Minister more..

Aug 7 (CI) Virat Kohli continued to be imperious, and Irfan Pathan impressed once again, as India completed a successful limited-overs campaign in Sri Lanka with a comfortable win in the only T20 international on the tour. Kohli was in complete command, picking gaps at will, finding boundaries with minimum effort, even off the occasional mistimed shot, and helped take India to 155. Irfan, who found considerable swing, undermined a Sri Lankan more..