Nov 23 (DN) The Post Harvest Technology Institute (PHTI) is to introduce a new spicy powder to the market in the form of ground Murunga leaves. A special method will be adopted to obtain the power without harming the nutrients in the Murunga leaves . Murunga ( drumstick) is a common garden variety grown along fences and do not require chemicals or pesticides for its growth. Murunga leaves contain 25 percent protein and is devoid of harmful properties. more..

Nov 23 (AT) The world renowned Pakistani artist, social worker, philanthropist and stamp designer Jimmy Engineer is currently paying a goodwill visit to Sri Lanka to promote people to people contacts between the two friendly countries through his art. Jimmy Engineer delivered a talk to the Pakistani community living in Sri Lanka at the Pakistan High Commission Colombo on November 21st, 2012. In his brief remarks, Jimmy more..

Nov 23 (CT) There is no threat to Sri Lanka from the outbreak of avian influenza (bird flu) in some parts of India, as authorities have already taken strict precautionary and quarantine measures to prevent the disease from entering the country. Director General of the Department of Animal Production and Health, Dr. W.K. Silva, said strict precautions have been taken by tightening the quarantine procedures, with the assistance of Civil Aviation Department and Ports. Steps have also been taken to prevent more..

Nov 23 (DN) The National Water Supply & Drainage Board will never be privatised, Minister Dinesh Gunawardane said. Participating in an appointment letter awarding ceremony of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board at the ministry recently, Minister Gunawardane said under President Mahinda Rajapaksa's leadership, the UPFA govt had taken a policy decision to protect 200 govt institutions including the National Water Supply and Drainage Board. "Some people spread more..

Nov 23 (CT) UNP MP Rosy Senanayake, questioned as to why the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Child Development is run by two males instead of Dr. Sudharshini Fernandopulle, whom Senanayake considers as most deserving. “I have nothing personal against the minister or the deputy minister. But I believe that she (Fernandopulle) who has done a lot to the community as a doctor can play a major role more..

Nov 23 (Island) Despite continued lobbying and recommendations by a panel of experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the government was doing very little or nothing about the Chronic Kidney Disease, UNP MP Sajith Premadasa told Parliament yesterday. The WHO panel of experts had done extensive research into the disease and made findings that the Ministry of Health should have given serious thought to but those findings have not been taken into consideration and more..

Nov 23 (Island) The budget 2013, which was tailor made for the elite, comprising around one percent of the country’s population, was the beginning of the end for the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime, UNP and Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe predicted yesterday. Addressing the launch of the People’s Forum, at the New Town Hall in Colombo, to highlight the burdens imposed by the 2013 budget, he said that they would rally all political parties and civil society members, to drive some more..

Nov 23 (Island) Undergraduates, of the Peradeniya University, protested at the Galaha Junction, against the leadership training programme for university freshers. President of the Students’ Council Janaka Madushan said that the govt was now putting new undergraduates through military training claiming it was leadership training. He said that several students were injured during last year’s training, but the govt did not compensate more..

Nov 23 (Island) An unidentified gang of four on Wednesday night attacked the Sooriyawewa Pradeshiya Sabha chairman’s residence in Sooriyawewa. SSP Prishantha Jayakody said that the attackers, who arrived on two motorcycles, had damaged the windows of the house by pelting stones around 11.20 p.m. PS chairman and leader of NFF, in the Hambantota District, Sujith Muthukumara and his family had been asleep when the attackers stoned the house, more..

Nov 23 (ST) Sri Lankan long distance runners Anusha Lamahewa and Manjula Kumarasinghe won the second and third places respectively in the Women’s category of the annual Standard Chartered Marathon held in Bangkok last Sunday. Lamahewa and Kumarasinghe took over three hours to finish the race behind Kenya’s Everline Nyamu Atancha who clocked two hours 50 minutes and 12 seconds. Lamahewa recorded three hours, 11 minutes and 38 seconds to finish second more..

Nov 23 (Island) The Central Bank says it is concerned over the rapid increase in domestic borrowings of the govt because deviation from budgeted levels would make monetary policy implementation difficult. "The expansion of credit to the public sector, which includes the govt and public corporations remains a concern. Being less sensitive to changes in interest rates, net credit to govt depends on the budget deficit and the more..

Nov 23 (Island) Two independent candidates created history recently by defeating their GMOA rivals at the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) elections. Doctors Upul Gunasakera and Sivarajasinham Sivapriyan got elected to the SLMC, defeating doctors Saman Abeywardena (pediatrician) and Saman Abeywardena (medical officer) nominated by the Govt Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA). At previous elections the GMOA nominees had always got elected to more..

Nov 23 (FT) The Court of Appeal quashed the decision taken by JVP leadership to expel JVP Western Provincial Councilor Waruna Deeptha Rajapakshe from the JVP, thus declaring that the petitioner has not ceased to be a member of the Western Provincial Council and that he will continue to be a member of the Western Province Provincial Council. The Appeal Court judges Sisira de Abrew, Anil Gooneratne and A.W.A. Salam came to this decision after considering the submissions more..

Nov 23 (DN) President Rajapaksa called on the External Affairs Ministry and Sri Lankan foreign missions to work closely with the govts of African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries to enhance extensive South - South cooperation. The envisioned bilateral cooperation between Sri Lanka and these countries should be achieved on a practical footing through programmes of economic cooperation, External Affairs Ministry more..

Nov 23 (DN) The refurbished cricket indoor nets at Maitland Place Colombo-7 will be opened by wife of the late Gamini Dissanayake, Madam Srima Dissanayake in the presence of Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage today at 5.00 pm. The cricket indoor nets have been refurbished to comply with modern international standards, after a lapse of 28 years. The nets were first constructed on a lease of land obtained from the NCC by the Sri Lanka Cricket Foundation then headed by more..

Nov 23 (FT) Kazakhstan is ready to export grain to Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan Prime-Minister Serik Akhmetov said at Kazakhstan-Sri Lankan business forum in Astana. “Speaking of agriculture, Kazakhstan is one of the top 10 grain exporters. We are ready to consider exporting grain to your country,” Serik Akhmetov said. Kazakhstan grain is currently supplied to over 70 countries. Kazakhstan exports up to 12 million tons of grain, including flour, during a the marketing year. more..

Nov 23 (Island) There was uncertainty last morning as to whether the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), appointed to probe charges against Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayaka, would meet, when it was reported that Chairman, Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa was indisposed. Minister Yapa, who had been receiving treatment at a private hospital since Nov. 15, was discharged yesterday evening. more..

Nov 23 (ST) The Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) requested the Executive and Legislature to withdraw the motion to impeach the Chief Justice. FUTA statement said that those responsible for the assault on the Secretary to the JSC should be brought to justice and those responsible for the attack on the Mannar Courts should also be brought to justice. Following is the full text of the FUTA statement. “We appeal to our representatives, the Executive and more..

Nov 23 (Island) Although the UGC has decided against abolishing the controversial circular No. 890 of June 7, 2007, which deprives university employees of their salaries during a strike, the university teachers, who struck work for one hundred days at a stretch, from July 04, have already been paid their salaries for that period. The university teachers were paid their salaries for more than three months, in spite of their strike, in keeping with an agreement between the FUTA and more..

Nov 23 (Island) The Supreme Court yesterday said that it was not inclined to grant interim relief against the proceeding of the Parliamentary Select Committee, appointed to inquire into allegations against Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake. The Court, however, said that out of mutual respect and trust between the two institutions, the Parliament and the Judiciary, it wishes to recommend, to the members of the more..

Nov 23 (DM) With many people preparing for the festive season despite political, economic and social crises in the country, it may be prudent to reflect on the need for austerity and alpechchathawaya or a simple and humble lifestyle in keeping with Sri Lanka’s culture. A movement working for the prevention of cruelty to animals has urged Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the Archbishop of Colombo and President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka to make an appeal that more..

Nov 23 (DM) Excerpts of a presentation delivered at the Workshop “Post-War Reconciliation Dialogue for a Sustainable Peace”, which took place in Paris. In January 2010, Sri Lanka was upgraded, from the IMF’s list of Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, to that of Middle Income Emerging Markets. This represents a major recognition of Sri Lanka’s economic development. In order to be upgraded this way, you need to meet few requirements that evidently Sri Lanka has successfully fulfilled. more..

Nov 23 (DM) Q: New regulations were brought into streamline the frequencies of the local FM radio channels. What was the reason for this? A: For the last 25 years the Media Ministry and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) have given licences for a number of channels, numbering about 45. We are using the frequency between 87.5 Megahertz to about 108 Megahertz; that is more..

Nov 23 (SL) The Colombo South Teaching Hospital Kalubowila – one of the main hospitals in the country, which will be celebrating its 50th anniversary next month, has become a health hazard for the sick. The Kalubowila hospital has become a ‘mini zoo’ where stray dogs, cats and rats are allowed to roam freely. Apart from the suffering due to the shortage of drugs and surgical items and the continuous inflow of substandard drugs, more..

Nov 23 (LBO) Storage at Sri Lanka hydro power generating reservoirs has begun to fall this week after climbing steadily during unusually heavy inter-monsoonal rain, data from the state run power utility shows. On November 22, hydro storage slipped to 815.6 GigaWatt hours (millions of units) or 64.8% of total from 816.2 GWh a day earlier. On November 18, storage peaked at 819.9 GWh or 65.1% of total storage. more..

Nov 23 (DM) Sri Lanka today questioned the integrity of the ‘Report of the Secretary General’s Internal Review Panel on UN action in Sri Lanka’ or the ‘Petrie Report’ and its leak to the media. The Ministry of External Affairs today releasing a statement questioned the integrity of the report, the leak to the media, the sections of the report that have been blacked out and the accusations against the Sri Lankan govt. more..

Nov 23 (CT) The last few months have seen several attempts at interference with the proper functioning of the judiciary. The Mannar incident, the unprecedented statement of the Judicial Service Commission, the physical attack on the Secretary of the JSC who released the statement on the direction of the JSC, use of State media to attack the judiciary, especially the Chief Justice, and now a Motion to impeach the Chief Justice. more..

Nov 23 (ICRC) The event, organized by the ICRC's Sri Lanka delegation with the support of the Sri Lankan ministry of external affairs, will take place from 29 November to 6 December in Katunayake. This year's event will bring together govt delegations from South Asia and beyond. Experts and academics in IHL from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka more..

Nov 23 (Bernama) Sri Lanka is planning to introduce death penalty to child abusers and rapists. The minister in charge of the Child Development and Women's affairs has proposed to the parliament to impose death sentence or life imprisonment to offenders who are convicted of child abuse and raping women. Minister Tissa Karalliyadde has told the parliament that severe punishment should be imposed on the two more..

Nov 23 (Xinhua) Britain on Friday recalled the brutality of the Tamil Tiger rebels which fought the Sri Lankan army for 30 years. British Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Robbie Bulloch was quoted in a High Commission statement as saying Britain will continue to support Sri Lanka in building a sustainable peace in all parts of the country. Bulloch visited the north and east of the country over the past few days including more..

Nov 23 (Xinhua) A high level Australian delegation is in Sri Lanka to look at ways to curb illegal asylum seekers reaching Australia by boat, officials said on Friday. The delegation had talks with the Sri Lankan navy and officials from the Ministry of Defence and were also to visit the locations in Sri Lanka from where most people embark on the boat journey. Peter Vardos, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Immigration more..

Nov 23 (AFP) Sri Lanka's top judge attended parliament on Friday for the start of a process in which she is expected to be impeached over alleged financial misconduct, witnesses and officials said. Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, 54, left the Superior Courts complex and drove to the national parliament accompanied by a lawyer to face an 11-member parliamentary committee probing 14 charges of financial and official misconduct. more..

Nov 23 (CT) Sinhala nationalists who deny that the Tamils have any grievances are now campaigning for the abolition of the Provincial Councils under the 13th Amendment. But S.W.R.D., the Western educated liberal who introduced the Sinhala Only Law, realised that an injustice was done to the Tamil people for it was not only an instrument to discriminate against Tamils in State employment but also to force them to deal with the State and its agencies only in Sinhala, more..

Nov 23 (CT) The efficacy of their systems, progress and occasional hiccups reflect in a fundamental way the culture, the intelligence and even the sensibilities of a people. One simply cannot for instance have an evolved parliamentary system among a group of barbarians. Neither can we have a credible public /judicial service in a corrupt culture. The former would have no use for the niceties of democratic principles while the latter will invariably subvert the public/judicial more..

Nov 23 (CT) “Asked by the Ambassador if President Kumaratunga’s public statements about a quick return to the peace table with the LTTE were realistic, Wickremesinghe said they were not. “First they must decide what their core principles are and the JVP will pull them strongly in an unhelpful direction.” Moreover, he said, it is not clear who could lead a delegation for this govt. Neither the President nor FM Kadirgamar more..

Nov 23 (LBO) Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Dilmah, a tea sector group are starting an initiative to promote conservation. The Business and Biodiversity Platform (B&B Platform) would allow businesses to share information on conservation and also tap local international expertise in the area. "The platform will provide science, technical and management advice on biodiversity conservation issues more..

Nov 23 (CT) Minister Felix Perera, demonstrating the perils of being preoccupied with a pretty face, tripped and fell on the floor of the House yesterday, short minutes after his long chat with actress turned politician Upeksha Swarnamali. Several senior ministers rushed to help the minister, but by them the minister was back on his feet and out of the Chamber telling everyone he was fine. The minister was seen in earnest conversation with the MP Swarnamali, who was seated next to him more..

Nov 23 (CT) Yesterdays Court decision of the Supreme Court was considered today and the discussion was on whether they should wait pending the Supreme Court ruling. A lawyer who is closely following the proceedings told CT “it appears that the 4 Opposition Members have done great work to hold the proceedings but failed due to the majority. Vote was taken and divided on party lines 7-4.” Chief Justice was asked to come to more..

Nov 23 (DM) While expressing its deep concern at the recent serious escalation of violence in Gaza, Sri Lanka today called on Israel and Palestinian leaders to display ‘restraint and avoid civilian casualties’. Issuing a statement the Ministry of External Affairs says: “Sri Lanka is deeply concerned and disturbed at the recent serious escalation of violence in Gaza and deeply regrets the loss of lives and the great suffering experienced by the people of Palestine. Sri Lanka strongly believes the use of force and more..

Nov 23 (GDI) The Railways Department has introduced several new train services to facilitate the commuters in their day to day activities and undertake leisure and other trips. These include Matara-Colombo and Matara-Vavuniya weekend services and daily services to Colombo- Nanu Oya, Kalutara- Negombo, Colombo-Veyangoda and Colombo-Hikkaduwa services. A new office train service from Kurunegala to Colombo was introduced today. This was stated by the Minister of more..