Sept 6 (NS) The FUTA Trade Union Action launched on July 4, 2012 has entered its 3rd month, and there is much speculation concerning the current status of negotiations between FUTA and the govt. In order to address some of the misleading information regarding FUTA’s current position, we wish to clearly clarify our stand at this present moment. During the last two months, FUTA’s demands have been gaining wide, public support. FUTA has managed to awaken public interest in the current status of more..

Sept 6 (CT) I am well aware of the intense discussions and debates taking place amongst professionals, political activists, trade unionists and among those who are shaken by the white collar corruption scandals and existence of the `SEC mafia’ re the future political trajectory for the country. Many platforms are raising issues of corruption, good governance, right to information, democracy, LLRC and the 13th amendment. more..

Sept 6 (ST) It doesn’t need to be big, it doesn’t even need to be beautiful, as long as you have your own house to find comfort at the end of the day. Though most people take their homes for granted, for 40 percent of our population, owning a home is just a dream. But 24 families in the Negombo suburb of Paththaeyamwatta are now the owners of a house they can call their own, with the help of the local affiliate of the international NGO, Habitat for Humanity. more..

Sept 6 (CT) The Sri Lankan society experienced 30 year prolonged armed conflict and the 2004 Tsunami that changed the psychological landscape of the Islanders. A large number people underwent the detrimental repercussions of these manmade and natural disasters. The victims exhibited various types of trauma reactions. These traumatic reactions were unique and expressed it in different psychosomatic channels. Some victims used traditional healing methods and the cultural more..

Sept 6 (DBS) India is very lucky. When India dreams of influencing Sri Lanka, it gets opportunities without much effort. The latest is its appointment to a panel by the United Nation’s Human Rights Commissioner, Ms Navaneethan Pillai. She appointed a panel consisting of three nations to assess the progress made by Sri Lanka in the implementation of the recommendations contained in the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka. These three countries were selected by drawing lots. more..

Sept 6 (DBS) In a truly democratic election, voter is king and politicians are supplicants. In a genuine election season, voters will speak and will be heard, while politicians walk on eggshells, careful not to upset the sensibilities of the electorate. That is not the way elections are managed in Rajapaksa Sri Lanka. Untimely, unnecessary and therefore over-frequent elections are a staple in Rajapaksa Sri Lanka. more..

Sept 6 (DBS) If we were to count on the repeated denials issued by the Ministry of External Affairs during recent weeks, there would be no South African mediation effort in Sri Lanka to bring about a political settlement to the ethnic conflict. The official statements however suggest that the Sri Lankan govt has responded with some caution to the suggestion made by the South African delegation, in the words of the External Affairs Ministry, “to render all assistance to Sri Lanka, drawing upon more..

Sept 6 (NS) The document detailing the demands of the Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA) contains a proposal to establish a ‘Sri Lanka University Academic Service’, drafted by Prof A.M. Navaratna-Bandara, Dept of Political Science, University of Peradeniya. ‘The Nation’ received the following observations on the main arguments therein (1) Only the highest achievers are considered even for an interview for an academic position in the university system. Not true. more..

Sept 6 (CT) Minister Basil Rajapaksa, describing himself as a generally silent person, says he is doing a silent job stabilizing the country’s economy. He speaks extensively on a range of issues including his electorate Gampaha, his political career, the current state of the Indo-Lanka relations and recalls an incident where the late Editor of Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunge had said, whatever he wrote on the minister more..

Sept 6 (Island) More than nine per cent of Sri Lankans are affected by hearing impairments, according to a medical expert quoted in a news item we published yesterday. One wonders whether most of them have taken to politics, going by the manner in which politicians turn a deaf ear to public requests. No sooner had the govt bungled the GCE A/L (2011) exam results by messing up the Z-score calculation, several experts requested it to increase university admissions so as to more..

Sept 6 (Tehelka) A visiting football team sends out the superficial message: all is well in Sri Lanka. It does not reveal that 4,000 university teachers have been striking for the past two months demanding better wages and greater spending on education, or that the government ordered the closure of all universities last week. It conceals a genocide that claimed 1 lakh Tamil lives in 2009 and a structural racism that marginalises minorities. In enthusiastically supporting more..

Sept 6 (DN) The Sri Lanka Rubber Research Institute introduced a single day smoke drying unit for sheet rubber to replace the conventional smoke houses which takes over five days to dry rubber sheets. "40% out of the total production of Sri Lankan rubber are produced as sheet rubber. In addition, around 25% are produced as crape lase, 25% produced as concentrated latex and other 10% is used to produce latex blocks. All kind of sheet rubber in Sri Lanka are produced by more..

Sept 6 (DN) Education has become a main political slogan of Opposition political parties. They are spreading false information that the country's education sector has collapsed, Independent Teachers' Union president Wasantha Hadapangoda said adding that this was being done for pure political gain. The SLITU President said there was no problem in country's education system, but the main Opposition party and more..

Sept 6 (Hindu) The recent tension over the presence of Sri Lankans in Tamil Nadu has caused trade bodies in southern districts worry over the prospects of international connectivity for Madurai as the first full-fledged international flight was scheduled from Colombo on Sept 20. While not going into the political aspects of the controversy, the trade bodies here, which had been campaigning for years to get international flights more..

Sept 6 (Island) A donation of Rs. 520 million was made by the Trustees of the Foundation Supporting a National Trauma Service in Sri Lanka, Victoria Australia, for the a building of a new emergency accident facility in the Eastern Province. The spokesman for the Health Ministry said yesterday that the facility would be constructed at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital and would tentatively be completed in 2014. The facility would consist of five floors and more..

Sept 6 (Island) Minister Johnston Fernando refuted allegations that paddy warehouses were closed. He said paddy was being purchased by the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) from the Yala harvest without any interruptions. He said that the Opposition was making wild allegations in view of Saturday’s Provincial Council elections. The PMB had already purchased 6,000 MT of paddy. He added that the Opposition was spreading false rumours to discredit the PMB and the govt. more..

Sept 6 (Island) Soldier Pradeep Sanjaya proved his coach Jansz Dissanayake’s prediction right, when he won the bronze medal in the T46 400 metres at the 2012 Paralympics in London on Wednesday, to become the country’s first Paralympics medalist. There were many doubters, when Jansz predicted that his unassuming protege would be a prospect at the Paralympics, nearly a year ago, in an interview with ‘The Island’. more..

Sept 6 (DN) The External Affairs Ministry Seva Vanitha Unit presented cheques to the value of Rs. 4.5 million each to two deserving charities. The S.O.S village project Jaffna, whose main aim is to provide shelter to 120 children who have lost parental care in the aftermath of the ethnic conflict is one recipient while the other is the Colours of Courage Trust better knows as Trail. The latter is a project initiated to bring relief to the cancer more..

Sept 6 (ET) The attack on Sri Lankan pilgrims in Tamil Nadu is the awful fallout of competitive grandstanding on the 'Tamil cause' by politicians in the state. Historically, the Tamil issue in Sri Lanka has been cynically used by virtually every political outfit in Tamil Nadu as populist rhetoric in the race to score brownie points. Thus, not to be outdone by the DMK, which held a conference in support of Tamil rights, the ruling AIADMK pitched in with more..

Sept 6 (Island) According to official statistics, 21,458 children and women had been abused or raped during the last four years, UNP MP Rosy Senanayake said. She said that there was a rapid deterioration in the law and order situation, but President Rajapaksa, who had made an election pledge to provide security for children and women, had done nothing to stop the slide, she said, adding that that had been quoted as more..

Sept 6 (DN) The Sacred Kapilavastu Relics arrived in Tissamaharama yesterday to the religious chants by thousands of devotees who flocked to the Tissamaharama Rajamaha Viharaya where the Relics will remain for two days. MP Namal Rajapaksa received the Sacred Relics at the Weerawila Airport and bore it to the Tissamaharama Temple. He was accompanied by Minister Mahinda Amaraweera and Uva Province Chief Minister Shashendra Rajapaksa. more..

Sept 6 (Yahoo) The BJP govt in Madhya Pradesh appears to have gone on the defensive over Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's scheduled visit to the Sanchi world heritage site on September 21 following protests in Tamil Nadu. Rajapaksa is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of a proposed university for Buddhist studies at Sanchi, home to the oldest existing Buddhist sanctuary. The site in Sanchi, 48km north of Bhopal, houses Buddhist monuments that include monolithic pillars, more..

Sept 6 (TOI) The Madhya Pradesh police department still has no official intimation about the scheduled visit of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the state capital on Sept 21 for the foundation laying ceremony of a Buddhist university at Sanchi in nearby Raisen district. When TOI approached the police department with queries about security arrangements of VVIPs arrival more..

Sept 6 (DN) The second day of the 125th Sri Lanka Amateur Golf Championship has been a victorious day for local golfers as Sri Lanka ‘B’ team comprising M. Arumugam and Sisira Kumara maintained their first day lead and won the Parlakimedi Trophy beating the strong International teams while the local ‘A’ team also performed well to emerged runner-up at the Royal Colombo Golf Club yesterday. Proving his supremacy, reigning champion N. Thangaraja had a classy more..

Sept 6 (Island) The JVP yesterday claimed that there was a conspiracy to privatise crude oil imports and that had resulted in the Sapugaskanda refinery being shut down from August 30 due to lack of crude oil. JVP MP Vijitha Herath said that the govt should maintain a sufficient stock of crude oil. "This is the first time that the refinery has been shut down, since its inception in 1964, due to the lack of crude oil," he said adding that the CPC cannot unload crude oil from a ship due to a damaged hose at more..

Sept 6 (TOI) Fishermen from Rameswaram island who ventured into the sea on Wednesday, sailed with fear as they are worried about the recent attacks on Sri Lankan nationals by Tamil outfits in Tamil Nadu. Fishermen associations in Rameswaram have also strongly condemned the attacks stating that it will badly affect them. The fishermen association leaders are keeping their fingers crossed, as they have the more..

Sept 6 (Hindu) Adding to the growing clamour against the training of Sri Lankan military personnel in India, students of Ambedkar Law College organised a demonstration at the Park station on Wednesday morning demanding that the Sri Lankans be sent back immediately. Nearly 150 students took part in the protest. Most of them, part of the ‘Movement for Untouchability’ that functions in the college, raised slogans and condemned the encouragement offered by various more..

Sept 6 (Hindu) 14 Sri Lankan Tamils lodged at the Pathanapuram Gandhi Bhavan, a charity home, since August 18 who launched an indefinite fast on Wednesday morning in protest against the delay in their deportation called off the fast in the evening following an assurance given by the govt that the formalities for their deportation would be completed by September 12. The Sri Lankans went on fast in protest against alleged apathy on the part of the State govt in ensuring their early deportation. more..

Sept 6 (Island) The Catholics Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka (CBCSL) yesterday urged the govt to take remedial action to rectify shortcomings in the education sector. In a strongly-worded statement jointly issued by CBCSL Secretary General Norbert M. Andradi OMI and CBCSL President Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, the Church emphasized the urgent need to more..

Sept 6 (CT) Results of a public opinion survey conducted by the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) in the seven districts where PC elections are being held, reveals that only 14.8% of the voters want the govt to win. The survey, which polled 24,618 voters, reveal that 22.6% believe the govt should be defeated because of the increasing cost of living. FSP Propaganda Secretary, Pubudu Jagoda, said they visited all seven districts in the Eastern, North-Central and Sabaragamuwa more..

Sept 6 (CT) The SLMC Batticaloa District candidate Asath Salley has accused the Govt of withdrawing his security and said despite the Election Chief’s directives, the Govt was reluctant to reinstate his security which was withdrawn on Tuesday. Speaking to Ceylon Today Salley said the Election Commissioner has requested the IGP to provide him with security immediately but so far nothing happened. “On Tuesday, the ASP of the area told me to have two security personnel. more..

Sept 6 (Island) The Court of Appeal yesterday committed Cabinet Minister Rishad Bathiudeen to stand trial on Contempt of Court charges following his pleading not guilty. Trial was fixed for February 13, 2013. Bathiudeen has been charged on three counts. The first charge is telephoning Mannar Magistrate Anthony Judeson on July 17, 2012 and attempting to interfere with a judicial order. The second charge is that more..

Sept 6 (FT) Secretary to President and TRC Chief Lalith Weeratunga has been reappointed as the Chairman of the UNESCAP ICT Committee. This is the third re-election of Sri Lanka and Weeratunga. He was re-elected for a second term in November 2010. The Chairmanship is for two years. ICT industry hailed the re-appointment as a major boost for UNESCAP as well as d Sri Lanka which has been a model for rapid progress in the ICT sphere, a portfolio which current President more..

Sept 6 (Island) PAFFREL on tuesday announced that it would deploy 2,000 observers for polls duty on Saturday. PAFFREL’s National Coordinator Sujeewa Gayanath said, "We have appointed 1,500 observers for polling booths besides mobile observers." The election monitoring body had received complaints of 66 incidents, he said. Those incidents include 21 threats, 19 assaults, 3 attacks on election meetings and 22 incidents of damaging immovable and movable property, Gayanth said. PAFFREL also noted that the highest more..

Sept 6 (FT) As opposed to a 10-place jump in the previous year, Sri Lanka has suffered a 16-place relegation in the latest Global Competitiveness Rankings list released by the influential World Economic Forum (WEF) yesterday. Sri Lanka’s rank of 68th place out of 144 countries surveyed from 52nd place in the previous year was despite the overall score changing marginally to 4.2 points from 4.3. WEF assess a more..

Sept 6 (AA) There has been of late a disturbing trend in Tamil Nadu of people from Sri Lanka — both Sinhala and Tamils — being intimidated and even attacked. While the narrative has been building up for some time, on Tuesday this week 184 Catholic pilgrims visiting the Vailankinni church in the Nagapattinam area were forced to take an early flight home when buses carrying them were stoned by an extremist Tamil organisation. more..

Sept 6 (DM) South Asian nations take pride in being the most hospitable breed on earth and sometimes compete among each other for the brightest smile. Yet, the recent attacks against the Sri Lankans in Tamil Nadu expose the hypocrisy of the hospitality practices of the Southern Indian state. Clearly, the unpardonable behaviour of the unruly crowds could hardly be misinterpreted for a warm-welcome, nor could the vicious agendas of those who lead the mobs be misread as an invitation to more..

Sept 6 (Island) The UNP, which some termed as the United Noble Party, celebrates its 66th anniversary today. The party was founded by the Rt. Hon. D.S. Senanayake on September 6, 1946, to contest the General Elections for the House of Representatives, for which purpose he resigned from the Ceylon National Congress. At the time, youngsters such as his son Dudley Senanayake and J.R. Jayewardena had decided to propose that members of the Communist Party, more..

Sept 6 (SL) Grade Five students and their parents in Anuradhapura have urged President Mahinda Rajapaksa to remove Education Minister and the Commissioner General of Examinations immediately for the continuous debacles in the education sector of the country. Joining in a telegram campaign to the President, parents and students are insisting that the President must look into the Grade Five students’ grievances and to remove the officials who have neglected their more..