Aug 22 (SO) Sangeetha, who is in her twenties, wants villagers in Bandarawela to conserve water. In the aftermath of the infamous Weliweriya incident, where people are clamouring for clean water, a group of young women from several districts, took part in a program organised to educate people to conserve water and to make them aware of their rights regarding water. "Water issues are getting worse in the villages", more..

Aug 22 (GV) The sun burns the Jaffna peninsula. It devours every last droplet of moisture. If one seeks the feeling of pinpricks of heat as they visibly bake one’s skin to darker shades, or redder for some, I recommend a high noon walk on the ramparts of the Jaffna fort. I admit that afternoons are pretty, with its much-glorified auburn light, but there is something to be said for seeing the city and the sea slumber under a shimmering (and yes you can see the shimmering), blanket of heat. more..

Aug 22 (NS) Award winning actor Kamal Addararachchi captured the audience with many roles, but right now he has begun focusing on looking within himself to do justice to his acting skills. At present he is seen more as a presenter of shows, but those who have a thirst for Kamal’s style of acting would consider his performance in ‘Adieu to Acting’ (Rangapaam Ivarai) like a thirst-quencher offered to a man whose drunk nothing for days while trekking in the desert. This is a man who can more..

Aug 22 (NS) Despite authorities claiming that the crisis had been officially ‘resolved’, the Grandpass area remains tense, while differing viewpoints continue to be expressed regarding what exactly triggered clashes between Sinhalese Buddhists and Muslims in the area last week. The area seemed calm when The Nation visited it on Friday evening, with people seemingly going about their business as usual. more..

Aug 22 (CT) Darmasena wakes up every morning to the haunting melody of the cuckoo's morning call. Bare-bodied and in his one and only ragged pair of shorts, he gets off the rattan mat spread across the cow-dung floor of his parents' shack of a home. The overnight's rain had kept him awake most of the evening as he had to help his father with the mending of the thatched roof over his head, to keep the falling rain drops off his body; the leaks were right above his sleeping area, more..

Aug 21 (SL) Uncontested media reports about the attack on the Grandpass mosque show a possible emerging pattern to the unbridled targeting of the Muslim community in the country. If the LTTE was seen as their nemesis earlier, post-war, self-styled ‘Sinhala-Buddhist nationalists’ have become the prying predators. Whether the timing could be linked to Census-2011, before and after, is a moot question, though suggestions to the effect have been made. more..

Aug 22 (FT) Louise Arbour, the last UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Sri Lanka, arrived in the country in October 2007, just over a year into the Govt’s ‘humanitarian operation’ to liberate the north and east from the Tamil Tigers. Govt forces had recently secured the strategic LTTE base in Thoppigala, flushing the Tigers completely out of the Eastern Province with that major victory. The Sri Lanka Army then headed by more..

Aug 21 (Island) Some parents who are seeking to admit their children to Grade One of popular schools are in a dilemma due to different methods adopted to measure distances between their homes and the schools of their choice, as our sister paper has reported. The Divaina has cited, quoting some parents, an interesting example to highlight the predicament of children and their parents who happen to live in places almost equidistant from a popular school and a not-so-popular one. more..

Aug 22 (CT) There are many who question the validity of the much-bandied about contention that Mahinda Rajapaksa ultimately succumbed to Indian pressure to hold the NPC election with the 13th Amendment in place in its original form. Not so, those who doubt, argue, and come up with another more likely explanation. They are convinced that in addition to Indian, American and Western influence, Russia too was instrumental in helping change Rajapaksa's mind about the election. more..

Aug 21 (FT) In response to the Daily FT story yesterday titled ‘NDB eyeing Union Bank,’ the two banks issued separate statements. Union Bank Director and CEO Anil Amarasuriya said the bank had not had any discussions with NDB Bank PLC regarding a possible merger/acquisition and the information stated therein was inaccurate. NDB in a clarification pertaining to certain content set out in the article said: “We wish to state that no formal discussions pertaining to such an more..

Aug 21 (CT) We live in a time of severe ecological and economic challenges. In 2012 the world crossed a dangerous limit. A reading of 400 parts per million (ppm) of atmospheric carbon dioxide was recorded by monitoring stations across the Arctic. This figure is at least 50ppm higher than the maximum concentration during the last 12,000 years, a threshold that granted us the privilege to develop agriculture and civilization. We have already begun to experience a substantially more..

Aug 21 (Island) Fitch Ratings says Sri Lanka’s strong economic growth is attracting foreign capital but foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows remain modest compared with rated peers, leading to rising external indebtedness. "This could be a source of vulnerability as the central banks of major advanced economies tighten global funding conditions," Fitch said. Fitch says mobilising more domestic savings could help fund growth without increasing more..

Aug 21 (CT) A recent 10-day tour of China, covering four cities – Beijing, Xian, Shanghai and Guiyang, gave a group of Sri Lankan professionals a glimpse of the potent might of the Dragon Kingdom. It contrasted with a tour one of the touring party had made in 1982 of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and the People’s Republic, which showed the same Chinese descendants of Confucius and the Emperor of the Middle Kingdom, once resplendent in the Forbidden City in Beijing, more..

Aug 21 (ST) A leading US fund is to invest in Ideal Finance Ltd (IFL), a subsidiary of Ideal Group, to propel the company’s growth through foreign equity, head of the company said. Nalin Welgama, Chairman of Ideal Finance told the Business Times that negotiations are underway with the US fund to get a massive financial commitment. He declined to name the US firm. The company was launched last year with a capital of Rs.650 million and is now functioning at Union place Colombo, more..

Aug 21 (IL) The traditional ceremony to inform the head of the state on the successful completion of the historic Esala Festival took place at the President's House in Kandy in the presence of President Rajapaksa this afternoon (21). The Perahera Sannasa (Scroll of Memorandum) on the successful conclusion of the Perahera handed over to President Rajapaksa by the Diyawadana Nilame (Chief Custodian) of Dalada Maligawa more..

Aug 21 (Island) Two teenagers committed suicide by hanging after their love affair was discovered by their parents. Both were next door neighbours, in the Ruwanwella area. The girl, 14-year-old Sandaya Kumari of Dehigahahena, Weddewa and the boy, 16-year-old Sajith Ananda, had been found hanging around 3 a.m. in two different places on the same land. Sandaya had hanged herself in her bedroom while Sajith had hanged himself from a branch of a breadfruit tree on his girlfriend’s compound. more..

Aug 21 (CT) A special police team under the Senior SSP for Nuwara Eliya, M.H.K.B Mahagedara, has been dispatched to the Talawakelle Police to conduct a detailed investigation into the incident where the Minister Arumugam Thondaman, had allegedly stormed into the police station, abused the officers on duty, and had behaved in a manner that obstructed the police officers from carrying out their duties. A high-ranking police officer of the division said, the minister had gone berserk more..

Aug 21 (DM) Deputy Minister H.R. Mithrapala accused the highest ‘Political authority in Sabaragamuwa’ for providing political patronage to former Deraniyagala PS Chairman Anil Champika alias ‘ Athakota’. Answering a question by journalists with regards to allegations that CM Maheepala Herath provided political patronage to atrocities that were committed in the area, Mithrapala acknowledged that they were true. more..

Aug 21 (Island) Armed robbers who entered a well known finance company in Gampaha yesterday forced its employees to kneel down and made off with gold jewellery and cash worth Rs. 1.8 million. The robbery was carried out while a number of customers looked aghast. The police said that the robbers had entered the company pretending to be customers. Soon after gaining entry they had pulled out the pistols and threatened customers with death. The suspects had fled in a grey double cab, more..

Aug 21 (CT) Assistant Superintendent of an estate, Chathrika Rawan, the son of a former deputy minister, who was arrested by the Mirihana Police in connection with a number of robberies committed at various divisions, was remanded until 30 August. He was produced before the Nugegoda Magistrate on 18 August, and was ordered to be remanded till 30 August. A special police team is conducting further investigations into the cash robberies that were committed by the suspect more..

Aug 21 (Island) Blatant violation of election laws by the govt in the run up to the Provincial Council Elections, had resulted in the Opposition losing faith in the whole process, Senior UNP MP Karu Jayasuriya said. He said that the Elections Department was doing its best, but due to the absence of an Independent Elections Commission, it was unable to stop the blatant abuse of Polls laws by UPFA candidates, who more..

Aug 21 (Hindu) The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) sought Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s intervention in revoking the Centre’s decision to deport three Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, which, it said, was “akin to signing their death warrants”. Holding the Centre’s orders to deport the refugees Eela Nehru, Soundararajan and Chenthuran as “arbitrary, unfair and against internationally accepted human rights norms” since none of them had committed any crime in India, more..

Aug 21 (DH) Dharmalingam’s pursuit of livelihood abruptly came to a pause on June 15, when he was arrested by Sri Lankan navy for allegedly crossing the IMBL and illegally fishing in the island nation’s waters. The fisherman from Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu had to spend eight weeks in a jail in Sri Lanka before he was set free on August 16 to come back home — penniless and, of course, without a catch. He was just one among many Indian fishermen who go through such ordeals. more..

Aug 21 (CG) Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake is to review the report on Weliweriya which was handed over to him late this evening. The Report of the findings into the recent Rathupaswala – Weliweriya incidents, complied by a Court of Inquiry, presided by Major General N.A.J.C. Dias, Adjutant General of the Army was handed over to the Commander at Army Headquarters. more..

Aug 21 (PTI) Two courts in Sri Lanka on Wednesday extended till August 28 the remand of 65 Tamil Nadu fishermen, who were arrested by naval personnel of the island nation last month for reportedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line. The fishermen from Nagapattinam, Karaikal and Akkaraipettai had put out to sea on July 30 when they were arrested by Sri Lankan Naval personnel, officials said. The fishermen, lodged in prisons in Paruthithurai and Trikonamalai, were more..

Aug 21 (TOI) The catch of gold by the customs at the Dabolim airport has revealed the involvement of a Sri Lankan smuggler, but more details will be available only after a couple of days, officials said on Wednesday. One of the Sri Lankans was being "controlled" by a smuggler in Sri Lanka. They had arranged a complex system- he was told to expect a phone call from a man, who would give him the serial number of a 5 note in his possession. Once the code was given, the courier would more..

Aug 21 (AP) Sri Lankan human rights activists said Wednesday they have asked a United Nations official to inquire about the recent killing of unarmed protesters, anti-Muslim violence and alleged army land grabs from victims of the country’s civil war. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay arrives Sunday for a seven-day visit to prepare a report on Sri Lanka to be given to the U.N. Human Rights Council next month. more..

Aug 21 (Hindu) Leader of the MDMK Vaiko has said that Sri Lanka should not be allowed to conduct the CHOGM. Addressing a meeting of the party organised to hand over election funds, he accused the Union Govt of helping Lanka to conduct the CHOGM. Since Lanka is facing human rights violation charges, it should be removed from CHOGM, he said. He also urged the State and Union Govt to ban the film Madras Café alleging that it portrayed Tamils in Sri Lanka in bad light. more..

Aug 21 (Island) Customs officers of Revenue Task Force (RTF) yesterday took into custody a haul of milk food containing ‘Whey Protein’ from a warehouse in Wattala. Superintendent of customs of RTF Parakrema Basnayake said that they had been informed that the warehouse, where unaccompanied luggage was kept before being dispatched to owners employed overseas, contained the milk food. The names of three individuals had been used to dupe the customs and racketeers had also more..

Aug 21 (Island) Minister Bandula Gunawardena yesterday presented to Parliament ‘New Educational Policies and Proposals for General Education in Sri Lanka’, based on proposals presented to the Special PSC on Education. It had been suggested that the state should allocate 5% of GDP for education through its budget, he said. Minister presenting the paper said that the proposals were based on suggestions that more..

Aug 22 (CT) A special police team has been dispatched from Kandy to Mahiyangana, to probe an attack on Mahiyangana PS member (UPFA), Watareka Vijithasiri Thera. Senior DIG Kandy, said the victim was admitted to a private hospital in Colombo, but by the time the police team arrived to record his statement, the Thera had left the hospital. Meanwhile, a police officer said, they have received information that there are two suspects involved in this incident, more..

Aug 22 (GDI) British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka John Rankin met Minister Basil Rajapaksa at the ministry office recently and discussed among other matters the progress of the demining program in the North and East, resettlement of displaced persons and development work in the North. They also discussed the arrangements for forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka and the benefits it would bring to the participating countries. more..

Aug 22 (Island) Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Jagath Jayasuriya warned of the possibility of certain elements including the LTTE rump making attempts to discredit the country in the run-up to the CHOGM 2013 in November. He said that nothing could be as important as ensuring an incident free environment during the forthcoming visit by UN Human Rights Commissioner Navy Pillay as well as the Geneva meeting of the UN more..

Aug 22 (DM) In various spheres or areas of life, rights are linked to responsibilities. To the extent we fulfil our responsibilities, to that extent only could we claim or exercise our rights. To the extent we fail in our responsibilities, to that extent we forfeit our rights. This hallowed time-tested principle applies also to the independent media which are expected to play a major role in sustaining a democracy that is of the people, for the people and by the people. The independent media are the channels more..

Aug 22 (DM) The SAMAGI BALAWEGAYA or FORCE for UNITY led a protest on a very worthy cause on August 14, at the Fort Railway station. Going by those who have fallen ill with anti Ranil phobia, it seemed to have been a little underwhelming. A foreign news agency in its report on the protest said “among one thousand People…demonstrated”. Another report on a hardly pro-government website but certainly anti NSSP, said: “…According to eyewitness accounts, more..

Aug 22 (DM) Straight after landing at the New Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport at 5.45 am on Sunday, Minister G.L. Peiris went to the residence of SL High Commissioner Prasad Kariyawasam in New Delhi. Minister Peiris had a tight schedule the following day as he had to meet both India’s PM Manmohan Singh and his Indian counterpart Shri Salman Kurshid. When Minister Peiris called on the Indian PM, more..

Aug 22 (SL) Norochcholai coal plant will be shut down next week for 6 weeks to carry out annual maintenance work. However, according to some internal sources, this shutdown has been prompted by severe vibration problems that exacerbated during the last few weeks. In the meantime, the Chinese contractor of the plant China Machinery & Engineering Corporation (CMEC) has accused CEB of failing to carry out more..

Aug 22 (ST) Last week, a man was killed and three were seriously injured when a family of four was attacked in Tangalle by an unidentified group. The attackers had hacked to death Nuwan Andrahennedi while three members of his family are receiving treatment at the Karapitya Hospital. The police have so far tracked the three-wheeler that was used by the suspects though no arrests have been made yet. more..

Aug 22 (DN) President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday said he has given the necessary instructions to the relevant authorities to pay the Employment Provident Fund and Employment Trust Fund arrears of employees working in the estates that come under the purview of the Janatha Estate Development Board (JEDB). The President made this announcement at a meeting with members of the Tamil community in the Kandy district more..