July 6 (DBS) It may remain unclear whether the TNA decision to stay away from the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) being formed in Sri Lanka to find a political solution to the still so very vexatious ‘ethnic issue’ was influenced by the fact that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was ‘dismayed’ by reports of the Sri Lankan Govt attempting to ‘dilute certain key provisions’ of the Thirteenth Amendment ahead of the promised Northern Provincial Council poll. Singh had expressed his views when more..

July 6 (SL) Virtually all of us in this Island take pride in our history, our ancient civilization and traditions, our four great religions and our languages. Yet, almost continuously since independence our religious and linguistic communities have been drifting away from one another with no sustained move towards Reconciliation. In contrast, South Africa has had a violent history of apartheid, and tribal and inter-ethnic conflict and oppression such as we had never experienced prior to more..

July 6 (SO) Softly, As I Leave You, Chandani Lokuge’s third novel, offers yet another insight into the migrant’s world of fractured consciousness and half-fulfilled relationships. It is a touching story of loss and separation within a family whose members are suspended between a sense of togetherness and separateness. The novel traces the life of Uma, a Sri Lankan girl who travels to Australia apparently to complete a doctorate more..

July 6 (CT) Forty-three-year-old Thusitha hails from a Sinhalese family in the Southern Province. Like many others from the deep South, Thusitha migrated to Colombo in search of work, and at the age of 18 joined the govt sector as a substitute worker at the Department of Railways for a monthly wage of Rs 3,000. This interview captures the issues faced by members of the working population residing in the urban areas of Colombo, which centre on obtaining a living wage that more..

July 6 (CT) From the time Sri Lanka gained Independence from the colonial powers, all Sri Lankan political leaders, barring none, have been indulging in a frenzy of electoral politics. Every national issue had been viewed through the electoral eyeglass and solutions to those national issues had been skewed and screwed to such an un-dignifying degree, in almost all instances, that the solutions that had been found and effected, had proven time and again, to be more radical and more..

July 6 (ST) Anuruddha Fernando struggles with his verti all evening. “It’ll fall, it’ll fall,” warn his fellow cast members every time he moves and considering there’s a kids party in full swing next door, that would spell disaster. As ‘He comes from Jaffna’s irrepressible Durai, Anuruddha will spend the entirety of next weekend in this traditionally ‘Jaffna Tamil’ kit so he can only hope practice makes perfect. And don’t even get him more..

July 6 (CT) In Sri Lanka today there are two types of Buddhists- the Buddhist Moderates who identify themselves as Sri Lankans and those who identify themselves as Sinhala-Buddhists which they regard as their nationality! As a Sri Lankan (a Sinhalese and a Buddhist by faith) I have lived and worked amidst the strange practices of Sinhala-Buddhists in Sri Lanka. As such I have observed closely what a Sinhala-Buddhist is as opposed to a Buddhist Moderate. The following are my observations. more..

July 6 (CT) What provides the occasion for this article? A needless debate in recent years replete with tendentious arguments and not without an attempt at derailing one project with the help of the other, gives the answer. The targeted casualty is water supply and the cutting edge invoked is the aura of the time honoured Lagoon Project. “Much of the money on the water Supply Project can be saved if the River for Jaffna Project is completed as planned”. Saved and spent where? more..

July 6 (DN) A man and his eight-year-old son died when their house caught fire on Thursday night in a firecracker accident. The victims were identified as B.A. Dinesh Priyashantha Perera, 29, of Galmankada, Kimbulapitiya and his son Hashan Perera. Perera manufactured fire crackers as a self-employment venture at his home. He had stored the crackers in a room of his house. On the day of the incident, the room with crackers caught fire after Perera lit a cigarette. more..

July 6 (FT) Positioned as the National Museum Gallery Cafe, Laksala will open a state-of-the-art outlet on the one-and-a-half-acre land adjoining the museum (towards Green Path) in August this year. Rs. 137 million has been spent on the premises currently and Laksala Chairman and Chief Executive Anil Koswatte expects the numbers to increase to Rs. 185 million upon completion. Cabinet has approved Rs. 220 million for the said project, he said. The construction cost is Rs. 50 million. more..

July 6 (FT) A comprehensive and useful ‘Investment Day 2013’ organised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will be held today at the Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Minister Basil Rajapaksa will be the Chief Guest whilst Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal will be the Guest of Honour. Entrance to ‘Investment Day 2013’ will be free of charge. more..

July 6 (Island) Egypt, which prided itself on a successful Arab Spring revolt that ousted a longstanding dictator, is now in for a winter of despair. The military has overthrown the first-ever freely elected Egyptian leader. Strangely, the US has not called the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi’s government a military coup. Perhaps, it has chosen to tread cautiously for legal and moral reasons. While claiming to protect and promote democracy in the world, it may not be able to more..

July 6 (Island) Most ills in our society today stem from the fact that our politics and governance are without any morals. We have come to accept that politicians and politics can be carried on without any reference to moral values. Our politicians who were elected from the Opposition crossed over to the ruling party for very base motives. They were either bought over with perks to be funded by the people such as duty free permits to import vehicles- the most expensive ones too. more..

July 6 (FT) Cabinet nod has been given for 50,000 MT of rice to be exported to make room for the Yala season harvest. Cabinet had approved a proposal by Minister Johnston Fernando to export 50,000 MT of rice to make warehouse space for the upcoming harvest. However, the export will only be made after another 50,000 MT are kept as a buffer stock to protect against sudden shortfalls in the market. more..

July 6 (Island) It was a star-studded evening for Allianz Lanka as the best and brightest of its team were awarded trophies, cash rewards and overseas holidays for their brilliant performance during 2012. Heinz Dollberg, Allianz Executive Vice President Asia Pacific who graced the occasion as Chief Guest, Guest of Honour Allianz Lanka CEO, Surekha Alles, the company’s senior management, Life and Non-Life sales staff, spouses of winners and staff comprised the attendees more..

July 6 (Island) "Journalists should know their limits if not their ethics," was what I told my colleagues as we raised our glasses last evening at the favourite watering hole. "What limits?" asked one of them. "The limits on reporting on the behavior of the offspring of politicians…surely there must be a limit to what you say." "I thought the problem so far was about our ethics" said another. "Well the fact is that both ethics and limits get mixed up so often…and the matter gets worse when politicians and more..

July 6 (Island) Western Province Police Intelligence Unit yesterday arrested a gang of robbers who had hired vehicles and sold them after forging papers. The police nabbed the main suspect and seized 21 vehicles valued at nearly Rs. 100 million. Investigations have revealed that the organized group had sold some vehicles to the LTTE, as well. They were trying to trace 60 other vehicles sold by the group. more..

July 6 (CI) After a listless performance against Sri Lanka, where they were trounced in all departments, there was a feeling that India had lost its intensity and drive after the highs of the Champions Trophy. However, against a different opponent and at a new venue, none of those weaknesses were on show. Virat Kohli led by example with a blistering 102 off 83 balls to lift India to an imposing 311 before the seamers turned a new leaf and consigned the match to a no-contest even before the halfway more..

July 6 (LM) To truly imagine freedom, one must understand how one might escape.” This is one of the many deeply incisive sentences from Sri Lankan-Canadian author Shyam Selvadurai’s fourth novel, The Hungry Ghosts. Even though the blurb calls it a “lush, complex novel of migration, sexuality, family and exile”, you are not prepared for the depressive grip that grabs you by the collar almost as soon as you start reading it. Calling this book complex would be understating the scary more..

July 6 (CT) 21 suspects of the Rs 263 million credit card fraud case were allowed bail by Fort Magistrate, after hearing submissions of the counsels for suspect and State Counsel for the CID. Bail was granted in Rs 50,000 cash and Rs 250,000 surety for each suspect on condition to report to CID once a month. The suspects were in remand on allegations of committing offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, more..

July 6 (DM) Rehearsals for a new traffic flow would get underway today (6) as the govt prepares to extend the uni-flow system which has proved to be successful in other parts of Colombo. As part of this experiment vehicles would be required to go round the De Soysa roundabout via Kannangara Mawatha, F.R. Senanayake Mawatha, Dharmapala Mawatha and back to the De Soysa roundabout via Lipton Circus. The rest of the arrangements are as follows: Vehicles coming from Union Place more..

July 6 (Island) At least 29 persons, including UPFA Southern Provincial Council member Aruna Gunarathna, were injured in a jeep-bus collision in Ahangama at dawn yesterday. Police spokesman SP Buddhika Siriwardana said that a Pajero, heading for Colombo from Matara, crashed into a private bus, heading for Matara from Galle, packed with Garment factory employees, near the Giniwella temple junction. The Ahangama police, investigating the mishap, told The Island that more..

July 6 (CT) The DPF and the UNP will form an alliance to contest the Central Provincial Council elections. DPF Leader, Mano Ganesan, said he was confident that a majority of the votes from the Central Province would be for the alliance formed by the two parties. "We will be contesting in the Central Province, mainly in the Nuwara Eliya and Kandy Districts and we are very confident that the majority of the voters will be for the alliance. more..

July 6 (CT) Teachers of Navagattegama Navodya School demand the immediate transfer of the school's two vice principals, alleging they failed to give evidence against politician, Ananda Sarath Kumara, who made a teacher of the school kneel before him for disciplining his daughter. The teachers reported sick for two days yesterday and Thursday, in protest of the actions of the vice principals. General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers' Service Union (CTSU), more..

July 6 (CT) The Warakapola Magistrate yesterday indicted 19 suspects, including Minister Athauda Seneviratne, for causing Rs 1 million damage to a drinking water project in Warakappola, Kohobadeniya. The 19 suspects, including Minister Seneviratne, Warakapola Pradeshiya Sabha member, Sarath Sumanasuriya, appeared before the Magistrate when the case was taken up.The suspects are charged with the unlawful entry to the residence of Jayalath Bandara more..

July 6 (GDI) When all people rise in unity sans differences, the forces hostile to the country will be weakened and development and peace will be further strengthened, said President Rajapaksa. He was speaking at the opening of the renovated Jumma Mosque building at Seenawatte, Aluthgama, last morning. Addressing a large gathering at the Mosque premises, the President said harmony and peaceful coexistence more..

July 6 (Island) The Samurdhi Development Officers’ Union alleged that according to the AG’s report of Dec 20, 2012, the Samurdhi Authority’s Vavuniya District Coordinating Officer had misappropriated Rs. 1,170,000 from a fundraising project in 2009. They charged that the controversial officer and many other high ranking officers in the department, believed to have been involved in the misappropriation, were being protected and no action seemed to be taken against them. more..

July 6 (DN) When the defamation case filed against Lanka E News, its proprietor and Editor Sandaruwan Senadheera and News Editor Benette Rupasinghe by Associated Newspapers of Ceylon (ANCL) was taken up for hearing before the Colombo District Court, the 3rd accused Benette Rupasinghe said the contents of the said item which is the subject matter of the case was erroneous and that he wished to come to a settlement with the petitioners by publishing an unqualified apology more..

July 6 (DN) The official website of the National Action Plan for the Implementation of the LLRC recommendations was launched yesterday. The website www.llrcaction.gov.lk will provide updated information relating to the progress of implementing recommendations of the LLRC. Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga who launched the website said it is the need of the hour to have a dedicated website for the progress more..

July 6 (GDI) President Mahinda Rajapaksa sent congratulatory messages to several heads of state who have assumed office recently. President of Mongolia Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj was re-elected to a second four-year term last month. “The great services you have rendered for Mongolia and her people since the early stages of your political career, and the confidence reposed in you by the people of Mongolia are clearly manifested in your recent electoral victory,” President Rajapaksa wrote more..

July 6 (Island) Denying media reports that a germ had entered the operating theatres of the Kandy Teaching Hospital eye treatment unit, hospital Directress Dr. Mrs. Chandra Gunathilaka said the theatres had been temporarily closed for urgent cleaning and would be re-opened within a week. She said that the theatres had not been cleaned for many years and the periodical cleaning process had now commenced. The temporary closure of the theatres was not due to any infection, more..

July 6 (IL) Senior Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama has said in spite of a long drawn out battle against terrorism for nearly three decades, and being further constrained by the 2004 Asian tsunami and the impact of the global recession, Sri Lanka had been a trend setter in integrating Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) effectively in to the national development agenda and ensuring realization of these targets. more..

July 6 (CT) Two prominent politicians are under investigation for their alleged involvement with the underworld, after underworld don Mamasmi, spilled beans in his confession to the police, internal police sources revealed. Mamasmi, the notorious underworld don, was shot dead near Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7, on Thursday, by security personnel, after he allegedly tried to strangle a Special Task Force driver. The two politicians, who are claimed to have provided Mamasmi more..

July 6 (DM) Followed by the visit of Minister Basil Rajapaksa to New Delhi, India’s External Affairs Minister Salman Kurshid will visit Sri Lanka soon to discuss the political situation in the country. Minister Rajapaksa wrapped up his two day visit to India yesterday after having talks with both Mr. Kurshid and National Security Advisor Shiv Sankar Menon. During the talks, India stressed the importance of the participation of the TNA in the PSC mandated to evolve a political solution. more..

July 6 (Hindu) India welcomed Sri Lanka President Rajapaksa’s announcement on elections in the Tamil-majority Northern Province, but asked him not to dilute the provisions of a promised political settlement known as the 13th Amendment plus. This was conveyed to Mr. Rakapaksa’s younger brother Basil when he met External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, besides the National Security Advisor and the more..

July 6 (DM) Over the past few years and especially after the illegal impeachment of Chief Justice 43 Shirani Bandaranayke, the rule of law has broken down with the judiciary and the police not being able to or allowed to act independently or impartially. The Rajapaksa regime’s charges for the impeachment of CJ 43 related mainly to the alleged non-declaration of assests, but recently a senior leader of one of the parties in the ruling UPFA confessed that the action against Dr. Bandaranayake was initiated more..

July 6 (DM) Looking for bread on Poson Poya day, I wandered further than usual. This was because the household prefers ‘poranu paan’ – hard to translate, because ‘oven-baked bread’ doesn’t give the idea. After all, (unless I’m mistaken) all bread is baked in ovens. Poranu Paan refers to bread baked in the old fashioned manner in ovens using firewood as fuel. This gives each loaf a hard crust, both on top and at the bottom, harder on the top and often blackened like charcoal. more..

July 6 (CT) India seems to have temporarily suspended its soft diplomacy with Sri Lanka; at least it did, when Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed his 'dismay' to a visiting TNA delegation over current moves to introduce drastic amendments to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. But there is no public spat, yet, though India is, besides worrying about the fate of the 13th Amendment's fate, more..

July 6 (E24|7) The falling value of gold does not seem to deter smugglers in the Sub-Continent. A sea route between northern Sri Lanka and India’s Tamil Nadu Nagapattinam district, used before the Sri Lankan Tamil civil war ended in 2009, is now being used to smuggle gold bars from the Middle East. Four associates of Lankan crime kingpin, Arivalagan alias Arivu, were arrested with more than 200 gold bars last week. more..