June 22 (CT) Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown aetiology (CKD), the causes of which have not been fully identified, is taking at least two lives a day in the North Central and Uva Provinces. It has already killed more than 20,000 people, mainly from poor farming families, over the past two decades. Currently over 200,000 patients, including children as young as 10, suffer from the disease. At least 15% of the population in the more..

June 22 (Island) A pain management unit was opened yesterday at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka for the use of in-patients. NHSL Director Dr. Anil Jasinghe said that the new unit, headed by an anesthetist, also included a special staff including nurses and physiotherapists. He said that virtually every patient suffered from pain, but there was no particular doctor or an institution to treat them. "Pain is a symptom and someone gets a pain before an illness or after illness or surgery," more..

June 22 (Hindu) Acting on intelligence inputs on a bid to transport Sri Lankan refugees illegally to Australia, Q Branch sleuths rounded up four persons, including two suspected Madurai-based agents, and tracked down a mechanised boat anchored in Nagapattinam on Friday. Following intense vigil, the security sleuths traced down a mechanised boat anchored in Keechankuppam jetty, loaded with adequate food , water, and about 5,000 litres of diesel. Of the four men secured, more..

June 22 (CT) A blood sample of the suspect, who allegedly assaulted a lecturer at the Open University at Nawala, has been sent for analysis to determine the drug he had consumed following the incident, police said. Police Spokesperson said the blood sample has been submitted to the University of Colombo for relevant tests. He said the Crime Investigation Unit of the Mirihana Police thus far has recorded 14 statements from witnesses, in connection with the incident. more..

June 22 (CT) In a bid to fight the dengue menace, the ministries that come under the inter-sectoral umbrella, appointed to co-operate with the Ministry of Health, in the dengue eradication programme have been asked to appoint committees. Accordingly, it is expected the 12 ministries appointed under the umbrella will appoint committees, which will extend support to the Ministry of Health in their effort to eradicate the vector in the environment. Apart from this, it is learnt the more..

June 22 (Economist) Often, when Sri Lanka’s ethnic-Sinhalese-dominated govt appears to be offering a hand in friendship to the Tamil minority, it turns out to be a slap in the face. For example, in 2010 it appointed a LLRC to investigate the final phase of the 26-year civil war. But many Tamils saw it as a whitewash, because it absolved the Sri Lankan army of charges that it had deliberately attacked civilians during the war’s apocalyptic more..

June 22 (Island) While the govt has alleged that the UNP had proposed the reintroduction of Criminal defamation, UNP MP Harin Fernando said that his proposal to the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Media had been distorted. He said that what he had suggested to the PSC was the introduction of a code of ethics for the media since some slanderous articles were being published under pseudonyms. "Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa seconded my proposal saying that it was a good idea," more..

June 22 (CT) The leftist parties of the ruling UPFA have decided to boycott the proposed Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on removing land and police powers devolved to the Provincial Councils. A spokesman for the leftist alliance said they have been informed by the TNA and the SLMC that they too will not be participating in the PSC. The final decision on the matter will be taken at a meeting tomorrow. A group led by Ministers, Tissa Vitarana, D.E.W. Gunasekera and Vasudeva more..

June 22 (CG) NASA is planning to send the DNA of famed British science fiction writer Sir Arthur C Clarke into space – five years after his death. The author of the novel ’2001: A Space Odyssey’ died in 2008 in Sri Lanka, and now NASA scientists have announced plans to send his DNA into orbit around the Sun in 2014 aboard the Sunjammer, a solar-powered spacecraft which gets its name from the writings of Clarke. more..

June 22 (CT) Approximately 20 people die daily in Sri Lanka due to heart diseases, which translates into 7,300 deaths per year, the Ministry of Health, revealed. Around 219,000 heart patients are admitted to hospitals every year with some form of heart disease, with the majority of patients seeking admission to the Cardiology Unit of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL), Colombo. The govt spends Rs 3,500 million per year to treat heart patients, and the main reasons that more..

June 22 (Island) A Writ of Mandamus had been filed in the Court of Appeal by Nipuna Ramanayake and his mother, Ghanalatha Ramanayake, seeking a mandatory order on the Attorney General to forthwith interdict or charge, under the penal code, DIG of Police Vass Gunewardene, for having ordered that Nipuna be taken to the Colombo Crime Division, on August 4, 2009 and inhumanly treated, while in police custody. The petition said that Vass Gunawardene had abused his power. more..

June 22 (Hindu) Taj Hotels is looking at expanding its presence in Sri Lanka. The group now has three hotels in the country. “We are looking at a lot of properties to complete the circuit, and looking at like-minded investors,” says Manoj Mathew V. M., General Manager, Vivanta by Taj, Bentota. Mathew said the next stop for Taj would likely be Trincomalee in the East. The port city has “great beaches”, and a hotel may come up more..

June 22 (DN) For the first time an artificial island would be created near the Hambantota Port to be used for leisure activities. The historic project would be undertaken by Sri Lankan Engineers attached to the Ports Authority of Sri Lanka. “The feasibility studies in this regard has been done and we are awaiting the final clearance from the government,” an official from the SLPA said. “We are looking at creating a minimum five acre island,” he said. The second phase of the Hambantota port more..

June 22 (Island) With 12 anacondas already at the Dehiwela Zoo, the mother animal, has got pregnant for the fourth time and is expected to deliver within months, zoo authorities said yesterday. An official said: "Taking care of anacondas is a Herculean task, due to space constraints and in supplying live animals as feed to one of the two giant snake species in the world." He said that unlike in the past, no country asked for these animals under the animal exchange programme. more..

June 22 (CG) Sri Lanka has forged diplomatic ties and further strengthened its relationships with a large number of countries in Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Cuba, Sarath Dissanayake said. In an interview with Radio Havana he said that both Sri Lanka and Cuba being two island nations, have many things in common and shared perspectives on matters of mutual interest. more..

June 23 (ST) Amidst moves to amend certain sections of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, a constituent partner of the ruling UPFA, presented a Bill to Parliament last Tuesday, to repeal the Amendment in its entirety. The Bill was presented as a Private Member’s Bill by JHU MP Ven. Aturaliye Ratana Thera and seconded by UNP MP Palitha Range Bandara. Even though the Bill is now included in the Order Book of Parliament, it will have to remain there for a while, more..

June 23 (SL) The 13th Amendment, which has long been at the core for the resolution of Sri Lanka’s national question, is now being tossed around with gay abandon and appears to be on the way out. Last week it was reported that the Minister G.L. Peiris addressing diplomats from different parts of the world at the German Centre for Foreign Policy in Berlin had said that successive govts could not implement key provisions of the 25-year-old amendment because of the lack of support more..

June 23 (SO) The thirty-year political career of Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva is proof of the fact that he is a politician who practises gentlemanly politics and maintains close rapport with the Govt and Opposition Parliamentarians. The outstanding characteristic of his political career is that he always remained loyal to his party and its Leader. He is in the forefront among his peers who have a strong bond with his party, the SLFP. more..

June 23 (NS) If Vesak is urban, Poson is rural; if Vesak is Capitol, Poson is ‘outstation’. The categories are broad of course and the distinctions are blurry. Nevertheless, there is a distinctly ‘Sri Lankan’ or rather ‘Sinhala-Buddhist’ flavor to Poson whereas Vesak is more universal, i.e. ‘Buddhist’ as opposed to ‘Sinhala-Buddhist’. Both Poya days see large swathes of the island being turned into free-food kiosks, dansal that is. There are the koodu and the thoran too. more..

June 23 (Island) The govt is being unduly coy about the decision to permit at least one big international casino operator to open shop here. On Friday, we heard President Rajapaksa declare that no new casino licences would be issued and that existing casinos would be moved to specified zones where various so-called `mixed’ development projects will be undertaken. Available information is that the new player will tie up with an existing licence holder to get his business off the ground more..

June 23 (SO) TULF leader V Anandasangaree, a moderate Tamil voice who constituted the few who fearlessly criticised the LTTE openly during the height of conflict spoke on the 13th Amendment. Q: You undertook a visit to India recently. What was your mission? A: The Indian trip was organised by a Sri Lankan Tamil organisation. They invited a number of expatriate Sri Lankan Tamils to attend this meeting, more..

June 23 (ST) Week after week, the country’s archaeological sites, our national heritage, are ransacked by organised gangs. Treasure hunters in Sri Lanka no longer waste their time furtively chipping away at ancient monuments with rudimentary implements. They hire large, conspicuous, backhoes. They also bring a kattadiya who conducts rituals to appease the deities before the dastardly deed is done. The sites are predominantly ancient temple complexes; more..

June 23 (ST) My Dear Mervyn, I thought I will write to you to tell you what a lucky man you are considering recent events that have taken place. I know you will be puzzled by this but I will explain and I am sure you will then understand. The first shocking news that we heard was that a DIG has been arrested and charged with committing many offences including murder. I know that a Police officer allegedly committing a murder should be shocking news but in the case of this officer, more..

June 23 (SL) Leader of the DLF, Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara emphasizes that the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was a step in the right direction in solving the ethnic problem. He believes that it will be fully implemented after consultation of a fairly representative parliamentary select committee (PSC). Q: Do the proposed changes to the 13th Amendment, in your view, solve the national question? more..

June 23 (Island) Last Wednesday, at a media conference addressed by Mano Ganesan, he was trying to persuade the Sinhala public to accept the devolution of police powers to the provincial councils by saying that the devolved police powers are very limited and that the most important police functions will remain with the centre. This is a common sales pitch adopted by defenders of the 13th Amendment to downplay the police powers vested in the provincial councils and to lull the majority more..

June 23 (NS) The week brought the most expected outcome, the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to look into a constitutional change including the 13th amendment. However, expectations were dampened at the very beginning, when the UNP refused to participate. The main constituent of the DNA, JVP, affirmed ‘no means no’. However, President Rajapksa still harbors hopes over making changes to the constitution and was seen guiding his team. Meanwhile, the govt received more..

June 23 (SL) JVP Politburo member and Head of the NTUC, K.D. Lalkantha says that there is no ethnic issue in the country and that the common problem faced by the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities in the country is the failure to build a SL nation. “Therefore, there is a national issue and not an ethnic issue,” he said, adding that the entire Constitution must be done away with and a new one should be formulated. more..

June 23 (SO) The SLFP, the main constituent party in the ruling UPFA, has invited all political parties to present their proposals to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on the 13th Amendment, and contest the forthcoming Northern Provincial Council election. As the SLFP General Secretary, Minister Maithripala Sirisena has said, the Govt is committed to conduct a transparent, free and fair election in the three provinces for which elections are scheduled to be held in September. more..

June 23 (SL) The much-anticipated 19th Amendment to the constitution that the Rajapaksa govt said would be presented to parliament as an urgent bill did not materialize last week. The great emphasis paid to the continuing drama of the 13th Amendment is testimony to the growing communalism; both majority and minority, in the country when attention should be paid towards a steady post war reconciliation process. The govt together with some of its allies, more..

June 23 (Island) "Monks are we, O great King, disciples of the King of Truth. Out of compassion for you have we come from Jambudipa" With these words a great historical and cultural change took place in Lanka in the 3rd to 2nd century BC. The introduction was made by Thera Mahinda to the King of Lanka after he had called out: "Tissa, Tissa." King Devanampiyatissa stopped in his tracks, annoyed at this all too familiar manner of more..

June 23 (NS) Sri Lankans could be forgiven for believing that theirs is a country where lawlessness reigns. Just this week, a Deputy Inspector General of Police was arrested on charges of murder and a provincial councillor was accused of intimidating and abusing a teacher in public for the ‘offence’ of advising his daughter. Then, as if to reinforce the mayhem that has encroached upon our society, an undergraduate stabbed the head of a department of a uni just days later, critically injuring her. more..

June 23 (ST) Sri Lanka’s company registration process is going online through a new web-based platform for the Department of Registrar of Companies, a senior official said. The advanced system is aimed at saving entrepreneurs or their representatives the trouble of having to visit the state company registrar office in Colombo in person to hand over duly filled registration forms and make payments or to file their returns annual reports and other relevant documents, said more..

June 23 (ST) Sri Lanka is encouraging more and more local families to open their homes to tourists and earn money in the process while increasing the room stock from this category to 10,000 by 2016. The country is targeting 2.5 million visitors by 2016 and currently has 23,000 rooms compared to the 45,000 rooms needed to meet the five-fold increase from less than 500,000 in 2009. Currently there are about 300 homes of more..

June 23 (Island) "Managing Fiscal Deficit", the first session of the Sri Lanka Economic Summit (SLES) will review Sri Lanka’s current position, future plans and fiscal management strategies of other developing countries to ascertain what lessons could be drawn for Sri Lanka, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said in a pre-Summit release. "Sri Lanka’s fiscal deficit has been reduced from around 8% of GDP in the last decade to 6%-7% in the last two years. This has been achieved by more..

June 23 (Island) Standard Chartered’s ‘Go Forward’ team recently took the ‘Go Forward’ Soccer Camp to Jaffna. More than 270 boys and girls, between the ages of 8 to 15 participated in this camp with great enthusiasm. Namal Rajapaksa, MP graced the event as did members of Standard Chartered’s leadership team. In addition to coaching soccer skills, the camps are also a forum in which aspects of financial literacy are shared with attendees. Colin Pawley, Head of Origination and Client Coverage more..

June 23 (NS) The sudden departure of the Country Representative of Friedrich Ebert Foundation, also known by its German name Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) has raised suspicion about the operation of the outfit, The Nation learns. The Immigration and Emigration Controller Chulananda Perera confirmed to The Nation that the visa of FES Country Representative, Nora Langenbacher, has not been extended. more..

June 23 (SL) Although all the reservoirs in the country are reportedly at spill level at present and hydro power generation is almost at maximum capacity, the CEB has no intention of removing the fuel surcharge imposed despite the earlier assurance it would be removed once the reservoirs fill up. Currently the maximum power is generated through hydro power and all the reservoirs are currently overflowing. “The power requirement per day is around 30 to 31 million KW hours, more..

June 23 (AN) The need to expose children to other cultures and religions for peaceful co-existence among all members of the society was strongly stressed by the guest speaker at the graduation ceremony of the Sri Lankan International School, in Riyadh on Friday. The keynote speaker was the new Sri Lankan Ambassador Vadivel Krishnamoorthy, who honored the 39 graduating students. “It gives me great pleasure to congratulate all of today’s graduates as they step out into the world to more..

June 23 (CT) Indian National Security Adviser, Shiv Shankar Menon, who is scheduled to arrive in Colombo, will apprise the govt about the Indian position that the 13th Amendment need to be implemented in its 'present form' and explore defence cooperation with Colombo in a bid to prevent it coaxing up to China, well-placed New Delhi sources said. A diplomatic crisis has been brewing between Colombo and more..