May 13 (CT) Late last week, as pressure was mounting on the govt over the detention of the Muslim politician, Azath Salley, powerful Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, plunged himself into the controversy. He said that Salley was detained on a controversial detention order obtained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) as the detained politician had conspired to mobilize Sri Lankan Muslims more..

May 13 (CT) Seniors in different societies play different roles. Some years back when I first came across the name (Japan) Silver Volunteers (JSV), I wondered which ‘Silva’ had founded that organization in Japan. No, I was mistaken hearing the indistinct pronunciation. It was not Silva but Silver to mean, in our parlance, ‘grey haired’ generation. These JSV people even go overseas for voluntary work and had come to Sri Lanka as well. This generation in Japan exceeds more..

May 13 (CT) When the Jaffna Development Council started functioning a Minister who made frequent official visits to Jaffna was Gamini Dissanayake. His known closeness to the President lent some significance to the discussions he had with Mr. Nadarajah the Chairman of the Council. A warm rapport developed between the two. To the Chairman it opened a two way communication connecting the District with the Centre. The Minister perhaps was not unaware of the political more..

May 13 (ST) Tea houses are set to open in the island aimed at popularising the tea drinking habit among locals, against the coffee houses that pose a challenge, for a country selling the world’s best teas. Despite Ceylon Tea being marketed globally as a brand identified with one of the best tea in the world, the country in which it originates has today become more akin to drinking coffee and is even served at funeral houses, more..

May 13 (Island) Sri Lanka’s women cricketers are concentrating on performing better and money seems to be their least concern, an example to country’s men’s cricket team who were involved in a bitter pay dispute with Sri Lanka Cricket, mere weeks after a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Australia during the recent Test series. SLC announced contracts for women’s cricketers on Friday and although the formula has been criticized, the players themselves don’t seem to bother. more..

May 13 (ST) The reduction in the trade deficit in February and in the first two months of the year lends a glimmer of hope that there could be a significant reduction in the trade deficit this year. The trade gap decreased by 20 percent in the first two months this year -it was US$ 1.79 billion during the first two months of 2012 and US$ 1.42 billion during the corresponding period this year. It is also significant that the trade gap was US$ 100 million less in February than in January: more..

May 13 (ST) There are certain things on this good god’s earth that we do not wish to see, hear or talk about. They are best kept unspoken under strict wrap like the fabled ‘Pandora’s Box’. Yet, there are times they just surface like small rocks that protrude when the tide recedes. The stubborn fact is — it is lying dormant just below the skin of our bodies. But when the tide recedes the inherent qualities in us bring out the great divide. more..

May 13 (Island) When Leader of the Muslim-Tamil Alliance Leader Azath Salley was arrested recently under the much-dreaded Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), we were told by the govt spokesmen that he was a threat to national security as he was inciting the Muslims to violence against the state. In a bid to justify the use of those draconian laws, they cited as evidence an interview he had given to a South Indian magazine and claimed that a statement therein was tantamount to a call to arms! more..

May 13 (SO) Edirichcharige Saman was born in Dewinuwara, a place of religious significance second only to Kataragama. He studied quite well and no one could predict what destiny had in store for him. Saman wanted to be rich in double quick time and led a life of luxury. He thought of an easy way out of his predicament and wanted to make quick money. Hard work was not for him and he was not prepared to undergo any form of hardship to earn money. Unfortunately, destiny had more..

May 13 (Island) Thrower Nadeeka Lakmali’s hat-trick of victories, W.K.L.A. Nimali’s personal best in the 800 metres, Manjula Kumara’s victory in the men’s high jump and an impressive 400 metres run by Kasun Seneviratne were the highlights as Sri Lankan athletes produced their best performance of the three-legged Asian Grand Prix at the final leg at the Sugathadasa Stadium yesterday. SL athletes won three first places, more..

May 13 (ER) Sri Lanka fought and defeated one of the world’s most deadliest terrorist groups but radicalized segments of society is still of concern. Sri Lanka’s future stability and prosperity is contingent in the ability and willingness of govt and their community partners to maintain ethnic and religious harmony. The balancing of ethnic and religious emotions and tensions is harmony. Sri Lanka and Sri Lankans should never divide the island by ethnic or religious divisions. more..

May 13 (Island) The pricing of electricity in Sri Lanka is presently a major economic and political issue. While there is general acceptance that the CEB should not running at a colossal loss, there are contesting views on the reasons for the losses and how they should be stemmed. Is it that power was being provided too cheaply, which means consumers should pay more? Or is it that poor management is making it more costly, which means govt/CEB needs to pull up its socks? more..

May 13 (FT) The Sri Lankan and Ugandan delegations headed by President Rajapaksa and President Yoweri Museveni held bilateral talks yesterday at the State House in the city of Entebbe. The discussions focused on a number of sectors on which the countries agreed to collaborate during President Museveni’s visit to Sri Lanka last November, but the bulk of the talks focused on agriculture, energy and trade. more..

May 13 (CT) Thambuththegama Magistrate, Chamara Kekirideniya, ordered the Chairman of the Red Cross Society in the Thambuththegama Division, be remanded till today, on charges of sexually abusing a seven-year-old girl. The 46-year-old suspect is a father of three, and was arrested by the Children and Women's Bureau of the Thambuththegama Police. The suspect resides in the Thekkawatta area, and works as an attendant in the Thambuththegama Base Hospital. more..

May 13 (DN) The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) will deploy a special team today to inspect all stores of medicine in private hospitals to discover any medicine with passed expiry dates. This follows orders issued by Cooperatives and Internal Trade Minister Johnston Fernando to CAA chairman Rumy Marzook to conduct special investigations into public complaints that a number of private sector hospitals have medicine in their stores that have passed their expiry dates. more..

May 13 (Stuff) Vavuniya is the sort of place you go on the way to somewhere else. Though it's in the centre-north of Sri Lanka - a bindi on the country's forehead - it has the hallmarks of a border town, with trucks churning dust and policemen multiplying like mosquitoes. Away to the south are Sri Lanka's famous tea plantations and sun-kissed ruins, Anuradhapura, and palm-fringed beaches such as Tangalle. Above Vavuniya, all the more..

May 13 (FT) There doesn’t appear to be any serious distress call at the Colombo Bourse this year as it continues to gather strength much to the delight of investors and other capital market stakeholders. In comparison to a 16% year-to-date negative growth as of 11 May last year, the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) is up 10.76% passing the double digit milestone on Thursday. By end May last year, the market was languishing with a 20% negative return, within the steepest fall in 2012 more..

May 13 (DM) Police in Batticaloa has relaxed helmet rules, facilitating the Muslims going for Jumma prayers. “It is compulsory to wear helmets when riding motorcycles. However, if you are riding to attend Jumma prayers on Fridays in Kattankudy between 12 noon and 2 p.m. it is not necessary to wear helmets,” Batticaloa DIG V. Indran said. He was speaking at a meeting held at Kattankudy Jami-ul-lapreen mosque. “Law is for every one, however, on humanitarian grounds, considering the more..

May 13 (DM) There is an acute struggle by trade unionists and some others to grab most of the wealth amounting to billions of rupees earned through the hard labour of the ordinary people of the country. These views were expressed by the minister Dr Sarath Amunugama in a ceremony held at the Hatara Liyadda Divisional Secretariat office to hand over appointment letters to 150 graduates. Today all are speaking of the more..

May 13 (LBO) Bunker fuels sold from Sri Lanka's ports was of higher quality with less particles that damage engines on average than even Singapore but prices have to fall to be more competitive, industry officials said. Fuel sold in Colombo were only 4% off specifications compared to 7% for Singapore, which had some of the best fuel quality in the world Det Norske Veritas, a Norway based classification society that has the world's largest database of fuel tests said. more..

May 13 (CT) Five employees and an official of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) who were in remand custody following the theft of two tyres worth Rs 200,000, used for a JCB earth moving machine were released on bail by the Maligakanda Magistrate, Wasantha Godawela, on Friday. The five employees reportedly are members of the Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya (JSS) Branch of the CMC. When the theft was taking place, Colombo Mayor, A.J.M. Muzammil, who had been tipped-off more..

May 13 (Island) The FUTA is up in arms against the sacking of a probationary lecturer of the Sri Jayewardenepura University, which they claimed was politically motivated. FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri said that the Council of the Sri Jayewardenepura University had decided on Thursday to sack probationary lecturer Anuruddha Pradeep as he had not completed his masters examinations. more..

May 13 (CI) Rangana Herath's 4 for 37 and an unbeaten 82 for Lahiru Thirimanne took Sri Lanka to a 28-run Duckworth-Lewis victory in the opening match of the tri-series in Kandy. The tournament is primarily aimed at preparing the Sri Lanka side for the Champions Trophy in June but only six of the players picked to travel to England can participate, as the remainder are playing in the IPL. Sri Lanka, captained by Dinesh Chandimal, were well ahead of the D/L par score, at 195 for 3 from 35.1 more..

May 13 (DN) A special programme is to be put in place to monitor the hygienic conditions of the food and beverage served at Vesak dansals throughout the country. Public Health Inspectors’ Association (PHIA) and the CMC Public Health Department are on high alert concerning the cleanliness and quality of the food and beverages offered at dansal. PHIA President Upul Rohana said all field PHIs numbering about 920 have been advised to inspect the dansal organised in their regions. more..

May 13 (ST) Uncertainty prevails over plans to hold night races in Kandy next month, with high-level authorities saying they have been put off, but the organisers including Kandy Mayor Lohan Ratwatte, saying they were going ahead. Highly placed authorities said that taking heed of the advice given by the Mahanayakes of the Malwatte and Asgiriya chapters, the organisers of the races had put off the event indefinitely. more..

May 13 (DN) The Health Ministry will conduct islandwide research to identify persons who are visually impaired. The ministry does not have correct statistics on persons who are visually impaired, a spokesman said. He said Minister Maithripala Sirisena instructed the VISION 2020 Secretariat to conduct a research campaign throughout the country to obtain details about those who are visually impaired. A large number suffer from cataract, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. more..

May 13 (DN) Rambukkana and Gaziantep in Turkey will be declared twin cities, Sabaragamuwa Province Council Chief Minister Mahipala Herath said. These two cities are considered rare tourist destinations at which a large number of tame Asian elephants can be seen. He said the authorities in the two countries are now considering this proposal. Herath said Gaziantep urban authorities are willing to extend their support to carry out the development projects in Rambukkana. more..

May 13 (Island) The TNA yesterday insisted that any attempt to dilute the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, in the run-up to the first Northern Provincial Council election, wouldn’t be acceptable. Such a course of action could reverse whatever progress achieved in the national reconciliation process, TNA MP M. A. Sumanthiran said. Asked whether the TNA would boycott the forthcoming Northern PC polls in case the govt repealed more..

May 13 (ST) Inconclusive talks were held yesterday between TNA constituent partners to reach a consensus on registering the TNA to contest the upcoming elections to the Northern Provincial Council, party leaders said. TNA leader R. Sampanthan, the other three alliance partners, and other Tamil party leaders met in Mannar to discuss the registration of the TNA. “We had two rounds of talks, but could not come to a conclusion. We will discuss the matter further,” TELO leader more..

May 13 (N360) Managing Director of sovereign ratings at Standard & Poor’s, John Chambers made a visit to Sri Lanka recently. During his visit Chambers met with Minister Basil Rajapaksa among several other meetings. “John Chambers says Sri Lanka has made significant progress going by international criteria on poverty alleviation. He is also impressed by the country’s development to date and the facilities provided for investors”, a statement issued by the Ministry of Economic said. more..

May 13 (ST) The lower middle-income groups that consume between 61 and 180 units of electricity will be the worst affected in Thursday’s fresh revision of electricity tariffs, said Energy Forum Executive Director Asoka Abeygunawardana. “There is no tariff increase for consumers up to 60 units,” he said. “They will get the same bill as last year.” There will, however, be a marked change in the monthly bills of more..

May 13 (DM) In his speech the minister also said the poor housemaids who were toiling in the oil-rich Middle-East earn the country as much as Rs. six billion US dollars annually while the girls from rural villages working in the garment factories earn 2.5 billion US dollars for the country annually and labourers in the plantation-most of them women-earn 1.5 billion US dollars annually for our country. He said others were fighting to share this money among themselves. more..

May 13 (DM) With May Day rallies and the usual demands for workers’ rights, my mind went back to the early 1960’s when I was in the J Branch of the Central Bank’s Exchange Control department. The Exchange Control department was then housed in an old British Army barrack at Echelon Square on the site where the Hilton Hotel presently stands. J branch handled the applications for transfer of assets of Indian nationals who were to be repatriated to India when their visas expired. more..

May 13 (SL) Last week, uproar erupted as former deputy Mayor of Colombo, Azath Salley, was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). At the time, The Sunday Leader learned that Salley was being detained partly for causing religious disharmony, following an interview he had with a magazine in the Tamil Nadu area. Salley was however released on Friday. At the time, the most interesting statements came from Minister more..

May 13 (CG) Gunasundaram Jeyasundaram a onetime LTTE supporter and arms procurer has said that he profoundly regretted supporting LTTE leader Prabakaran and denounced him and his violent behaviour, the Ministry of Defence said. Jeyasundaram was taken into custody by the TID in 2007 and investigations had revealed that he had contacts with the slain terrorist leader from his school days and had procured more..

May 13 (Island) UNP Hambantota District MP Sajith Premadasa rapped Minister Wimal Weerawansa for attempting to block the holding of Northern Provincial Council elections. Premadasa said that now Minister Weerawansa was propagating an idea that the holding of northern provincial elections would have a detrimental impact upon Sri Lanka’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence. more..

May 13 (ST) When Javeen and Jeyanthimala brought Janani and Janan from Switzerland for a visit to Sri Lanka they never expected to return home with the lifeless bodies of their precious children – victims of the scourge of road accidents in this country. Sixteen-year-old Janani and 12-year-old Janan became victims of a heartless hit- and-run road accident along the Galle Road, Wellawatte last Sunday when a car travelling at more than more..

May 13 (CT) Provincial Minister and Legal Adviser of the JHU, Udaya Gammanpila, called for a new Constitution, noting that the 1978 Constitution is distorted and full of ridiculous regulations. Observing that certain Articles and Chapters in the Constitution are completely out of context, he said "For instance, it gives such sweeping powers to the Executive President of the country that, if his wife by more..

May 13 (CT) The 2012 Central Bank report reflects a worrying drop in public expenditure on healthcare and education in recent times, whilst the govt still continues to sustain defence expenditure post-war. The 2012 report indicates a dramatic fall in health expenditure as a proportion of the GDP in the past decade. Health expenditure as a percentage of the GDP stands at 1.31% as at 2012 compared to 1.51% in 2003 having more..

May 13 (N360) Sri Lankan Health officials are taking steps to introduce new laws on the usage of Paracetamol, a media report said. It has been found that certain doctors prescribe several doses of Paracetamol to patients, which could lead into serious health conditions. Dr. Hemantha Benaragama, the Director of the Cosmetics Devices and Drugs Authority has said that new laws on the usage of Paracetamol more..