May 28 (DN) The Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) can find details of underground water resources using the equipment installed at its Hydrology Laboratory. An AEA release said there are many problems related to drinking water, especially in the North Central Province. The release said it is necessary to find out the origin of the underground water and its behaviour, to solve this problem. Rain water also has to be analyzed for this study. Details of rain water differ from place to place. more..

May 28 (CT) The Sri Lanka Embassy in Saudi Arabia is conducting a mobile service to facilitate the speedy repatriation of the migrant workers who have lost their jobs, and are now considered illegal immigrants. The mobile service which commenced yesterday will operate from town to town where Sri Lankan workers have assembled with other illegal migrant workers including those from India, Indonesia and the Philippines, in a bid to get back to their respective countries. more..

May 28 (DM) Colombo Magistrate court today refused permission for MP Duminda Silva to two weeks-visit to Singapore for medical observations. Silva had filed an application before Additional Magistrate Priyantha Liyanage and asked that his passport be released to visit Mount Elizabeth hospital, Singapore where he was said to have underwent surgeries. The court refused bail on two grounds that he had not forwarded medical more..

May 28 (Wrexham) A mum-of-two is gearing up for an epic bike ride in Sri Lanka, as she looks to raise money for a charity that occupies a special place in her heart. Zoe Day, marketing manager at Wrexham-based recruitment firm gap personnel, is aiming to raise £3,500 for the Genesis Research Trust by cycling 260 miles across the picturesque South Asian island country in just six days in September. All of the money needs to be raised by July at the latest. more..

May 28 (LBO) Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has re-started its 50,000 barrels per day refinery after a crude carrier started discharging cargo through a repaired pipeline, the island's petroleum ministry said. The off-shore single point buoy mooring system and pipeline through which crude is unloaded and brought to the refinery was damaged. The petroleum ministry said bad weather made repairs difficult but they were completed today and the refinery has also begun operations. more..

May 28 (CG) China has pledged to provide further funding to develop Sri Lanka’s transport sector that includes a number of expressways, road networks and railway lines, including a new Colombo-Jaffna expressway. The agreement was one of several others reached during bilateral meetings between Sri Lanka and China that took place in Beijing this afternoon. As a part of the proposed Colombo-Jaffna highway, more..

May 28 (CG) Sri Lanka is among the countries with exceptionally poor pay in the world, according to the annual International Geographic Salary Differentials report from Mercer. Five countries from 75 countries covered in a study have exceptionally poor pay rankings and sit at the bottom of the table. They are mostly poorer countries with unstable political regimes; Algeria, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, expatforum.com reported. The research comes at a time when more workers are more..

May 28 (SD) The single limestone aquifer, which is the main source of freshwater in Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna peninsula, is gradually depleting through overuse, researchers say. "The area suffers from severe groundwater imbalance which might reach crisis proportions in the future," Shanti de Silva, one of two scientists who carried out the research for the agricultural department of the University of Jaffna, said. At a presentation of the research results last month (18 April), more..

May 28 (CI) Angelo Mathews brushed off suggestions that Sri Lanka have arrived in England without adequate preparation, but identified his side's batting as the area requiring most attention, as they build up to the Champions Trophy with three warm-up matches at Edgbaston. "There has been a little bit of doubt; people kept saying that the boys are in India and they haven't had good preparation," Mathews said. "But I want to write it off more..

May 29 (GV) On May 16 a seminar was held at the Marga Institute to launch a publication by the Independent Diaspora Analysis Group – Sri Lanka (IDAG-S) – The Numbers Game: Politics of Restorative Justice. I was at the seminar and will here attempt to provide an impression of the ideas generated in the discussion. This is in no way intended to be a formal record or set of minutes. The members of the panel leading the discussion of the publication were Dr Godfrey Gunatilleke, more..

May 29 (CT) There is a 50-50 chance that the govt will dish out some cock-and-bull excuse and rescind the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) elections. Nothing can be put beyond its craft and cunning, its sordidness and duplicity. But this leaves us with a 50% chance that elections may be held and if so the TNA/ITAK will win; so says everybody I have spoken to, even govt henchmen. It is indisputable that this is why the govt desires to scuttle the elections if it could get away with it. more..

May 29 (NS) The usually busy roads in Negombo were unusually deserted during the morning hours of Friday last week. But as daylight slowly started disappearing, vehicles were seen queuing up, one behind the other, packed with people who were traveling to various places to ‘see’ Vesak, through and across Little Rome. Given the demographical composition of the city, a staggering 75% are Catholics or Christians, whilst more..

May 29 (DBS) The creeping militarization of Sri Lanka which followed the end of armed conflict in 2009 has now, four years later, become normalised and entrenched. During the years of the war the impact of militarization was felt mainly in the North and East. However, following the end of the war, systematic militarization has been taking place throughout the country. Its impact on the lives of those in conflict-affected areas is visible and severe. Driving through Kilinochchi, more..

May 29 (Island) The democratic world has opted for less govt which is said to be the best govt. But, this country has been moving in the opposite direction with the political authority trying to keep everything under its thumb and acting like Big Brother. Politicians have, since the introduction of the so-called Republican Constitution in 1972, expanded their powers by systematically debilitating the public service and reducing it to a mere appendage of the govt in power. more..

May 29 (SO) Today the D7 irrigation canal or better known as Adakilamodai canal, carries an uninterrupted flow of water to feeder tanks from the Giant's Tank in the Mannar rice bowl. Earlier the poorly done renovations were not helping this 3.5 kilometre long canal to carry water to its full capacity. The main reason was that the canal was abandoned for more than twenty years due to terrorist threats just like all the other irrigation more..

May 29 (Island) It is not difficult to "explain" how the "grahayas" [planets] affect the destiny of people (bipedal hominids) in terms of an Astrological field exerted by the former. It has to be emphasized that the grahayas are not graha vasthu or planets though in certain cases we may identify the grahayas with the planets. In the case of Hiru and Sandu the objects associated them are not planets and Rahu ad "Kethu" cannot be identified with any physical objects as such, as we have mentioned more..

May 29 (GV) My good friend, the Ven. Bellanwila Wimalarathana wrote a letter to Christians on his understanding of Christ at Christmas last year. This has prompted me to reciprocate with this letter to you at Wesak. I write in my personal capacity as a disciple of Christ, a student of Buddhism and one who perceives the universal wisdom and values in world religions as gifts for all and not just the adherents of a respective religion. This is not an attempt to teach you what you know better more..

May 29 (DBS) On the anniversary of the 26-year civil war, the Sri Lankan state celebrates its 2009 victory while Tamils mark the bloody nadir of the campaign to systematically dismantle the Tamil nation – one which continues today. In May 2009 as the armed conflict between the LTTE and the govt of Sri Lanka came to a harrowing end, Sri Lanka’s genocidal offensive against the Tamil population of the North-East reached a peak. Four years on, as the Tamil nation – scattered worldwide more..

May 29 (CT) First, the govt puts itself in a political quandary over elections to the Northern Provincial Council (NPC). To have them, or not to have them, becomes the teasing question. The President goes on record repeatedly promising to have the election in September. The govt goes out of its way to make sure that Sri Lanka would host the Commonwealth Summit in November. All of this makes sense. A free and fair election could showcase the govt’s claim at the Commonwealth summit that more..

May 29 (CT) Head of the National Movement for Social Justice (NMSJ), Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera, called for the abolition of the Executive Presidency during the rule of the present govt. Participating in a discussion organized by Transparency International Sri Lanka, he pointed out that the main constituent party of the present govt, the SLFP, wanted the Executive Presidency abolished at the time it was introduced. more..

May 29 (Island) "This development is not ours, they just come in and do as they please, and we stand by and watch". "What are they complaining about so much? We won the war for them. They should be content with that". The first was something said to me by a prominent Tamil businessman in Trincomalee when, around the same time last year, I gave a round of calls to my friends in the biz community in the North and East districts to get their pulse on developments since May 2009. more..

May 29 (Island) Softlogic Finance PLC announced the conclusion of its latest securitization transaction that will enable the company to access funding of Rs. 500 million to grow and develop the business of the company for the current quarter. The transaction, signed recently has drawn considerable interest and full subscription from a number of diverse investors that include commercial banks, development banks and other institutional investors, the company said in a statement. more..

May 29 (GV) The Vesak Poya day has come and gone several times since May 2009 when the prolonged war with the LTTE ended. And we Sri Lankans are yet trapped in post-war rhetoric and caught up in punches and counter-punches arising from different visions of what post-war Sri Lanka ought to be. Some think that we should continue to celebrate, as the current govt does, and even forever celebrate the military victory over more..

May 29 (FT) The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has released its annual publication titled ‘Economic and Social Statistics of Sri Lanka – 2013 – Volume XXXV’. It contains a wide range of economic and social indicators of Sri Lanka covering areas such as population and labour force, national accounts, agriculture, industry, prices and wages, external trade and finance, money and capital markets, banking and financial institutions. It also covers govt finance, transportation, socioeconomic more..

May 29 (NS) The long-drawn-out issue of a policy to control the distribution mechanism of drugs to patients is expected to be finally enacted in two months after the approval of the final draft which is before the Attorney General, highly placed sources at the Ministry of Health said. The draft is presently being processed and should be submitted for Cabinet approval within the next two months, the Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Nihal Jayatilleke said. “The minute details of the draft proposal more..

May 29 (ST) The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) with the help of the UDA should undertake Local Area Traffic Management Schemes (LATMS) to improve traffic conditions and road safety in local streets. These schemes consider what traffic treatments should be introduced to help improve local traffic conditions. They can look at issues such as traffic speed and volume, pedestrian safety and comfort, and how to calm traffic more..

May 29 (NS) Anti-tobacco activists claimed last week that tobacco companies have started to use supermarkets to advertise and market their products. Chairman, Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) Olcott Gunasekera said that with pending cases regarding graphic pictorial on cigarette cartons to be heard before the Supreme Court soon, companies have opted less direct methods for advertising, especially by displaying them above the cashiers in supermarkets. more..

May 29 (LBO) There is an argument being made in the rich parts of Colombo. It is not being articulated in words, but in deeds. The Navy is running pleasure boat services and restaurants. The army is fixing up walking paths. Govt appointees are running the upscale clubhouse at Water’s Edge. Through these deeds, the Secretary of the Ministry of Defense and Urban Development is making his argument that there is nothing wrong with govt ownership and management. It’s a serious argument more..

May 29 (IPS) The monsoon in Sri Lanka is always a much-awaited event. There is something about the sight of the gathered clouds, the washed trees and the drenched landscape that stirs romance even in the most hardened of souls. The monsoon rain now comes to Sri Lanka mostly in short bursts, lasting some 15 minutes, accompanied by thunder. One minute it could be calm and sunny, the very next, winds could pick up, more..

May 29 (FT) While ordering the release of a person from a case where he had been charged for constructing a temporary shelter on a land belonging to the UDA, the Colombo Fort Magistrate maintained that the Police had acted contrary to the law. In this case, the Slave Island Police had filed a case against Mohammed Faiser of Colombo 2, alleging that he had constructed a temporary shelter near Soysa Street Colombo 2, without the approval of the UDA. Police alleged that the accused more..

May 29 (DN) Thousands of people including religious leaders, senior govt and private sector officials, senior Security Forces personnel and Police attended the final day of the “ Yapa Patunai Daham Amavai – 2013” - Vesak festival in Jaffna on Sunday. Chief Guest, Jaffna Mayor Yogeswari Pathgunarasa inaugurated the festival illuminating the Vesak Zone from the entrance close to the Durayappah Stadium. Having viewed the Vesak decorations, invited guests more..

May 29 (CD) China will expand its presence in Sri Lanka after signing a contract in Beijing on Tuesday to deliver Sri Lanka's first communications satellite. China Great Wall Industry Corp - the nation's only authorized provider of commercial satellite launch services to the global market - and SupremeSAT Ltd, a Sri Lankan satellite operator, will provide the satellite in the near future. President Xi Jinping and visiting more..

May 29 (FT) John Keells Holdings (JKH) has proved its prowess in a challenging year and reinforced the premier blue chip status by posting the highest-ever profit by a listed corporate, surprising expectations of even the most optimistic analysts. The conglomerate, which is also the most valuable in the country by market capitalisation, disclosed a Group Profit Before Tax of Rs. 15.78 billion for the financial year ended on 31 March 2013, reflecting a 23% growth over the previous year. more..

May 29 (Island) Officers of the Matara prison said that the celebrations held at the Vesak Zone in Matara had helped some LTTE convict to escape from custody with four other prisoners. They had slipped out of the area as soon as the Vesak zone was declared open on Saturday night, they said. The Vesak Zone was organised on the request of a powerful politician, a prison official said. "The ex-LTTE cadre, Subramaniam Tenyson, had won the hearts of many officers in the prison more..

May 29 (CT) The Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) has asked TNA MP, Appathurai Vinayagamoorthy, to appear for an interrogation on 25 May, sources said. However, the MP, citing a health condition, had refused to appear before the TID on the said date. He has now been asked to appear on a given date in June. Meanwhile, Secretary of the ITAK of the Kilinochchi District, S.Pasupathipillai, was invited by the TID more..

May 29 (CT) The Excise Department had taken a Pakistani national who had said he is a media representative, into custody, for possessing heroin worth Rs 5 million. The arrest had taken place in Orugodawatte. The suspect had one kilogramme of heroin in his possession at the time of the arrest. The suspect, Mohamed Ajmal, is a resident of Lahore. It was revealed that a media agency in Pakistan had issued him a media identity card, to report on Sri Lankan issues. more..

May 29 (Island) The govt was not serious about devolving real power to the North, since it had already usurped the rights of the other eight Provincial Councils by siphoning off nearly forty percent of their revenue, the UNP said. Western Provincial Councilor Niroshan Paddukka said that even though the Cabinet Spokesman had announced that the Northern Provincial Council Election would be held in September, it was unlikely to take place since ruling party constituents more..

May 29 (MoD) In just four short years, Sri Lanka has begun to reap the fruits of peace. Revealed the Matthews Asia in a recently published news article. Mentioning the economic growth article said that, by diverting resources that were previously spent on its military toward things like infrastructure, tourism and education, its economy has experienced solid growth. Article also mentioned that, besides transportation infrastructure, more..

May 29 (CT) The JHU will hand over the draft Bill to amend the 13th Amendment, to the Constitution, to the Secretary General of Parliament today. The JHU drafted a Bill to amend the 13th Amendment, claiming it to be a threat to the territorial integrity of the country and the sovereignty of the people. The draft Bill will be handed over by Chairman of the Party, Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera, General Secretary, Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka and Assistant Secretary, Udaya Gammanpila. more..