May 11 (AD) Sri Lanka Police today released a sketch of a suspect in the recent abduction of two police officers and the murder of one of them in Kurunegala and the photograph of a suspect allegedly involved in the armed robbery of a fuel station in Weweldeniya on the same day. Two police constables, on traffic duties, were abducted by a group in a van allegedly returning from a robbery at Badagamuwa, Kurunegala on May 5. more..

May 11 (ST) Sri Lankans travelling to poliovirus (polio) affected states have been requested to take immunisation drops before departure, Dr. T.S.R. Peiris, Assistant Epidemiologist of the Epidemiology Unit said. He said travellers entering Sri Lanka from affected states too have been asked to do the same. The request came after the WHO this week declared that all countries should take necessary precautions to avoid an international spread of poliovirus. SL however remains Polio free since 1993. more..

May 11 (GDI) We, the Ministers responsible for youth, young people, representatives of Govts, UN Agencies, youth-led organisations, NGOs and other development partners have gathered in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 6th - 10th May 2014, at the World Conference on Youth to explore ways and means of mainstreaming of youth in the Post-2015 Development Agenda within the agreed framework of the World Programme of Action for Youth (WPAY); In this regard we the Ministers more..

May 11 (AJ) Four Palestinian refugees have been detained in Sri Lanka for more than two weeks and risk being expelled back to Syria, according to a human rights group. Palestinian League for Human Rights - Syria says the four men were stopped at BIA on April 26 on suspicion of presenting false passports, and transported to a detention centre in Colombo. "They were directly taken to military prison, where they described more..

May 11 (SM) The JHU has emphasised that the decision to bring in South Africa as a mediator for talks with the TNA is another foolish act of the govt. Deputy president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, is to arrive in Sri Lanka in June to play the role of a third party in the particular talks. JHU National Organizer Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe, who stated that Mr. Ramaphosa is known for his bias towards the LTTE and involving such an individual in the talks will be asking for trouble, more..

May 11 (Island) School and university education are closely related. Teachers in our society were at one time looked up to by students as well as society.  Even after we had left school we would respect our teachers. They did not consider their occupation as a mere job but an important responsibility to mould their students’ character.  The key to improving education is to rebuild the professional identity of the teachers and university lecturers. Politicians after 1956 took over the appointments of teachers more..

May 11 (AD) Sri Lanka’s military spokesman today said that religious services to commemorate loved ones who were killed in the conflict between govt troops and the LTTE terrorist organization will be allowed, however the conducting of any “public event” is prohibited. Sri Lanka has banned public commemorations of Tamil Tiger rebels ahead of the fifth anniversary of LTTE supremo V Prabhakaran’s killing which more..

May 11 (AD) Department of Prisons says that it has recovered around 6,600 mobile phones from search operations carried out in Sri Lanka’s prisons between Jan 2013 and March this year. Mobile phones have been smuggled into the prisons by the inmates utilizing clever methods, the department said, adding, that the devices were detected by prison security officers following extensive search operations. The discovered mobile phones have been provided to the central environmental more..

May 11 (GDI) Sri Lanka Export Development Board in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Embassy in Belgium organized the Sri Lanka’s participation at 22nd Annual European Seafood Exposition held in Belgium from May 6-8. Over 1,690 exhibiting companies attracted more than 25,800 buyers and suppliers for the event. This year’s exposition marks the 22nd edition of Seafood Expo Global, and the 16th edition of Seafood Processing Global. Exposition is considered a unique more..

May 11 (ST) World Bank has cancelled a Rs. 2 billion tourism development project at the Govt’s request, leaving bewildered smalltime hoteliers — many of whom went through an application and a selection process. Funds from the much-publicised “World Bank Matching Grant for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in Tourism” have now been diverted to a dam safety project in the North and East. more..

May 12 (SL) In a bid to confront the elusive head of Jana Bala Sena, Vijitha Thero, the group of monks and the associates of the rival Bodu Bala Sena organization have treaded on dangerous grounds by forcibly entering the premises of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The media pictures portray the body language of these monks as rough and tough with one of them raising his hand arguing with a police officer. These officers look like meek lambs and behave like kittens against more..

May 12 (CT) Ten Sri Lankan Tamils, including two women and five children, from Sri Lanka who landed Aricha Munai off the Dhanushkodi coast (Tamil Nadu) on May 5 2014, have been arrested by police for entering the country without passports. After preliminary questioning, they are now lodged in Puzhal jail near Chennai. The media has questioned the decision to arrest them as they had fled from Mullaitivu fearing for their personal safety and sought refuge in India. more..

May 12 (SO) The 15th World Conference on Youth concluded last week. Several youth related problems were discussed during the conference under various sub themes. Discussions on the second day were based on the theme 'Achieving Good Governance and Accountability'. Discussions were held with a presentation of the Draft Discussion Summary by Ms. Hannah Smith, a facilitator of the round-table discussion more..

May 12 (CT) The military court of inquiry into the Weliweriya shooting presented its report to the Army Commander on Aug 21st 2013. “The Court has prepared a comprehensive report….” the army announced. A week later the Army Commander suspended a Brigadier and there Lieutenant Colonels implicated in the Weliweriya killings. The military proclaimed that those who broke the military law will be court-martialled. The report was never made public. Still there was a sense in more..

May 12 (SL) With the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, slotted three months of each other this year, the ABA’s eleven-nation boxing international last week has to be seen in the context of those two major events, in July and October respectively. That, in fact, is what ABA had in mind when it chose its ten-member Commonwealth Games team a fortnight before last week’s multi-nation competition. The decision to name the team nearly three more..

May 12 (CT) Q: Are you trying to conceal the persons behind the casino deal with James Packer through allegations that the UNP attempted to bring casinos through its Regaining Sri Lanka programme? A: The UNP was in power in 2002-2004 with a neo-liberal agenda, which was strong in world politics then. However, there was dissent against it within the UNP too. No neo-liberal showed leniency towards terrorism. more..

May 12 (NS) The appointment of Justice Priyantha Jayawardena as a Justice of the Supreme Court has caused controversy with opposition parties and many others protesting and accusing the govt of making a ‘political’ appointment. Their claim is that senior judges of the Court of Appeal were overlooked and the appointment was bestowed on an individual from the Private Bar. Among those who are complaining are the Bar Association of Sri Lanka and former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva. more..

May 12 (CT) When the People's Partnership Party (PPP) of Trinidad and Tobago lost four elections in a row last year, the leader of the rival People's National Movement (PNM), Dr. Keith Rowley described that defeat as a "Guinness Book World Record". Dr. Rowley in the far West Indian island less knew that there was a political leader in another island called Sri Lanka in South Asia called Ranil Wickremesinghe who held the record of 27 election defeats upto last year. more..

May 12 (CT) Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran, says Tamils don't want to give the govt an ultimatum to share power as it is puerile to talk of ultimatums, and adds, "We are not gun toting cowboys to go for ultimatums." Q: Is there a major mistrust between the govt and TNA? A: Establishing and preserving trust is no easy task. It takes commitment and the balancing of several forces. more..

May 12 (NS) Late last month, the Cowboy and Indian Alliance, a group of ranchers, farmers and tribal communities from along the controversial Keystone XL pipeline route, held a “Reject and Protect” encampment for a week near the White House. The rally came a week after the Obama administration announced it had again delayed a decision on approval or rejection of the pipeline that would carry tar sands oil from Alberta to the Gulf Coast (AFP) more..

May 12 (CT) Last Friday, Hirunika Premachandra and UNP MP Harin Fernando were seen huddled in a Colombo night club chatting away until 1 o' clock in the morning. The news hit the headlines and a web journalist asked Harin whether the news was correct. Harin promptly said no. But, while Harin was vehemently rejecting the news, Hirunika said yes. Again the media questioned Harin and then he admitted it was true. Minister Wimal's party held a special congress at Sugathadasa Stadium, more..

May 12 (Hindu) Inside the towering and majestic Leela Palace hotel emerges the forgotten tale of a lost people; the ‘chay’ root diggers and dyers of Jaffna. A gathering of around 50 people were present to listen to an engaging talk aptly titled ‘A Colour of Tragedy and Opportunity’ by Mark Balmforth, a doctoral candidate from the University of Columbia. As a part of his thesis on the social changes of Tamils in Jaffna, Balmforth more..

May 12 (ST) Sri Lanka is the latest country to benefit from a once-daily, oral medication treating advanced renal cell carcinoma, the most common type of kidney cancer that presents nine out of 10 times. Votrient, featuring active ingredient pazopanob, was first appoved by the US-based Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Oct 2009, and is available in more than 80 countries to date. Now, with it being already registered with the Cosmetics, Devices and Drugs Regulatory Authority of Sri Lanka, more..

May 12 (ST) When a high profile public servant was recently appointed as a director of a listed company, it hardly raised any questions in the area of conflict of interests. Dr. Sunil Navaratne, Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, was appointed to a subsidiary of the Hayleys Group in which Dhammika Perera, another Secretary to a Ministry is the single largest shareholder. Perera was a powerful businessman, serving as chairman of many companies he took over, more..

May 12 (FT) Sri Lanka’s aspirations to become a shipping and aviation hub got a major boost on Friday with Japan’s second largest logistics firm SG Group acquiring a 30% stake in local industry leader Expolanka Holdings for Rs. 6.3 billion. Sagawa Global Logistics (SG Group) via its Singapore subsidiary SG Holdings has committed to buy a further 21% bringing the control to 51%. When it is implemented it will make a further more..

May 12 (FT) Unilever Sri Lanka is noted to be growing well compared to its South Asian peers, but huge potential for further growth exist with product categories yet to reach maturity, according to a top official of the global giant. Unilever South Asia Executive Vice President and Hindustan Unilever CEO Sanjiv Mehta, who was in Sri Lanka last week on a three day visit said: “The Sri Lankan market for Unilever has been growing well and ahead the other South Asian markets that more..

May 12 (FT) Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha has said a ’10-point Action Plan’ between the Government of Sri Lanka and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) that would benefit a cross section of sectors dealing with intellectual property in the country has become operational. Ambassador Aryasinha made this observation when he addressed the 53rd Session of WIPO Assemblies, held at in Geneva from more..

May 12 (Island) Minister Dinesh Gunawardena yesterday lamented that repeated attempts to ensure the presence of ministers in Parliament to answer oral questions raised by Opposition lawmakers hadn’t been successful, though some responded positively immediately after a reminder. But, the ruling coalition had to issue constant reminders to its members as they invariably skipped parliamentary sessions again and again, more..

May 12 (FT) Leading Boutique Investment house and diversified investment holding company Frontier Capital Partners Ltd that co-founded construction company Hybrid Homes specialised in container conversions and eco-friendly housing solutions in Sri Lanka has facilitated the expansion of Hybrid Homes footprint to Malaysia by setting up its Malaysian subsidiary Hybrid Homes (Malaysia). Hybrid Homes since its inception in 2012 has been one of the fastest growing brands in the Sri Lanka more..

May 12 (LBO) Malaysia's Hyrax Oil will set up a lubricant blending plant in Sri Lanka partnering with state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, which owns the largest fuel distribution network in the country. The joint venture plant with an investment of 9 million US dollars will cater to the local and international markets. Sri Lanka had a state monopoly in lubricants for several decades until the plant was privatized in the mid 1990s with the monopoly intact. more..

May 12 (CT) Office trains are likely to get delayed today owing the work-to-rule action launched by locomotive drivers, retaliating against being held responsible for train accident by the General Manager of Sri Lanka Railways (SLR). The decision taken by the Locomotive Operations Engineers' Union, will see locomotive drivers strictly adhering to the rules and regulations, which is likely to result in a number of trains being delayed. more..

May 12 (HP) The lagoons are vast, the beaches deserted, the colonial ruins overgrown but full of history. Then there's the food... Don't get me started on the food. Kottu rotis, hoppers, kiribath (milk rice), spicy lamb curries, crabs and prawns coated in thick coconut sauce - it's foodie heaven. Since the civil war ended in 2009, Sri Lanka has become a top Asian holiday spot. Most flock to the south and western beaches as they are easier to access from the capital's Bandaranaike International more..

May 12 (LBO) Ceylon Tobacco Company, a unit of British American Tobacco said profits surged 38.4% in the March 2014 quarter despite a 3.6% volume drop, helped by cost cutting. The firm reported earnings of 10.82 rupees per share for the quarter. The stock closed at 1,090 rupees Friday, down 10 rupees. Gross revenues with state taxes rose 7.3% in the March quarter from a year earlier to 21,200 million rupees, with net revenues after excise and valued added taxes rising at a faster 12% more..

May 12 (ST) Former Deputy Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Gnanasiri de Soyza Jayathilake who was sentenced on Thursday to 102 years in prison (to be served concurrently in 3 years) after he pleaded guilty in the Rs. 4 billion VAT fraud case had valuable assets in Colombo and the outstations, the Court was told. He owned properties in Colombo 7, Nawala, Kollupitiya and Kurunegala. more..

May 12 (CT) Many reports have appeared in the newspapers in recent times highlighting the huge amounts of wallapatta being seized from various parts of the country, and persons engaged in the smuggling of this valuable product being taken into custody. A majority of those arrested in this connection have been Sri Lankans, while foreign nationals such as Indians, Bangladeshis and Indonesians too had been involved in the racket. In some instances the product was seized by more..

May 12 (IANS) Thirty-six Sri Lankan fishermen arrested off the Andhra Pradesh coast two days ago for intruding into Indian waters in the Bay of Bengal were Sunday shifted to the central jail in Kakinada. The fishermen, arrested by the Indian Coast Guard near Machilipatnam in Krishna district, were presented in a court, and were subsequently lodged in Kakinada jail in East Godavari district. According to marine police, the fishermen were arrested in Gilakaladindi village when they intruded into more..

May 12 (Hindu) While the use of high-powered trawlers by TN fishermen is a key issue in the second round of talks between the representatives of fishermen from India and Sri Lanka scheduled in Colombo for Monday, the outlook is positive as fishermen have realised the importance of sustainable fishing methods. “I am certain that we will achieve an amicable settlement this time, as the talks in Colombo are just more..

May 12 (Island) Sri Lanka's Aquaculture Industry, over the last few years has seen the entry of more than 10 Norwegian firms, thanks to the effort of the SL-Norway Business-Match-Making-Program (BMMP) of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. The work undertaken by the BMMP between the two nations have resulted in the introduction of more than 10 companies and research institutions from Norway to Sri Lanka's aquaculture industry. The process has successfully created business more..

May 12 (DN) Lanka Hydraulic Institute Ltd (LHI) has successfully finalized the design of a commercial fisheries harbour at Messida, in Algeria. This project comes immediately after completion of a similar design of a commercial port facility with berths for dry and liquid cargo up to a capacity of 40,000 DWT in Mboro, Senegal - Africa. This is in addition to the LHI’s strong records in EIA and design projects in Massawa (Erithria) and El Kala (Algeria) in 2007. LHI owns a large 25m x 35 m free spanning more..

May 12 (Island) Chairman of the COPE Minister D.E.W. Gunasekara said that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) would be summoned beore the watchdog committee, after Vesak, to inquire into some hot issues. He was responding to a query by The Island following Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage’s allegation that the State Engineering Corporation (SEC) and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) had overbilled SLC to the tune of more than more..