May 14 (LeN) Chairman of the electoral system reform select committee minister Dinesh Gunawardena says it has been proposed by the committee to change the five way electoral system to one. He also said that the circular in this regard has been completed and that it would be presented on the 22nd to the select committee meeting. more..

May 14 (Hindu) The JVP favours a solution to the crisis in Sri Lanka without dividing the country on ethnic lines. Any such division will be detrimental to the Tamils living in areas outside the north and the east, according to party central committee member R. Chandrasekar. The nominated Member of Parliament and trade union leader, who works in Vavuniya district, told The Hindu here that the JVP believed Sri Lanka belonged to the Sinhalese, the Tamils and the Muslims. more..

May 14 (LNP) In yet another dramatic political development, President Mahinda Rajapaksa gave the green light for a National Government last Friday, an idea mooted by some senior UNP members. A senior UNP politician representing the Kurunegala district had proposed the move to an erstwhile colleague who became a government minister in January. more..

May 14 (LNP) Kandy Chief Magistrate Hersha B. Sethunga ordered Tismadu Gedara Wasantha Upatissa to be remanded till July 15 for distributing ganja among school children. The suspect had admitted that he was distributing ganja among children of popular schools in the Katugastota area. On the instruction of O.I.C. Katugastota police S. B. Diyakelinawala Shantha Bandara of the Vice Squad arrested the suspect. more..

May 14 (LNP) A country which stands out as human rights violator will be isolated and tarnished before the world community, said Additional Solicitor General Palitha Fernando addressing a workshop organised for high rankeing Police officers held at the Office of the Colombo DIG yesterday. The ASG said the recent directions issued by the President in connection with the protection of human rights should be thoroughly followed and all senior officers will have to take direct responsibility for any case of violation of human rights in the country. more..

May 14 (LNP) Western Province Governor Alavi Mowlana and Home Affairs and Public Administration Minister Karu Jayasuriya, who were tasked with resolving the crisis gripping the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), are to make a final decision today. Mr. Mowlana yesterday told the Daily Mirror that they would be meeting this evening for a discussion and take the final decision and a report handed over to President Mahinda Rajapaksa the same day. more..

May 14 (SAMN) Commissioner General of Examinations Anura Edirisinghe reveals that over 51 per cent of students have failed the GCE (O/L) this year. Over 525, 000 candidates, including 296, 358 school candidates, sat the examination and of them only 48. 7 per cent have qualified for the G. C. E. Advanced Level. Edirisinghe said about 21, 813 candidates had failed to secure a single pass. Of them about 4128 were from Colombo district. more..

May 14 (SAMN) The Commissioner of Elections, Dayanada Dissanayake has frowned on amendments introduced recently to the Local Authorities Election Ordinance. Delivering the key note address at the Sri Lanka Administrative Service Association recently at the New Town Hall, he said the amendments would produce negative results in the long run and also open the door for corruption and malpractice. more..

May 14 (SAMN) Chief Government Whip and Senior Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle will push for an increased enrolment of Tamil students to the Law College in the future. Fernandopulle told reporters at the parliamentary complex last week that only two Tamil students a year had been enrolled to the Law College during the last few years as against the 165 Sinhala students. more..

May 14 (SAMN) Security development and matters related to public security were reviewed by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Air Chief Marshal Donald Perera and Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka Saturday morning during their one day visit to Jaffna. Commander Security Forces Jaffna (SF-J) Major General G.A. Chandrasiri, after receiving them at the Palaly Airport, explained the present security situation in Jaffna at SF-J Headquarters, Palaly, more..

May 14 (DN) Mahinda Chinthana would not deprive any part of the country of development, and progress Attanagalla Pradeshiya Sabha Member Priyantha Pushpakumara (UPFA) said. He was responding to a query by PS Opposition leader M.I. Nisthar Ahamed (UNP) whether the broadening of Thihariya-Varana road has come to a standstill. Priyantha Pushpakumara said, there are shortcomings in Attanagalla area. These shortcomings should be looked into. more..

May 14 (DN) The Government is planning to introduce an efficient programme to maximise the efficiency of the subsidised fertiliser distribution scheme for farmers under �Mahinda Chinthana� during the upcoming Yala season. Agriculture Development and Agrarian services Minister Maithripala Sirisena made an inspection tour of the stores complexes in Hunupitiya and Commercial fertiliser stores in Colombo on Saturday to make the necessary arrangements. more..

May 14 (DM) In a surprising turn of events, Wattala police recently arrested a man who had tried to trick his wife, who was employed abroad, into parting with one million rupees. The man had informed her that their son had been kidnapped, and that the kidnappers had demanded a sum of rupees one million as ransom. The man had been living with their ten-year-old son while his wife was employed in India. more..

May 14 (DM) A new recruitment procedure where qualified persons would be appointed to top posts has been introduced at the Central Transport Board (CTB) after 28 years. Minister of Transport Dallas Alahapperuma told the Daily Mirror that persons for top posts were last appointed in 1979. He said top politicians have been appointing their henchmen side lining the competent persons during the years that followed. more..

May 14 (IPS) By successfully carrying out air raids on military and economic targets in and around the capital, separatist rebels have demonstrated a new capacity to wage �all-out' war in their fight to carve out a separate state for the Tamil ethnic minority in Sri Lanka. But questions are being asked as to how the fledgling Tamileelam Air Force (TAF), the air wing of the militant LTTE, has been able to acquire planes and train pilots despite more..

May 14 (ANI) Several Hindu religious leaders have warned the Central Government that they will organise a mass movement if work on the 'Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project' (SSCP) is not stopped. They believe that the SSCP would be dug up by demolishing a mythological bridge linking India and Sri Lanka. Legend has it that the 'Ram-Sethu', a 48-kilometer chain of limestone shoals, was constructed by Lord Ram, the king of Ayodhya. more..

May 14 (PTI) Supported by an Indian industrialist family, Western Australian Cricket Association staged a major coup by roping in Tom Moody as its new coach, frustrating desperate Sri Lankan efforts to retain the Australian. Moody was much in demand after his impressive stint with the Sri Lankan side which reached the final of the World Cup. more..

May 14 (AFP) More than 100,000 Tamil refugees face unsafe conditions under a Sri Lankan government plan to return them to areas scarred by recent fighting between troops and Tiger rebels, aid agencies said. "The humanitarian community fears that the lack of proper planning might put returnees in a situation where safety and dignity are not ensured," a committee of aid agencies including UN bodies, said in a statement on Sunday. more..

May 14 (PTI) In the wake of "spillover of ongoing skirmishes between the Sri Lankan Navy and the Sea Tigers of the LTTE into Indian waters," the Indian Navy has increased surveillance in the Palk Strait, a top Naval official said on Monday. Vice-Admiral Raman Prem Suthan told reporters here that the number of Naval ships patrolling the area had been increased from two to four while an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was also keeping vigil. more..

May 14 (Reuters) Sri Lankan shares fell on Monday for a 10th consecutive session as fears the island's conflict is set to deepen worried investors and high interest rates prompted some to look at bonds instead, traders said. The Colombo All Share index closed 0.37 percent lower at 2,665.56 points, its lowest level since November, after falling around 5 percent in a fortnight. more..

May 14 (IE) When the LTTE launched an air assault on a Sri Lankan military base close to Colombo on March 26, using two crude aircraft, it was generally perceived by many as a one-off incident. Since then, however, the Tigers have demonstrated their ability to conduct three successful air-borne attacks in less than a month. For the first time in this bloody conflict spanning over two decades, the Tigers have used the aerial medium to launch its strikes. more..

May 14 (IE) Once LTTE sympathisers, now Tiger baiters. The fishing district of Tamil Nadu whose 12 men have reportedly been abducted by the tamil group, is furiousFOR the 11 fishermen from Tamil Nadu and one from Kerala, it was to be just another fishing expedition. On March 7, they took Sri Krishna, a sturdy 60-ft long steel-bodied motorboat on lease in Kollam, Kerala, and set out from Kodimunai near Kanyakumari. more..

May 14 (Reuters) Fourteen Tamil Tigers and a Sri Lankan soldier were killed in a series of firefights over the weekend and on Monday in the restive north, the military said as it began resettling 29,000 refugees in captured rebel terrain. Troops killed seven Tigers in a fierce clash in the northern district of Vavuniya on Sunday, while six others were killed in separate incidents on Saturday. Troops shot dead one rebel early on Monday. more..

May 14 (CI) Tom Moody has resigned as Sri Lanka's coach and will return home to Perth to take up a role guiding Western Australia for the next three seasons. Trevor Penney, who worked with him as an assistant coach at Sri Lanka, will also join Western Australia under Moody. The decision makes Sri Lanka the sixth Test-playing nation to lose their coach during or after the World Cup. more..

May 14 (HT) There are conflicting claims about a "patch up" between the Karuna and Pillaiyaan factions in the pro-government TMVP founded by Karuna in Eastern Sri Lanka after he broke away from the LTTE led by Velupillai Prabhakaran in 2004. The Karuna faction says that, as per an agreement reached on Sunday, Karuna will be the leader of the group and that Pillaiyaan will be the military chief. more..

May 14 (AP) Tamil rebels attacked a group of Sri Lankan soldiers who had crossed into insurgent territory in the north, sparking a battle that left seven guerrillas and a soldier dead, the military said Monday. The fighting took place Sunday and was the latest in a series of clashes that have killed dozens in Mannar, a northwestern district that has in recent weeks become a flash point in Sri Lanka's deepening conflict. more..

May 14 (FP) Around 30 to 40 percent of Sri Lanka's vegetable harvest is wasted annually, say figures from the Post Harvest Technology Institute of Anuradhapura. The amount of vegetables wasted annually amounts to 165,000 to 200,000 metric tons. Sri Lanka produces around 500,000 metric tons of vegetables annually. Vegetable consumption by Sri Lankans is as low as 100 grams per head per day, and more..

May 14 (HT) The SLFP which is the dominant partner in the Sri Lankan coalition government, and is the party of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, on Monday formally proposed that Sri Lanka be a "unitary state". The party Executive Committee on Monday modified some of the key provisions in the proposal first made public at the end of April. It then formally adopted the revised version which will be submitted to the APRC on devolution. more..

May 15 (BBC) A special presidential commission has stressed the need to establish an victim and witness protection unit before launching investigations into human rights violations. Justice Nissanka Udalagama, chairman, Presidential Commission to investigate serious human rights violations, told BBC Sandeshaya that witnesses are reluctant to come forward. more..

May 15 (UCAN) Despite the lack of progress after the recent meeting of Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, Sri Lanka's Catholic Church is still trying to promote peace in the country. Bishop Vianney Fernando of Kandy, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka, highlighted this point when he spoke with UCA News on May 9 at his office in Colombo. more..

May 15 (ANI) After the three 'air-raids' carried out by rebel Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, India is trying its best to secure sensitive installations in Tamil Nadu and Kerala from such apprehended attacks, and in this regard have pressed more mobile radars, UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) into service. The low flying lightweight aircrafts used by LTTE have posed 'serious concerns' among the Indian defence forces since there are greater chances that the high-range RADARS used by military might fail to detect the intrusion. more..

May 15 (AT) The Tamil diaspora in Europe is planning to come of with a basic constitutional proposal when they meet during the two day session of the 34th literary meet. According to the organizers, the 34th literary meet is planned to be held on 9 � 10 of June in Berlin. Writers, journalists, poets, critics, editors of magazines, broadcasters and many others are expected to participate in the literary meet. more..

May 15 (APP) Host Pakistan got off to a great start in the open men team event in the Peek Freans 14th Asia & Middle East Bridge Championship with whipping 23-7 victory over Sri Lanka at local hotel on Monday.Pakistan's Allana team carved out a splendid 59-20 International Match Points (IMPs) victory over Sri Lanka. At the other table, defending champion India held Jordan and after exchange of brilliant moves from both the team, more..

May 15 (Hindu) LANGUAGE IS a key element of the ethnic strife in Sri Lanka. The infamous 1956 Sinhala Only Act is universally acknowledged to be the main trigger for the tensions between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamils who make up the single largest minority. Every successive Government in Colombo since 1956 has accepted the enormous damage the Act has done to the country's social fabric and vowed to redress the situation. more..

May 15 (AT) Thirty fulltime journalists will join the fore of Sri Lanka�s eJournalist community this week, as they receive certificates and awards for their achievements under the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka�s (ICTA) eJournalist training programme. Speaking about the programme, Prof. V.K. Samaranayake, Chairman - ICTA says, more..

May 15 (RRJ) From the window of the airplane I can see treetops for miles and miles, with terracotta-tiled roofs flickering in patches. Then, on the one-hour bus ride from the airport, I catch glimpses of yellowthroated birds and wildflowers in the bushes. Small white herons with jet-black legs and beaks dot the paddy fields. Trees rise up out of lagoons. Everything is lush and green on the northern peninsula of Sri Lanka, with little islands trickling into the Indian Ocean. more..

May 15 (Xinhua) A panel appointed by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to investigate specified cases of human rights abuses started its sessions on Monday, officials said. The Presidential Commission of Inquiry, headed by the Hight Court Judge Nissanka Udalagama, was appointed in November last year to investigate human rights violations allegedly happening in the island since Aug. 1, 2005. more..

May 15 (FF) A former Fijian schoolboy rugby rep and athletics champion Jim Bolakoro faces deportation from Sri Lanka if his visa is not renewed by the Sri Lankan government. Bolakoro a former sprint champion who attended Natabua and Ratu Kadavulevu Schools in the early 1990's has been living and playing his rugby in Sri Lanka for the past three years. more..

May 15 (Reuters) Sri Lankan shares fell sharply on Tuesday, an 11th consecutive fall, as retail investors reduced their exposure given high interest rates and as war jitters weighed on nerves, dealers said. The Colombo All Share index fell 2.92 percent to 2,587.85 points, a fall of 77.71 points. The index has fallen around 8 percent in a fortnight. more..

May 15 (LBO) Road Development Authority (RDA) is considering building an elevated or underground road to connect the fast growing Malabe suburb with Colombo city. RDA chairman M.B.S. Fernando also said they are in talks with foreign firms to build two new expressways. The RDA has signed an agreement with a Malaysian construction firm to do a free feasibility study for a new road from the residential suburb of Malabe to near the old parliament building in Galle Face, Colombo. more..

May 15 (LBO) Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) said Tuesday it has received BOI status from the Board of Investment that would enable it to import and buy locally project-related items free of customs duty. However, the company would not be exempt from income tax like other firms with BOI tax concessions. Giving the company BOI status would make the county's fast growing telecommunications sector a level playing field as all SLT's competitors are currently enjoying benefits of BOI status. more..

May 15 (AT) Sri Lanka Embassy in Washington has lodged complains with the US Justice Department, State Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) against the Washington based Intelsat Ltd., for reneging its promise of removing the National Television of Tamil Eelam (NTT) channel and Pulikalin Kural radio from the Intelsat 12 satellite transponder and for continuing to facilitate and broadcast terrorist propaganda. more..

May 15 (LeN) The LTTE has now struck key government installations several times within the last month and has returned to base without being challenged. The first air raid at the Air Force base at Katunayake , although did not cause much damage, sent jitters through the government as well as the international community as this was the first occasion when a non state actor had carried out an aerial attack on a government target using its own craft. more..

May 15 (GDI) President Mahainda Rajapaksa has pledged that the power devolution proposals for the APRC will be containing a flexible approach and will strive to negotiate and converge on a consensus. The devolution proposals were collectively approved by the SLFP Executive Committee yesterday. The proposals are based on the devolution of power, formulated by the party to solve the ethnic conflict in the country. more..

May 15 (GDI) Government of Sri Lanka has announced the decision to become a partner nation of the Global Initiative to Combat Terrorism (Global Initiative). Sri Lanka will be presented at the next meeting of the Global Initiative to be held in Kazakhastan in June 2007. Along with the Sri Lankan Government, Israel, Afghanistan have also announced their decisions to become partner nations of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. more..

May 15 (GDI) The Department of Import and Export Control is taking extra precautions over the matter of importation of vehicles to the country. With the record of a number of illegal activities carried out by unscrupulous elements using import licenses for the assembled cut- portion vehicles, the department has taken steps to prevent such abuses of permits. The Government would not extend the validity period of the permit issued for importation of cut- portion vehicles further. more..

May 15 (RW) Yesterday, (Monday) the Sri Lankan government launched the return of tens of thousands of displaced civilians to West Batticaloa in eastern Sri Lanka � an area that until recently was under rebel LTTE-control. More than 90,000 people, who were displaced in Batticaloa district after heavy fighting between government forces and the LTTE during February, are expected to move back to their places of origin in the coming months. more..

May 15 (GDN) A WOMAN who claims she was locked up and sexually assaulted for eight months has been arrested after she showed up at a police station. The 28-year-old Sri Lankan housemaid claimed she was held prisoner by a man she turned to for help after fleeing from a prostitution den, a Public Prosecution spokesman told the GDN yesterday. She said she was locked up by the 54-year-old man, also from Sri Lanka, after he offered her a place to stay. more..

May 15 (GU) The derelict shell of Al Hussain school stands like a monument overlooking the clear blue sea, its waters lapping gently on the white sandy beach. On Boxing Day 2004, primary school children sitting at their desks for holiday tuition were washed away by the force of a very different sea, when the Asian tsunami swept Sri Lanka. Fifty-eight girls and boys from Al Hussain were killed. more..

May 15 (KT) MONTHS before he was elected to office in December 2005, President Mahinda Rajapakse visited Northern Ireland. Not many people knew about it. Neither did the visit attract media attention. The purpose was to study the Northern Ireland peace process and how it could be adopted to find a solution to the Sri Lankan situation. more..