Nov 17 (DN) President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday said the history has proved that the treacherous forces who betrayed the country cannot create heroes and only the patriotic forces who truly love their Motherland can produce heroes. The President was speaking at the presentation of Punya Bhoomi title deeds to temples which have been built on the State lands, at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday. more..

Nov 17 (LT) At least 70 students of Ambagahadeniya Maha Vidyalaya were admitted to hospital yesterday after complaining of dizziness. Nine students who were critical were admitted to the Matara Hospital. SSP I.M. Karunaratne said the incident took place after the start of school sessions. �The actual reason for the illness was not known. It is reported that the students had brought food and water from home,� he said. more..

Nov 17 (LNP) President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday played Gen. Fonseka`s game, as it were he chose to keep the electorate and his opponents in suspense. Contrary to expectations in Opposition circles that he would announce a snap presidential election, he only asked his party members at the SLFP`s 19th Convention which election they wanted first Presidential or Parliamentary. They all said with one voice that they preferred a presidential election. more..

Nov 17 (Island) While the government claims that it has liberated the people and developed the economy, the vast majority now survive on one meal a day, the UNP said yesterday. Gayantha Karunathillake MP, told a news conference in Colombo, that due to the disastrous policies implemented under the �Mahinda Chintana� the masses do not have the means to consume three square meals a day. more..

Nov 17 (AT) It is strongly rumored that Ambassador M.J.Palipane who was recently recalled from the Sri Lanka Mission in Japan, will be getting back his Additional Secretary position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when the incumbent Prasad Kariyawasam leaves for New Delhi as Sri Lanka�s new High Commissioner. The position became vacant when the earlier High Commissioner C.R. Jayasinghe took up position as the new Secretary of Foreign Ministry from 1st of October. more..

Nov 17 (DN) It is necessary to identify plus and minus points and address the weaknesses to make Lanka Hospitals the best in the world. It is not only the name change, but also it is important to improve on the service provided in accordance with the theme �Caring Curing� that the hospital is following, Lanka Hospitals Chairman Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said. Lanka Hospitals, formerly known as Apollo Hospitals, Colombo was re-opened yesterday with a view to more..

Nov 17 (WP) With candles glowing next to his computer, Chandrasiri Bandara, the nation's most popular astrologer, looked at his birth chart and predicted that he will soon be assassinated. Bandara, 48, fears for his life because of a string of death threats that followed his bold forecast that Sri Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, will be booted from office or killed. more..

Nov 17 (DM) Transport Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said in his opinion, former CDS, General Sarath Fonseka would never support a terrorist movement which was steered by Velupillai Prabhakaran, either directly or indirectly. Addressing the �Gami Sariya� programme at the Kuliyapitiya SLTB depot recently, where 60 buses were distributed by him, Minister Alahapperuma when asked if more..

Nov 17 (DN) Trade, Marketing Development, Co-operatives and Consumer Services Minister Bandula Gunawardene said yesterday the public will be given the advantages of the slashed prices of essential items stipulated by the Government, at the end of this week. �We have received complaints from the public that these essential commodities are not sold at their new prices in several areas of the country, Minister Gunawardene told the media yesterday. more..

Nov 17 (DN) The Government is ready to face any challenge in the event of a future general strike, so that the public would not be made to suffer inconvenience or the impact of a breakdown in any essential service whatever it may be, Minister A.H.M. Fowzie told the Daily News yesterday. �The majority of employees are with us, and we are certain that they would not sabotage or disrupt any of the essential services,� more..

Nov 17 (Island) The JVP asked President Mahinda Rajapaksa to reveal whether there would be a snap election and, if so, what it would be, presidential or parliamentary. However, the JVP would go ahead with its plans to field a common presidential candidate, Group Leader Anura Kumara Dissnayake told the media. hesaid that the SLFP convention had been postponed from September 15 to November 15, apparently to announce the date of a premature election. more..

Nov 17 (Island) Those so called politicians who drag the students to the road to fulfill their political ambition should be defeated. This was stated by Sabaragamuwa Governor Janaka Priyantha Bandara, on the occasion of re-naming Embilipitiya National School as Embilipitiya Janadipathi Vidyalaya. This school was started in 1977 and 4700 students attend this school. There are 180 teachers on the roll. more..

Nov 17 (Xinhua) The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes arrived here Tuesday on a four-day visit, diplomatic officials said. Holmes who is on his 4th visit to the island this year is expected to visit the internally displaced camps in the north to see for himself the resettlement of the-conflict displaced civilians. more..

Nov 17 (CI) Tillakaratne Dilshan became the first Sri Lankan to score a century in India since 1997 (and fifth overall), to go with Sri Lanka's good bowling start to the second day, but India clawed their way back in the final session through a rousing spell by Zaheer Khan followed by some testing spin bowling. Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera signalled the return to Test-match mode: more..

Nov 17 (DM) Sri Lanka has already achieved the 2010 target of ridding the country of CFC emissions while many other countries are lagging far behind, Minister Champika Ranawaka said. At the launch of the third stage of the National Ozone Unit�s programme to create an ozone friendly country yesterday he said the Sri Lankan government with the help of the multilateral fund of the Vienna Convention would now fund a 20 million rupee project that more..

Nov 17 (DM) General Sarath Fonseka was a name hotly marketed by government high ups not many moons ago. But all of a sudden the name Sarath Fonseka became an enigma to the powers that be. So much so that a total clamp down was imposed on mentioning the names of army top brass in the media (not applicable to the government owned print and electronic media)�a clear and blatant attempt to blackout the war hero. more..

Nov 17 (AT) Terming their visit to IDP welfare centres at Menik Farm and other places on Nov 16 as a very good opportunity to have a firsthand assessment. N.Srikantha, Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian who led a six member TNA parliamentary delegation, said overall there is solid ground for satisfaction at the progress in resettling the IDPs. more..

Nov 17 (DM) The dark under eye bags spoke of stress and perhaps a number of sleepless nights. Even the grand welcome, which saw the entry of a gleeful president, could not fully camouflage the stiffened features. While the grandeur of the pageantry overwhelmed the audience the president remained quite thoughtful. It was not until half way through his speech that President Mahinda Rajapaksa regained his carefree, casual confidence. more..

Nov 17 (Reuters) Billionaire hedge fund titan Raj Rajaratnam's shadow in Sri Lanka is so big that his arrest in the United States initially knocked 5 percent off the local stock market. But ask about Rajaratnam on the island of birth and few will say anything about the man considered to be Sri Lanka's richest, now accused in the largest hedge-fund related insider trading case in U.S. history. The silence speaks volumes about Sri Lanka's scarred modern history, and more..

Nov 17 (AFP) Sri Lanka released a banknote to mark the end of the country's 37-year separatist war, following the crushing of Tamil Tiger rebels in May, the central bank said. The first commemorative banknote in the 1,000-rupee denomination was given to President Mahinda Rajapakse on Tuesday, the bank said in a statement. "The valiant contribution made by the nation's victorious sons and daughters, of the security forces and the police, is the theme on the reverse of the note," more..

Nov 17 (FL) Sri Lanka in 2009 saw momentous events that riveted the world�s attention on the island nation. A few key events of the first 11 months were the end of a war and the beginning of what looks like the mother of all political battles fought in the country; the death of the legendary/notorious Velupillai Prabakaran, supremo of the LTTE; the birth of a transnational Eelam; the arrest of the richest Sri Lanka-born United States business tycoon by the FBI; more..

Nov 18 (BBC) Relatives of Tamil political prisoners and civil rights activists in Sri Lanka have called on the authorities to either to produce the detainees before courts or to release them. They protested in front of Magazine prison in Colombo against a recent attack, on 13 November, allegedly by jail guards on Tamil prisoners arrested on suspicion of being former LTTE members. The protest, organised by Civil Monitoring Committee on Tuesday, more..

Nov 18 (AT) Sri Lanka National Congress - the new political entity has emerged in the horizon of Sri Lanka. The new political party has been launched with the noble ideology to foster national unity in the country. The founders of the new political entity believe that today the challenge before everyone is to develop the country and achieve economic emancipation and prosperity for the well being of the fellow countrymen. more..

Nov 18 (CI) At his best Tillakaratne Dilshan is a dashing, adventurous batsman. When first asked to open in Tests a couple of months ago, Dilshan said he would try and remain true to his aggressive style of play. He has already cracked two vital hundreds in three Tests, along with a 92 in his maiden innings as an opener, but his 112 against India today was different - a calibrated effort that shaped Sri Lanka's fighting reply to India's large total. more..

Nov 18 (Xinhua) Myanmar top leader Senior-General Than Shwe's recent state visit to Sri Lanka has brought about deeper bilateral friendship and cooperation, official media commented Tuesday. The four-day Colombo visit of Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, which took place from Nov. 12 to 15,was a reciprocal one to Nay Pyi Taw by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in June this year. more..

Nov 18 (Hindu) The LTTE did not take into account future consequences while implementing its war strategy, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said on Tuesday. Recalling the LTTE�s call to Tamils for boycott of the 2005 presidential elections, Mr Karunanidhi said that SLFP leader Mahinda Rajapaksa had defeated UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe by a margin of about 1.81 lakh votes and that seven lakh Tamils in Sri Lanka did not cast their votes. more..

Nov 18 (SN) Small satellite manufacturer Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) of Britain has signed a tentative agreement with the government of Sri Lanka to provide a geostationary-orbiting telecommunications satellite that SSTL Chief Executive Matt Perkins said Nov. 17 would weigh 2,500 kilograms at launch and provide three kilowatts of end-of-life power to the communications payload. more..

Nov 18 (LBO) A hospital built by India'a Apollo chain that is now under Sri Lankan government control is to offer beds to military personal to become more socially equitable, a senior official said. The Apollo Hospital in Colombo was renamed Lanka Hospitals after it ended its licensing and support services agreement with Apollo Hospitals Enterprises when it expired on November 16. more..

Nov 18 (IE) A first innings lead in the vicinity of 150 runs would put Sri Lanka in firm control of the first Test against India, reckons explosive Lankan opener Tillakaratne Dilshan. Dilshan's fluent 112 was the cornerstone of Sri Lanka's reply to India's first innings total of 426 and the visitors finished day two at a strong 275 for three. At stumps, Mahela Jayawardene was batting on 36 in company of Thilan Samaraweera (45). more..

Nov 18 (CI) Thilan Thushara, the Sri Lankan fast bowler, has been ruled out of the ongoing three-Test series in India because of a shoulder injury. He will be replaced by Dilhara Fernando, who is expected to join the team on November 18. "Thilan Thushara will return to Sri Lanka due to a shoulder injury, and he will not be match fit for approximately two to four weeks," Sri Lankan Cricket said in a statement. more..

Nov 18 (FP) A recent newspaper article spoke of Kerala planning to recruit Sri Lankan coconut pluckers a development which will surely gladden the hearts of this small community of skilled workers that is making a silent but significant contribution to the national economy. The announcement of the Kerala State that it is prepared to recruit pluckers from neighbouring countries offering high perks has given our pluckers international recognition. more..

Nov 18 (Hindu) Madhya Pradesh may soon have a direct air link with Sri Lanka as the island nation is exploring possibilities to connect Bhopal with Colombo. �Sri Lanka�s national carrier Sri Lankan Airlines is exploring the possibilities of having at least a bi-weekly flight during the pilgrim season, between Colombo, Bhopal and Lumbini, a Buddhist site in Nepal near the Indian border," official sources sai d here on Tuesday. more..

Nov 18 (IRIN) A grim boat journey partly spent in an airless hold, surviving a storm and running afoul of Australian security officers were still not enough to dim the hopes of some would-be Sri Lankan migrants, they say. �We ran out of fuel on the high seas,� said Ranjit P, 25, declining to give his real name for fear of being prosecuted in Sri Lanka. �But some Indonesian fishermen helped us by giving us cans of diesel and we were able to carry on our journey. more..

Nov 18 (AD) A special SLFP officials meeting has been called at Temple Trees today by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, a senior Government official told Ada Derana. According to the source the officials are due to discuss at length the future political decision. President while addressing the SLFP convention on November 15 said that a decision on going for elections will be taken upon consulting the party hierarchy. more..

Nov 18 (IPS) Ask any Sri Lankan, and he or she will cringe at the mention of �water hyacinth�, infamous in the country, where it is called by its more common local name �Japan Jabbara�. The weed-like water plant has spread across the island, and everyone knows its potential to take over any watery home in double quick time. Its history is long but nasty on this island state. more..

Nov 18 (BBC) It is six months since the end of the conflict in Sri Lanka but Tamil Tiger rebels and their supporters are yet to recover from the dramatic military defeat by security forces earlier this year. The recent attempts by remnants of the LTTE abroad to revive the movement have not succeeded so far. Now questions are being raised over the future of its international network and millions of dollars worth of assets spread across continents. more..

Nov 18 (AT) It had been reported that the UNP-JVP alliance had asked the President to reveal whether there would be a snap election, and if so if it is a Presidential election. The UNP and JVP having lost all the recently held Provincial Council elections, are now at a loss about nominating a candidate from their own parties for a Presidential election. Both parties are on a wild goose chase to cling on to someone who is popular than them. more..

Nov 18 (GV) While President Rajapaksa left the issue of elections steaming hot on the plate without any forks or spoons for popular consumption, the main opposition the UNP has been left grinding their teeth, with Gen Fonseka, their prize catch, breaking away on his own, in deciding his reasons for retirement. He has apparently changed the agreed draft of his retirement letter, prepared in more..

Nov 18 (BL) Although troubled Galleon Diversified Fund of the now imprisoned Raj Rajarathnam was speculated to have sold a big parcel of 3.5 million shares of Commercial Bank yesterday, analysts say that it is highly unlikely that the Fund will exit from Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). The Colombo Bourse was at a buzz, with strong speculation that the fund, which has nearly 7.8 mn Commercial Bank shares, yesterday sold 3.5 mn at Rs. 177 a share, more..