Nov 27 (DM) Udugama Magistrate Mahi Wijeweera issued warrant on the Southern Provincial Councillor Nishantha Muthuhettigama as he failed to appear before court yesterday. The suspect Councillor was enlarged on bail in connection with assaulting three supporters of Sajin De Vas Gunawardena during the last Southern Provincial election campaign and the violation of election law. Presenting a medical certificate before court, the counsel submitted that his client was not presented in court as he was not well. more..

Nov 27 (LP) The results of the Advanced Level (A/L) examination were released yesterday. Over 63% of those who sat the exam are qualified to enter University while 126,000 out of the 199,000 candidates who sat the exam have passed. Nipuna Randunu Samarasekara of Ananada College who achieved a Z score of 3.3439 topped the Maths streams while M. Sivapathasundaram (Saiva Mangaiyar College, Colombo 6) with an average Z Score of 2.9388 was first in Bio Science. more..

Nov 27 (LP) The newly rehabilitated southern coastal road stands as a landmark of post-tsunami recovery while promoting a long term alliance between the people of the South and East of the Island. The main coastal and inland road from Matara � Wellawaya which spans 158 km was heavily damaged by the 2004 Tsunami. The rehabilitation has been carried out through the implementation of the highest international standards in keeping with the national requirements more..

Nov 27 (LT) Several Bhikkus who were elected from JHU and later preferred to be �independent� to support Mahinda Rajapakse government, had to terminate the press conference they held against Gen. Sarath Fonseka when journalists started posing questions at them. Uduwe Ddhammaloka, Udawatte Nanda, Alawwe Nandaloka, Akmeemana Dayaratne and Aparakke Pagnaloka Theras said they would not tie a �pirith� thread on Gen. Sarath Fonseka if he contests the presidential election. more..

Nov 27 (LT) All financial dealings regarding procurement of armaments during the war were not done by him but by Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaske says former Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Sarath Fonseka adding that this was done through a company that belongs to Gotabhaya Rajapakse. Gen. Fonseka said this at a special media discussion held yesterday (26th). more..

Nov 27 (LT) �Lanka Irida� has got information through a very reliable source regarding the common agreements reached by Gen. Sarath Fonseka, who is to contest the presidential election as the common candidate and political parties of the opposition that have expressed their support to the General states �Lanka Irida.� According to this agreement the executive presidency would be abolished and all powers would be handed over to the Parliament. more..

Nov 27 (LT) The government has got frightened of Gen. Sarath Fonseka, the common candidate, even before nominations have been presented says JVP MP Sunil Handunneththi. He said this addressing the media when a complaint was lodged at Human rights Commission against Kotte Municipality. The JVP had organized a rally at Ananda Samarakone Memorial Arena at Nugegoda on the 30th on the theme �Let�s build people�s power against frenzy of the executive, nepotism and hunger for power� and more..

Nov 27 (CT) Nandana Gunatileke, who has resigned from his tourism portfolio, has been appointed acting minister of posts and telecommunications. Mr. Gunatilake took oaths in the new post before president Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday afternoon. Prof. G.L. Peiris had been looking after the posts and telecommunications portfolio since minister Mahinda Wijesekara was injured in a suicide bomb blast in Akuressa early this year. more..

Nov 27 (LNP) Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga has lent her voice to the campaigners for abolishing the executive presidency. In a television interview, she waxed eloquent on the need to do away with that institution. She minced no words when she described it as `dangerous`. Spicing up her answers with lunu ambul and pithy Sinhala idioms, Chandrika warned that the wrong person securing the executive presidency would be like a monkey getting hold of a razor vandurata delipihiya ahuvuna vage. more..

Nov 27 (DN) The method of SRI paddy cultivation has become one of the hot topics among paddy farmers today and many farmers look at SRI as a strategy to increase paddy yield with least damage to environment while some others are of the view that this system of paddy cultivation does not give significant yield increase at all. However recently there was an article in Daily News in which the writer says that promoting SRI as a mere attempt by a few who more..

Nov 27 (DN) The first and second stages of the Independence Square Development Project which has been implemented by the Urban Development and Sacred Area Development Ministry have already been completed, a UDA official said. "The estimated cost of the project is Rs 350 million and it is planned to be carried out in 12 stages," the official said. "Rs 90 million has been spent so far which has resulted in the construction of a new pedestrian foot path more..

Nov 27 (CI) India achieved their biggest victory against Sri Lanka and in the process clinched their 100th Test win on the fourth day of the second Test in Kanpur. India's previous best against their neighbors was a victory by an innings and 119 runs in 1994 and they bettered that with ease today. Thilan Samaraweera resisted the inevitable with an assured fifty but it was always just a matter of time before India wrapped up the game. more..

Nov 27 (DN) Minister and Communist Party General Secretary Dew Gunasekera in an interview with Daily News says that it is a foregone conclusion that President Mahinda Rajapaksa will comfortably return to power. Question: What is your assessment of the forthcoming Presidential Election? Answer: To begin with, it is a foregone conclusion that President Mahinda Rajapaksa will comfortably return to power. more..

Nov 27 (Island) The UNF will approve Sarath Fonseka�s candidacy at the forthcoming presidential and if he wins UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe will be appointed the Prime Minister, SLFP (M) leader Mangala Samaraweera, MP said yesterday. The SLFP (M) Central Committee had unanimously approved Sarath Fonsaka�s candidacy at 2010 Presidential election and several SLFP stalwarts who supported him at the 2005 Presidential election would support the Opposition this time around, more..

Nov 27 (Island) Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga yesterday said that a conspiracy against Sri Lanka during humanitarian operations had been much bigger than the government believed. He said that a section of the international community as well as influential foreign media organisations and INGOs had been involved in the campaign which almost overwhelmed the country during the war against the LTTE. more..

Nov 27 (EB) �It is going to be the most crucial 48 hours in my life. I�ll announce my future plans day after tomorrow, whether to contest the presidential polls or to take legal action against the Defence Ministry, and everything else,� said Sri Lanka�s outgoing Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Sarath Fonseka. Gen. Fonseka bitterly recounted how he was stripped off his official paraphernalia after he resigned last week. Having been ordered to vacate the �General�s House�, more..

Nov 27 (DM) In the attempt to paint himself as a victim of political maneuvering nothing will make General Sarath Fonseka look like 'a General in distress' than a move to cut down his existing security contingent. However that's exactly what the government did on Wednesday night by sending the military police. And the decision by the military police officers to accede to General's request and go back empty handed has certainly sent some signals to the countrymen that he still calls shots. more..

Nov 27 (Island) NFF leader Wimal Weerawansa yesterday said that though the Opposition has claimed that Gen. Sarath Fonseka will be its joint Opposition candidate, at the opportune moment he will be asked to make way for UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. Weerawansa branded the common front as an opportunistic unpatriotic bunch of politicians and said that a war hero in the calibre of Gen. Sarath Fonseka, more..

Nov 27 (DM) Residents in the South were in an unexpected shock yesterday morning when an earthquake shook the areas in Lunugama, Tissamaharamaya, Hambantota and Badulla. Disaster Management Centre Director, Brig. N. B Weragama said that the exact magnitude of the earthquake was unknown but said that the quake was not of a serious nature. �The earthquake was a minor one. There have been no reported injuries. However, there have been damages to some homes,� he said. more..

Nov 27 (Island) President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday declared that he was not concerned about whom he had to face at the forthcoming presidential election. "Mata Oya Kawuruth ekai (they are all the same to me)," a smiling President said in response to a query raised at a meeting with the media at Temple Trees. Referring to former Army Chief General Sarath Fonseka�s candidature at the presidential poll, more..

Nov 27 (DPA) Four Air Force personnel were killed Friday when a Russian-built Mi-24 Air Force helicopter crashed in south-eastern Sri Lanka. The accident occurred in Badalkumbura, 310 kilometres south-east of Colombo after an air display to mark the start of construction work of a new international airport. The crash had been caused by a technical fault. Four people, including the pilot, were killed when the helicopter crashed into a hill.

Nov 27 (LNP) Even though it was widely expected that yesterday s Working Committee meeting of the UNP, held at the Party headquarters Sirikotha in Kotte, would go smoothly as everything had been finalized to field Gen. (Retd) Sarath Fonseka as the common candidate of the opposition, pandemonium reigned as speaker after speaker registered their protests at the deterioration of the Grand Old Party. more..

Nov 27 (DM) Retired Chief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka in an interview speaks about his decision to retire, the treatment he is getting from the government and his moves to enter politics. Q: General, with regard to the incident that took place last night there were reports that the Military Police had tried to take your security personnel and vehicles away from you. Can you tell us what really happened? more..

Nov 27 (Economist) Shaking the rain out of his hair, Ravi Chandran boarded a state-run bus for Jaffna in the north and looked around. It would leave Colombo soon, at 11.30pm, and he wanted to grab a good seat for what could be a 16-hour journey. Mr Chandran, a 27-year-old businessman in a rugby jersey and jeans, is among an estimated 3,500 commuters from Sri Lanka�s Tamil minority to have used the new bus service since the government eased travel restrictions earlier this month. more..

Nov 27 (CBC) A Thursday night fire at a Buddhist temple in east end Toronto frequented by people of Sri Lankan origin was deliberately set, police say. Someone used what appears to be gasoline to start the blaze at the rear of the Maha Vihara Buddhist Meditation Centre on Kingston Road, Toronto police said. Investigators found a gas can at the scene. They used dogs to try to track the suspects, but the trail went cold. more..

Nov 27 (Hindu) Commissioner of Elections, Dayananda Dissanayake, set January 26 as the date of polling for the Presidential election. Presidential hopefuls could submit their nominations on December 17. The counting of votes would be taken up immediately after the last ballot is cast. The Announcement came five days after President Mahinda Rajapaksa signed a proclamation advancing the Presidential poll by two years. more..

Nov 28 (CI) Sri Lanka came into the series intending to secure their maiden Test victory on Indian soil but were left with a lot of soul searching to do after they were thrashed by an innings-and-144-runs in the second Test in Kanpur. Though India ran up 642, Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara defended the selection of three spinners. "If we had won the toss and batted first on the wicket and got a decent amount of runs on the board our spinners would have been quite a threat on this track," he said. more..

Nov 28 (AT) The first ever Heroes Day after the death of LTTE leader V Prabhakaran and his movement in the final battle with the Sri Lankan forces was marked by parallel addresses, one by the group claiming to be official LTTE or what is left of it and another by Ram, one of its former intelligence operatives now said to be in Sri Lankan army custody. The official address, released to the world media through the Net, said: "Let us all pledge oday to continue the struggle for Tamil Eelam, as more..

Nov 28 (LBO) Sri Lanka must act against corrupt government officials and businessmen and ensure local firms play fair with foreign companies if it wants to attract investors, the American envoy to the island has said. It needs to unshackle the media, be more open to trade and better protect intellectual property rights to use the opportunity for economic growth provided by the end of the ethnic war, more..

Nov 28 (AT) The newly formed National Congress party headed by Minister Milinda Moragoda is now urging the ruling UPFA to include the draft legislation on freedom of information in its upcoming presidential and parliamentary election manifesto. He said his �party would advocate that the UPFA include this in the policy document (Election Manifesto) of the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary General Election.� more..

Nov 28 (AFP) The indifferent form of spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan is a cause of worry going into the series decider in Mumbai, Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara said here on Friday. "It does bother us when our star bowler does not pick too many wickets when we know he can," Sangakkara said after Sri Lanka were thrashed by an innings and 144 runs in the second Test against India to go down 1-0 in the series. more..

Nov 28 (IPS) Despite the recent accelerated return of tens of thousands of war-displaced civilians to their former villages in northern Sri Lanka and the impending relaxation of further restrictions, aid agencies say far more efforts are needed to help the civilian population regain normalcy lost to decades of conflict. Faced with international criticism over the state of IDPs in the island state, the government has accelerated the resettlement process in the last two months. more..

Nov 28 (GDI) Retired General Sarath Fonseka�s request for adequate security has been already met by the Government and the number was one hundred in addition to the rank of a four star General with Fonseka being the only to enjoy that privilege while in office, claimed military spokesmen, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara. He explained that security was provided in accordance to the ranks held by senior officers. more..

Nov 28 (LG) 20 years back Muslims in Jaffna lived a satisfactory life in terms of peace of mind, wealth, they were well-off in running business and were self sufficient, they were 10 % in Jaffna city limits dominating MC -municipal council sometime as mayor and sometime deputy mayor of Jaffna municipality, there were 17 mosques in Jaffna but according to prominent Muslim scholar there were 21 mosques, Muslims were 5% in the Northern Province. more..

Nov 28 (UPI) The hottest topic of discussion in Sri Lanka these days is the forthcoming presidential election, set for the end of January, 2010. While all Sri Lankans will be harassed by excessive propaganda in the coming two months, the focus of their interest is not the country�s major economic, political or social problems. Rather, it is which individual will become the most powerful person in the country. more..

Nov 28 (GV) In the past few weeks newspapers were rife with speculations of a possible presidential or parliamentary election that was �coming soon�. Confirming most of these speculations, President Mahinda Rajapakse announced the presidential elections and sent directives to the election commissioner to do the needful in this regard. Ending the long speculation of the common candidate, the UNF and more..

Nov 28 (F2F) Sri Lanka is gearing up to hold its first annual Design Festival, in a bid to put the country on the map as a source of design as well as a manufacturing destination. The Design Festival will begin from November 27 and will continue till December 5. The event, which has been organised by the Academy of Design in association with Sri Lanka Apparel, the Export Development Board of Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Industrial Development, more..

Nov 28 (TS) Canada will not support a bid by Sri Lanka to host the next Commonwealth summit as a way to pressure its government to allow relief workers access to refugee camps. "Canada will not be supporting Sri Lanka as the next host of the Commonwealth summit," a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday as 53 leaders of mostly former British colonies gathered here for more..