Oct 23 (SLW) MPs from Tamil Nadu who visited Colombo recently said that President Rajapaksa was unaware of Indian prisoners in Sri Lankan jails. They have raised this matter when they met him. T. K. S. Elangovan from the DMK party said "The President and Basil Rajapaksa do not seem to have got any communication from India about the prisoners. They even didn't know about the issue till we raised it, there are around 40 Indian prisoners in Sri Lankan Jails". more..

Oct 23 (GDI) President Mahinda Rajapaksa met the President of Vietnam Nguyen Minh Triet this evening at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi where he was warmly welcomed and accorded a guard of honour by the military of Vietnam. President Rajapaksa expressed his sincere sentiments and highly appreciated the warm hospitality accorded to him by the Government of Vietnam and its people. more..

Oct 23 (SLW) The Government of Sri Lanka is trying hard to rebuild Colombo � Jaffna railway track. However, it appears that the govt is unconcerned about the insignificant results that the restoration of the old tract would bring about to the people. In reality, apart from demonstrating that the old railway link is re-established [at an enormous cost] nothing tangible would be achieved by this effort. more..

Oct 23 (SLW) The official residence of the US Ambassador was fined by the water Supply and Drainage Board with Rs. Rs.370440.00. The residence of the US Diplomat at Albert Crescent in Colombo has tapped the water board pipeline illegally. The raiding Unit of the Board imposed this fine when the site was raided on the 28th of Sept. The officials there had admitted the illegal water tapping and had agreed to pay the fine. more..

Oct 23 (SLW) Sri Lankan Embassy in Berlin Germany organized a Deepavali Festival to commemorate and honour the beliefs and aspirations of Hindu devotees last Sunday the 18th. This is the very first time ever that the Deepavali festival was celebrated at the Embassy in Berlin. Hosting the visitors on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka and his staff Ambassador T. B. Maduwegedara pointed out the relevance of Deepavali, celebrations symbolizing and forging unity, peace and harmony among more..

Oct 23 (GDI) President Mahinda Rajapaksa now on a three day official visit to Vietnam today observed in Hanoi that he was visiting Vietnam after ending a three decade old war in Sri Lanka defeating one of the world�s ruthless separatist terrorist�s outfit like the LTTE. The President said he was eager to learn more on how the late Vietnamese President Ho Chi Min and the Vietnamese leadership unified the country to bring it to present state of development. more..

Oct 23 (GDI) Minister Maithreepala Sirisena claimed that many political parties which advocate human rights and democracy have breached those ideologies while they were in the office. He added that the former UNP regime victimized opposition in a drastic manner. Democratic rights of the opposition were also hindered by the constitution made by that particular government,he pointed out. more..

Oct 23 (GDI) The Education Ministry has taken prompt action to dispatch school text books worth Rs. 25 million for the 2010 academic year for students housed in welfare villages in Vavuniya, Mannar and Madu areas. This is to provide maximum facilities for educational activities for schoolchildren whose education has been badly affected by LTTE terrorism. The consignment of text books has been sent in 38 lorries, more..

Oct 23 (GDI) The �Deshabandu Eng. Dr. A.N.S. Kulasinghe Memorial Lecture� for the third consecutive year, will be delivered by Eng. (Dr) A.C. Visvalingam (Consultant), on �Water Management Lessons from the Walawe Project�, on October 26 (Monday), at 5.15 P.M. at the Wimalasurendra Auditorium of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL), at 120/15, Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7. Deshabandu Vidyajyothi Dr. A.N.S. Kulasinghe was born on October 26, 1919, more..

Oct 23 (LG) President Mahinda Rajapaksa, claimed victory as his armed forces defeated the LTTE militarily in May this year leading to the detention of nearly 280,000 Tamils within heavily guarded confines of razor wires. Those who remain alive at the end of the day would be broken both physically and in will. All the imminent signs are that he is on the way to recolonizing the villages of the Tamils primarily to change its demography and destroy the concept of the Tamil traditional homelands. more..

Oct 23 (UNP) The President who puffed himself with false pride earlier , as a self styled �King� was shaken into the realm of reality by the recent South PC polls results, leader of the SLFP (M), Mangala Samaraweera said. It is only now he has realized he is not a King after all and, he is just a caretaker of the people. more..

Oct 23 (LG) A tense situation prevailed in parliament yesterday when a minister interrupted the proceedings of the House on several occasions. The interruptions reached unbearable levels when UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake posed several questions, forcing the Speaker W. J. M. Lokubandara to call on the minister to take his seat. Ravi Karunanayake: Honourable Speaker, you are the Speaker of the House. Now some persons have been brought in to provide humour in the house. more..

Oct 23 (GDI) Sri Lanka�s outstanding achievers at the �Young Inventor of the Year� (JIY) competition/2009, organized by the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL), were warmly felicitated by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, at the colorful 103rd Annual Sessions of the IESl, at the BMICH recently. From over 600 schoolchildren who had participated at Provincial level competitions held island wide, 60 successful participants were invited to the final competition held in Colombo. more..

Oct 23 (LP) A team of specialists from India will arrive in the island to look in to the diseases now prevailing related to coconut cultivation said the Ministry of Plantations. The team will arrive in the island on the 09th of November under the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). They will remain in the island for over a week. More than 340 000 coconut trees were destroyed due to the diseases in Matara and Waligama area in the year 2006. more..

Oct 23 (MoD) 19th of the Biennial Sea Power Symposium conducted by the United States Navy at the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island was held from 6th to 9th October 2009 under the patronage of the Chief of the United States Navy, Admiral Gary Roughead. This world famous prestigious gathering of rulers of the seas was attended by 96 Heads of Navies and more..

Oct 23 (UNP) UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe addressing a gathering at the UNP Headquarters Sri Kotha, Kotte, yesterday(22), on the occasion of the oath taking ceremony of the new UNP MPs for the Southern PCs said, the main opposition party will not allow anybody to change the SC decision which clearly said, a new people�s mandate rescinds the earlier one. more..

Oct 23 (MoD) LTTE's arms procurer and later leader Kumar Pathmanadan under interrogation has revealed that US citizen Raj Rajaratnam who was arrested by the FBI had been a leading contributor of money to the terrorist group, Sri Lanka government sources said. These contributions are intricately connected with the opposition politicians outside the LTTE but implementing a parallel political agenda with the terrorist group, the sources said. more..

Oct 23 (LT) UPFA has to pay Rs.39909275.05 for National Rupawahini Corporation and ITN for using the two TV channels for their pre-election campaigns for the presidential election in 2005 and �Pradeshiya Sabha� elections held in 2006. This was revealed when Minister of Media and Information Anura Priyadharshana Yapa answered a question asked by JVP MP Ranaweera Pathirana in Parliament on the 21st. more..

Oct 23 (LT) The Drug Regulatory Authority has directed that 25,000 phials containing �Feroxine� antibiotic injection that belong to the same batch of the phial that was found from Ratnapura Hospital recently with a piece of glass are not suitable to be used and NationalMedicinal Drug Authority (NMDA) took measures yesterday (22nd) to remove them from hospitals throughout the island. more..

Oct 23 (UCAN) Caritas recently organized a celebration of the Deepavali festival of lights for Hindu and Christian former child soldiers in a state-run rehabilitation center. The camp in Ratnapura diocese houses 116 children, boys and girls, between the ages of 14 and 17, of whom 60 are Hindus and the rest are Christians, mainly Catholics. They have been held there since the civil war ended in mid-May. more..

Oct 23 (CT) The opposition has moved a no-confidence motion against western province minister Udaya Gammanpila. The motion proposal has been handed over to the secretary of the PC. The reason cited for the loss of faith in him is that he had strongly criticized the PC system while being a provincial minister and enjoying all privileges of the position. Chief organizer of the opposition U. George Perera and 15 other councilors have signed the proposal, asking that it be taken up for debate in due course. more..

Oct 23 (AT) Did Raj Rajaratnam know that the millions of funds he donated to the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO-US) during the post-Tsunami construction period in the maritime provinces in Sri Lanka were never used by the TRO to build schools, houses and roads in the Tamil Tiger held territories in the north and east of Sri Lanka? Did Rajaratnam follow it up to ascertain how his massive donations were used for more..

Oct 23 (AT) Politically motivated people with vested interest are involved in a mischievous effort to create frictions between the war heroes and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces - President Mahinda Rajapaksa and this heinous act must be condemned, exposed and defeated, says National Freedom Front (JNP) Leader Wimal Weerawansa. more..

Oct 23 (CT) Thirty four per cent of deaths reported from state run hospitals are due to heart ailments, community specialist Dr. Palitha Karunaprema of the Ministry of Health said. Strokes are the cause of nine pc of these fatalities, he has told a media briefing to mark World Stroke Day on October 29. According to him, between 30 and 40 pc of stroke related deaths were among persons aged below 70 years. more..

Oct 23 (AT) Looking at the India - Sri Lanka relations, trade had expanded earlier in about six to seven times, but during the last few months there was a decline of around 40 percent in these relations, which is unaccounted for and the cause for the decline yet to be found, said Santosh Jha, Counselor (Economic and Commercial) High Commission of India in Sri Lanka. more..

Oct 23 (AT) As the resettlement process of nearly 40,000 IDPs began yesterday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa told them not to be misled again by �false prophets or saviours� like the LTTTE. The President�s message to the IDPers came when the process of resettling a total of 41,685 IDPs to the four districts of Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Mannar and Kilinochchi, started yesterday. more..

Oct 23 (LNP) In an unprecedented move, the UNP and the JVP yesterday pledged in Parliament to provide a two-thirds majority required to abolish the executive presidency instead of holding a presidential election. The UNP, the architect of the 1978 Constitution which created the Executive presidency, said that it would campaign towards this end. Chief Opposition Whip Joseph Michael Perera, who seconded a motion by JVP MP Vijitha Herath calling for more..

Oct 23 (DN) The 1978 Constitution was brought with the myth that the SLFP would never come to power and no party would obtain a two thirds majority. That myth has now been disproved, SLFP General Secretary and Agriculture Development and Agrarian Services Minister Maithripala Sirisena said. He added that the SLFP led UPFA proved this by winning four Provincial Councils with a two thirds majority. more..

Oct 23 (LNP) A political system sometimes behaves like a share market it reacts to speculation disproportionately. Now that the time has come for the announcement of a national election, presidential or parliamentary, various stories are being floated. One is that former Army Commander and present Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Sarath Fonseka might enter the presidential fray. He has not said anything to that effect. more..

Oct 23 (DN) Those who damage the country's forest reserves will face imprisonment for seven years or a fine not exceeding Rs. 200,000 or both, according to provisions of new legislation passed in Parliament yesterday. Tabelling Forest Bill and the Mines and Minerals Bill, Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said in addition to these provisions, the Court may also award compensation in respect of damage caused to Forest Resources. more..

Oct 23 (DM) Ports and Aviation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa told Parliament yesterday that the national carrier Sri Lankan Airlines has been affected by the global recession, as have all other airlines in the region. Responding to a question by Chief Opposition Whip Joseph Michael Perera about the profitability of the airline, claiming that a March 31 annual report had said the airline was not profitable; more..

Oct 23 (DN) The largest ever gathering of Chiefs of Navies took place recently at Navy War College Newport, Rhode Island, USA where Navy Commander Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe, himself a distinguished graduate of the College was further honoured by being invited by United States' Navy Chief Admiral Gary Roughead to address in the final Panel on 'Leveraging Cooperative Effort to Enhance Maritime Security Operations' at more..

Oct 23 (DM) Member of the Southern Provincial Council Sajin Vass Gunawardene appeared before the Panadura High Court Judge Malini Gunaratne to give evidence for the prosecution in Horana, Illebe murder case that came up for hearing on Tuesday (20). The accused in the case T. A. Prabhath Dimuthu Priyankara of Piliyandala stands indicted with the murder of Mohan Gunasekara, a driver of Illebe, Horana on Aug. 27, 2009. more..

Oct 23 (DN) With the end of the war with the LTTE so close behind us, it is inevitable to recall the brutality that took away the life of a man in the prime of life, with so many achievements behind him, and so much promise left in him of future success, both for him and the country. The peace we have achieved today, with the defeat of terrorism, is also dedicated to the many who were the victims of that period of unbridled violence and more..

Oct 23 (DM) A memorandum has been sent to President Mahinda Rajapaksa by the Mahanayaka Theras of the three Nikayas to set up a Board of the Maha Sangha and laymen to approve books pertaining to Buddhism. The Mahanayake Theras of the Malwatta and Asgiriya chapters of the Siyam Nikaya and Amarapura and Ramanya Nikayas in a joint memorandum to President Rajapaksa, stated that this procedure had become a necessity to prevent and more..

Oct 23 (Island) Police are looking for a confidence trickster from Kirillapone claiming to be an accountant who with the help of middlemen is engaged in deceiving unsuspecting investors by promising them a high interest if they deposit money in a company he has floated for the purpose. Those who had deposited money in his company, have complained that the man has issued post dated cheques and more..

Oct 23 (LNP) It is important to have balanced economic activities everywhere in the country with the dawn of peace. The recent visit to Jaffna was a success and the business community there was pleased as they had a business forum to express their views and ideas. There will be tremendous growth in Jaffna with the developments being implemented, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal told Daily News Business. more..

Oct 23 (Island) An assurance from Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunawardena, MP, that the government would protect Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe like �gold� prompted Wickremasinghe to remind the ruling coalition of the recent controversy over a move to sell off country�s gold reserves. The UNP leader said that he was afraid as he was aware of the way the Rajapaksa regime protected �gold.� more..

Oct 23 (LBO) The USAID said it has partnered with a unit of the listed Chemical Industries (CIC) to help milk farmers take their product to market and increase incomes. The agency said in a statement it has established a dairy farmer network in Punani, in the eastern Batticaloa district. USAID partnered with the CIC Mahaweli Livestock & Dairy, to launch a new yoghurt and curd factory at the Siddapura farm in Punani, Batticaloa. more..

Oct 23 (DM) Constitutional Minister D. E.W. Gunasekera said in Parliament yesterday that no party would secure a two-third majority in Parliament under the present electoral system despite what was said in political circles. The Minister made this point when speaking during an adjournment of the debate on abolishing the Executive Presidency in the House. He said that former President Chandrika Bandaranaike only had a razor-thin majority of one vote in Parliament in 1994 more..

Oct 23 (BN) Raj Rajaratnam, the founder of Galleon Group, planned to gauge interest in a $200 million Sri Lanka fund with a trip to London before he was arrested, said two people with knowledge of the matter. The Sri Lankan-born billionaire had planned to raise money for the fund by listing it on London�s Alternative Investment Market, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. more..

Oct 23 (AFP) The United States has urged Sri Lanka to probe allegations of war crimes committed by government troops and Tamil rebels during the final months of their decades-old conflict. "Ultimately, as appropriate, (they should) bring to justice those who are found guilty," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters. The request followed publication of a State Department report that, more..

Oct 23 (Island) A section of European Parliament yesterday thwarted an attempt by some members to suspend Sri Lanka�s GSP plus trade status. The �Friends of Sri Lanka� in the European Parliament blocked the move in a hurriedly moved Urgency Resolution debated in Strasbourg on Thursday, Foreign Ministry sources told The Island last night. Sources said that the EU action had coincided with the US State Department move against Sri Lanka targeting more..

Oct 23 (Island) The government yesterday said that the Tamil Diaspora was making a fresh attempt to undermine Sri Lanka by organising large scale human smuggling operations targeting developed countries, particularly Australia and Canada. Ministerial sources told The Island that this was being done in support of their strategy to emphasise that Tamil speaking people were not safe in Sri Lanka though the LTTE had been militarily crushed. more..

Oct 23 (IRIN) Donors are increasingly concerned over the conditions in Sri Lanka�s camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) and are less likely to provide funding if they continue to restrict IDPs� freedom of movement, say UN officials. Neil Buhne, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sri Lanka, said the response from donors to humanitarian needs had been good, but there was frustration over the closed nature of the camps. more..

Oct 23 (IL) President Mahinda Rajapaksa payed tribute to late President of Vietnam Ho Chi Minh today (23rd October) on his second day of official visit to Socialist Republic of Vietnam. He visited the Mausoleum of late President Ho Chi Minh and laid a wreath at the foot of the monument in the city of Hanoi Minh this morning. more..

Oct 24 (MB) A Sri Lankan official lost an expensive camera to suspected members of "Salisi" Gang while shopping at a popular mall in Pasay City Thursday night. Suiwiran Singh, the head of the Coconut Development Authority of Sri Lanka lodged a complaint before the Pasay City Police Station. Singh told police that he was shopping for local handicrafts and other indigenous products inside the Kultura boutique at more..

Oct 24 (LBO) The Asian Development Bank said it has given financial assistance amounting to 70 million dollars to Sri Lanka for rebuilding roads in two provinces affected by war. The total investment cost of the project in the island's Eastern and North Central Provinces is 78 million dollars of which eight million will be contributed by the government of Sri Lanka. more..