Apr 7 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's shares hit a new record high on Tuesday as investors bought shares across the board hoping for political stability after April 8 parliament polls will help the country to implement much needed reforms. The All-Share Price Index hit a new all-time high of 3882.23, surpassing its previous high of 3865.17 hit on March 15. It closed 2.34 percent or 88.45 points firmer at 3,870.35. more..

Apr 7 (BBC) The dissolved parliament in Sri Lanka has once again extended the state of emergency for another month. As 58 legislators supported the move, five parliamentarians have voted against the extension of state of emergency, which was declared during Sri Lanka�s conflict against Tamil Tigers. It is the second time the parliament was reconvened after the dissolution in February by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. more..

Apr 7 (LBO) Employment at Sri Lanka's export processing zones have increased 3.7 percent by end 2009 and there are now unfilled vacancies at some firms. The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI) says jobs at its investment increased 3.7 percent to 475,000 in the year to December. BoI invites unemployed youth to forward their resumes to fill vacancies in apparel sector, more..

Apr 7 (LBO) Sri Lanka's shipping community is trying to raise more awareness of trade and logistics among the work force and students to try to overcome a critical shortage of skilled people, officials said. The Sri Lanka Shippers' Council said it hopes its first ever logistics and trade quiz this month will generate enthusiasm for trade and logistics and make more people seek employment in the field. more..

Apr 7 (LT) 8 police officers who have been unjustly interdicted due to performing their duties impartially during the presidential election have filed 8 fundamental rights petitions at the Supreme Court. The police officers who have petitioned the Supreme Court are Chief Inspector of Police of the operations section of Western Province D.M.D. Gemunu, Chief Inspector of Police in Jaffna Lewwangama, more..

Apr 7 (BBC) Who will be the champion? Is he Vajira or Muthuhettigama? The race to secure most preferential votes in Gall district at the general election on Thursday is quite open. Very hot and busy, the capital of southern Sri Lanka, is overwhelmed by cut-outs, posters and singing election rallies. The picturesque Indian Ocean is clearly visible from the main road through the southern sea coast, more..

Apr 7 (AN) "The Passover of Jesus from death to life should lead us to Passover from darkness to light and from divisiveness to unity and peace.� This is the central message of Easter hope that the bishops of Sri Lanka have entrusted to all Catholics and people of the country that is emerging from almost 30 years of war between the government and the Tamil guerrillas. The message was signed by Mgr. Vianney Fermando and more..

Apr 7 (TN) The president of Jaffna peninsula fishermen society federation, C. Thavarathinam, said Tuesday that the Tamil fishermen from Jaffna peninsula had nothing to do with the attack on Tamil Nadu fishermen on Kachchaitheevu seas Monday night. While refuting the rumour blaming Jaffna fishermen for the attack he said that there is a strong suspicion that the Sinhalese fishermen from the South who more..

Apr 7 (SLC) The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 ticket and mascot launch was held at the Colombo Hilton amongst a large gathering. Visitors were first ushered into the foyer via a replica entrance to the Kings Palace of the Dambadeniya era. Guests had the opportunity to view photographs of the past glories of the World Cup starting with the inauguration year of 1975 to 2007. more..

Apr 7 (WSJ) Sri Lankans will elect a new parliament tomorrow. The election results are a foregone conclusion, but the future of Sri Lanka, unfortunately, may not be so certain. On the face of it the idyllic island nation seems poised to seize on a historic political opportunity at the end of civil war against the LTTE. But the initial sense of hope that followed the total military victory over the terrorists last May has slowly dissipated as President consolidates his hold on power. more..

Apr 7 (BBC) An allied party of the opposition led by the former military chief in Sri Lanka has denied accusations of assassinating a supporter of the ruling coalition. The post mortem of a supporter of UPFA was held in the north western province of Sri Lanka where campaigning for the general election ends on Monday. Jeevan Jayawardena (23), a supporter of North Central Provincial Council chairman RD Wimaladasa, was shot dead on Sunday night following more..

Apr 7 (HT) The Sri Lankan government has urged Chennai-based Indian Bank to reopen its branches in the island nation. The bank had shut its branch at Jaffna due to ethnic clashes between Tamil minorities and Sri Lankan authorities. With peace slowly returning, the bank is looking at reopening the branch at Jaffna, while further expanding its presence in the island nation to tap the local Tamil speaking population. more..

Apr 7 (TC) Fathima Rifqa Bary who is 17 years was born on 10th of August 1993 to Ayesha Rizana and Mohamed Barry of Galle, Sri Lanka. The family is traditionally gem and jewelry merchants with respect in the Southern Province and Colombo. As a kid she injured her right eye with the toy she was playing with. Since a major surgery was required, the couple opted to do it in the United States. So they came to the US in 2000. more..

Apr 7 (BL) The construction sector has seen a drop in year 2009, as the sector performances decelerated from 7.8% in 2008 to 5.6, according to the 2009 Central Bank Annual Report. As the report points out, even though the government had launched a number of mega construction projects such as power plants and highways, the deceleration in housing construction had slowed down the performance of the local construction sector. more..

Apr 7 (BL) Apparel manufacturers are confident that the loss of the GSP+ tax concession would not affect their industry. Addressing a recent press conference, Chairman of Tri-Star Apparel Dr. Kumar Dewapura, said that the local clothes manufacturing industry is prepared to face the possible outcome, if the GSP+ is withdrawn. He said, �The GSP+ tax concession is not a facility that is provided to us, but to apparel exporters to the European Union countries. more..

Apr 7 (BL) The controversial Rs.1 billion automation process of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) would recommence and expedited following tomorrow�s general election, after it being temporarily put off due to the fuel shortage it had created. With the implementation of its new SAP automation system, CPC was faced with a few �teething problems� which led to a fuel shortage, last Friday. more..

Apr 7 (BL) Election monitoring bodies claimed that there is a marked reduction in election violence leading up to the General Election, when compared with the violence surrounding the recently concluded Presidential Election. Between 600 and 700 cases of election violence and five confirmed election related deaths were reported during the Presidential Election. However, only 250 to 400 cases of election violence, more..

Apr 7 (BL) It was reported that Sri Lanka recorded a per capita income of US$ 2,053 for the past five years. No doubt it is a praiseworthy accomplishment for a developing Asian country like ours,� more compelling having battled terrorism for a near three decades. Terrorism did not only mean destruction, but shifted focus away from development initiatives for years to come. more..

Apr 7 (LT) �Lankatruth� cameraman has been able to identify an individual in civilian clothes who was involved in yesterday�s savage attack on Bhikkus who were engaged in the �fast unto death� agitation near Fort Railway station. This person, with several other goons abducted Bhikkus who had been starving for more than a day, is a police officer. We are prepared to reveal to the country other police officers too who more..

Apr 7 (TC) When charges were mounted against Sri Lanka before the UN Council of Human Rights (UNCHR) , after the conclusion of the war in 2009 May, the countries of the Non-Aligned movement (NAM) joined hands with Sri Lanka to defeat the resolution. Sri Lanka identified these countries then as its �true friends�. �Sri Lanka forces West to retreat over �war crime�� with victory at the UN�. more..

Apr 7 (LG) The massive earthquake off the west coast of Indonesia on December 26, 2004, registered a magnitude of nine on the Richter scale. The effect of this earthquake made massive tidal waves that destroyed the costal belt of the northern and southern Sri Lanka. Perhaps this must have been the most catastrophic natural disaster ever experienced by Sri Lankans in their recent history. The damage was colossal. more..

Apr 7 (LG) This month marks a year since the arrest of a man I am going to call Jeyaratnam. It isn't his real name, but that hardly matters. He is a small person. Nobody has organised a demonstration outside Fort Station for him. There is no petition. All readers need to know is that he is accused of having been involved in a terrorist plot. According to the Police, he handed over money and weapons he had received from the LTTE to a third party, who was supposed to use them. more..

Apr 7 (LG) On April 5, 6 and 10 in 1956, we had Parliamentary elections which reduced the UNP to 8 seats and defeated it for the first time. The UNP was then headed by John Kotelawala and his leadership had no semblance of any nationalistic interests unlike in the days of the Senanayakes. The SLFP established in 1951 in the model of a western liberal party, after about 1954 became the nationalistic party of Sri Lanka. more..

Apr 7 (LT) Photographing or videoing of candidates casting their votes at the general election have been prohibited and this rule would be strictly followed said the Commissioner of Elections (EC)recently. Now it is reported that the EC has taken this decision due to pressure from a top person in the govt. This person, a powerful member of Rajapakse family, has presented nominations from Gampaha District though he has no vote for the district. more..

Apr 7 (GV) Citing a PTI report Admiral Robert Willard, Commander of the US Pacific Command in his testimony before the US Senate Armed Services Committee, has said, in response to a question from Senator George Lemieux, that the Lashkar-e-Taiba group is expanding and specifically positioning itself in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. He has also said that �we have certainly knowledge of their influence within the region beyond the countries that I just mentioned. more..

Apr 7 (wsws) The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Students for Social Equality (ISSE) in Sri Lanka held a public meeting in the Colombo Public Library Auditorium on Sunday evening to conclude the party�s campaign for the April 8 general elections. The SEP is running 58 candidates in four districts�the capital Colombo, Jaffna in the north, Nuwara Eliya in the central hills and Galle in the south. more..

Apr 7 (MoD) The road development project is being accelerated island-wide, being a part of the concept enshrined in " Mahinda Chintana'. A significant phase of the programme was completed with the opening of the new Karandupana- Rambukkana Bridge Monday (April 05) by the Defence Secretary Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The late Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle had laid the foundation stone for the new bridge on more..

Apr 7 (DN) Someone once said that love affairs are like holidays (or was it the other way around?); anticipated with relish, experienced with discomfort and remembered with nostalgia. It occurred to me that most things are like that. There �moment before� tingles. There is always a little thrill in the whole business of anticipation. Then we jump in or that which we were looking forward to jumps us and the encounter is not always �as-expected�. more..

Apr 7 (GDI) Sri Lanka will send two teams for the Asian Beach Volleyball Tournament to be held in Thailand from April 9 to 17. They are scheduled to leave today. Pubudu Ekayanake and Sampath Peiris of Air Force form one team while Mahesh Perera and Wasantha Ratnapala of the Navy form the other team. Last year, Mahesh Perera and Wasantha Ratnapala created history, when they won the bronze medal at the Asia Pacific Beach Volleyball Tournament held in Bangladesh. more..

Apr 7 (GDI) The BOI announced nine new companies will start projects at the Horana Export Processing Zone. The total value of their investment once completed will be US$ 57.15 million and they will employ 1,221 staff at the Horana EPZ. This is significant as it will result in almost doubling both the Foreign Direct Investment and the number of jobs available at the Horana Export Processing Zone. more..

Apr 7 (Hindu) Four fishermen had a narrow escape when a mechanised boat in Rameswaram was sunk, allegedly by a group of Sri Lankan fishermen. According to a complaint lodged by the fishermen, who managed to escape, the attack was carried out near Kachchatheevu on Monday. The boat [TN-10 MFB 263] owned by Stalin of Rameswaram sank within moments of a bomb blast triggered by the fishermen reportedly belonging to Delft Island near Kachchatheevu. more..

Apr 7 (DM) Perhaps this may be the last time it happens, however, the manner in which the two UPFA factions in Ampara bang their heads against each other in the run-up to elections is indeed loathsome. One thought the worst area for poll violence was Kandy where one of the notorious ministers had made a mockery of democracy unleashing violence against the activists of his Cabinet colleagues. more..

Apr 7 (UNP) The International University students federation (IUSF) blamed the Govt. for the suicides committed by five final year University students. The Govt.�s failure to provide for the needs of the students in the internally displaced people�s camps had ed to these tragic deaths, it added. The convener of the IUSF, Udul Premaratne lamented that more..

Apr 7 (LeN) Mahinda Rathnatileke who crossed over from the UNP and joined the Govt. ostensibly for the most �patriotic� reasons purportedly to strengthen the two hands (not enough for the President!) of the President and took up a Hnadicraft Ministerial portfolio, has displayed his �true� patriotic spirit by collecting Ministerial salaries and all perks for himself and 13 others belonging to his family and relations every month. more..

Apr 7 (UNP) The UNP in a statement issued yesterday had roundly condemned the attack launched on the Buddhist monks who were staging a peaceful protest opposite the Railway station demanding the release of Gen. Fonseka held in detention by the Govt. without any charges being filed against him. These attacks are reminiscent of the brutalities committed in Myanmar against the Buddhist monks when they demonstrated against the military junta there, it added. more..

Apr 7 (LNP) UNP Matara District candidate Buddika Pathirana says party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe will not hesitate even to sacrifice premiership to reach a post-poll agreement with the JVP-led DNA for the formation of the next government. Pathirana said the premiership would not be an issue, though he was their nominee for the post. more..

Apr 7 (TN) Uprooted civilians from Vanni in Vavuniyaa internment camps are forced to sell their dry food rations on the streets of Vavuniyaa as they are unable to fulfill their other pressing needs including milk food for their children, sources in Vavuniyaa said. Help from NGOs being unavailable they are driven to sell their dry food rations for less than half the market price to meet their other vital needs. more..