June 19 (LP) There are as many as 43 million people world wide uprooted and currently suffering for survival. It was in the year 2000 that the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution and decided that from 2001, 20th June should be declared as the �World Refugee Day�. This year�s theme for World Refugee day is �Home�. A description given by the UN refugee agency UNHCR, declares that a refugee is someone who has been put on to run away from his or her country due to harassment, war, or hostility. more..

June 19 (LP) Minister of Plantation Industries Mahinda Samarasignha discussed several issues related to the Plantation sector as he addressed the Ceylon Tea Traders Association (CTTA) for the first time after his appointment. The Minister has already adopted many consultative processes, discussing with many stake holders involved in the industry, their problems, concerns and expectations. more..

June 19 (Xinhua) The Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) said on Friday that it has planned to add 4,000 hotel rooms in the Eastern Province as more local and foreign tourists are being attracted to the area after the completion of the civil war. Dileep Mudadeniya, managing director of the SLTPB said local businessmen have already agreed to invest in the project. more..

June 19 (EP) An Exposure Visit Programme has been arranged for all Members of Eastern Provincial Council and 21 Predeshiya Saba Chairmen and selected officials in three batches to Kerala State in India. The first group has made 5 days visit from 7th June. Hon. Chief Minister, Hon Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Minister of Road Development and 10 Members of Provincial Council, 06 Predeshiya Saba Chairmen and 10 officials participated in this first group. more..

June 19 (EP) The Provincial Planning Secretariat is conducting a series of workshop on Managing for Development Result for the Planners and Managers in the Eastern Province. The third workshop was conducted on 11th and 12th of June 2010 in Batticaloa. The workshop was conducted to enhance knowledge and skill of Planners and Development Managers in Eastern Province in planning and managing development results and evaluation. more..

June 19 (MoD) The Co-operatives and Internal Trade Ministry will increase the number of Lak Sathosa retail outlets to 400 to make Lak Sathosa the market leader, Co-operatives and Internal Trade Minister Johnston Fernando said at the opening of the 196th Lak Sathosa retail outlet in Kilinochchi. More Lak Sathosa retail outlets will be opened especially in liberated areas in the North and the East. more..

June 19 (LP) All arrangements to hold the annual Kandy Asela Perehara are now being worked out. The dates for the Esala perehara and preparations are now being made said a Maligawa official. According to the rituals of the perehara the planting of Kup (Kup Situweema) of the four dewalas (sathara devala) will take place at the respective dewala premises on the 4th of August. The first Kumabal Perehara will parade the streets from the 10th of August to the 19th while more..

June 19 (LeN) Because the case filed by the Attorney General against former Kilinochchi District Secretary Nagalingam Vethanayagam for not disclosing information to the Police regarding the LTTE member, a suspect who was alleged to have planned to murder Defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse was withdrawn, The Colombo High Court judge Sunil Rajapakse released Vethanayagam. The Attorney General had charged that former District Secretary has failed to more..

June 19 (N360) Sri Lanka�s top domain registry .LK will celebrate 20 years of its existence in operation during this month. The LK Domain Registry is an independent non-profit organization and has been helping to establish a unique Sri Lankan identity on the web by registering Internet domain names under the Sri Lankan country coded Internet domain .lk. It also has been providing second level domain registration under more..

June 19 (LT) The government by allowing the construction of a tourist hotel at the summit of �Sri Pada� and allowing reconstruction work at the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy without any consideration to its archeological value is engaged in a massive archeological destruction. These programmes are carried out claiming they are necessary for the development of the tourist industry. more..

June 19 (LNP) President Mahinda Rajapaksa has rightly identified the post-war challenges which need to be met if the country-`s victory over terrorism is to be protected. Delivering his V-Day speech yesterday, the President said: `It is not to idly waste our time that we liberated this land. It was not to hand over the country to thieves, crooks, the corrupt and those of the underworld and also not to waste our time and energy... we are not ready to accept aid under conditions that more..

June 19 (SL) Three year old Ishan Mohamad Sasmee, from a Muslim village in the Buttala police area, was abducted yesterday (June 17) by two men engaged in business with the boy�s father. Reports say that the two men, who were frequent visitors at the house, had taken the boy out under the pretext of buying him a snack and had not returned with him. A money dispute with the father is believed to be at the root of the kidnapping. more..

June 19 (DN) Fighter jets flew over the Galle Face Green, Parachuters decorated the sky with colours, Navy Ships made skillful curves in the waters beyond and ground troops marched with pride- their weaponry in full display, while cheerful crowds watched in awe as they joined in one of the most spectacular military parades in Sri Lanka�s history. The sight of wheel chair-ridden War Heroes joining the parade who sacrificed their arms and limbs for more..

June 19 (DN) The nation yesterday honoured thousands of service personnel who laid down their lives for the protection of sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Motherland at the National War Heroes Memorial at the Parliament grounds in Kotte. The area echoed to the drum beats by the cultural troupes of the Tri Forces and the Police giving an air of bravery and valour to Sri Lankans who stood against separatist forces throughout history. more..

June 19 (Island) The UNP yesterday called for applications from its members who wish to contest the local government polls. General Secretary of the UNP, Tissa Attanayake, told "The Island" that the four year term of local bodies has already been extended by 12 months and they expect the government to announce elections shortly. The UNP, he said, wants to be prepared for any eventuality and that was the reason for applications being called even before the polls date was set. more..

June 19 (DN) The first anniversary of Victory Day was of special significance for Sri Lanka for an abundance of good results that the defeat of terrorism had brought to the country. President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the Victory Day celebrations at Galle Face had the highest words of praise for the troops who brought about this victory and paid the nation�s tribute to those who brought freedom back to the country and nation. more..

June 19 (DN) There will be a 16-hour water cut in Colombo and suburbs due to a repair of the Ceylon Electricity Board power supply system to the Ambatale water supply. The water cut will be from 9.00 a.m today till 1.00 a.m today (Sunday), the National Water Supply and Drainage Board said. The affected areas are: Colombo Municipality area, Peliyagoda town council area. Wattala, Mabola, and Ja-Ela Town Council areas and more..

June 19 (Island) The Embilipitiya Paper Factory which recommened operations in 2008, has stopped production depriving 234 persons of employment and leaving an electricity bill to the tune of Rs 95 million unpaid. This came to light recently when the Minister P. Dayaratne, made an unannounced visit in the company of Deputy Minister Sarath Gunaratne and other officials on the invitation of Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thera. more..

June 19 (DM) A Japanese man was arrested yesterday at the BIA when he allegedly attempted to smuggle out of Sri Lanka seven-and-a-half kilos of the valuable medicinal herb Kothala-Himbutu, a Sri Lanka Customs (SLC) official said. �We have reason to believe that this offender may not be acting alone but having accomplices helping him in this smuggling racket which appears to been in operation for several years,� more..

June 19 (Island) Cooperatives and Internal Trade Minister Johnston Fernando visited the Weerawila economic Centre and Pannegamuwa Rice Mills and found both were in unsatisfactory condition. He looked into the redevelopment of the Weerawila Economic Centre, which has fallen into a very poor state and found to his amazement that there were only a few traders. Even the fish stalls were empty. more..

June 19 (LBO) South Asian countries like Sri Lanka have a common interest in forging a common regional stand in world trade talks, trade experts and economists told a meeting in Colombo. A common approach by South Asia at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks would be better than individual counties adopting their own individual approaches, they said. South Asian countries need access for their products in more..

June 19 (DM) Life certainly could not have been any better for President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He is the envy of everybody in town and outside and even his sworn enemies concede that here is one politician who has been having the company of the lady luck on his side for a too longer time. His success rate by any standards is unbelievable. Such circumstances usually make a person supremely confident. more..

June 19 (Island) Sri Lanka has not fully taken advantage of the US market for exports to earn more foreign revenue to boost its economy. The US provides GSP concessions for around 3400 products imported from various countries and Sri Lanka has barely touched some of these tariff lines and it is strongly advised by the US Embassy in Colombo to do take full use of trade concessions offered by it. more..

June 19 (DM) An investigation conducted by the Ministry of Health revealed a clique of officials belonging to the State Pharmaceutical Corporation was responsible for the colossal losses suffered by the Ministry in procuring stocks of medicines. A large stock of medicines of inferior quality as well as a number that had expired and of inferior quality are said to have been imported in the not so long ago and more..

June 19 (DM) The Grade 5 scholarship examination is to changed so that the questions in the test paper do not exceed the level of knowledge expected of the students, education ministry said yesterday. The ministry had received a number of complaints that the scholarship examination had questions that were too tough for the students and as such caused unnecessary pressure on students in the primary grades. more..

June 19 (AD) The UNP is not against the security forces being honoured. It is only opposed to the non-inclusion of General (retired) Sarath Fonseka for the event, said party General Secretary Tissa Attanayake. The Victory Day celebration was like a wedding sans the bride. The main person to bring victory to the forces, Gen. Fonseka had not been invited to the event. more..

June 19 (DM) To cater to the heightened economic activities in the North and East, the Central Bank will open its fourth regional branch in Jaffna early next month and this will be followed by another in Trincomalee. The Monetary Act provided for the decentralisation of Central Bank activities and in keeping with the provisions of the Act, it had earlier set up regional branches in Anuradhapura, Matale and Matara. more..

June 19 (LP) The prices of Milk Powder is to go up with effect from midnight today (19) said the Minister of Co-operatives and Internal Trade Johnston Fernando. Accordingly the price of a packet of 400 gm powdered milk will be increased by Rs. 19 and a kilo pack by Rs. 48. The Minister said that the companies had requested the Consumer Affairs Authority to increase the prices of Imported Milk powder. more..

June 19 (UNP) UNP Dep. leader Karu Jayasooriya said, the Executive Presidency was introduced by former President JR Jayawardena so that it will be a boon to the country, and it continued to be so during the regimes of the UNP. However, after 1994, with the change of the UNP Govt., as there were ominous signals of this sweeping power being abused by the subsequent Presidents starting with more..

June 19 (NPR) Interracial marriages are still relatively rare in the U.S., but the number is growing. In 1970, just three years after it became legal, less than 2 percent of marriages in the United States were interracial. Today, that number is almost 6 percent. NPR's Katia Riddle brings us this profile of one interracial couple in Cleveland. The first time Rochelle Wawracz saw her future husband, she was waiting tables in a restaurant in Minneapolis. more..

June 20 (GSN) Day one of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-star rated SriLankan Airlines Pro at Arugam Bay was officially placed on-hold as contest organizers await an expected good pulse in swell tomorrow to begin the first ever ASP event in Sri Lanka. The consistent 1m (3 to 4 feet) clean surf that greeted the opening day was certainly good for surfing but with bigger waves forecast in the coming days more..

June 20 (LBO) Sri Lankan listed firms have posted profit gains of 170 percent in profits in March quarter 2010 quarter led by diversified firms, hotels, banks, oil palms and telecoms as a war ended and inflation and interest rates fell, analysts said. The earnings rise comes on the back of 180 percent growth in the December 2009 quarter from a year earlier a report by Asia Securities, Colombo based stock brokerage said. more..

June 20 (CT) Housing and Construction minister Wimal Weerawansa said today (June 20) that addressing the housing problem was a difficulty since the Public Utilities Board did not come under him. The minister was speaking during an inspection tour of Soysapura Housing Scheme in Moratuwa, Mr. Weerawansa said however, that he would do his utmost to fulfill his duties, adding that he would not be silenced by dictates of senior officials or politicians. more..

June 20 (NF) The National Gem and Jewellery Authority recently revealed that gold can be produced by further filtering black sand. �We disclosed that many valuable metals exist in the sand that is removed from gem mines. We had difficulties in filtering and identifying these metals as we did not have the necessary equipment in the country. But one of our own entrepreneurs has invented this machine.� said the Chairman of more..

June 20 (DH) Allaipiddi, where the Sri Lankan Tamil writer Shobasakthi was born is a tiny island off the coast of Northern Sri Lanka. A dry, sand-filled desert island, it is now occupied by the Sri Lankan navy. The once thriving village has disappeared. The erasure of a whole landscape and its people has left the few survivors, Shobasakthi amongst them, struggling to resolve their memories with the reality of a home that is no longer there. more..

June 20 (NF) Police have launched extensive investigations into the incident where a three-year-old child in the Buttala area had allegedly been abducted by two friends of his father. Lodging a complaint with police, the mother of the child has said that the abductors were demanding a ransom of Rs. 750,000 to release her child. Mohamed Rashmi, the second child of the Rinas family of the Muslim village in Buttala has thus been abducted. more..

June 20 (SL) As the UNP leadership conundrum intensified and the top stakeholders prepared to address issues raised by the party faithful and the media, including The Sunday Leader, there was growing evidence that the leadership stakes had moved up a notch or two. The last several weeks saw a growing demand for the leader of the UNP, Ranil Wickremesinghe to come clean about party funds and expenses. more..

June 20 (SL) The Ba�ath knew all the details of each Iraqi house, the Iraqi streets, the Iraqi universities, the Iraqi mosques and the Iraqi churches. We were in every house� so while the grand ideal had been to restore pride in the Arab character after centuries of oppression, in fact, the party concentrated most on spying on its own people. It was quite an astonishing system of collective paranoia and surveillance�� more..

June 20 (SL) Two magistrates from the Chavakachcheri and Vavuniya Magistrates� Courts have been transferred with immediate effect to different areas for no specific reason. Chavakachcheri Magistrate T.J. Prabhakaran and Vavuniya Magistrate Alex Raja have been transferred with immediate effect to Akkaraipattu and Colombo respectively. When contacted by The Sunday Leader, Prabhakaran confirmed that he had indeed been transferred with immediate effect and more..