Oct 3 (LB) The UNP and DNA are likely to join hands and form an alliance once again to free former army commander Sarath Fonseka who is now imprisoned in Welikada. The UNP has invited the DNA to join their protest campaign to free Fonseka who was sentenced last Friday to 30 months in jail. UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake told LAKBIMAnEWS that they have already sent out an invitation calling on the DNA to join them in their bid to release Fonseka. more..

Oct 3 (NS) The government is yet to make substantial efforts to dismantle the LTTE�s international network, security analyst Prof Rohan Gunaratne said. Prof Gunaratne made these observations while giving evidence at the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS). Prof. Gunaratne, in his submissions to the commission last Friday, more..

Oct 3 (ST) It was close upon midnight Thursday when former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka was escorted into an isolated cell in Ward "S" at the high security Welikada Prison. Fonseka, now Prisoner No: 0/22032, changed from a national dress into an ill-fitting jumper, the regular attire for convicts and slept the night on a mat on the cement floor. He had only one pillow. He was woken up at 5 a.m on Friday, more..

Oct 3 (BP) Acting Premier Paul Lucas says Sri Lanka has not withdrawn their bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games despite the country not making a presentation. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh lead a team of four on Saturday to make their first presentation to delegates from all 71 participating countries and territories of the Commonwealth Games Federation to host the 2018 Games. The Gold Coast's only current rival Sri Lanka declined to make a presentation to the delegates. more..

Oct 3 (E24/7) Police are yet to determine the exact cause of the death of a Sri Lankan captain killed on board the Ocean Trite while sailing to Sharjah port. UAE-based Ocean Trite was traveling from Iran back to the UAE when it was reportedly attacked by pirates. Sri Lankan Consul General in Dubai told Emirates 24|7 that although initial reports claimed that the captain must have been killed by pirates, the exact cause is yet to be determined. more..

Oct 3 (Island) Can the Opposition exploit sentencing of former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka, MP, for a 30 month RI at maximum security �S Ward� of Welikada Prison to build a common front against President Mahinda Rajapaksa�s government? Will the UNP leadership and the Marxist JVP shed their differences to reach an agreement on a joint protest campaign? Opposition sources grudgingly admit that the two major parties, more..

Oct 3 (Island) Will JVP/DNA now leading a campaign for the release of General Sarath Fonseka be willing to sacrifice one of its two National List slots to accommodate Mrs. Anoma Fonseka in the seventh parliament if the general loses his seat as a result of his conviction? This is a question now agitating political circles who say that Mrs. Fonseka, who had played a pivotal role in the former army commander�s presidential election campaign and more..

Oct 3 (Island) After a series of meetings with senior UN officials last week, Sri Lanka�s External Affairs Minister GL Peiris said he was confident Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has no plans to ask the UN Panel of Inquiry, currently in session, to probe any allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka. "The secretary-general made it very clear he was not attempting to do that," Peiris told IPS. more..

Oct 3 (ST) The UNP has called upon its Kurunegala District MP Dayasiri Jayasekera to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against him over two controversial issues. The two issues, listed by General Secretary Tissa Attanayake, are: (1) Writing to a Sinhala daily newspaper contradicting a report that the party�s Working Committee had decided to take action against seven dissident MPs for more..

Oct 3 (LB) Mahinda Rajapaksa himself was a victim of a political witch hunt, which landed him in jail. In the Mulkirigala by election of 1985, young Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa, who was campaigning for his brother Chamal was arrested for a shooting incident and the alleged possession of illegal firearms. He was jailed for three months before being cleared of charges. As Mahinda languished in jail, his mother passed away. more..

Oct 3 (Island) Now that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has declared that DNA leader General Sarath Fonseka would have to face the consequences of having being found guilty of a financial fraud, the Opposition should pressure the ruling coalition to initiate action against all those alleged to have involved in corruption and financial irregularities, Opposition sources say. more..

Oct 3 (NS) The Tamil parties in Sri Lanka have slammed the opposition UNP for backtracking on the issue of finding a political solution to the Tamil question. UNP general secretary Tissa Attanayake said that after the defeat of the LTTE, the people of Sri Lanka should work for the economic development of the Tamil areas and not spend time trying to find a political solution to the ethnic question. more..

Oct 3 (Island) President Mahinda Rajapaksa told the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon during last week�s meeting in New York that, if necessary, Amnesty International or any other Organization could testify before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission in Sri Lanka, Lalith Weeratunga, the Secretary to the President said yesterday. more..

Oct 4 (SL) The Disaster Management Ministry has said the necessary steps have been taken to provide immediate relief to the people affected by the heavy rains currently experienced in the country. Disaster Management Minister A.H.M. Fowzie has been quoted in the media today (3) as saying that necessary steps have been taken to immediately supply flood relief to people affected by floods and landslides due to the heavy rains. more..

Oct 4 (SL) A new movement, The People�s Movement for Democracy, was launched today (3) to campaign for former Army Commander and DNA Leader Sarath Fonseka�s release and to safeguard democracy in the country. Convener of the Movement, DNA MP Vijitha Herath said the People�s Movement for Democracy was formed for all progressive forces calling for Fonseka�s release and to protect democracy in the country to come under one common center regardless of political and other affiliations. more..

Oct 4 (PTI) Sri Lanka's war-hero Sarath Fonseka, who once commanded his troops against the LTTE, has been lodged in a solitary cell where he sleeps on a mat on the cement floor, attired in ill-fitting prison clothes. Jailed on corruption charges, Fonseka, who was transferred from his detention centre on Thursday after President Mahinda Rajapaksa put his seal on his sentence, has been taken in as a regular prisoner. more..

Oct 4 (SL) Perumal Pavaranjani of Gonadikawatte area down Gampola road in Kadugannawa was found dead on September 28, allegedly after being attacked by her father with an axe. Pavarajnini (7) had shouldered the responsibilities of cooking and cleaning and caring for her older brother and younger sister after their mother left to the Middle East. Their father, a labourer assaulted the girl with the axe because the food that she had cooked was not �tasty.� more..

Oct 4 (LT) It is not Gen. Sarath Fonseka who should ask for pardon but the President who imprisoned him says organizer of �War heroes for General.� Retired Capt. Gayan Vithanage speaking at a press conference held by the organization today. He said the General has not done any wrong to take pardon from anybody. Speaking further Capt. Gayan Vithanage said, �What is the wrong Gen. Sarath Fonseka committed for him to take pardon from the President? more..

Oct 4 (LT) Incumbant of Kotte Nagaviharaya Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero has requested the President to release Gen. Sarath Fonseka and in place of him imprison hundred Bhikkus including him. Ven. Sobitha Thero said this at a press conference held by the �National Bhikku Front� in Colombo today. Speaking further Ven. Sobitha said, �Sarath Fonseka is a fearless commander, a hero. more..

Oct 4 (SL) The UNP has organized several religious activities to invoke blessings on former Army Commander and DNA Leader Sarath Fonseka commencing today (3). Fonseka is currently serving a 30 month rigorous imprisonment at Welikada Prison. UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake told the media that the religious programmes will be an island wide campaign and seth kavi will also be recited to invoke blessings on Fonseka. more..

Oct 4 (Island) The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) chaired by former Attorney General C. R. de Silva has summoned Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) officials for questioning regarding persons taken into custody, The Sunday Island learns. The Commission has asked the TID to submit a list of persons who are alleged to have gone missing and the material evidence available against those in custody. more..

Oct 4 (IL) The Seva Vanitha Unit of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Kuwait, out of funds raised through promotional events and charitable activities, has donated Rs. 01 million toward the welfare of the needy children in Sri Lanka. At a simple ceremony held at the Embassy on 29th September 2010, Mrs. Ramanika Dissanayake, Chairperson of the Seva Vaitha Unit on behalf of its members handed over a bank draft to the value of Rs. 01 million and more..

Oct 4 (LBO) Sri Lanka will have a set of rules in place to allow Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), collective fund that typically targets and index to be traded in the Colombo Stock Exchange, a top regulatory official said. "At the beginning of next year we will have the regulatory framework ready for exchange traded funds to be traded on the exchange," deputy director general of the Colombo Stock Exchange, Malik Cader told a senior business executives at the LBR-LBO CEO forum. more..

Oct 4 (TN) An acute shortage for wheat flour prevails in Colombo as traders have hoarded their stocks expecting price of wheat flour to be increased by Sri Lanka government, sources in Colombo said. SL government had raised the price of wheat flour twice in the recent past and the price of 450 gm bread has shot up from 40 rupees to 44 rupees with the price hike of 8 rupees per kilo wheat flour enforced from Saturday midnight. more..

Oct 4 (BBC) The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) has elected its prime minister, speaker and deputy speaker after ratifying its constitution at a meeting in New York, the TGTE said. It said the former legal advisor to the Tamil Tigers, Visvanathan Rudrakumaran, was unanimously appointed as the first ever PM while two leading expatriates from Canada and Switzerland were elected as the speaker and his deputy. more..

Oct 4 (LG) V ox Populi, Vox Dei � The voice of the people is the voice of the gods � is the belief that our civics teacher of those years after Independence, tried to drill into us in Latin and English. Half a century later, we have begun to wonder whether this principle so dear to believers in democracy should be changed to Vox Populi, Vox Assimus � the voice of the people is the voice of the asses. more..

Oct 4 (LG) One could ask him or herself how it is possible to seek justice from the butcher for killing animals. The butcher would have his own story. The animals, which are already dead, leave only the witnesses to seek justice from the investigation commission appointed by the butcher. How it is possible to get justice from this commission? This concept applies to the seven-member commission set up by Rajapaksa and more..

Oct 4 (TC) Q: First of all what happened with the North -East Provincial Council (PC) and what led to the infamous Unilateral Declaration of Independence? A: Let me tell you first what led to the creation of the PCs. PCs were established by the 13th amendment, which was a result of the Indo-Lanka peace accord, as a solution to the ethnic conflict. But PC elections were only held in the South and more..

Oct 4 (NF) Two persons have drowned in the Siyambalanduwa and Kuruwita areas. A person crossing the Neelawa Oya bridge in the Kuruwinna area in Siyambalanduwa on a motor bike died when he was washed away by a strong current. The victim has been identified as a 45-year-old resident of the 8th mile post area in Dambagalla. Meanwhile, another person, who attempted to go across a field in the Pahalagama area in Koppanawa, Kuruwita has also drowned. more..

Oct 4 (LG) Strange arguments are put forward to explain the development of Singapore. It is claimed, based on such arguments that it is a living example of a developed nation to be followed by countries like us. In the first place Singapore is not a country but a city state placed on a rock. It was originally a part of Malaysia. Singapore declared independence from Britain unilaterally in August 1963 and joined the Federation of Malaysia in September more..

Oct 4 (ST) Among that collection of amazing and individual talent that made up the �43 Group, still regarded with something akin to awe, was one whose skills were different. True he was a painter, like the rest but it was for his incisive satirical cartoons that Aubrey Collette was famous. There were few political figures who escaped Collette�s pen and Prime Ministers and ordinary people all, they valued his wit and humour, scathing though it may have been. more..

Oct 4 (TC) President Mahinda Rajapaksa�s speech to the UN General Assembly consisted of the usual banalities and platitudes, with one outstanding exception. That exception was a perniciously riveting idea symbolic and symbiotic of the Rajapaksa ethos, a transformative concept which, if implemented, would negate much of the progress made in the sphere of human rights in the last few centuries and normalise tyranny in the name of anti-terrorism. more..

Oct 4 (SL) It seems a very long time ago that the now-defunct Montage magazine published a piece I titled �Who Will Bell the Cat?� the political feline in this case being Mahinda Rajapaksa. With all the speculation about what the 18th Amendment portends for all of us, I think it is appropriate to re-visit the prospect of belling the now even-more-powerful President (for life?) and what purpose, if any, may be served by an exercise that seeks to more..

Oct 4 (TC) The end was never in doubt; President Rajapaksa would confirm Gen. Fonseka�s jail sentence and the b�te noire of the Ruling Family would be duly incarcerated. Only the blindly optimistic would have expected the Rajapaksas to show any mercy to an enemy to whom they have denied all justice. Still, the reality of the former army commander serving a rigorous imprisonment like a common or garden criminal did cause some shockwaves. more..

Oct 4 (LG) The confirming of the two court martial �verdicts� against this country�s former Army Commander by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, with the consequent result that (former?) General Sarath Fonseka is now serving a prison sentence along with common criminals, is perhaps the greatest legal travesty of our times. Let me be quite clear on the above assertion. Whatever may be the several justifications explaining why this ultimate fate had to befall the former Army Commander, more..

Oct 4 (Island) The event that gained the most attention last week was the conviction of Sarath Fonseka on charges of improper tender processes in army procurements and his transfer to the Welikada jail as an ordinary convict clad in baggy shorts and �jumper�. Even though the present columnist is an employee of a private newspaper, and not a member of the government, had Sarath Fonseka shown even the slightest chance of winning the January 2010 presidential election, more..

Oct 4 (NS) Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka was given the task of revamping the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) from its position of being a burden to the national economy to a profitable institution when he took office after the general election last April. In an earlier interview as soon as he took office, Ranawaka expressed his objectives to The Nation. Our paper met Minister Ranawaka once again to more..

Oct 4 (DM) Siddhartha Gauthama, the Enlightened One, in his discourse of the prerequisites for a system of governance that is sustainable, productive, wholesome and peaceful, i.e. the incomparable tract called the Dasa Raja Dharma, refers to something called Ajjava, meaning �honesty� and �integrity�. The ruler(s) are required, if good governance is stated objective honestly pursued, to ensure that the above qualities drive and inhabit all executions within and more..

Oct 4 (ST) The granting of the third tranche of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stand-by facility did not come as a surprise to anyone, least of all the officials. It was in line with the optimistic assessments of the economy that one is familiar with in recent months. The IMF tranche was fully worth in gold more than in the dollars it lent. The granting of the third tranche is most important in building international confidence in the economy. more..

Oct 4 (ST) The Friends Provident T-20 Association of English cricket has chosen the Lankan all-rounder Chaminda Vaas as the best country T-20 player for the 2010 season. At a gala dinner held in England where more than 700 guests were present last week, Vaas who represented Northamptonshire in the English T-20 county championship accepted his accolade. Besides the T-20 player of the year, the Association also chose the 4-day county championship player of the year and more..

Oct 4 (Island) Media reports and comments on a Census and Statistics Department revelation that over a quarter of a million children do not attend school seem to have had the desired impact. The government has been jolted into launching a probe. While ordering the investigation, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said that the goal of his government is to ensure that each and every child passes the GCE (A/L) examination in the future. more..

Oct 4 (DM) The UN and international rights groups that are gunning for Sri Lanka over alleged war crimes are in for a fix. These agencies have now been asked to save former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka who is likely to turn a key accused in the event the allegations into Sri Lanka�s crimes are proven to be true. Though the Commander earned the wrath of locals with the announcement of the �white flag incident�, he went on to deny it later and more..

Oct 4 (LG) The day after the President Mahendra Percy Rajapakse returned with his entourage of 130 delegates after addressing the United Nation�s General Assembly, he presided over all expected vindictive and controversial decision against his top political opponent General Sarath Fonseka - the man who led the victory over the LTTE last year. more..

Oct 4 (NS) The much-delayed agreements on the 1,000 MW Sampur coal power plant and the Indo-Lanka under-sea cable are to be concluded in the very future, once green light is given by the attorney-general. �We are awaiting the attorney-general�s clearance for the second power plant which will be hopefully finalised by next month,� a high- ranking government official close to the deal said. The deals are nearly two years behind schedule, said the official. more..

Oct 4 (BBC) An alliance of Tamil parties in Sri Lanka has called on the government for a meaningful resettlement of Tamil displaced people in the north and east. MK Sivajilingam, of Tamil National Liberation Front (TNLF), told BBC Sandeshaya that the resettled in the north are still facing many serious issues including the lack of land to rebuild their war-ravaged lives. He added that many regional government officials are finding it very difficult to find solutions as more..

Oct 4 (LB) A decision has been taken to establish at least one army division and an STF camp permanently in each district, said Army Commander Major General Jagath Jayasuriya yesterday at Anuradhapura. He was speaking at the Sri Lanka Army flag blessing ceremony held in Anuradhapura and said that the plan to increase the presence of military personnel in the south is a part of the new national security arrangement conceptualized by more..

Oct 4 (DN) The forthcoming budget would reflect the people�s wishes and aspirations, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said. When preparing the budget proposals, the Government will take on board the wishes and needs of the people, he added. The President said so addressing a public gathering in Polonnaruwa, Saturday. The event also marked UNP MP Earl Gunesekera�s first appearance on a public stage in his political constituency along with more..

Oct 4 (DN) The Customs Department has increased the staff handling such operations and extended import clearance hours till 8 pm on weekdays and 4 pm on weekends to expedite the import clearing process. This is a sequel to a directive by Finance and Planning Ministry Secretary Dr P B Jayasundera to that effect. The Ministry also requested the public not to be misled by rumours since no change is stipulated in Customs duties of all cargo, including vehicles which were in force since June 2010. more..

Oct 4 (DN) President Mahinda Rajapaksa Saturday ordered authorities to take strict action against Marriage Registrars who sanction under age marriages. He told that there should be no more child brides in the country. If found guilty relevant Marriage Registrars should be stripped of their duties in addition to initiating legal action to impose further penalties, he added. more..

Oct 4 (DM) The vehicle import taxes would remain unchanged and the general public should not be misled by misinformation, the government announced yesterday. There was no necessity to postpone or speed up the import of vehicles and other import goods unnecessarily because the taxes which were currently in effect would remain unchanged, the information department said said in a media release quoting Secretary to the Finance and Planning Ministry Dr. P.B Jayasundera. more..