Dec 6 (DM) The TNA stated that it would be futile to nominate representatives to the proposed Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on the national question until a �substantial agreement� is reached with the govt. TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran said that it was �not fair and not right� for the government to impose �new conditions� by taking up the position that bilateral talks cannot progress unless the TNA names its representatives to the PSC. more..

Dec 6 (LBO) Sri Lanka has raised a limit on the foreign holdings on Treasury bills to 12.5 percent of outstanding govt debt from 10 percent, the Central Bank said, amid rising interest pressure from the defence of a dollar peg. The central bank said excess liquidity in the banking system had caused rates to rise in recent weeks, though inflation was lower. "Meanwhile, foreign investors have expressed continued interest in more..

Dec 6 (Island) 22 senior undergraduates, of the University of Peradeniya, have been suspended from the University in connection with incident, including ragging of freshers, during the month, Vice-Chancellor Professor S.B.S. Abayakoon said. Stern disciplinary action would be taken against those involved in incidents of ragging and breaching the code of discipline for university students, he said. Investigations are being conducted into last week�s alleged cases of ragging. more..

Dec 6 (DM) Water wells used for consumption in the Jaffna District have been contaminated due to the wells mixing with sea water, Parliament was informed. Jaffna District UNP MP Mrs. Vijayakala Maheswaran said that the access to drinking water facilities had worsened as a result. She said that the govt should take steps to rectify the situation as a soon as possible. Karainagar, Ariyalai, Velvetithurai, Wadukkodai and the island areas are the worst hit. more..

Dec 6 (GT) A Sri Lankan maid, identified as RD, 25, was referred to the Dubai Criminal Court on Monday for allegedly stealing Dhs128,000 in addition to three mobile phones, belonging to her female Emirati sponsor, a school director. Prosecution records show that the alleged theft took place on Oct.20 while RD was working at her sponsor�s apartment in Hatta. The Emirati sponsor, known as SK, 44, said that on Oct.20 at around 6:40am she opened her safe and found that more..

Dec 6 (Island) Minister for Private Passenger Transport C. B. Ratnayaka said that permission for private passenger coaches to run on the Southern Expressway would be obtained in the near future. Speaking at Adikarigama in Hanguranketha, Minister Ratnayaka said when the Southern Expressway is allowed for private passenger coaches people living in the remote rural areas like Hanguranketha would get the opportunity to experience travel on an Expressway. more..

Dec 6 (LBO) Sri Lanka is expecting more than 1,000 business and official delegates for an export trade fair to be held in March in Colombo, which will also feature a high profile business forum, officials said. World Trade Organization director general Pascal Lamy, Marc Bolland, chief executive of the retail chain Marks and Spencer and Sharen J Turney chief executive of Victoria's Secret will take part in a business forum. more..

Dec 6 (LBO) Stocks closed almost stagnant Tuesday, after breaching the 6,000 point mark the day before, with trading also thin, brokers said. The main All Share Price Index fell 0.12 percent to 5,988.65, while the more liquid Milanka index was stagnant, edging up 0.01 percent to close at 5,156.39. Turnover fell to 776 million rupees. There were two crossings or off-market private deals in Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings, one of 845,500 shares and the other of 850,000 shares, more..

Dec 6 (DM) Police arrested a woman who was raising a two year old boy illegally in the Kannankuda area in Vavunathivu along with two other women including the mother of the child. The arrest was made following a tip off received from residents of the area, police media spokesman Ajith Rohana said. During investigations it was revealed that the boy was handed over to the suspect by his mother through another woman before she went abroad for employment. more..

Dec 6 (DM) December 3, 2011, Colombo. Unawatuna beach belt was a hive of activity as throngs of Sri Lankans gathered on the beach to witness the first ever Red Bull Air Show in the country. All roads down to the Unawatuna beach belt were bumper to bumper traffic as Sri Lankans gathered to watch the Godfather of the Red Bull Air Races. Peter Besenyei, thrilled the crowds of Sri Lanka and performed to amazing aerobatics in the air. more..

Dec 6 (DM) Amid allegations that the politicization of crime and the criminalization of politics in recent years had led to lawlessness if not anarchy in Sri Lanka, we are now being saddled with another crisis of the politicization of corruption and the corruption of politics. So much so that not only cynics but also independent analysts are also regularly quoting the famous story about Socrates with a lamp looking even under a bed to find an honest man or woman more..

Dec 6 (GDI) Minister of Mass Media and Information Keheliya Rambukwella this morning visited the Editor Lakbhimanews and Senior Journalist Rajpal Abeynayake who is under going treatment at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka. Rajpal Abeynayake was severely assaulted by a senior attorney-at-law on Saturday at a five-star hotel in Colombo at the annual Voetlights dinner, attended by lawyers, a complaint lodged with the Police by Abeynayake reveals. more..

Dec 6 (DN) The Police say that the senior lawyer suspected of assaulting Lakbimanews Chief Editor Rajpal Abeynayake, is yet to report to the Police, for the purpose of attending an inquiry. The suspect will be given another date to report to the Police for facilitating the inquiry. Abeynayake had allegedly been assaulted by the senior lawyer last Saturday at the annual Voetlights dinner, held at a Kollupitiya hotel, attended by lawyers. more..

Dec 6 (DM) The police will conduct a route march in Kilinochchi on Thursday after a thirty-year lapse, reviving a tradition that has been practised from the colonial times. Mannar DIG Maxi Proctor said during the war the police could not perform its duties freely for the people�s welfare and now it was the time for the police to do so while maintaining old traditions. The march will be held after the conclusion of the annual inspection by the Kilinochchi DIG. more..

Dec 6 (NE) The matter in which five foreigners and a Namibian stand accused of using counterfeit ATM cards resumed in the High Court yesterday. The accused are Satheeskumar Thulasithas, a Sri Lankan, Pararasasingam Sarangan, British national, Travotta Mekaundapi Tjuiju, Namibian, Abdul Kader Jamal Mohamed, a Singaporean and Anthony Suresh Kumar Stanis also, a Sri Lankan. The foreigners allegedly entered and exited Namibia between Mar 18 2007 and Aug 14 2007. more..

Dec 6 (CT) �The President opined that the opposition �Daily Mirror� had the best presentation of his victory speech in Parliament, superior to that of the govt-owned newspapers.� The US Embassy Colombo informed Washington. The cable classified as �CONFIDENTIAL� recounts details of meetings Ambassador Robert O. Blake has had with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. The cable was written on May 26, 2009 and more..

Dec 6 (LBO) Sri Lankan institutions, companies and individuals who helped promote commerce, especially during the war years, are to be recognised by the 'Global Commerce Excellence' awards. The awards, to be held on December 13, 2011, are organised by the state-run Export Development Board and Sri Lanka Ports Authority, and the central bank along with the private Shippers� Academy Colombo. "The criteria behind the awards and medals are to recognise the contribution made by more..

Dec 6 (LT) The �Mathata Thitha� concept introduced by President Mahinda Raajapaksa was allocated Rs.200 million from the 2011 budget but nothing has been allocated from the budget 2012. During the �Mathata Thitha� period liquor shops were newly opened throughout the island and the government is now prepared to lift the ban on several intoxicants that are being banned at present. Meanwhile the main income of the government has become liquor. The income earned by the more..

Dec 6 (AP) A media rights group has filed a court challenge over the Sri Lankan government's blocking of five news websites for content that was deemed insulting, a spokesman said Tuesday. The local Free Media Movement filed a fundamental rights application in the Supreme Court on Monday on the basis that the blockade breaches the people's right to information and freedom of expression, the group's convener, Sunil Jayasekara, said. more..

Dec 6 (Reuters) Central bank will allow the rupee currency to appreciate or depreciate by a few cents based on market pressure and global currency movements, a top central bank official said on Tuesday. The rupee was devalued 3 percent on Nov. 22, a day after President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his capacity as finance minister shocked markets and his own central bank by ordering the rupee devalued in his 2012 budget speech. Before the devaluation, the central bank kept more..

Dec 6 (Xinhua) World's biggest cinnamon exporter Sri Lanka is experimenting on the medicinal power of the well- known spice as a treatment for diabetes. D.B.T. Wijeratne, additional secretary of the Agriculture Ministry said a team from the medical faculty of the Peradeniya State University has been experimenting on the healing power of cinnamon as a treatment for diabetes and cholesterol. "We have found cinnamon is working for diabetes and cholesterol and several other illnesses. more..

Dec 6 (LT) The new Chairman of Sri Lanka Rupavahini Training Institute appointed by the Ministry of Mass Media has begun selling valuable assets belonging to the institute. Chairman�s office has been arranged after demolishing the conservatory built to high standards so that rare films could be conserved. A large number of films that were in the conservatory have been discarded. Also, renowned artistes and TV and film experts who more..

Dec 6 (AD) Minister Dinesh Gunawardena claims that several more UNP MPs are set to cross over to the government in the near future, following the footsteps of Mohan Lal Grero who took seat in the government bench after voting in favor of the budget in Parliament last week. United National Party (UNP) Parliamentarians have joined the government in the past and will join the government in the future as well, the Minister of water Supply and Drainage said. more..

Dec 6 (LBO) A top Indian scientist has said he believes Sri Lanka has huge gas hydrate resources in the ocean around the island as in India. The ice like solids found in deep water on the ocean floor could generate methane gas, a potential energy source, Harsh Gupta told a forum of Sri Lankan scientists. The former Secretary of India's ocean development department said Sri Lanka's exclusive economic zone should have gas hydrates as India has found by drilling in her own waters. more..

Dec 6 (LT) The allocation for the Ministry of Child Development and Women's Affairs from the budget 2012 has been reduced from what was allocated for the previous year states Socialist Women�s Union. At a media briefing held by the Socialist Women�s Union (SWU) at JVP office at Pelawatta today (5th) morning the National Organizer of the Union Samanmalee Gunasinghe said the present government, despite giving various promises to women, has not fulfilled any of them and more..

Dec 6 (Hindu) A group of 25 veterinary doctors and animal husbandry officers from Sri Lanka have begun a tour of Kerala to study the State's initiatives in dairy farming. The delegation, led by Hiteki Saito, Chief Adviser, Feeding and Dairy Management, Department of Animal Production and Health, is scheduled to visit the high-tech farm established by the Kerala Livestock Development Board (KLDB) at Kulathupuzha. The team will also visit the bull semen station at Mattupatty, more..

Dec 6 (Xinhua) In order to meet an export target of 250,000 metric tonnes of rice by 2015, Sri Lanka is to open four export processing zones in areas including former war-ravaged north, the agriculture minister said on Tuesday. Four export processing zones are to be set up in war-torn northern districts of Mannar and Ampara, Polonnaruwa in north- central and Hambantpota in the southern province with an expense of 1.75 million U. S. dollars, more..

Dec 6 (DM) A third year student of the Arts Faculty of Colombo University who allegedly assaulted a lecturer of the same faculty was released on Rs.500,000 personal bail with two sureties by the Colombo Chief Magistrate today. The student was produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate�s Court by the Cinnamon Gardens Police on Saturday and remanded him till December 12 for assaulting the lecturer Osanda Yasassri Gunaratne. Yesterday the matter was taken up for inquiry before more..

Dec 6 (LS) UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe agreed to suspend the party membership of the MP Mohan Lal Grero who crossed over to the govt recently. Senior organizer of the party John Amarathunga lodged a complaint on the activities of the Mr.Grero towards the party general secretary in such situation party secretary inform the party leader this regard. According to the sources with an immediate effect party leader suspended the UNP membership of membership of Mohan Lal Grero today.

Dec 6 (BBC) Sri Lanka has strongly denounced a report in a UK newspaper which said a leading lobbying company wrote a speech on behalf of the president. In a report on Tuesday, the Independent quoted a Bell Pottinger company spokesman as saying it wrote a speech the president gave to the UN in 2010. The spokesman is quoted as saying the speech was "very well received". Bell Pottinger has so far not commented on the contents of the Independent's report. more..

Dec 7 (Island) INDIA is the only country in South Asia where democracy has survived in its classical form. It has got disfigured in Pakistan because the military, not the elected govt, has the last word. In Bangladesh, the perpetual boycott by the opposition, this time by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has lessened parliament�s credibility and, in Sri Lanka, the confused opposition has affected its representative character. Nepal is yet to settle down to more..

Dec 7 (Island) This could happen only in an institution which has a rich storehouse of memories. To be specific, this could happen only in an institution which has been the centre of the artistic world at some point of time, bringing out, time and again, works of enduring beauty which would continue to enchant the minds of hundreds of thousands of people. This could happen only in an institution of academic excellence whose corridors echo with the footsteps of some of more..

Dec 7 (SO) The development policy of the Govt, envisioned in the Mahinda Chinthana policy framework, has focused special attention on the fundamental issues in Sri Lanka's economic development and the disparity between sectors and several govt programs have been launched to bridge this gap. Gemidiriya is a novel concept introduced by govt to address socio-economic grievances of the rural communities. It has shown tremendous progress over the last six years. more..

Dec 7 (DBS) Hello Friends; Death, deprivation, loss and suffering is not necessarily the monopoly of Tamils in Sri Lanka alone. Other ethnicities have also suffered , many at the hands of those belonging to the Tamil ethnicity. As for the majority community there was a particular brand of violence which victimized them greatly. I am talking of the two insurrections in 1971 and 1988-89 by the JVP. While the JVP unleashed violence on the one hand the state and its more..

Dec 7 (LB) We were struggling during the last period to build a social democratic movement to face the dictatorial and repressive policies of the govt. But this attempt was nullified continuously by the intervention of chauvinist forces. There is a school of thought which believes that the govt could be challenged only by a leadership that is more Sinhala than the Mahinda camp. These misplaced radicals devote their time to contact racist elements who fall out from the ruling coalition. more..

Dec 7 (SO) The world famous psychologist B.F. Skinners once said, "Give me a child and I'll shape him into anything". Children are often viewed simply as smaller versions of adults. When we think of child psychology, the first thing that comes to mind is the internal factors that influence a child's growth, such as genetics and personal characteristics. Is that enough to build a well-balanced personality in a child, who can feel and understand more..

Dec 7 (LB) Never, ever let the military into business ventures, money making, town and country planning, or development projects; never let the military have control over civilian life in general and most emphatically so if there is money involved. That�s the hard lesson Egypt�s second revolution is teaching the world. It�s not a new lesson; the threat to public when the military is let out of the barracks and allowed to dabble in money and business has been driven home by more..

Dec 7 (LB) Come on, come all and hear this: the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, the body that represents the lawyers of this country, has now come out with an Executive Committee resolution which effectively states that a probe into the most glaring incidence of the subversion of independence of the judiciary in this country seen in recent times, should be abandoned. Yes, you did read that right. And who was behind the train of events that led to this resolution? more..