July 31 (SL) President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to make another official visit to China next month, less than a year after he made his last visit to that country. Govt sources confirmed to The Sunday Leader that President Mahinda Rajapaksa will pay a state visit to China this August but the exact date is yet to be confirmed. Since 2007, the President has visited China thrice including in November last year as a special guest to attend the Expo 2010 Exhibition in Shanghai. more..

July 31 (ST) The South Eastern University Council has been dissolved by the UGC two months prior to its expiry, amidst allegations that the move has helped cover up irregularities and malpractices. A former council member M.M. Abul Kalam who was ousted, told the Sunday Times, �This sudden move by the UGC was consequent to a chain of events. At a COPE inquiry held last month in Parliament on the SEUSL, it was revealed that a recently appointed Council member had a conflict of interest more..

July 31 (ST) A senior army officer yesterday accused Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan of trying to secure the release of one of the main suspects in the Puttur bank robbery. Security Forces Eastern Commander Boniface Perera told the Sunday Times, �On hearing of what was taking place, I rushed a special motorcycle squad to the area and detained the suspect who was later taken to the police under heavy armed guard.� more..

July 31 (Island) A new trade union to look after the interests of workers of Indian origin in Sri Lanka has been established. Registered as the Sri Lanka Indian Origin Workers Union on July 18, 2011, its president is A. Muthappan Chettiar. "The union will look into the welfare, rights and legal problems of all workers of Indian origin island-wide", he said. He said these workers in Colombo as well as in upcountry areas do not have an effective way of redressing their grievances. more..

July 31 (Island) Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah Bin Mohammed, Minister of Education and the President of the Saudi Scouts Association said Saudi Arabia appreciates the efforts taken by the govt of Sri Lanka to restore peace and reconciliations in Sri Lanka after the end of the protracted war. He is currently visiting Sweden to take part in the 22nd World Scout Jamboree. Prince made this observation when he received the Sri Lankan Scout contingent headed by s leader more..

July 31 (Hindu) CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat on Saturday made a strong case for demilitarisation and ending of emergency laws and regime in the North and East of Sri Lanka, saying the failure of Colombo to dismantle the military regime and apparatus was hindrance to a political solution. �The security architecture remains intact. Emergency laws still continue not only in Jaffna, but in the whole Sri Lanka and this is a precursor for authoritarian rule,� more..

July 31 (SO) Following the conclusion of elections in most local bodies except 23, the Local Govt Ministry is taking steps to re-engineer the services of these local bodies to make them more people friendly while improving the infrastructure of 100 local bodies in remote areas under a Rs. 6 billion program with ADB assistance. Secretary to the Local Govt and Provincial Councils Ministry Dr. Nihal Jayathilaka said that the Ministry has identified certain instances which more..

July 31 (AT) Sri Lanka�s media organizations, political parties, Several civil society members and social activists have strongly condemned the assault on Jaffna based Uthayan news paper News editor Gnanasundaram Kuhanathan. Chief News Editor of �Udayan� newspaper Gnalingam Kuganathan was attacked by thugs on Friday evening. The attack has been carried out at Navalar Road near the house of Kuganathan. He was seriously injured in the attack which more..

July 31 (Hindu) Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao arrived here on Friday on a three-day visit, ahead of her retirement on July 31. She met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa over breakfast on Saturday. Officials described the meeting as a �farewell� that the President wanted to accord her because of the special relationship she had with the country: Ms. Rao, had served as High Commissioner and, earlier, as First Secretary in the Indian mission here. more..

July 31 (ST) Opposition UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has asked Britain to ensure that South Sudan recognise the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka before it is given full membership of the Commonwealth, a statement issued by the Opposition leader's office states. Mr. Wickremesinghe had met British Deputy Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary Alistair Burt and asked him to inform the leaders of the world's newest nation, South Sudan, that the people of the north more..

July 31 (SL) The Union notes that the Central Bank statistics have recorded that the CoL of a family of four was Rs. 25,344 in 2006 after President Mahinda Rajapaksa assumed office in January 2006 and that the amount has increased to Rs. 42,224.11 as at end June this year. �The CoL of a family has therefore increased by Rs. 16,880.11 between January 2006 and June 2011,� the NTUC states. NTUC Head K. D. Lalkantha said that the govt�s CoL statistics indicate the amount needed for more..

July 31 (ST) There was a grossly bizarre aspect to the latest crisis to engulf the country's tottering main opposition UNP this week. Either wittingly or unwittingly, its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe triggered off another battle for his position as party leader. The stranger-than-fiction sequence of events came when he telephoned from the comfort of a five-star hotel in London to ask acting UNP leader Karu Jayasuriya and Mangala Samaraweera to hold a news conference. more..

July 31 (NS) The TNA says it will make representations to the Elections Commissioner with regard to his decision to reduce the number of parliamentarians from the North. Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said the number of MPs from the north from ten to six. He said that the move to reduce four MP slots was made following the decrease in the number of voters in the 2010 electoral registrations list. The TNA opposed the move to reduce the number of parliamentary representatives. more..

July 31 (Island) The govt is expected to move for the appointment of a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to find a solution to the national question in early August, political sources said yesterday. Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa said there is a possibility of a motion in this regard being moved by a UPFA MP when parliament meets on August 9. Initially, the govt would have to give notice to the Business Committee of Parliament to take up the matter for discussion five days later and more..

July 31 (SL) The latest illegal construction to take place in the Sinharaja Forest Reserve has been initiated by UPFA MP Namal Rajapaksa, according to propaganda posters put up in the Ratnapura District on a road construction project. The poster displayed in many parts of Ratnapura states that a 5 km road from Imbulkanda to Sooriyakanda on the border of the Sinharaja forest in the Ratnapura District would commence construction more..

July 31 (SL) The Sri Lankan Foreign Employment Bureau (FEB) states that in the last four months alone, domestic workers going to the Middle East have brought in USD 1,688 million worth of remittances to the country. The Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare however said that the age limit for domestic workers going to the Middle East will be raised to 30 within the next three years. more..

July 31 (TC) Minister Douglas Devananda, addressing the press from Sridhar Theatre which he �nationalised� and occupies as his own, says that the LG Elections of 23 July have �abundantly proved the Tamil people�s confidence in the govt.� On the contrary, the election results were a rout for him and a resounding success for Mavai Senathirajah, a rare Mr. Clean in politics today, who worked quietly without the normal posters and public meetings to more..

July 31 (LB) What pesticides generally contain are ions. It now appears that the pesticides registrar has deliberately allowed certain products to be sold with the knowledge that such products contain arsenic -- or it may be that some firms involved in importing pesticides have misled or deceived the pesticides registrar,� said Gunawardena. Experts are of the view that some companies importing pesticides have more..

July 31 (ST) Hot on the heels of a stakeholder convergence in a common strategy to promote tourism, is a current discussion by the tourism sector, SriLankan Airlines, the Tea Board and the Export Development Board to maximise promoting the country through a joint campaign also using Sri Lankan foreign missions abroad. Tourism officials, who declined to be named, said if Sri Lanka puts together the Rs 500 million promotional budget for more..

July 31 (Island) Sri Lanka�s Deputy UN Representative, Maj. Gen. Shavendra Silva, alleges a British media plot to discredit the govt of Sri Lanka at the behest of the UK-based LTTE operatives. Responding to queries by The Sunday Island in the aftermath of the UK-based Channel 4 News confronting him outside his offices in Manhattan, he emphasized the need to expose those behind the Channel 4 News operation targeting Sri Lanka. more..

July 31 (ST) Parliament on Wednesday will debate an Order under the Strategic Development Projects Act dealing with tax exemptions for the project to explore for oil and natural gas in the Mannar basin. Under the Order made by Minister Basil Rajapaksa, several tax exemptions are being extended to the project company, Cairn Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, including corporate Income taxes, Ports and Airports Development Levy, Construction and Industry Guarantee Fund Levy and Custom duties. more..

July 31 (ST) Identified locations in the country are to be converted into WiFi zones where persons will be able to have free internet access, TRC Director General Anusha Palpita told the Sunday Times yesterday. He said that already the areas which would be turned into �WiFi zones� have been identified and will be in operation shortly. Mostly public areas including railway stations, bus stands, government buildings and schools will be covered. more..

July 31 (NS) Plans to amalgamate local bodies in the vicinity of the city and join it to the Colombo Municipal Council to make the latter an authority with wider powers have been shelved and the present Municipal Council will remain as it is, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said. He told the weekly Cabinet meeting that plans were afoot to hold elections to the remaining 23 local bodies, mainly municipalities and urban councils by September. more..

July 31 (ST) The United States has delivered a demarche to Sri Lanka that it wants the final report of the LLRC discussed at the 19th sessions of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in March next year. A demarche is a formal diplomatic stand of one government's official position, views and wishes on a particular subject. It was delivered by the US Embassy in Colombo to the External Affairs Ministry last month, but, more..