Nov 25 (SL) Friday November 18, 2011 was important for more than two reasons. It was President Rajapaksa�s 66th official birthday and was also the First Anniversary of his Second Swearing in, as President of Sri Lanka. Yet the third was the most important reason for Opposition politicians. The delivery of the judgement on the �White Flag� case in which former army commander Sarath Fonseka was indicted. It would be a birthday cake, said some at Hulftsdorp Hill, much in advance of the �D� day. more..

Nov 25 (GV) These are revolutionary days, days of resistance. Especially in Egypt. Not in Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, the situation is different; the general practice, nowadays, is to hold placards with �SHAME� written on them. Seeing such placards, however, cause confusion in our minds; because �SHAME� seems to be encapsulating one of the principal feelings that runs through us when we think of the Government, and of those holding the placards as well. more..

Nov 25 (FT) The detriments of depreciation must be countered by aggressive growth in exports, the Central Bank Governor said yesterday, insisting that impediments to the industry had been removed by the latest Budget. Speaking for the first time at a 2012 Budget seminar, which was organised by BDO, Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivaard Cabraal pointed out that the time had come for exporters to deliver. Commending exporters for being productive, more..

Nov 25 (Island) Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara said that it was essential to look into the report on the situation prevalent in the North, tabled in parliament by TNA MP M. Sumanthiran. He however said it was necessary to leave out those matters raised by MP Sumanthiran aimed at gaining propaganda mileage. It was the UPFA�s firm belief that the govt should take the responsibility to see that the relief measures taken by it in good faith to uplift the social life of more..

Nov 25 (BBC) Disabled police officers say they are angered by the govt�s double standards in issuing benefits to war disabled security staff. Secretary of the police disabled war hero�s association H.M.U.S.B Herath said �it is unfair to treat Army and Police war disabled differently�. Minister Dinesh Gunawardhana speaking at the Parliament said that the disabled police officers are not entitled to the same benefits as their military counterparts. more..

Nov 25 (TOI) Ten Sri Lankan fishermen, arrested on charges of violating sea perimeters by Coast Guard officials, were on Thursday handed over to the Kasimedu fishing harbor police. The fishermen in two boats carrying 600 kg of fish had been nabbed during surveillance along the eastern seaboard by coast guard ship Sarang on November 22. "The boats were spotted 126 nautical miles off Nagayalanka near Machilipatnam in Andhra Pardesh. Initially we warned them and asked to go back. more..

Nov 25 (DN) "The Late D.A. Rajapaksa was a unique human being with the great quality of boundless compassion to humanity, said Sri Lanka's former Ambassador to the United States and France and adjunct professor of Buddhism, Hinduism and Peace Studies at California University Prof Ananda W.P. Guruge. Prof Guruge was delivering the D.A. Rajapaksa memorial lecture on "Sri Lanka from the Euro-Asian commercial hub to pan-world socio-Political Importance," at Temple Trees yesterday. more..

Nov 25 (OD) If and when Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) releases its report later this month, as scheduled, it will do so amid wide scepticism on many critical fronts � except, it seems, for one. The credibility, independence and the ethnic balance of the post-war commission have been well-challenged internationally, since it was established by the President last year to ostensibly help reconcile the nation. more..

Nov 25 (DN) The Mahaweli Authority will plant seven million coconut saplings in the Mahaweli Zones to increase coconut production in the country. Sources said this measure will help increase coconut production by 12 percent. The Coconut Development and Janatha Estate Development Ministry has made a six year plan to increase coconut production in the country to produce an annual yield of 3.65 billion nuts. The ministry has already setup several nurseries in the Mahaweli Zones to more..

Nov 25 (Island) The Relic of St. John Bosco arrived at Bosco Sevana, one of the rehabilitation centres run by Salesian priests, at Uswettakeiyawa on Wednesday (22). The casket containing the flesh of his right arm was brought from Palliyawatta, one of the Bosco Centres, to Bosco Sevana at Uswettakeiyawa, a village in the coastal belt close to Wattala, in a procession. The Relic will be taken to Bosco Centers around the country till November 30. more..

Nov 25 (Island) Colombo Additional District Judge and Additional Magistrate Prasanna de Alwis yesterday ordered that summons be served, through the CID, on the Director of the Sri Jayawardenepura Hospital, Dr. R. Gamage, requesting him to be present in Court on Nov 28 and to produce the original or a certified copy of the Bed Head Ticket of Duminda Silva to the Court on that day. When the matter came up for support before the Court, more..

Nov 25 (PT) Despite the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed between Pakistan Sri Lanka, the export of commodities like fruit and vegetables from the former to the latter are going to be badly affected as the foreign country has imposed �Special Commodity Levy� on imports. The recently imposed levy has started affecting the exports of agricultural products to Sri Lanka which may reduce the over all exports of the country, exporters told Profit. more..

Nov 25 (Guardian) West Indies won their fifth match in a row, easily defeating Sri Lanka by 58 runs yesterday, to reach the final of the International Cricket Council�s Women�s World Cup 2013 qualification tournament. The girls from the Caribbean made a challenging 235-5 off their 50 overs at the Khanshaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah and restricted Sri Lanka to 177-7 off their 50 overs. The West Indies will now play Pakistan in the Final at the Sher-e-Bangla National more..

Nov 25 (LBO) Sri Lanka's food processing, education and health sectors and business process outsourcing sectors are of interest to the United Arab Emirates, visiting minister of foreign trade Lubna Al Qasimi has said. "We are interested in Sri Lanka�s tourism, education and health sectors," she was quoted as saying at a business forum in Colombo. "Sri Lanka also has more to offer due to new growth sectors such as food processing and BPO." more..

Nov 25 (TN) The body of a Tamil teacher aged 25 with cut injuries on her head was discovered from a shrub in Moothoor east Thursday morning by the Moothoor Police on a tip off from members of public. She had been a teacher at Paaddaa'li-puram Govt Tamil Mixed School. Moothoor East area is now under the full control of the Army and Moothoor Police since the end of the war. Ms. Srivathani Kurukulasingham left home Wednesday as usual in her scooter to more..

Nov 25 (TN) Former principal of Vasaavi'laan Central College and former General Manager of Jaffna edition of the Tamil daily Thinakkural passed away in Jaffna on Monday at the age of 70. He was ailing from cancer and was anticipating death at any time. Yet, even in his last days he was engaged in social work in full swing, especially in reviving educational, social and cultural institutions of his native village Kurumpasiddi, where people are permitted to more..

Nov 25 (DM) Police have sought the assistance of the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) and the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) to obtain details of people who operate pornographic websites, which allegedly feature local men and women, the Children and Women�s Bureau told Court yesterday. In a report on pornographic websites, police said the TRC had informed them that more..

Nov 25 (Island) The DPF yesterday expressed appreciation of the Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara for his comments in Parliament on Wednesday that there were no moves by the government to bring in laws for the national anthem to be sung only in Sinhala. General Secretary of the DPF Dr. Kumar Guruparan said that the Tamils had a right to sing the National Anthem in their own language. The Indian National Anthem was sung in Bengali�, a minority language, he said. more..

Nov 25 (DN) Plans are underway to carry out an islandwide dog census. This will enable to eradicate rabies from Sri Lanka, said Health Ministry Veterinary Public Health Services Director Dr. P.L Harishchandra at a media conference to mark World Rabies Day yesterday. He said the Health Ministry spends Rs. 500 million every year for the prevention and control of rabies. "We spend Rs. 350 million to treat rabies' patients a year, another Rs. 25 million to vaccinate more..

Nov 25 (DM) The Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) said it would write to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Minister S.B. Dissanayake on the government�s failure to fulfill its promises by increasing teachers� salaries and investments in higher education through the 2012 budget. �We have been cheated and fooled. It is irresponsible for the government to treat the academic community in this way,� FUTA President Nirmal Dewasiri said. more..

Nov 25 (DN) Over 20,000 Sri Lankans working in South Korea are slated to come under a pension scheme according to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the two countries on Tuesday, at the Foreign Employment and Welfare Ministry under the patronage of Minister Dilan Perera. More than 14,000 Sri Lankans who have worked in Korea and have contributed to their national pension scheme are eligible to receive dividends totalling around US $ 36 million under the scheme. more..

Nov 25 (Island) The Joint Trade Alliance of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), which consists of more than 50 trade unions, yesterday vowed to launch trade union action next week demanding a 45 per cent annual pay hike. Alliance Senior spokesman Ananda Nimalaratne told �The Island� yesterday that it was unfair of the Salaries Cadres Commission to recommend a 15 per cent hike in three years when they were already entitled to a hike of 45 per cent once in three years. more..

Nov 25 (DN) Sri Lanka as a sovereign nation with a rich culture and a proud heritage does not need external guidance to achieve post conflict reconciliation. This will be achieved through an organic, local effort consistent with our culture and our values, and not based on external ideals imposed by others, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said. He was delivering the keynote address at the inaugural National Conference on Reconciliation at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute more..

Nov 25 (Island) Ceylon Petroleum Corporation had spent Rs 13,898,393.50 to cover the cost of witnesses who gave evidence in the two cases relating to the hedging deal heard in Singapore and London, Minister Susil Premjayanth told Parliament. Once the cases pending were over, action would be taken by the Attorney General against those who were responsible for the deal, the minister said adding that the responsibility of handling those two cases had been tasked with the AG�s Department. more..

Nov 25 (Island) Minister Susil Premjayanth told Parliament that the govet would remove all that remained of low quality petrol imported in June out of the country. The remains of the low quality petrol amounts to 2600 tonnes and this would not be distributed within the country, he said. Responding to a question raised by UNP MP Dayasiri Jayasekera the Minister said that compensation for almost all the owners of vehicles damaged by using low quality petrol had been paid. more..

Nov 25 (Island) The thirty seven companies which were acquired by the govt under the expropriation law could go to Court if they felt they had been cheated, Minister Keheliya Rambuwella said. He was responding to a question as to what redress was available to those companies, after the government acquired them overnight and in the light of the investments they had made. Asked about the status of the ownership of those companies, some of them being more..

Nov 25 (Island) Sri Lanka�s six-week long tour of the United Arab Emirates will end today with a Twenty-20 International, to be played against Pakistan at Shiekh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Pakistan won the Test series 1-0 before overcoming Sri Lanka in the ODI series 4-1. Sri Lanka�s batting woes continued throughout the tour and having begun the ODI series ranked number two in the officials ICC Rankings, Sri Lanka slipped two places to number four. Sri Lank have remained unbeaten in more..

Nov 25 (DM) �The Postal Department is facing a crisis due to the severe shortage of stamps and is suffering a loss of millions of rupees,� the Joint Postal Trade Union Alliance said today. The Union�s Convener Chinthaka Bandara said that there is a severe shortage of 50 cents, Rs.1, Rs.2, Rs.3, Rs,12, Rs.50 and Rs.100 stamps. The reason for the scarcity of stamps is the backlog in printing the stamps, the Sri Lanka Philatelic Bureau sources said. more..

Nov 25 (Island) The US has warned the govt that the UNHRC in Geneva would be moved against Sri Lanka unless the defeated presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka, whom the US considered a political prisoner, is released from prison forthwith. The former army chief was sentenced by a Trial-at-Bar on Friday to three more years in prison. The warning had been given during a meeting between a US diplomat and a top minister representing the SLFP more..

Nov 25 (Island) There is no point in govt spending millions of rupees on smokers and boozers who fall ill due to their use of tobacco and alcohol. Instead, the British Tobacco Company should be asked to compensate families of the victims and also take responsibility to pay the hospital expenses of the smokers, said JHU MP Ven. Athuraliya Rathna Thera. He was speaking at the launch of the book `Impact of tobacco vs. alternative crop cultivation on the socio-economic status of farmers�. more..

Nov 25 (IBN) An eleven-member delegation from Sri Lanka, which is into threadbare studies on the gains achieved by the people�s planning process, decentralisation of power and women�s empowerment in the state, held discussions with Panchayat-Social Welfare Minister Dr M K Muneer here on Thursday. With a mission to restructure and expedite the development process in the once-war-ravaged north and eastern sectors of the island nation, the team is in Kerala for more..

Nov 25 (DBS) Both LTTE factions in Canada have agreed NOT to have different �Great Heroes Day� functions on Nov 27th 2011. Clashing LTTE factions in Canada have decided to conduct one �Great Heroes day� function in Ontario Province & another in Quebec Province only. The Canadian situation is in striking contrast to Europe where rival LTTE factions are competing with each other to stage Great Heroes days. more..

Nov 25 (Island) Heavyweights of local cricket, Upali Dharmadasa and Thilanga Sumathipala, are keen to contest this year�s cricket elections, to be held for the first time in seven years. After Minister dissolved Cricket Interim Committee and announced elections for the first time since 2004, there have been speculations as to who will contest and yesterday both Sumathipala and Dharmadasa confirmed to �The Island� their desire to be the next President of SLC. more..

Nov 25 (DM) The Sri Lanka Mirror news website said yesterday that it was on the verge of shutting down as it was incurring losses after the govt arbitrarily blocked the website along with four others and said it had filed a fundamental rights case regarding the matter. The website�s Editor Kelum Shivantha said that the website had lost nearly all its advertising revenue due to the closure and would struggle to pay salaries to its staff, which numbers ten. more..

Nov 25 (PTI) Elections to appoint office-bearers to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) were today postponed from December 27 to January 3 next year. "The election will be held on January 3. This is a change from the decision to hold it on 27 December. We realised that the financial year ends only on December 31 and the election must be held thereafter," Ranjani Jayakodi, the Director General of sports, said. more..

Nov 25 (DM) Former National Badminton champion L.R. Ariyananda who is now an official fighting for a cleaner sport says the mystery of the missing audited accounts of the Sri Lanka Badminton Association for the year 2010 could open the lid on a multi-million Rupee racket of corrupt officials exploiting innocent youth players. However his repeated pleas to the Sports Minister to investigate the matter has mysteriously fallen on deaf ears more..

Nov 25 (Island) The Govt Medical Officers Association (GMOA) yesterday said it would support the govt�s effort to bring in price control laws for pharmaceuticals, but the Ministry should first implement the national drug policy and not sections thereof. Assistant Secretary of the GMOA Dr. Upul Gunasekera said that the GMOA recommendations in keeping with the Senaka Bibile drug policy should be implemented fully. more..

Nov 25 (USE) The U.S. Govt handed over three newly-constructed wards and a renovated administrative unit, along with much-needed furniture, to the Karadiyanaru Divisional Hospital in Batticaloa on November 22. Funded by the U.S. Embassy�s development arm, the USAID, and the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM), the upgraded facility is expected to provide accessible, quality health care to 35 in-patients and 150 out-patients daily. more..

Nov 25 (LBO) An error trade in Distilleries Company of Sri Lanka shares triggered a half-hour market halt on the Colombo stock exchange Friday morning, the bourse said in statement. The market halt was imposed at 11.00 a.m. after the bourse's Milanka price index dropped over five percent from the previous market day's close. The stock exchange said the MPI had dropped by over five percent owing to an error trade relating more..

Nov 25 (DM) Sri Lanka�s drift towards authoritarianism is confirmed with the country ranked at 109 in world audits on democracy, only 19 notches short of Zimbabwe ranked at 136, the UNP charged in Parliament today. Participating in the debate on the 2012 budget, UNP MP Mangala Samaraweera said Bosnia had been ranked 77, Malawi 82, Uganda 91, Nigeria 93 and Republic of Congo 97. In a hard hitting speech, Mr. Samaraweera said that more..