Sep 10 (Hindu) Expressing their dismay over the extension of the judicial remand of 35 fishermen till Sept 23, Pamban fishermen on Monday decided to launch an agitation to seek their early release. After the Puttalam court extended the remand of the 35 fishermen for a further period of 15 days, fishermen in Pamban convened a meeting on Monday evening and decided to launch an agitation. �We have been patient all these days and today�s development forced us to take the path of agitation,� more..

Sep 10 (FT) The Colombo Fraud Investigations Bureau (CFIB) yesterday filed 20 more cases in Court against Central Investments & Finance Ltd. (CIFL), alleging that the finance company is said to have cheated millions of rupees from 20 depositors. Meanwhile, Colombo Fort Magistrate ordered the Manager of CIFL to hand over all account statements pertaining to the 20 depositors to the Police for further investigations. The fresh cases were on top about seven filed last week. more..

Sep 10 (FT) China will further assist Sri Lanka to raise people�s living standards by increasing job opportunities with the launch of various industry-related programs and providing help to develop the tourism industry. China�s Senior Communist Party Leader Liu Yunshan gave this assurance to Minister Basil Rajapaksa when they met at the Ministry yesterday. Liu arrived here on Sunday on a three-day visit in response to more..

Sep 10 (Island) The Police would soon reveal the names of the Sri Lankan drug dealers and other foreign nationals involved in the recent attempt to smuggle in the biggest haul of heroin inside a consignment of grease from Pakistan, SSP Ajith Rohana said. He said that investigations so far conducted had revealed only the names of the persons who had contacted them over the phone. With the Maligakanda Magistrate issuing a red notice on a Pakistani national, Sardari Khan, more..

Sep 10 (Island) Apropos the main news item in yesterday�s issue of The Island, "Call for fresh Indian �intervention� irks SL", President of Sri Lanka India Society (SLIS) Kandiah Neelakandan has said: "I refer to the news item concerning Sri Lanka India Society appearing at page 1 of your issue of today (9). That news item is not correct. I deny the allegations that our society is being used against Sri Lanka interests or as a political platform (as alleged in some sections of the media). more..

Sep 10 (IL) Delivering the national statement at the 24th session of the UNHRC in Geneva on Monday (9), Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the UN in Geneva and Leader of the Sri Lanka Delegation Ravinatha Aryasinha said the Govt informed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay during her recent visit to Sri Lanka of the need to adopt an objective and unbiased approach to Sri Lanka in fulfilment more..

Sep 10 (Island) UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has asked for an early clarification from UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay regarding her reported request for the removal of the Statue of the Country�s first Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake and the Buddhist flag from the Independence Square. In a letter sent to Pillay, he points out that D.S. Senanayake was not only the founding father of independent Sri Lanka, but also the founder leader of his party. more..

Sep 10 (CT) The IGP has instructed senior DIG Gamini Navaratne, who is in charge of administration, to conduct an expeditious investigation into the incident where the senior DIG of the Eastern Province, Pujitha Jayasundara, had made over 100 police officers (including female officers) of the Kathankudy Police to kneel. SSP Ajith Rohana, confirmed that the IGP has called for an investigation. Reportedly, a sergeant had been nabbed while soliciting a bribe from more..

Sep 10 (Island) Plans are underway to suspend the solar and wind power generation though the two sources have the potential not only to produce thousands of megawatts but also contribute power to the national grid without polluting the environment. The decision will also discourage developers who are keen to promote renewable energy without depending on imported fossil fuels. CEB has sent a confidential letter signed by more..

Sep 10 (DM) A high ranking police officer has taken to task, an entire police station in the east for bribe-taking by one officer in the particular station. It has been reported that the top officer had made all the officers kneel down for about half an hour until two of them had fallen faint. It was also said that an ASP too had to raise his hands up for half an hour for the same offence, although he was not the culprit. No one would disagree with the top official�s professed intention, that is deterrence or bringing more..

Sep 10 (DM) Magic is a wonderful thing. When something we experience is too good to be described in words, we call it magic � thus, music is magic, love is magic, and so forth. I haven�t seen a live magic show in many years, but the fascination remains. My mind goes back to the first ever magic show I saw, as a schoolboy. After the standard repertoire of producing rabbits and pigeons out of his hat and a small box, the magician proceeded to cut his assistant, a young woman, more..

Sep 10 (ST) Being charged by an elephant while on the way to school is a distant likelihood for students in many parts of the country, but for 14-year-old W.K. Dhaniska and his schoolmates who live in the village of Muriyakulama in the Karuwalagaswewa area, it is a daily occupational hazard. And Dhaniska is one child who knows what it is to be charged by an elephant. Recently he was on his way to school around seven in the more..

Sep 10 (SL) Dr. Subramanian Swamy, an Indian Academician, politician, activist, economist, and a great supporter of Sri Lanka, was in the country to attend the 3rd Defence seminar in Colombo. He was the President of the Janata Party. His party was merged on August 11, 2013 with the BJP. Dr. Swamy has previously served as member of the Planning Commission of India and Cabinet Minister. He has written extensively on more..

Sep 10 (Hindu) Union Minister E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan on Monday created a flutter by saying �Sri Lankan Tamils must first get hold of their land, as Sri Lanka belongs to them� before their �Eelam dream� could become a reality. Talking to reporters at the airport, the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry said land was important for the Tamils just as it was for Israel and Palestine. �I have told the Tamil diaspora, more..

Sep 10 (HRW) Human Rights Watch mourns the death of Sunila Abeysekera, a prominent and highly respected Sri Lankan activist who spent more than two decades documenting human rights violations in Sri Lanka. Abeysekera passed away in Colombo on September 9, 2013, following a long illness. With a rare ability to act as researcher, advocate, and spokesperson within Sri Lanka and abroad, Abeysekera was more..

Sep 10 (CG) Govt Minister A.H.M Fowzie insists that Muslims in Sri Lanka are not terrorists and have no links with any foreign terrorist group. He said that Muslims are for the protection of the peace. �The Muslim communities have no links to Taliban or Al qaeda. They will protect the peace brought by the President,� he said. Muslim groups in Sri Lanka had recently raised objection to comments made by Defence Secretary more..

Sep 10 (AD) The TNA will never be able to achieve anything by capturing the Northern Provincial Council because they will not receive the funds required to deliver the service to the people through the 13th Amendment, says UPFA chief ministerial candidate S. Thavarasa. He stated that the EPDP is working together as the UPFA to win the forthcoming Provincial Council elections and that they are the only party which can deliver more..

Sep 10 (MEA) The India International Fabric Expo IIFE-2013, organized by Power loom Development & Export Promotion Council (PDEXCIL) opened Sept 9 at the Hotel Galadari, Colombo. Running until Sept 10, the special event has also organized a fashion show in the evening of 9 September. Ministers Basil Rajapaksa and Rishad Bathiudeen, Senior Minister AHM Fouzy, High Commissioner of India, more..

Sep 10 (DM) According to a UN survey on �violence against women�, a little more than 14.5 % or more than one in 10 men in Sri Lanka had admitted to having committed at least one rape. Rape was particularly common within relationships. However, one in 10 men admitted raping a woman who was not their partner. Ten thousand men from six countries took part in the survey. It is the first multi-country study to examine how more..

Sep 10 (EI) The next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) � or at least some matches of the T20 tournament � may be played outside India. Sri Lanka or Bangladesh, or both, could be the likely host, a top cricket board official said. The reason is the same as in 2009, when the second season was played in South Africa: Lok Sabha elections. The election dates are not known yet, but the BCCI has begun to prepare more..

Sep 10 (Xinhua) Senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official Liu Yunshan and PM D.M. Jayaratne met here Monday and agreed to further promote bilateral friendship and cooperation. To further consolidate the China-Sri Lanka friendship "not only serves the interests of both nations, but also helps promote peace, cooperation and development of the whole region," said Liu, a member of the Standing Committee more..

Sep 10 (CT) Democracy is working at last somewhere in South Asia. Of course, India's Centre has been an exception to South Asia's perennial democratic deficit and the standard practice of the rule by the strongman or strongwoman. However, this time around, the Indian Ocean atolls of the Maldives have conducted a free and fair election, of which the first round was won by the ousted first democratically elected President and Maldivian Democratic Party candidate, Nasheed, more..

Sep 10 (Island) The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has extended its mobile banking facility to a wider cross section of Sri Lankans by offering the service to subscribers of Dialog, the country's largest mobile telephone network. This facility is operated on USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) technology used by GSM phones to communicate with their service providers' computers. With its easy to access menu-driven portal, USSD-based mobile banking offers greater convenience more..

Sep 10 (PTI) PM Manmohan Singh will be apprised of the objections raised by political parties in Tamil Nadu to India�s plan to supply warships to Sri Lanka and his participation in the CHOGM in Colombo, Union Minister V Narayanasamy said. �Political parties from Tamil Nadu have opposed India�s plan to supply warships to Sri Lanka. DMK chief M Karunanidhi has opposed it. Congress (TNCC) has also spoken on the matter. I will bring them to the attention of the Prime Minister,� more..

Sep 10 (CT) Particularly with the visit of Navi Pillay which might well have occurred before this sees print (or the web equivalent), it seems like every columnist and his or her aunt and uncle have brought out their crystal balls or miniature wishing wells for that momentous occasion. Suffice it to say that it isn�t that important that this submission sees the light of day while that discussion resides in the �matter of burning interest� category. In response to the obvious question of, �Why so?� more..

Sep 10 (Island) Two shooting incidents were reported from the Matale and Kandy Districts on the first day of the postal voting in the Northern, Northwestern and Central Provincial Council elections yesterday. Residence of the Kandy Municipal Council member Janaka Gaminirathna, a supporter of Kandy District UPFA candidate Thilina Bandara Tennakoon, was damaged when unidentified gunmen fired at it in the early hours of more..

Sep 10 (CT) Sri Lankan domestic workers who are sent to Saudi Arabia should be paid a minimum of 1,000 Saudi Riyals per month, the SLBFE said. The position taken by Minister Dilan Perera, regarding the monthly remuneration for Sri Lankan migrant workers in Saudi Arabia is that an NVQ Level 3 qualified skilled worker should be paid a better salary, of at least 1,000 Saudi Riyals per month, while an experienced domestic worker should receive at least 1,300 Riyals per month. more..

Sep 10 (DM) Closely following the success of winning six awards from the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP), AIA Sri Lanka�s 2012 Annual Report has won yet another accolade � a Gold Award under the category �Traditional Annual Reports - Insurance Life & Health� at ARC Awards International XXVII presented by the International Academy of Communications Arts & Sciences honouring excellence in annual reports. more..

Sep 10 (AFP) Sri Lanka's main Tamil party Tuesday demanded troops be confined to barracks after accusing them of campaigning for the ruling party at key elections in the former separatist stronghold of Jaffna. The TNA told President Rajapakse that soldiers were campaigning for his UPFA in the Jaffna peninsula, where the minority party was expected to do well. The TNA said soldiers were also selectively discouraging more..

Sep 10 (DM) Two more suspicious containers believed to contain drugs have been seized by the Customs Revenue Task Force (RTF) for further investigation upon their arrival from Karachi in Pakistan. The detection came not long after the RTF seized a 40-foot container which came from Pakistan with 261 kilogrammes of heroin worth Rs.2.5 billion concealed inside cans said to contain grease. One container had arrived on August 27 and the other on September 2. more..

Sep 10 (DM) Troops deployed in the close vicinity of forest reserves and wildlife sanctuaries in the South were educated on the protection of wildlife and the conservation of forests reserves, the Army said. �The Security Force Headquarters, Central under the guidance of its Commander-Major General Ubaya Medawela organised a workshop on the Protection of Wild Life and the Conservation of Forests Reserves for all troops deployed in the close vicinity of forest reserves and wildlife more..

Sep 10 (LBO) Sri Lanka's war ravaged Northern and Eastern provinces grew fastest in 2013, though starting from a low base, helped by construction but also banking and agriculture, the Central Bank said. The Northern Province grew 25.9% nominally (real gross domestic product plus inflation) with inflation down from 27.9% in 2011, followed by the Eastern Province at 25.0%, up from 13.5%. The two provinces emerged from a 30-year more..

Sept 10 (Reuters) The rupee closed firmer on Tuesday on exporter dollar conversions in the absence of importer demand for the greenback, while a rise in the currencies of the island nation's main trading partners also aided. The Indian rupee led gains in emerging Asian currencies as investors hoped that further data from China would add to evidence that the world's second-largest economy is stabilising. The rupee spot next, which was active in the market in the absence of spot trade, more..

Sept 10 (ENS) Union Minister E M Sudarsana Natchiappan�s remark that Tamils should first �capture� the land that belonged to them in Sri Lanka if the Eelam dream is to materialise is perhaps the first time a senior Congress leader from TN has openly acknowledged the idea of an Eelam for Tamils in Lanka. �Like Israel and Palestine, we must also capture the land of Tamils in Sri Lanka. We should struggle with this aim. Sri Lanka belongs to Tamils,� said the minister. more..

Sept 10 (DM) The UNP today accused the govt of attempting to remove the statue of late Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake that is at the Independence Square by using UN Human Rights Chief Navanethem Pillay as the excuse for doing so. UNP spokesman Gayantha Karunathilaka said the party would reveal more details on this matter after Ms. Pillay responds to letter sent to her by UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. more..

Sep 10 (Island) The Professions Supplementary to Medicine (PSM) yesterday pulled out of eight PSM training schools and teaching hospitals following the failure of talks with the Health Secretary on PSM education. PSM General Secretary Saman Jayasekara said that talks had been highly unsatisfactory with the Health Ministry calling the union leaders for another round of talks on the matter. Jayasekara said, however, the Ministry was dragging its feet on the recruitment of over more..

Sept 10 (DM) The wrecked Jordanian registered ship �MV Farah III�, lying at Mullivaikkal, in Mullative has been sold to a private party for scrap, and being demolished now. Many tourists, who came to see the abandoned vessel, were turned away by armed forces and a road block has been erected on the road leading to the site. The vessel had been sold to a private party for scrap and as demolition work was being carried out, people were stopped from proceeding to the vessel. more..

Sep 10 (AD) The involvement in election propaganda by Governor of the Northern Province G.A. Chandrasiri is a violation of the establishment code, and thus he should choose between public service and politics, says the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE). CaFFE Executive Director Keerthi Tennakoon said that he is surprised and saddened by Chandrasiri joining UPFA politicians for election propaganda activities. more..

Sep 10 (Island) The Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Ministry has adopted measures to grade all foreign employment agencies including local recruitment firms and their foreign counterparts, according to their performance and to hire a private and independent body to carry out the task and thereafter to monitor them. Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) said that the aim of hiring a private and independent body to grade the foreign employment agencies more..