Sept 10 (LBO) Bad loans rose across Sri Lanka's listed banks as economic conditions weakened and defaults in gold loans took their toll, but capital remained strong, and loan to deposit ratios were narrowing. A report by CAL Research said gross NPL ratios of banks had risen 72 basis points to an average of 4.7% by June 2013 from a year earlier. NPLs at PABC rose 365 basis points to 7.8%, NTB was up 114 basis points to 4.0%, HNB was up 89 basis points to 4.6% and more..

Sep 10 (DM) Four suspects in custody in connection with the killing of Noori Estate Superintendent Nihal Perera yesterday informed Awissawella Chief Magistrate that they were prepared to give evidence in camera (confidential statement) when the case was taken up for trial. The 23 suspects remanded in connection with this case were produced in the Chief Magistrate�s official chambers. The two suspects Dinesh Chathuranga alias more..

Sep 10 (CG) A petition has been filed in the Appeals Court seeking an interim injunction against the Northern Provincial Council elections. The petition has been filed by the Sinhala Jathika Peramuna and cites the Elections Commissioner and Returning officers of the North as respondents. Secretary of the Sinhala Jathika Peramuna, Jayantha Liyanage says the conditions in the North are not conducive to hold a free and fair election. He cites one of the reasons as being that several more..

Sep 10 (Island) The Govt Nursing Officers� Association (GNOA) yesterday accused the Public Service United Nurses Union (PSUNU) of siding with imported milk powder companies for personal gain. GNOA President Saman Ratnapriya said that the PSUNU had got its facts wrong and was merely creating more issues for the public by claiming that the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) had submitted two reports on the same batches of imported milk powder � one confirming the more..

Sep 10 (DM) The newly-formed Dhammadeepa Council led by the Venerable Mahanayake Theras of the three Nikayas and the Diyawadane Nilame of the Sri Dalada Maligawa said today it would formulate a national plan to end religious tension in the country in a manner that was favourable to all religious groups. Council member Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thera said that the Council would initiate a countrywide programme to stop immoral, more..

Sep 10 (N360) Sri Lanka Cricket says, K. Mathivanan who resigned from the SLC Vice Presidency last week was not committed to perform the duties entrusted to him at the cricket administration. SLC says, apart from being elected as a Vice President, Mathivanan was also appointed to several other functions in the cricket administration thus giving him more responsibilities. In a statement issued, the cricketing authorities says, the former vice president was more..

Sep 10 (CG) The CEB says power cuts for a maximum of two hours will be imposed in parts of the Western Province between September 12 and 24. According to the CEB, the power cuts will be imposed in order to facilitate the construction work of the Colombo outer circular highway. The CEB says a power line between Biyagama and Pannipitiya will need to be disconnected during the construction work. As a result the electricity in Dehiwala, Ratmalana, Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, more..

Sep 10 (Xinhua) Senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Liu Yunshan here on Tuesday met with President Rajapaksa to promote bilateral cooperation. Liu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, lauded the smooth development of the bilateral ties since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1957. The upgrade of bilateral ties to a strategic cooperative more..

Sep 11 (CT) Madam Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, concluded her Sri Lankan tour last week. It was her longest foreign tour. The objective of her visit was to investigate and report to the UNHRC at its 24th and 25th sessions about the alleged war crimes committed during the last phase of the war against the LTTE. We, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), objected to her arrival on the basis that prima facie, she did not appear to be impartial. more..

Sep 11 (NS) Reflection. It�s like carrying around a metaphorical mirror in front of you. With practice, you keep getting good at reflecting on your words and actions on the fly. Till then, it means you have to actively reflect on the things you do and say. Reflection is important for one primary reason: to know where you went wrong. Logically, the next step involves not repeating it again. This is, essentially, what entails being a better person. It requires only these three steps � reflection, identification, more..

Sep 11 (SO) President Rajapaksa's visit last Sunday to Batticaloa to inaugurate projects completed under the Neganahira Vasanthaya marked an important milestone in the history of the district's development in the period after the eradication of terrorism. On this historic day, the President officially opened the fully reconstructed Church dedicated to St.Peter at Vagarai that was devastated in the 2004 tsunami. more..

Sep 11 (NS) The Department of Agriculture has commenced research starting this week to ascertain just how much of toxic heavy metal contamination and inorganic arsenic is present in rice. Speaking to The Nation newspaper, Dr Priyantha Weerasinghe from the Department of Agriculture said the Department in collaboration with local authorities had begun collecting rice samples to test and determine the content of inorganic arsenic and the heavy metal � Cadmium. more..

Sep 11 (CT) Cognitive problems and knowledge deficiencies of S. Pathmanathan, Professor Emeritus of History? Yes. First, a caveat. Although there is a school of thought that Sri Lanka shows a lack of discernment in the making of her professors emeritus (�X was made a professor emeritus after just one publication� remarked a senior academic grimly), they clearly do not mean S. Pathmanathan. In his chosen area (the middle or the medieval period of SL history), more..

Sep 11 (GV) Last Thursday, I was reading an article about Joan Jara, the widow of renowned Chilean activist, singer, songwriter and theatre director Victor Jara, and her family. They are seeking long-delayed justice for the kidnap, torture and brutal murder of Victor in 1973, by the Chilean secret police. My memories immediately went back to November 1977, when all political prisoners including me were released in Sri Lanka. more..

Sep 11 (CT) UN Human Rights Commissioner Navanetham Pillay�s weeklong visit to the country is remarkable on several counts. As always, the visit has since been overshadowed by other events both local and international. It is a fact of life in our time that real-time information and rapid news dissemination impose on us, ordinary mortals, new developments everywhere and in quick succession before we are able to digest and/or deal with preceding developments. more..

Sep 11 (CT) There is a great rush to prove that we are not a dictatorship. Navi Pillay�s statement has hurt the government�s farce values adhered to in our governance, even though we did not hear what we wanted to hear from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The President is denouncing Pillay�s authoritarianism assertions and is loudly counter asserting that we hold elections, regularly. Since 2005 we have had 11 elections in the country. more..

Sep 11 (Island) Delmege Forsyth and Co Ltd. added yet another product to its portfolio by launching the �Delmege Instant Noodles� to Sri Lankan consumers recently. Delmege introduced its new product range in two delicious flavors as �curry� and �chicken� which is noted to be the most preferred taste for the Sri Lankan palate. The �curry� instant noodle comes in an 80g pack and the �chicken flavor in an 82g pack. Delmege instant noodles, the latest in the Delmege range of food products, more..

Sep 11 (Island) In Geneva on Monday Pillay made a comment to the effect that they (UN?) would look after those who came to meet her and gave "evidence" on so-called human rights violations in Sri Lanka. Except for the Jesuit priest who met her in Trincomalee "in camera" outside the schedule the meetings with all the others were known to the govt and there were no objections by anybody in Sri Lanka including the nationalist forces for these meetings though they were clearly one-sided. more..

Sep 11 (Island) A couple of weeks ago, I said that the TNA should intervene with TN politicians on behalf of the fishermen of the North. They should explain that there is no point in having a devolved administration if it cannot solve the immediate and urgent problems of the people who vote for it, and one of these is poaching by the trawlers of Tamil Nadu. Sadly, there is no mention of the issue in the TNA manifesto for the more..

Sep 11 (Island) The Jathika Hela Urumaya has pulled out of the Parliamentary Select Committee to Recommend and Report on Political and Constitutional Measures to Empower the People of Sri Lanka to Live as One Nation, claiming that no conclusions have been reached prior to the forthcoming provincial council elections. Minister Wimal Weerawansa�s National Freedom Front has also threatened to follow suit as it thinks the PSC has not yet got down to brass tacks. more..

Sep 11 (ST) The EU-sponsored Greening Sri Lanka Hotels Project (GSLH) will be winding up its activities by the end of October after 4 years of operations. During this period, the project signed up over 350 hotels of all categories (large medium and small) and engagd with them in promoting sustainable consumption practices in Sri Lankan hotels, the project team said in a media release. Over 30 training and awareness workshops and seminars have been conducted in all parts more..

Sep 11 (ST) A radical new, locally built high-speed catamaran fishing boat is poised to significantly boost the number of top-price tuna available for export from Sri Lanka to markets in Japan, China and the Middle East. It will also help ensure tuna sustainability in Sri Lankan waters by reducing by up 70% the number of fish needed to be caught in order to ensure maximum profitability. Sri Lanka�s Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic more..

Sep 11 (FT) SriLankan Holidays and the MICE Department of SriLankan Airlines jointly organise a MICE conference to promote Sri Lanka as a sought-after travel destination for the leisure and MICE traveller. �SriLankan Holidays and SriLankan MICE Conference 2013�, to be held on 13 September 2013 at Jetwing Blue, Negombo is expected to attract more than 150 participants including SriLankan Holidays Franchise Operators (SHFO), SLH Ground Operators (SHGO), MICE Operators and more..

Sep 11 (Island) Minister Arumugam Thondaman and five others were yesterday enlarged on Rs. 75,000 bail each by Nuwara Eliya Magistrate. They were also ordered to report to the court on Sept. 22. The Magistrate made the order against the group led by Minister Thondaman on the basis of a charge sheet filed against them by the Thalawakele police. The other suspects in this case are Palani Sathyavel, N. Shanmuganadan, M. Ramesh, S. Amirthalingam, N. Mohanram, and M. Udayakumar. more..

Sep 11 (AN) The Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh is aggressively promoting Sri Lanka as a tourist destination and plans to double Saudi tourist visits from 19,500 to 40,000 in the next three years. The country plans to attract 100,000 Saudis over the long term said the country�s ambassador, Vadivel Krishnamoorthy, at the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion symposium at the Faisaliah Hotel in the capital on Sunday. more..

Sep 11 (ST) Global news and international affairs analysis magazine, The Diplomatic Courier, abased in Washington, D.C, has named a Sri Lankan among its list of Influencers. The magazine on its site carried a list of 18 young individuals including Manjula Dissanayake, originally from Sri Lanka, as an Influencer - one who mobilizes people in the foreign policy community with bold new ideas. Manjula Dissanayake is the founding president of Educate Lanka Foundation, more..

Sep 11 (NS) Sampath Bank, the bank that has pioneered many technological innovations in the Sri Lankan banking industry, launched �Sampath Bank App� recently for I Phones, I Pads and Android versions expanding the mobile banking platform. The unique feature in Sampath App is that the service can be freely accessed by the Bank�s existing as well as potential customers. (Free app download now available in the apple store and google play store also you can access more..

Sep 11 (CT) The Student Movement of Tamil Nadu yesterday threatened to unmask former Supreme Court Justice, C.V. Wigneswaran, soon. "He is joining the Sri Lankan Govt to set up a united Sri Lanka, whereas the Tamils want an Eelam," one of the students told Ceylon Today. The Students Movement also alleged, the man who says he will get justice to the Tamils, has now joined the govt to work for them as a kooli. more..

Sep 11 (Island) The body of a 19-year-old mother of one child, believed to have been assaulted to death, was recovered by the police from a line room of the Cinnamon Garden Estate at Pahalawalgama yesterday. Police also found a toddler about one and a half years old near the body. Child�s body carried telltale torture marks. The dead woman was identified as Sinniah Sellarani. Woman�s husband had abandoned her and since few months back she had been having a lover. more..

Sep 11 (LT) The Network for Election Monitoring of the Intellectuals for Human Rights-Sri Lanka (NEM IHR) has written to IGP N.K. Ilangakone demanding that all fire arms that are with politicians should be taken over. The letter with the signature of Executive Member of NEM IHR Uditha Gunasekera states complaints received by the NEM show an escalation of violence in areas where the provincial council elections are held. Mr. Guansekara states that the firearms used in the shooting incidents more..

Sep 11 (DN) The manifesto of the TNA is 'a cyanide capsule that is given once more to the innocent Tamil youth who were freed by the present leadership of the country', Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said. "This is just another step forward taken by the TNA from the (separatist) Vadukoddai resolution in 1977 which was also responsible for the massive destruction that took place in the country," Alahapperuma added. more..

Sep 11 (GDI) During the Yala season 2013, the estimated harvest of soyabeans was 30,000 MTs and it is a 94% increase compared to the last year. In this backdrop, a discussion was held with Farmers Societies, Traders and the Treasury Officials in order to purchase soyabeans and maize from the farmers and to determine a stable price for the same. Accordingly it has been decided to purchase soyabeans from the farmers at a price of Rs. 80/- per kilogram during the period from more..

Sep 11 (CT) The National Freedom Front (NFF) asserts that it is determined to make a serious contribution to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) with a view to ensuring a series of mechanisms that would bolster the unitary state concept of the Sri Lanka polity. Media Spokesman and Member of the CMC, Mohamed Muzammil, responding to a query vis-�-vis the walk-out of the JHU from the PSC on Monday, conceded that they (NFF) too had some issues with more..

Sep 11 (DM) Globally renowned filmmaker Dr. Lester James Peries had all reasons to smile today when he met film journalists to share his views about the screening of the restored version of his celebrated movie �Nidhanaya� at the prestigious Venice Film Festival last week - for the second time in 41 years. The movie was earlier screened at the same festival in 1972 when it clinched the Silver Lion of St Mark. Dr. Peries was joined by his more..

Sep 11 (Island) UNP Pradeshiya Sabha member K. Ardiappu staged a protest on the roof of the Galgamuwa bus stand yesterday claiming that he had not crossed over to the govt with former UNP MP Dayasiri Jayasekera contrary to a claim the latter had made to that effect. Aridappu demanded that Jayaskera withdraw his statement forthwith. The protester claimed that Jayasekera had tarnished his good name. He initially refused to come down when the OIC of the Galgamuwa police station more..

Sep 11 (DN) Customs sleuths at the Bandaranaike International Airport yesterday seized 626 cartons (125,200 sticks) of cigarettes valued at over Rs. 3.1 million hidden inside the personal luggage of three Sri Lankan youth who had arrived from a Middle Eastern country. Customs Spokesperson said officers had also seized three refrigerators purchased by the youth from the duty free shops at the airport as they did not have the duty free allowance to match the value of the items. more..

Sep 11 (Hindu) As the U.N. Human Rights Council meets once again in Geneva this month, the portents for Sri Lanka are not promising. Later in this session (which began on Sept 9 and will run until Sept 27), U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay will make an oral presentation on Sri Lanka�s human rights situation based on her recent visit to the country. She is to make a written submission in March 2014. more..

Sep 11 (IE) This new, occasional series should, in fairness, be a thank-you note to Shoojit Sircar, one of our new breed of young and thinking filmmakers. His latest Madras Caf� marks a new beginning in Hindi cinema. Unlike Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, it does not claim to be a biopic. And, unlike Milkha, it stays much closer to the real story which, again entirely unlike Milkha Singh's, is one of the saddest in our history: the LTTE-led terror, war with the IPKF in north and eastern Sri Lanka, more..

Sep 11 (CT) Leader of the JHU, Ven. Omalpe Sobhitha Thera, yesterday stressed that the Defence Secretary's decision to speak about the existence of Muslim extreme elements in the country at the Defence Seminar in the presence of foreign delegates, was 'correct' and a 'timely move.' While referring to remarks made by Ministers Rauff Hakeem and Rishad Bathiudeen, who had demanded a further clarification from the Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, on the more..