Apr 10 (LT) Former Director General of now defunct MCNS Lakshman Hulugalle has been appointed as the Deputy Commissioner of Sri Lanka High Commission in Australia and is expected to assume duties on 1st July say reports. The proposal to appoint Mr. Hulugalla for the post was presented to cabinet meeting by Minister G.L. Peiris amidst protests by several ministers. Meanwhile, media has reported that the President had said any step should be taken to send Mr. Hulugalle away from more..

Apr 10 (CG) Sri Lanka has been listed as a �country of concern� by the British Govt in its latest annual human rights report released today. Report which looks at the human rights situations around the world in 2013 notes that the human rights situation in Sri Lanka was of serious concern last year. �Although progress continued on post-conflict issues, such as re-building of infrastructure, and elections took place for the first time in the north of the country, the overall trend more..

Apr 10 (LBO) State-run Sri Lanka Transport Board has lost 3.5 billion rupees in 2013 slightly down from 3.8 billion rupees a year earlier. Annual report of the Central Bank said SLTB earned 30.1 billion rupees in revenues and but had spent 33.7 billion rupees, generating an operating loss of 3,511 million rupees. Operated kilometres rose to 1.8% to 344 million. Sri Lanka's elected ruling class have stuffed SLTB with their supporters more..

Apr 10 (DM) While claiming that Sri Lanka was on track to meet most of the millennium development goals (MDGs) including poverty, Britain however said on Wednesday that poverty still exists in areas in the north and east of Sri Lanka where large numbers of Tamils live. In response to a question raised by a Labour Party MP in the UK parliament about an assessment on the levels of poverty among Tamils living in Sri Lanka, Minister of State, Department for International Development more..

Apr 10 (AD) General Secretary of the BBS, Venerable Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara Thero has been asked to be present at the Slave Island Police Station on April 12, for allegedly threatening a Buddhist monk. The controversial hard-line Buddhist group yesterday stormed a media conference held by the �Jathika Bala Sena� organisation and verbally attacked a Buddhist monk. Police said that following a complaint lodged by the organization the Venerable Thero has been asked to more..

Apr 10 (DM) The draft Bill for the introduction of the National Medicinal Drugs Policy has been presented to the Cabinet for consideration, Deputy Health Minister Lalith Dissanayake said. The policy, based on recommendations by Prof. Senaka Bibile, was approved by the Cabinet first in 2005. Later, the Cabinet decided to draft a Bill to give legal effect to it. Subsequently, a team of officials was appointed to draft three different Bills to more..

Apr 10 (SM) Following the interrogation today (9) of �Lakbima� daily editor Saman Wagarachchi, an associate editor is to be questioned by the CID. When contacted, the editor said he had told police that he had not seen the caption for a picture of Ayoma Rajapaksa, wife of defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, which the newspaper had carried two days ago. He has also said that he would take responsibility, if anything wrong had taken place, noting that an apology had more..

Apr 10 (PTI) It triggered quite a furore in Sri Lankan cricket but the country's first World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga has backed Mahela and Sangakkara's decision to call it quits from Twenty20 internationals, saying the duo's timing was correct. Jayawardene and Sangakkara were criticised by Sri Lanka Cricket for not taking the body in confidence before announcing their retirement at the end of World Twenty20, which Sri Lanka won by beating India in the final. more..

Apr 10 (DC) On a red-carpet reception day when the two Sri Lankan players, Sangakkara and Mahela hit out at Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board over retirement issues, the former coach has come out openly for not receiving the "better treatment" when the team first ever won the 50-over World Cup in 1996. Dav Whatmore has worn many hats as coach in Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. more..

Apr 11 (NS) US National Security Agency (NSA) is tasked with preventing terrorism. But it cannot explain the Obama administration using Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, Apple, YouTube and other web-based services, to gain access to over 59,000 user accounts, to monitor phone calls, to bug buildings and even to watch people type on their pcs? Moreover, the US administration started thinking that their allies were �terrorists� so much so to spy on allied leaders. more..

Apr 11 (NS) The UPFA emerged a clear winner in last week�s Provincial polls. On the face of it, the governing alliance appears to have predictably romped home to a comfortable victory. Hardly surprising really with a fractured main Opposition concentrating its energies more on a leadership struggle rather than attempting to pull the rug from under the Rajapaksa regime�s feet. Hard on the heels of the poll the analysts have been burning the midnight oil, computing and totting up more..

Apr 11 (NS) Shan Wijayalal de Silva who entered Provincial Council politics in 1993 contesting the Southern Provincial Council and has never had setbacks in his political career was fortunate to reach the top position of the Council. As a person who always lived in the hearts of the southern people, this time he has been able to secure 95,860 preferential votes to top the UPFA preferential vote list in the Galle district. more..

Apr 11 (CT) When an analysis of a set of statistical data is done, unless one pays close attention to the details in which the devil usually resides, one often misses the obvious and makes erroneous assumptions that eventually lead to mistaken conclusions and judgments. Drawing conclusions that suit one's own prejudices and preconceived opinions is natural for the unprofessional, amateur analyst. Amateur historians may even embark further into bizarre analysis-territories by more..

Apr 11 (Island) Senior Minister D.E.W. Gunasekera has lamented that intellectuals no longer enter politics unlike in the past. One could not agree with him more though he has made no revelation. Who in his or her proper senses will ever want to plunge into a cesspit? DEW has said that when Dr. Sarath Amunugama spoke on the Finance Act in Parliament, not more than 20 members from both sides were present. This is a very sad state of affairs. more..

Apr 11 (CT) UNP Mahara PS member, Pramitha Hettiarachchi said that he spoke to UNP MP Ruwan Wijewardene about the problem of fielding candidates against him. They allegedly increased the number of candidates to the seat to four. "People have only three preferential votes. On the other hand, the Lankadeepa newspaper, which belongs to the Wijewardene family, also did not support me. It published the speeches of more..

Apr 11 (CT) To a Govt used to thriving on crises, the assassination of Ranjan Wijeratne came as both a setback and an opportunity. He was killed in a car bomb blast in Havelock Road on 2nd March 1991. Killed along with him were 25 civilians and 6 STF men who were in his escort. Despite there being several reported complications, the LTTE were believed to be responsible. Several questions were raised in the Press at that time as to whether the LTTE could have acted alone. more..

Apr 11 (DBS) A small minority of Muslim families were living peacefully for centuries in the Marichchikatti village in the Musali division in Mannar district. They were involved in paddy cultivation and other such works. In keeping with their religious requirement they built their own mosque there. To help continue with their cultivation works the govt has even built a dam before 1970. Life was simple but they remained contented lot. In 1990 when Tamil tigers ethnic cleansed more..

Apr 11 (CT) Sri Lankan victory at the T20 Cricket World Cup was marked with an outburst of euphoria all around the Sri Lankan south. What can be observed during the celebrations is the heavy reproduction of major state symbols such as the Sri Lankan flag, and the national emblem, the Sinhala lion, and nationalist slogans. The notion and idea of the nation state is in effect legitimized, reproduced and perpetuated through the large public veneration of Sri Lanka. more..

Apr 11 (CI) Lonwabo Tsotsobe, the South Africa left-arm seamer, has been ruled out of the tour to Sri Lanka in July to facilitate his recovery from ankle surgery scheduled on April 16. He will be sidelined for up to three months. South Africa's team manager and doctor Mohammad Moosajee said Tsotsobe had been struggling for some time and a gap in the calender had finally emerged for treatment. "Lonwabo has been suffering from this ankle problem for the last year and a half," more..

Apr 11 (ST) With the cry of the Koha and all the advertising over the media it�s evident that the Avurudu season is upon us. From the songs, the aroma of sweetmeats in the air and all the festivities, the traditional sports and other revelry so many elements go into the festival everyone looks forward to. Speaking of sweetmeats associated with Avurudu, an ingredient that cannot be ignored is Treacle or Peni. more..

Apr 11 (Island) Lanka Sathosa would cater to consumers with the lowest prices during the festive season from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. and requested them to buy their food items as early as possible to avoid inconvenience by coming at the eleventh hour, Lanka Sathosa chairman Nalin Fernando said on Wednesday. He said that Sathosa as the leading super marketeer had 300 outlets to cater to the ordinary public and they have customers numbering over 140,000 per day and more..

Apr 11 (GV) Summarising previous essays this article proceeds in point-form with an eye on greater impact via succinctness. A. During the last phase of Eelam War IV in 2008/09 the LTTE attempted an international heist that is unprecedented in world history: they used some 320,000 of their own people to manufacture a picture of an �impending humanitarian disaster� so that concerned international forces would intervene and impose a ceasefire or effect a rescue operation. more..

Apr 11 (DBS) This is the full text of the Prestigious Grotius lecture by Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy at the invitation of the American Society of International Law and the International Law Association on April 9th 2014. The lecture titled �Women and Children-The Cutting Edge of International Law� was delivered at the Annual General Meeting of the American Society of International Law held at the more..

Apr 11 (FT) York Street Partners Ltd., a Sri Lanka based boutique investment banking and advisory firm, took the first place in the regional finals (South and South East Asia) of the 2014 Alumni New Venture Competition conducted by Harvard Business School. York Street Partners is the only team from Sri Lanka to win the regional title in the history of the competition. Ravi Gururaj, a member of the panel of judges, commented on the company: �Each member of the York Street Partners more..

Apr 11 (Island) Former Deputy Leader of the Democratic People�s Front (DPF) Dr. Kumara Guruparan expelled from the party on Sunday on disciplinary grounds said that he had no intention of joining any political party at the moment, but would continue to function as the General-Secretary of the Tamil National Action Group. He said that the UNP was the only party that understood the need for national unity and only it was capable of finding a solution acceptable to all communities. more..

Apr 11 (FT) For a long time as a nation we have been talking about a new constitution in place of the existing Constitution of 1978. During the time of President Kumaratunga, a new constitution was drafted and she was not able to get it approved by the Parliament. Recently UNP also has proposed the basic elements of a constitution and it was said that they were in the process of discussing with various stakeholders to more..

Apr 11 (ST) Sri Lankan Police has successfully conducted several raids against distributors, re-sellers and importers of counterfeit Microsoft certificates of authenticity (�COA�). Based on results secured during the raid against the re-seller, the CID conducted a follow on subsequent raids against a main supplier and importer/local source of the fake COA stickers. M/s Sudath Perera Associates acted as Legal Counsel for Microsoft, according to a Microsoft media release. more..

Apr 11 (BI) The first seed of my desire to visit Sri Lanka was planted in 2010, when then-relevant singer M.I.A. tweeted her outrage over The New York Times including the island on its annual list of places to visit. Two years later, I was on the cusp of making my maiden voyage to Sri Lanka, but had to cancel at the last minute when my ophidiophobic ex-boyfriend learned about the snakes that apparently live in Sri Lanka. I finally ended up getting to Sri Lanka last summer � and I�m happy to more..

Apr 11 (DN) The Netherlands is the country of cheese(gouda), Delftware, windmills, tulips, and clogs. Sri Lanka is the land of baila, music, sunshine, vibrant colours, king coconut, pineapples and sarongs. The Netherlands are strongly connected to Sri Lanka in that the relationship between the two countries extends for almost 400 years. To celebrate this relationship the Netherlands embassy has been working closely with more..

Apr 11 (DC) The Vijay-Samantha starrer, Kaththi, which is directed by AR Murugadoss, was mired in controversy recently as it was alleged that one of the movie�s producers, Subashkaran, of Lyca Productions had close links with SL President Rajapaksa. Several Tamil organisations raised objections and demanded an explanation from the makers of the movie, namely Ayngaran International and Lyca. Now, Karunamoorthy of Ayngaran International denied those allegations. more..

Apr 11 (CT) UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake, during his adjournment motion, stated that the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) had incurred a loss of Rs 8.4 billion in the month of February. He also stated that the CEB had incurred a loss of Rs 8.1 billion in January and a loss of 7.9 billion in March. He challenged the govt to check if his statistics were wrong. He also stated that the Sampur Power Plant agreement was signed without the CEB being aware of the scope of activities. more..

Apr 11 (Island) Maligawatte police yesterday in a tactful operation rescued an eight-year-old boy from a gang of kidnappers and arrested the four suspects including the alleged mastermind, who abducted the child on a bicycle. The suspects had demanded a ransom of three million rupees to free the child. The kidnappers are from Maligawatte, where the child too live. The suspects are 16, 20, 21, and 24 years old. more..

Apr 11 (WMN) The growing public demand for fair-trade products has a led a jeweller from Cornwall to insist on using only ethically-sourced gems. So determined was Mirri Damer to ensure the sapphires she uses in her highly-prized rings and necklaces are guilt-free that she travelled to Sri Lanka�s mining region to see the process for herself. She said most people now want to know their bananas and clothes are produced without the exploitation of either people or the planet � and this concern more..

Apr 11 (Island) The Court of Appeal recently affirmed the conviction of murder and the sentence of death imposed by the High Court of Colombo on accused appellants Kamal Priyadarshana and Layan Virajantha convicted of shooting and killing of Sujeewa Perera (36), who was the Finance Controller of Body Line Garments. The Court of Appeal also affirmed the convictions for the use of a fire arm, the robbery of a vehicle and the robbery of a cellphone. more..

Apr 11 (CT) BBS has declared war against the rape of the Wilpattu National Park, where massive-scale illegal land grabbing is taking place in order to establish Muslim colonies, separate zones and villages, in the guise of resettling the internally displaced. The programme is helmed by Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, who, as revealed by the BBS on Thursday, 20 March, had allegedly entered into contracts with Middle Eastern NGOs more..

Apr 11 (FT) Business magazine LMD reports, in its April issue, that �the people are largely in agreement that external parties should not demand HR probes, stating that independent nations can resolve their own issues�. An overwhelming majority of 95% of Sri Lankans spoken to by TNS Lanka �feel that powerful nations have double standards regarding human rights � countries such as the United States are singled out, in this respect,� LMD observes. In addition, at least 2/3 of those who more..

Apr 11 (SM) Exiled LTTE leaders should be brought back to the country dead or alive, in the same manner Nadagopan alias Kapilan, the second in command of Nediyavan, was brought from Malaysia in a military intelligence operation, JHU western provincial councillor Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe said. An international intelligence operation should have been launched to bring back, dead or alive, LTTE leaders such as Nediyavan, Vinayagam, Rudrakumaran, Surendran, Fr. Emmanuel, more..

Apr 11 (FT) World Bank expects Sri Lanka to lead South Asia in economic growth this year benefitting from recent rebound and enhanced capacity but the country faces many risks to the positive outlook. �Sri Lanka would continue to grow at 7.3% this year as the economy was sustained by new capacity from infrastructure investments and rebuilding after the country�s recent conflict,� World Bank said in its twice-a-year more..

Apr 11 (ENS) Seven anacondas from a Sri Lankan zoo had a firsthand experience of just how hot it can get in the city, when the crate carrying the snakes had to be kept in the airport�s import cargo clearance area after arrival � awaiting clearance from customs and quarantine officials, according to specified norms. The snakes were sealed in special transport cases and flown from Colombo on Sri Lankan Airways flight UL 127 that arrived a little after 3.30 pm. more..