Feb 26 (FT) Expolanka Freight (EFL) became the first investment company to start operation in all hub activities in Sri Lanka following the signing of an agreement with the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka under the new commercial hub regulation in December. With Sri Lanka aiming to be a global hub for apparels and other consumer product, the country is well positioned in Asia as an emerging maritime hub with the availability of deep draft ports along the east west shipping route. more..

Feb 26 (Island) JVP says President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Ranil Wickremesinghe could live in Sri Lanka without power, but not the Rajapaksas. JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, addressing the Foreign Correspondents Association in Colombo on Monday, said that "Rajapaksas were scared to be out of office due to the wrongs they have committed. So, they would do anything to perpetuate their rule. more..

Feb 26 (DN) On the request of President Rajapaksa, the Deyata Kirula National Development Exhibition at Kuliyapitiya has been extended by two days up to March 1, Deyata Kirula Organizing Committee Chairman Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya said. Addressing media, he said the President directed him to extend the duration of the exhibition by another two days, as there have been numerous public requests especially from schoolchildren for an extension of the exhibition. more..

Feb 26 (CT) Health Minister of the Northern Province, Dr. P. Sathiyalingam, said the health sector in the Province is facing many setbacks, and had been neglected even though it was nearly five years since the end of the war. He went on to say that he had met with Minister Maithripala Sirisena, recently, and in the course of the discussions, had sought his support to uplift the health sector in the North. The sector lacks both manpower as well as facilities in the Province. more..

Feb 26 (CT) Japan is to decide whether to vote for or against the US-sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC in March, when the session is around the corner and a special team will be flying to Geneva for that purpose, Ambassador of Japan in Sri Lanka, Nobuhito Hobo, said. He was speaking to the media during a ceremony to grant Rs 70 million to a livelihood project for returnees in the North last Friday, more..

Feb 26 (TOI) Having halted fishing operations more than 10 days ago, fishermen in Rameswaram are feeling the heat and a team of representatives met the state fisheries minister in Chennai on Tuesday. Fishermen from the region had announced that fishing operations would be stopped from Feb 13 to March 10 with the intention of creating an amicable situation for the second round of talks. However, they are feeling the heat of the situation as they are deprived of their livelihood. more..

Feb 26 (DM) Puttalam Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake reprimanded the police when a suspect who stood charged with a traffic offence successfully cross-examined the police and defended himself. The Magistrate said the police often produced suspects charged with traffic offences on the assumption that they would plead guilty and pay the fine imposed. Mohamed Farouk was recently charged by the Pallama Police for using a cellular phone while driving a lorry. more..

Feb 26 (AD) The UNP demanded the immediate resignation of the Police Media Spokesman, accusing him of issuing statements favoring the ruling UPFA regarding the arrest of a UNP candidate, ahead of Provincial polls. UNP WPC candidate Royce Fernando was arrested last week in connection with an armed robbery which had taken place in Negombo recently. UNP says that Police Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana had more..

Feb 26 (CG) Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa says the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is not an institution which gives concessions. He says some assume the CPC can give fuel for free but on the contrary the CPC needs to charge like any other State institution. �I have always maintained that fuel cannot be given for free,� the Minister said while speaking at an event today. He noted that if things are given at concessionary rates then the respective State institutions will operate at a loss and more..

Feb 26 (SM) VIP security-men assaulted lawyer Udul Premaratne at Kirulapone around noon today (25), said Activists for Human Rights in a statement. The statement by lawyer Nuwan Bopage of AHR says the attackers had come in a black BMW and a white Defender Jeep, bearing no: KH 1019, which is registered to the name of the secretary to the president. In a dispute involving a VIP backup vehicle, lawyer Premaratne was assaulted with firearms on his face and legs by the men more..

Feb 26 (Xinhua) Sri Lanka's main minority Tamil party on Tuesday, expressed support to a controversial UN report, saying it reflects the human rights situation in the country. The TNA said the report by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka, contains a comprehensive and accurate depiction of the serious human rights issues facing Sri Lanka. more..

Feb 26 (Island) The police headquarters has received information that 181 notorious criminals belonging to 15 groups of thugs have come to the Southern and Western Provinces to work in election campaigns. A survey conducted by the Police headquarters had found that among those criminals were those who had involved in election law violations in the elections held during the recent past, a senior police official said. Police headquarters had sent details of these more..

Feb 26 (CG) The ruling AIADMK party in Tamil Nadu led by J Jayalalithaa has, in its election manifesto for the 2014 elections, promised to move the UN for holding a Referendum amongst Tamils in Sri Lanka and displaced ones across the world for formation of a separate Eelam (homeland) State. The AIADMK, which wants to see the four-time TN Chief Minister as the country�s next Prime Minister, released its election manifesto a day after party candidates for all 39 Lok Sabha Seats in TN besides more..

Feb 26 (Island) Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said that the govt wouldn�t demobilize the Army or reduce military presence in the Northern Province under any circumstances, though a section of the international community was pushing the govt on the diplomatic front ahead of UNHRC sessions. War veteran was responding to Western calls for a smaller army in the wake of the LTTE�s battlefield defeat in May, 2009. more..

Feb 26 (DM) Discipline, responsibility and commitment to duty and obligations ranging from small matters like arranging the bed when we wake up to bigger community, social and national issues, need to be urgently revived. The breakdown in democracy, accountability, transparency and integrity at the highest levels of politics � the command centres of power and privilege � is seen by most independent analysts as the main reason for the breakdown in discipline in most areas more..

Feb 26 (DM) Justice Shiranee Tilakawardane sent out a warning note on 'Facebook' and its users, where she said that parents and children should be very wary about Facebook and especially to have their photographs on it. She said that in certain instances they could blackmail and also threaten one's life. She said a certain old man is behind the screen, who had posted a youngish looking photograph on the Facebook and was trying to 'groom' those whom he intends to more..

Feb 26 (SL) Businessman Harry Jayawardena has been named by the Sri Lanka Police�s Commercial Fraud Unit of the CID in connection with a complaint that a forged document was supplied to the Gibraltar based bank �SG Hambros�. The businessman, who has been in the news on a variety of subjects, is accused by the complainant of having forged a letter purporting it to have been issued by Company Secretaries. more..

Feb 26 (ST) Despite intermittent rains last week, experts fear the three-month-long severe dry weather conditions will strangle power generation, agriculture and drinking water supplies as authorities struggle with limited water storage in reservoirs, rivers and water treatment plants. The Meteorology Department�s rain gauges remained close to zero for weeks while temperatures went up to 36 degrees, in Ratnapura, Colombo, more..

Feb 26 (LBO) Sri Lanka's vehicle registrations fell 1.5% to 27,827 in Jan 2014 from a year earlier, with used hybrid cars up and three wheelers down. Motor car registrations rose 35% to 1,949 in January 2014 from a year earlier, helped by the sale of 914 pre-owned Toyota vehicles (up from 352 a year earlier) and 338 (up from 202) Honda vehicles. Luxury SUV and crossover sales were almost double at 423 units in January 2014, more..

Feb 26 (Hindu) A group of Sri Lankan Tamils in a special camp within the Central Prison campus locked up the inner gate with three Nigerian officials inside on Tuesday. The officials came to the camp for completing immigration formalities for the eight Nigerians housed in the camp prior to their deportation to their country. The Sri Lankan Tamils, who had been seeking basic facilities and a western toilet for one of more..

Feb 26 (Hindu) A high-octane drama unfolded at the international airport here on Tuesday when Customs and Central Excise enforcers forced a Sri Lankan Airlines plane, bound for Colombo, to land 20 minutes after it became airborne and arrested three passengers on board on the charge of attempting to smuggle red sanders, a fragrant wood, concealed in their check-in baggage. The team, led by Assistant Commissioner, Air Customs, more..

Feb 26 (Island) All examinations at Sri Jayewardenepura University have been postponed until Friday due to a token strike by the non academic staff yesterday against Monday night�s student attack on some security officers. Spokesman of the University Dr. Praneeth Abeysundera said that two security officers had been injured in the attack carried out by undergraduates residing in hostels within more..

Feb 26 (Island) A UNP trade union alleged that CPC's high level management had misled the Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa by providing fake information about oil deals. Petroleum Branch General Secretary of the UNP controlled Jathika Sewaka Sangamaya Ananda Palitha urged the govt to blacklist the corrupt oil dealers immediately to protect the general public from contaminated fuel shipped by them. more..

Feb 26 (Island) A CEB big shot has cautioned against the govt rushing ahead with the controversial Sampur coal power plant just to please India as the MoU signed at the outset on Dec 29, 2006 is highly disadvantageous to Sri Lanka. Senior engineers who spoke to The Island wished to remain anonymous. The proposed 500 MW joint venture plant between NTPC of India and the CEB though outwardly a 50-50 concern, under the MOU, more..

Feb 26 (AFP) Sri Lanka has instilled a "climate of fear" as it intensifies its repression of critics in the build-up to Colombo's expected censure by the UNHRC, Amnesty International said. In a new report, the London-based advocacy group documented the cases of several human rights defenders who had been targeted for harassment and surveillance by the Sri Lankan regime, including death threats. more..

Feb 26 (DM) The Department of Census and Statistics has begun the pre-processing of data of the island wide census to assess the human and property damages that occurred during the nearly three-decade long war. The official website of the National Action Plan for the implementation of the LLRC recommendation said today that, the first stage of the data processing involves checking the completeness of coverage more..

Feb 26 (DM) SriLankan Airlines extends its network in the Austral-Asian Region adding seven new codeshare destinations in Australia, Vietnam and Malaysia, expanding a long-standing partnership with Malaysia Airlines, the airline said. To cater to growing demand between Australia and SriLanka, SriLankan Airlines will provide daily services to Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth via Kuala Lumpur. Daily connections to Sydney and Melbourne via Kuala Lumpur already exist. more..

Feb 26 (Island) Presidential Commission appointed to inquire into the Matale Mass Grave commenced recording evidence of witnesses yesterday. Commission recorded statements and evidence at the auditorium of the Matale District Secretariat and the process is expected to continue today. M. A. Cyril acts as the Secretary to the Commission appointed by the President to investigate in to the finding of skeletal remains of the around 154 persons during excavations more..

Feb 26 (CT) �Commission Director for Asia James Moran told Owen that he would travel to India the week of June 15 to discuss plans for the next EU-India summit, tentatively scheduled for Nov, 2009. Owen briefed Moran on Washington�s preliminary thinking about a U.S.-India strategic dialogue. On Sri Lanka, Moran noted the size and strength of the Tamil diaspora in Europe and acknowledged the possibility of a backlash by more..

Feb 26 (LBO) Stocks close 0.63% higher Wednesday ending a nine day negative rally with gains in the tobacco and diversified stocks. All Share Price Index closed 36.89 points higher at 5,872.81, up 0.63%. The S&P SL20 closed 8.74 points higher at 3,188.80, up 0.27%. Turnover was 446.57 million rupees, up from 426.93 million rupees a day earlier, with stocks of 59 firms closing in the red against 128 gainers. Distilleries closed 2.10 rupees lower at 204.90 rupees with 58.75 million rupees of more..

Feb 26 (CT) Last week, a high level government delegation visited South Africa as part of the government's latest initiative to set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, modelled after its South African predecessor. The delegation headed by the Leader of the House, Nimal Siripala de Silva, included Minister Douglas Devananda, Deputy Minister Faiszer Musthapha, MP Sajin de Vass Gunawardena and Organizer of the SLFP for Batticaloa, Arun Thambimuttu. more..

Feb 26 (Xinhua) Sri Lankan govt, which is preparing to face a resolution at the UNHRC in Geneva next month, said on Wednesday that human rights is now being used as a political tool. Minister G.L Peiris said in a statement issued by the ministry that human rights was no longer based on moral or ethical issues. Peiris said that human rights was also being used selectively and there was a need for uniformity in its application; more..

Feb 26 (Reuters) The Sri Lankan rupee traded steady on Wednesday, hovering near three-month lows for a third straight session, as light dollar demand from importers was offset by greenback sales by a state bank. The market expects downward pressure to continue ahead of festival import demand in April, dealers said. The spot rupee was traded at 131.05/10 per dollar at 0712 GMT, its lowest since Dec. 3, and a little changed from Tuesday's close of 131.05/08. more..

Feb 26 (Guardian) Rahul Dravid went first. That was in Jan 2012. Ricky Ponting was next, in Dec of that same year. Then Sachin Tendulkar, the nonpareil, in Nov 2012. And finally, Jacques Kallis quit the very next month. In two years, Test cricket lost its four leading scorers, and four leading century-makers. Between them they made 55,876 runs, and 173 hundreds. Put another way, these four scored 4.7% of all the centuries and 2.7% of all the runs that had been made in Test cricket more..

Feb 26 (MoD) The President ceremonially declared open the newly constructed multi storied Primary-School building at the Defence Services College (DSC) in Colombo today (25). Secretary Defence Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa was also among the distinguished guests present during the opening ceremony. New building was opened amidst blessings of Sanga and President unveiled a plaque to mark the occasion. more..

Feb 26 (CT) SL Gunasekera (SLG) doesn�t write often about Sri Lankan politics but whenever he does I in an unguarded moment expect to see something straight-forward because this reputation that he enjoys keeps bouncing into my mind. On the other hand, when I read him it�s all an anticlimax and a disappointment. In this day and time in Sri Lanka anybody can be straight forward only at some sort of personal sacrifice. The professional class is at best typically non-committal as far as criticism of more..

Feb 26 (Island) A motion filed by the purportedly dismissed chairman of the Pradeshiya Sabha of Homagama was called before the Supreme Court yesterday and was listed for mention on March 4, 2014, before the same bench that granted the interim relief to the petitioner, Chairman A. D. Kumarasiri. The motion said that, on December 30, 2013, the council budget had been defeated. But, prior to the lapse of 14 days, Kumarasiri, filed a petition in the Supreme Court. more..

Feb 26 (IANS) Suddenly, a group of monks, with heads clean shaven and wearing saffron & red robes, emerge out of nowhere on a dark street in Colombo. Armed with machettes, stones and other weapons, and their faces deformed by the messages of hatred that they hurl. They head towards the Grandpass Mosque and start stoning it. As windows shatter, the devotees inside the mosque are caught by surprise and try to escape. more..

Feb 26 (DM) CID arrested two Parliament employees over the alleged Rs. 11 million-fraud at the Parliament Employees� Thrift Society. At the AGM held on Sept 17 last year, a new committee was elected. The elected office bearers had asked for the funds, documents, account files and other relevant documents from the outgoing office bearers, especially from ex-treasurer Pushpakumara Dharmadasa. However, the main suspect and his accomplices had failed to produce them to more..

Feb 26 (CG) The British Tamil Forum (BTF) has called on the British Govt to carry out a full investigation into the mysterious death of a British Citizen in a Sri Lankan prison. Visvalingam Kobithas of Surrey, a British Tamil who was arrested in Sri Lanka in 2007 and detained without charge for over 8 years, was found dead on the bathroom floor of �C� Division, Magazine prison on 24 Feb. Previously, on 13 Nov 2011, he was stripped naked and attacked by fellow prisoners more..