Jan 25 (CT) SLFP has not taken any special decision regarding Minister Mervyn Silva, even though a report on the disciplinary inquiry conducted against the minister was presented to the SLFP Central Committee. SLFP General Secretary, Maithripala Sirisena, said he presented the disciplinary inquiry report regarding the SLFP Kelaniya Organizer, Mervyn Silva, to the party Central Committee. more..

Jan 25 (DM) Commissioner General of the Department of Registrations of Persons said steps were being taken to issue computerised bilingual identity cards from next month. �These computerised ID cards is in use in most countries. We still issue hand-written IDs since we started issuing IDs in 1972. Use of human labour is prone to errors and shortcomings. Details of 20 million people have been recorded in more..

Jan 25 (DM) The Govt has sought Cabinet approval for legal exemption to sell 25 acres of land in Negombo, 44 acres in Kimbulapitiya and two roods, 26 perches from Bambalapitiya to a Singaporean Company to establish a private university and related infrastructure. The present law does not provide for the selling of private or crown land to a foreign national or a foreign company. more..

Jan 25 (Island) Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, on behalf of Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena yesterday, presented a special gazette notice on the implementation of the regulations pertaining to printing pictorial warnings on packets of cigarettes. These regulations were presented under the provisions of the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol Act. According to the gazette notification the pictorial warnings should be printed on more..

Jan 25 (DM) A crisis that could have destroyed Sri Lanka�s cricket was averted at the last minute thanks to the timely intervention by chief national selector Sanath Jayasuriya while the whole of Sri Lanka was deep in their sleep on late Thursday night. �The national players refused to sign the �squad terms� for the forthcoming ICC World T20. These squad terms gives the ICC commercial right to use the player images during more..

Jan 25 (CT) The abrupt stoppage of the live telecast of parliamentary proceedings early this week, for reasons which were self-explanatory, was proof of the reluctance of the elected representatives of this country to commit themselves for public scrutiny. By extension, it is indicative of the contempt of the holders of public office towards the very people who sent them to Parliament. In theory, the stoppage of live telecast is a violation of people�s right to information. more..

Jan 25 (CT) Sharmini Serasinghe as usual has written a thought provoking and interesting article on child ordination in Sri Lanka. I agree with some of the reasons she gives to explain why it is wrong. I myself was fully against it for a long time until I change my views after speaking to some learned monks on the subject. The purpose of this article is to look it from a different angle and suggest the best possible way this could be accomplish to satisfy everyone, if a child really more..

Jan 25 (Island) SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena addressing a media conference said the Western and Southern PC elections were not being held to gloss over the allegations made at the Human Rights Council as claimed by bankrupt elements in the opposition. They were being held as their terms were coming to an end this year, and it was the duty of the govt to hold fresh elections to those bodies. more..

Jan 25 (CT) Last Sunday evening, my friends and I were out drinking. I had with me two of my countrymen from Sri Lanka. One was Thanthiriya Bandarawela, of Sinhala ethnicity, and the other was Sivapuranam Thevaram, a Tamil guy. My Sinhala friend�s name is too long, so we will call him Pol, and the other uses only one name for all purposes: �Mr Thevaram� and �machan (buddy) Thevaram�. We had a special guest that day, whose name is Grr Gllk Kllk, an anthropologist from planet Mars. more..

Jan 25 (AHRC) The term sovereignty is frequently confronted with hostile claims. Human Right and Anti Corruption Movements are often challenged by various groups with different notions and ideologies on sovereignty. The purpose of this brief article is to examine some of the legal issues with reference to the concept of sovereignty in a global political context, especially in the light of the UN Charter. It is interesting to note that the emergence of sovereignty took place at a time where France, England more..

Jan 25 (MN) SL govt has agreed to provide a US$500 million credit exposure to the Maldives through the Bank of Ceylon (BoC), according to MDA Leader Ahmed Mohamed. Briefing the press on President Abdulla Yameen�s maiden state visit to SL, MP for Dhaalu Meedhoo revealed that new administration had requested raising the credit exposure to US$1 billion to alleviate foreign currency exchange difficulties. more..

Jan 25 (Island) It is always difficult to see things as they are. Somerset Maugham, a shrewd observer of human frailty in his best work, claimed that the transcendental geniuses such as Shakespeare and Dostoevsky � I am not sure of the names he actually used � could see through a brick wall, whereas he himself, unlike average humanity, could clearly see what was directly under his nose. Wyndham Lewis was even more scathing about the limitations of average humanity: more..

Jan 25 (Island) JVP MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake told Parliament that the public would ultimately have to shoulder the cost of thermal power purchased by CEB to cover the output loss at the Norochcholai power plant owing to regular breakdowns. Making a special statement, MP said the govt had constructed the Norochcholai power plant saying that it was dangerous to depend solely on hydro power generation and it was costly to purchase power from privately owned power plants. more..

Jan 25 (CG) UK and the US are hard at work trying to garner support for the resolution against Sri Lanka to be submitted at the UNHRC in Geneva in March. UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Mark Simmonds told the House of Commons that the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) network is already hard at work with resolution�s main sponsor, more..

Jan 25 (CG) TNA members are to submit motions before Northern Provincial Council (NPC) on Monday backing calls for an international war crimes investigation in Sri Lanka. A motion is also to be submitted before the NPC calling for a war memorial to be constructed, with the backing of the Council, in Mullivaikal where the final stages of the war took place. In all, 16 motions are expected to be submitted before the Council when it convenes on Monday morning, reports from Jaffna said. more..

Jan 25 (Island) A three member team of doctors headed by Dr. Deepal Wijesooriya has developed new software to collect, analyse and retrieve statistics on non-communicable diseases in the country. The spokesman for the Health Ministry said yesterday that the NCD data collection and analysis software would enable all �Suva Divi (Wellness) Clinics to enter their NCD data and to analyse it without much hassle. The data could also be collected at a district and provincial level. more..

Jan 25 (Island) SL universities had produced a total of 56,299 graduates during 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 while the jobs created in the public sector during those years was 8832, according to a document tabled in Parliament. Document tabled by Deputy Minister Wijaya Dahanayake said that a total of 50,820 graduates had been appointed to the Development Officers� Service of his ministry and Provincial Public Service in 2012. more..

Jan 25 (Island) UNP MP Gayantha Karunathillake denied that he was to cross over to the UPFA govt. He said that infighting within the Rajapaksa regime had surfaced with the Southern and Western Provincial Council Elections to be held within the next few months. "False rumours about me defecting to the UPFA were being spread to cover up the serious crisis within its ranks, especially the SLFP which was its main constituent", the MP noted. The poster battle to select the UPFA�s Southern more..

Jan 25 (LBO) The latest bright idea from Sri Lanka�s police is to ask all motor cyclists in the Western province to switch on their headlights during day-time. The move is widely applauded by battery and bulb manufacturers. The naysayers may dismiss the move as meaningless in a tropical country where visibility during the day was never a safety issue, but the police chief who thought of this illuminating idea must be a genius. When switching on the headlight, motorcycle will also automatically turn on more..

Jan 25 (PTI) Sri Lankan govt has denied opposition claims that it is attempting to gain a domestic political advantage in upcoming provincial polls by whipping up nationalist sentiment over an expected UNHRC resolution. The UNHRC session in March is widely expected to adopt another resolution censuring Sri Lanka over its human rights record - the third in as many years - moved by the US and backed by other more..

Jan 25 (Island) Democratic Party (DP) leader retired General Sarath Fonseka yesterday called for Elections Chief Mahinda Deshapriya�s immediate intervention to prevent the government from undermining his provincial council polls campaign. Having met Deshapriya at the Election Secretariat, Gen. Fonseka told the media that pressure was being brought to bear on authorities by the ruling coalition to deprive the DP of public places to hold propaganda meetings. more..

Jan 25 (CT) The postmortem conducted on the baby albino turtle that died at the National Zoological Gardens on 20 Jan, has revealed that the death was due to acute pneumonia and not due to the poor conditions it was kept in. The baby albino turtle was two-three weeks old and weighed 49 grams at the time of its death. Four albino turtles had been handed over to the National Zoological Gardens by the owner of the Kosgoda turtle hatchery on an order issued by more..

Jan 25 (NV) The First Lady and Karamoja affairs minister, Janet Museveni, has expressed appreciation to the govt and people of Sri-Lanka for the support they are extending to the people of Uganda. She was welcoming Shiranthi Rajapaksa, the First Lady of Sri Lanka during a dinner she hosted in her honour. The dinner at State House Entebbe on Thursday evening was attended by the delegation from Sri-Lanka, more..

Jan 25 (CI) Sri Lanka Women turned their form around after being whitewashed in the ODI series, with a three-wicket win over India Women in the first of the three T20s, in Vizianagaram. Chasing 148, Sri Lanka reached the target off the penultimate ball with the help of their captain Shashikala Siriwardene's fifty. Asked to bat, India's openers started strong by putting on 71 in just over 10 overs when Anagha Deshpande was run out for 21. An in-form Mithali Raj was joined by more..

Jan 25 (CT) A six-member team, from the CID, is in Mannar to conduct inquiries into the 43 skeletons that were found in Maanthai, Thirukketheswaram. On Thursday, another skeleton was excavated, bringing the total to 44. The CID took over the investigations into the skeletal finds and the investigating team is currently in Mannar, the police revealed. The CID team has gone to Mannar to collect more evidence on the cause of death of the people whose skeletons were found more..

Jan 25 (SM) The former Chief Justice Sarath Silva in an interview to a newspaper has stated the method utilized by the govt to remove the 43rd Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, Shirani Bandaranayake, is wrong. He was one of the individuals who expressed his views in favour of the government during the impeachment of Shirani Bandaranayake. When he was questioned if he was displeased with the situation that more..

Jan 25 (SM) A team from Panadura North police today (24) visited UNP MP Managala Samaraweera at his home and questioned him for more than three hours with regard to a statement given by the wife of Shevan, who had been arrested for allegedly robbing a laptop and several foreign liquor bottles from his home on December 30. In a detailed statement to police, the MP rejected the content in the statement given by the wife of the suspect. He has explained and furnished evidence more..

Jan 25 (Island) The UNP accused the govt in parliament of tapping the telephones of Opposition politicians. UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake demanded to know whether the telephone tapping was legal in Sri Lanka and Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva responded in the negative. MP Karunanayake: "We know the govt was tapping the telephones during the times of war. Understanding the need to do so, we too helped the govt to pass supplementary estimates in this House to purchase more..

Jan 25 (DM) University academics yesterday vowed to revive their struggle for a 6% GDP allocation on the education sector and the rectification of their salary anomalies and announced the first phase in the series of awareness events would commence in Colombo, Matara, Peradeniya and Jaffna. Addressing the media to announce the new office bearers for 2014 and their future plans, FUTA ex-President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri more..

Jan 26 (NS) By a curious coincidence, the redoubtable Dr. A.C. Visvalingam, the President of the Citizens Movement for Good Governance (CIMOGG), contributed an article to this newspaper last Sunday commenting on the sorry lack of dedication of most Members of Parliament to their duties as MPs. The same week saw the move to discontinue live telecasts of parliamentary proceedings, claimed to have been introduced only as a trial, although the launch was more..

Jan 26 (NS) Media loves Mervyn Silva (Doctor). Controversial minister (�maverick� to some) can always be counted on for a juicy quote even when he�s not doing his best to conjure up a juicy story for the media. Silva is back. He has been re-appointed as the ruling party�s Organizer of the Kelaniya electorate and few will doubt that he won�t be up to the kinds of antics that made him the media�s darling for quite the wrong reasons, of course. People might recall that he was removed from that post more..

Jan 26 (SO) Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne said US Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice Stephen Rapp's recent visit to Sri Lanka was a one-sided mission fulfilled by a US envoy. He said the main reason for Rapp's visit to Sri Lanka was to find facts to base the resolution to be put forward at the next UNHRC sessions in March calling for an international investigation to deal with war crimes alleged to have taken place at the final more..

Jan 26 (SL) The call for a change in the media culture of Sri Lanka is the surest sign of a politician in distress fearing public exposure. Similar appeals for changes in existing systems in various other fields are frequently heard of but forgotten. In the recent past we have heard of calls being made for changes in the educational system, legal system, judiciary, health administration and a variety of other fields without proposals for substitute systems. Change is indeed essential in most systems more..

Jan 26 (SO) UNP has suddenly woken from its slumber like Rip Van Winkle after the recent dissolution of Western and Southern PCs. Deeply cognizant that yet another election defeat is as sure as daylight under the tottering leadership of Ranil Wickremesinghe, UNP is now going hammer and tongs to discredit the Govt. Lo and behold, Wickremesinghe is now weeping buckets of crocodile tears over the drug menace as if he is lily-white and had descended from 7th heaven. more..

Jan 26 (CT) UNP Ratnapura District MP, Thalatha Atukorale, hints that she knows something about the circumstances that led to the death of her brother, Gamini, but says she is not willing to reveal those facts to the media as she does not want to tarnish the image of the Party. "I will divulge it, only if my brother comes back to life. I love my brother more than the Party. Q: How did Gamini Atukorale enter politics? more..

Jan 26 (ST) Foreign policy is an extension of domestic policy and concerned with the protection of fundamental national interests. It is globally accepted that the only way to achieve this objective is through a dedicated, educated, well trained, professional Foreign Service with a �sprinkling� of the great and the good from outside the service. This is all the more important for Sri Lanka, with the formidable inventory of external challenges faced today. more..

Jan 26 (ST) My Dear Mangala, I thought I must write to you because you seem to be in the news once again even if it is for all the wrong reasons � having your house burgled and then finding yourself becoming the accused instead of the victim, if some of the media reports are anything to go by! Now, I wouldn�t want to comment on that particular incident because, as the Police spokesman says on so many occasions, �the matter is under investigation�. However, I find it interesting that more..

Jan 26 (SL) The UPFA has come under severe ridicule and criticism for fielding a great number of film stars and singers for the upcoming provincial council elections. The CaFFE has said that, while it was not against actors, actresses, musicians and popular characters entering politics, it was opposed to the use of �sex symbols� for elections, calling on the voters in the country to not cast their votes for these popular �sex symbols�. more..

Jan 26 (NS) The big question, raised by the opposition, which went unanswered last week in parliament was, who stopped live coverage of sittings? Nation readers know that live telecasting of proceedings in parliament had been a hot topic since it was commenced by Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa on Oct 23 last year. Unveiling a giant LED screen at the Jayanthipura public car park in the presence of almost all the top brass of parliament, Speaker said he was dreaming of more..

Jan 26 (ST) A step in the right direction that Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa took last December, to make parliamentary proceedings more accessible to the public, by allowing live telecast of proceedings over a cable network, came to an abrupt end this week, with the announcement that the transmission was being stopped. Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody, in the absence of Speaker Rajapaksa who is away in Australia attending a conference, announced on Wednesday that the more..