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Intelligence agency ponders whether Tamil Tigers should be outlawed
Wednesday, 9 March 2005 - 3:54 AM SL Time
OTTAWA (CP) - The national intelligence agency is considering whether to recommend that the Tamil Tigers be formally outlawed as a terrorist group.
Jim Judd, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, told a Senate anti-terrorism committee Monday that it`s a tricky call. `It`s an issue that`s actively under consideration in the service,` Judd told the senators.
The Tigers are a Sri Lankan separatist group that has waged a violent campaign - including the use of suicide bombers - to win a Tamil homeland on the Indian Ocean island.
Fund-raising for the Tigers is banned in Canada, although the group has not been formally listed as a terrorist organization. The United States, Britain and Australia consider the Tigers terrorists.
Judd noted that Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew has said that since the organization is involved in peace negotiations it might be a bad idea to put them on the outlaw list.
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80 percent majority for federal solution: CBK
Wednesday, 9 March 2005 - 3:37 AM SL Time
President Chandrika Kumaratunga said yesterday she believed 80 percent of the people of Sri Lanka would support the devolution of power in a federal solution to the ethnic conflict and she was ready to gamble her presidency on this issue.
Addressing an SLFP women`s conference to mark the International Women`s Day, the President said she was prepared to hold an election or referendum on the federal solution and she was confident of victory as many other parties would also support this.
The President insisted that neither the government nor the LTTE could win a war and anyone who promoted war as a solution to the conflict should be categorised as a traitor.
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LTTE skips meeting with visiting European Commissioner for External Relations
Wednesday, 9 March 2005 - 2:09 AM SL Time
The LTTE leadership yesterday skipped a meeting with the visiting European Commissioner for External Relations Ms Benita Ferrero-Waldner consequent to her agreeing to take up a gamut of contentious issues including conscription of child soldiers and acquisition of aircraft during the Cease-Fire Agreement (CFA).
The LTTE had cancelled the meeting scheduled to take place at their Peace Secretariat in Kilinochchi on Tuesday claiming that their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran had been indisposed, well informed sources said.
Addressing the press at the end of her busy two-day visit here, Ferrero-Waldner Tuesday evening said, `The visit wasn't possible due to practical reasons.`
The Foreign Ministry had initially objected to her visit on the basis that the government didn't encourage high-level visits to the LTTE-held areas. But the government had consented to the former Austrian Foreign Minister's visit after she agreed to make a public statement on the entire range of contentious issues. She was to emphasise the need to strictly adhere with the Oslo-arranged CFA.
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Politics
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Japanese parliamentarians to visit Sri Lanka
Thursday, 10 March 2005 - 1:24 AM SL Time
Hosei Norota, President of the Japan ' Sri Lanka Parliamentarians League and a leading parliamentarian of the House of Representatives of Japan, will be in Sri Lanka on a four day visit from Monday 7th March to Thursday 10th March 2005. He will be accompanied by Yasuhide Nakayama, member of the House of Representatives. Norota is former Director General of the Defence Agency and former Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
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Contempt of court filed against Lankadeepa editor
Thursday, 10 March 2005 - 1:23 AM SL Time
Rohitha Bogollagama, the Minster of Higher Technology has filed in the Supreme Court an application for contempt of court against the editor of `Lankadeepa` newspaper in respect of an article published on February 17, 2005.
The petitioner had said that the article referred to a press statement issued by UNP, commenting on the recent Supreme Court judgement, which declared that the recent expulsion of Bogollagama from the UNP is bad in law.
The petition had added that the petitioner did not know whether the UNP issued a statement of that nature. In any event the editor Siri Ranasinghe had no business to publish it.
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Presidential Secretariat employee on cheating charge
Thursday, 10 March 2005 - 1:22 AM SL Time
Fort Magistrate and Additional District Judge Sarath C. Karunaratne had directed the relevant authorities to produce Anura Mannage Sunil Siriwardena, a minor employee at the Presidential Secretariat in court on April 27th.
The suspect had been accused of taking Rs. 10,000 from a person promising him employment in Malaysia.
This transaction had taken place near the Galle Face Hotel.
Earlier, the CID produced a report on an investigation carried out subsequent to receiving a complaint from senior assistant secretary of the Presidential Secretariat.
Police said that the suspect, identified as resident of Ruwanwella, had been previously accused of taking Rs. 470,000 from a person promising him overseas employment a few years ago and had been indicted in Kandy Magistrate's Court
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Editorial News
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Compromise, the key to open talks
Thursday, 10 March 2005 - 1:35 AM SL Time
Among the many important assertions made by President Chandrika Kumaratunga while addressing the SLFP Women`s conference on the occasion of International Women`s Day at the Viharamaha Devi open air theatre, was her statement that those who oppose the present effort to resolve the national question and bring peace to this country do not present an alterative proposal to achieve this objective.
There is nothing novel in this question about alternative proposals. This has been a question posed throughout. But there has been no straight forward answer. Some people, of course, had an answer - that is nothing other than an all-out war for the complete annihilation of the LTTE. They very openly and baldly flaunted this solution to the problem: identifying it purely as one of terrorism and nothing else. However, the historical events had an effect of enlightening them on the impracticability of such an approach. Some of those who still entertain hopes of such a solution are silent, while others have chosen to seek refuge in hypocrisy. They pretend that they are for a negotiated settlement of the issue while placing every imaginable obstacle to thwart all efforts made to reach a peaceful solution.
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Crisis and chaos over containers
Wednesday, 9 March 2005 - 5:25 AM SL Time
About 250 containers loads with hundreds of millions of rupees worth of urgently needed relief items for tsunami victims have been lying at the Colombo port and airport for some six weeks -- stuck in a bureaucratic muddle.
The government, early last month, clamped taxes and various regulations on these items including thousands of tents which could have provided shelter to the poor tsunami victims but instead lay packed up in a container load of regulations and red tape compounded by indifference, lethargy and, worst of all, bribery and corruption down the line. The government had acted on protests by the JVP and other groups which allege that some NGOs were misusing or abusing the facility of bringing in tsunami relief items free of duty. Some NGOs are alleged to have brought in laptop computers and video phones for their personal use at a time when even JVP Propaganda Secretary Wimal Weerawansa is reported to be carrying a razzle dazzle mobile phone worth some 150,000 rupees. Anyway abuse is abuse, and extravagant privilege is extravagant privilege, whoever indulges in it. Some NGOs might have misused the duty free facility, but what happened over the past few weeks amounts to collective punishment of even the tsunami victims for the misdeeds of a few.
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Human sorrow and lupine wiles
Tuesday, 8 March 2005 - 1:29 AM SL Time
It is natural for family members and relatives of a victim of a road accident to lose temper and go berserk. Assaulting killer drivers and setting their vehicles ablaze following fatal accidents are common in this country. The initial protest that erupted when an army vehicle knocked down a schoolgirl in Jaffna on Friday is nothing out of the ordinary. How shocking it is when the life of a little one is snuffed out goes without saying.
We have in these columns, on a number of occasions, commented on the reprehensible manner in which military vehicles are driven on public roads. Some of them don't care a hoot about road rules and shove other road users veritably into the roadside drains.
Drivers - be it military or civilian - must be extra vigilant and considerate when children who usually lack kerb drill move on roads, as they usually do what is least expected like darting across the road. Little cyclists make the situation more complex as they make turns that are least predictable.
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| Security |
Stock missing: Tins found in shops
Thursday, 10 March 2005 - 1:31 AM SL Time
An astounding Rs. 5 million worth of a concentrated nutritional product sent from Australia for tsunami affected children had gone missing from the airport but strangely some of it had found its way into the shelves of some shops in the south.
President of the Sarah John Foundation Inc. Australia, Ian J Richardson and his wife Margaret told the Daily Mirror a story about the missing consignment of the nutritional product and expressed their disappointment, disgust and sorrow as to how this could happen when it had to be given to those most deserving.
Mr. Richardson said that nearly 900 cartons of `Reliv Now` and `Energize`, a highly concentrated nutritional product that needs careful monitoring when first taken had gone missing. The cost of a tin of `Reliv Now` costs Rs. 3000 (in local currency) and `Energize`, twice as much, in Australia. However, Mr. and Mrs. Richardson had bought two tins of `Reliv Now` from a shop in Ambalangoda at Rs. 650 each.
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Warrant on missing swami-astrologer
Thursday, 10 March 2005 - 1:30 AM SL Time
An open warrant was yesterday issued for the arrest of Indian swami-astrologer G. Krishor Shasthri who has been indicted on charges of sexually abusing a woman constable under the pretext of conducting a pooja.
Colombo High Court Judge Rohini Perera issued warrant on the swami who was earlier arrested at a star class hotel in Colombo while allegedly attempting to molest and sexually abuse the WPC who acted as a police decoy.
The swami who was on bail had failed to appear in court when the case came up for hearing as he had reportedly gone to India.
The open warrant was issued for the accused`s arrest at either his Indian address at Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh or his temporary address at No. 303, Jaic Hilton, Union Place, Colombo 2.
According to the indictment, the accused had molested a number of women under the pretext of conducting poojas for their well being and domestic happiness.
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Abducted driver found dead
Thursday, 10 March 2005 - 1:23 AM SL Time
The body of a Muslim three wheeler driver, abducted Tuesday evening by unidentified gunmen at Kadjuwatte, north of Batticaloa, had been found on Wednesday morning, an army spokesman said.
He blamed the LTTE for the abduction and killing.
`This is a foul murder carried out by the army and its lackeys calculated to destroy cordial relations between Muslims and Tamils in the east. We will not rise to the bait`, pro-LTTE TamilNet quoted an LTTE spokesman P. Thayamohan, as saying.
The victim had been identified as Abdul Hameed Rahim. According to the TamilNet he had been abducted on the Valaichenai-Vaakarai road near the State Cashew Plantation garrisoned by the SLA. The road is controlled by the SLA up to Mankerni about three kilometres north of the Cashew Plantation garrison.
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Business / Economy News
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SriLankan launches CD/DVD for Tsunami Fund
Thursday, 10 March 2005 - 1:34 AM SL Time
The National Carrier SriLankan Airlines yesterday launched a CD/DVD titled:` WE ARE SRI LANKAN` with their corporate anthem extolling the virtues of unity, patriotism and faith for a better tomorrow in its efforts to rebuild the nation after the December 26 tsunami tidal tragedy where the proceeds will be channeled for the tsunami fund.
The airline has estimated a sum of Rs. 40 million for this project which will be from the sale of the CDs and other similar ventures. The contribution of a day`s salary of all employees at SriLankan Airlines, which has amounted to nearly six million rupees, was utilized to initiate the project. `Proceeds of We are SriLankan` will also go towards the building of this school, severely affected by the tsunami. The CD will be available at all SriLankan Airlines offices, as well as in all music stores and leading super markets.
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Sri Lanka must achieve Rs.600 bn in exports and turn to Global Marketing
Thursday, 10 March 2005 - 1:25 AM SL Time
Sri Lanka Exporter
Rohantha Athukorala has a double degree in marketing and an MBA. He is the only double recipient of the 'Marketing Achiever Award in Sri Lanka in 2001 & 2002. He was a warded a 'Business A chiever'a ward in 200314 by PIMM, University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Athukorala was the Head. Prefect and Vold 'A ward winner in his final year at college and the 'Best Student for Sri Lanka., at the Chartered Institute of Marketing UK Exams, He brings to EDB 15 years of experience working at top British multinational companies in the areas of Brand Marketing, Demand Management, South Asian Regional Strategy Development and Country Management for Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
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Sri Lanka's Export performance in 2004 in the. Global arena, has achieved an encouraging 11.7% growth to Rs. 472 billion in the first ten months. The New EDB Chief, Rohantha Athukorala says, `The Challenge for Sri Lanka is to become Global Marketers rather than Exporters. We have many success stories that demonstrate that Sri Lankans have the skill set of identifying requirements of the Global consumer and developing products that meet this requirement better than our Global competitors. Dilma is one such example that Sri Lanka can be proud of in the value-added tea sector.
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Records post tax profit of Rs.976mn, core income increases
Thursday, 10 March 2005 - 1:24 AM SL Time
The Hatton National Bank ended 2004 with a satisfactory performance by posting an after tax profit of Rs. 976Mn. This was a marginal decline of 3% compared to 2003. The Bank's core income recorded a satisfactory increase stemming from improvement in net interest, fee based and foreign exchange income.
The total operational expenses were also contained with a modest increase of 14% due to aggressive cost management. As expected at the outset, profitability was considerably affected by large provisions made on account of nonperforming loans. During the year, the Bank made total provisions amounting to Rs.1.57Bn. for bad & doubtful debts.
Sustained efforts to improve bank's portfolio quality have begun to show visible result. The Bank's NPA ratio improved to 9.7% in 2004 compared to approximately 14% in 2003. The NPA cover as at end 2004 also improved to 55% from 34% as at end 2003. During the year, the Bank raised approximately Rs. 1. 4 BN by way of a rights issue, which has contributed to maintaining a capital adequacy ratio of 11.26% well above the statutory minimum of 10%. It is envisaged that the Bank's core capital would be further strengthened during the first half of 2005 by completing the planned GDR issue which was approved by its shareholders last year.
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| Sports News
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Sri Lanka A in the dumps
Thursday, 10 March 2005 - 1:35 AM SL Time
England `A` took control of the first test against Sri Lanka `A` for the third successive day at the CCC grounds yesterday. The third day`s play was called off at 5.00 p.m. due to bad light with 14.5 overs remaining and the Englishmen finished the day with a comfortable 436-run lead with five wickets intact.
The Sri Lankan fight back on the second day did not last long when play resumed yesterday morning with overnight batsman Malinga Bandara who was on 30 being able to add only another 15 runs. A quick-fire 27 from Thilan Thushara followed but none of the other batsmen were able to make any impression and the Sri Lankans were bowled out for 228. The damage in the morning was done by medium paceman Alex Gidman who came out for the first time to end with figures of 3 for 8 in 3.2 overs.
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126th `Battle of the Blues` starting today - Thomians have the edge
Thursday, 10 March 2005 - 1:27 AM SL Time
It is regarded not merely as an annual cricket encounter between two affluent Colombo schools, but probably because it has been held for one and a quarter of century 'in fact, the second longest running annual cricket match in the world'through two World Wars and many social transformations, the 126th 'Royal-Thomian' will be the pick of the 'Big Matches' this season too.
Traditionally known as the `Battle of the Blues`, it will be played from today till Saturday at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground in Colombo on a low key sans the usual carnival atmosphere as a mark of respect to last December's tsunami disaster victims which included three schoolboys from S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia.
Many critics point out that there is a possibility of the stronger S. Thomas' College emerging victorious this time to stop a streak of five draws dating back to 1999. The Thomians won their three-day 'Big Match' under Narein Ratwatte in 1999. Rohan Iriyagolla carried Royal to a win in 1991.
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Sri Lankan women create table tennis history
Wednesday, 9 March 2005 - 5:26 AM SL Time
For the first time in the history of Sri Lanka sport, besides netball, a governing body was formed to promote and foster women`s table tennis.
The Women`s Table Tennis Association was formed yesterday morning at St. John`s College Hall and is affiliated to the Sri Lanka Table Tennis Association.
The first president is Dr. Daminda Attanayake a past player from Hillwood College Kandy who is presently attached to the medical unit of the Ministry of Sports.
Former national player Swarna Peiris is the secretary while the vice presidents are also past players of national standing. They are Namal Gunasekera, Dilmini Direckz, and Manel Pieris.
Nine members to the Committee will be elected from the Provinces on a later day, and one member from each province will be elected according to Chandana Perera president of the Sri Lanka Table Tennis Association.
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