|
|
|
More Headline News
|
SB enjoys protracted stay in Merchant's Ward
Sunday, 27 March 2005 - 3:14 AM SL Time
Jailed political heavyweight S.B. Dissanayake has now spent a month at the Merchant's Ward of the National Hospital in Colombo where he is ``undergoing treatment.`ED`ED These facilities made available to the former minister has fuelled speculation of the possibility that a deal is being attempted.
`SB is keeping various channels open and has sought the intercession of those whom he believes can speak to the president,` one well informed source said yesterday. A Ravaya report claimed that the government was attempting a deal, but a close aide of the MP said his boss will not bite.
Although three months have passed on March 6 since Dissanayake was unable to attend parliament, and no leave passed, the government has made no move to obtain a declaration that his seat has been vacated. This too is adding to the speculation that something is either in the air or being attempted.
Full Story
Post Reply To This
Read Replies ( 6 )
Thamil Eelam satellite TV channel launched
Saturday, 26 March 2005 - 10:30 PM SL Time
A satellite TV station called National Television of Thamil Eelam (NTT) will begin beaming news to Europe from an undisclosed location in Sri Lanka's northeast from Saturday night, an official of the NTT said. `The satellite channel will start today at 17.30 GMT time. We will beam only fifteen minutes of news everyday for the next two weeks. Thereafter our telecast time would be increased to half an hour', he said. In the meantime, an official from the Paris based Tamil Television Network (TTN) told TamilNet that their station will relay the broadcast to their audiences in Europe at 18.00 GMT.
NTT programs cannot be viewed in Asia now, according to him. The TV channel will expand its reach to other parts of the world in due course the NTT official added.
The NTT logo shows the flower, `Karthigaipoo` or Gloriosa Lily (Botanical name - Liliaceae Glory lily or Gloriosa superba), declared as national flower of Eelam Tamils in 2003. [Tamilnet]
Full Story
Post Reply To This
Read Replies ( 21 )
137 Lankans stranded near Red Sea
Saturday, 26 March 2005 - 1:42 AM SL Time
THE Sri Lankan Embassy in Cairo has been informed by Egyptian authorities that 137 persons claiming to be Sri Lankans have been stranded at the Egyptian Red Sea border point of Halayeb and Shalateen, approximately 500 km away from Cairo.
On the instructions of the Ministry of Foreign affairs, two officers of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Cairo have travelled to the area to collect more details about the stranded persons and determine whether they are Sri Lankans, he Foreign Ministry said yesterday.
The Sri Lankan Embassy, with the assistance of Egyptian authorities, will make arrangements to repatriate them if they are Sri Lankans.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in constant contact with the Egyptian authorities through the Sri Lanka Embassy in Cairo in this regard.
Full Story
Post Reply To This
|
|
|
|
|
Politics
|
Foreign Ministry on alleged death threats
Sunday, 27 March 2005 - 3:24 AM SL Time
The attention of the Foreign Ministry has been drawn to recent reports and comments referring to alleged death threats received by a forensic expert in India, appearing in The Sunday Times of March 20 and the Divaina of March 22, 2005.
The reports alleged that these threatening calls emanated from the Sri Lanka High Commission in New Delhi. The ministry wishes to categorically state these allegations are baseless.
Prior to these media reports, an investigation was already underway and a CID team visited India on March 15, 2005 for this purpose. The investigators confirmed that the calls in question had not emanated from the High Commission. The CID investigation had identified the caller who has no connection to the High Commission.
Our reporter says: The Sunday Times reported last week that the alleged death threat to the forensic Indian expert Prof. P.Chandrasekaran who is providing expert evidence in a criminal case in Sri Lanka had emanated from the Sri Lanka High Commission in New Delhi. It has now been revealed that the CID detectives checked on this information but found no evidence to prove the suspicion.
Full Story
Post Reply To This
Kadirgamar recalls dancing Nancy, drunk Churchill and Oxford days
Sunday, 27 March 2005 - 3:20 AM SL Time
Extracts of the address by Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar on the occasion of the unveiling of his portrait at the Oxford Union on March 18. Mr President, for one term the Union is your kingdom. You are the master of this House. You are the absolute monarch of all you survey. All those who enter these premises must defer to you, be they Kings or Cardinals, Prime Ministers or Chancellors. You will never forget this intense and glorious term. Enjoy it because life for you will never be the same again after being President of the Union. The presidency will transform your life as it has the lives of all of us who have held that office before you.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I recognize some old friends in this gathering. But age has taken its toll on all of us. The shapes of faces have changed, hairlines have receded and waistlines have expanded. I may fail to recognize somebody for a moment but memories will soon come flooding back. I greet you all very warmly and thank you for your presence here today.
Full Story
Post Reply To This
UNP European branches to be restructured
Sunday, 27 March 2005 - 3:14 AM SL Time
All the United National Party (UNP) branches in European countries will soon be restructured under an initiative by party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, Chairman of the UNP European branch, Daya Ranatunga said.
`After the completion of the restructuring programme, the Sri Lankan Diaspora in Europe will be able to participate more actively in party activities,` he said.
Under this initiative, a promotion campaign will be launched to attract new membership for existing branches and to form new branches in strategic cities. The European branch is planning to carry out workshops in several European countries to educate its membership of the contents of the proposed UNP 'National Agenda' and consult them on it.
Full Story
Post Reply To This
|
|
|
|
|
Editorial News
|
Construction or confusion'
Sunday, 27 March 2005 - 3:26 AM SL Time
Yesterday marked three months to the day since the tsunami, the worst natural disaster to hit this country in recorded history. Three full moons since the calamity, and it's an opportune time to take stock of the post disaster picture.
The report card for three months is far from satisfactory, notwithstanding the President`s recent faux pas, the claim that `not even five cents` of pledged aid money has been received. ('was it an escape clause for her, or an idle rant'). Three months on, confusion - not construction - seems to be the operative word.
To date, the Government has not made known its accounting procedures -- which is cause for scores of accountability related queries, especially from overseas, regarding foreign funds being sent to Sri Lanka. There is a squint in the eye abroad when they talk of funds for the Government of Sri Lanka.
Full Story
Post Reply To This
Who is to monitor the SLSI'
Saturday, 26 March 2005 - 1:30 AM SL Time
The reported removal of the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Standards Institution, Armyne Wirasinha and its other Board members last week may be an indication of a total shake up of the organisation. There have been allegations recently about some of the standards that it is upholding.
True, Mr. Wirasinha, who rose from being an executive in the Finco Group to be a billionaire businessman of his own by the early 1990s, had served as Chairman of SLSI solely in an honorary capacity taking neither a salary nor an official vehicle from the Government. His proud boast has been that he had turned the organisation within the four years he had served it as Chairman into a self-sustaining body, which can now do without relying on the Government Treasury for its recurrent expenditure, which he terms a 200 per cent improvement in the body.
Full Story
Post Reply To This
A kick in the back of the sick'
Friday, 25 March 2005 - 12:38 AM SL Time
The new law passed by the Indian Parliament to curtail the manufacture of generic versions of patented drugs, has stirred a hornets' nest in the developing world.
Some have claimed that the law is not as restrictive as feared and the generic drugs approved in India could be sold. But now those who sell them will have to pay a licensing fee. There is also said to be provision for the companies that already manufacture generics to go ahead with copying. `But there are relatively tough criteria for such copying, and activists predict that prices for newly invented drugs will be much higher, because drug makers will have the same 20-year patent monopolies as they have in the West. As AIDS patients develop resistance to old drugs, new treatments will become less affordable, the New York Times quoted drug activists as saying.
Full Story
Post Reply To This
|
|
|
|
|
| Security |
LTTE's child soldier recruitment violates children's rights - Kilgour
Sunday, 27 March 2005 - 3:16 AM SL Time
The Canadian Parliamentary Sub-committee on Human Rights and International Development raised the issue of recruitment of children by the LTTE at a meeting held last week.
Making a statement at the commencement of the meeting, Chairman David Kilgour, M.P., former Secretary of State Asia Pacific of the Foreign Affairs Department said that the forcible recruitment of children as child soldiers by the LTTE is a matter of major concern and that Canada must address this issue, ensuring that Canadian funds are utilized for strengthening recruitment prevention and child protection initiatives.
In a prepared statement Chairman Kilgour said:
Full Story
Post Reply To This
Read Replies ( 1 )
Courier man given bail
Sunday, 27 March 2005 - 3:15 AM SL Time
Jordanian Ahamed Hananjey, Country Manager of international courier Aramex, had appeared at the Galle Magistrate Court on Thursday (24) over the disappearance of a parcel of Kilburn Imperial white tea, handed over to Aramex Colombo for urgent delivery to Seoul, a police officer based in Galle said.
He had been given bail with sureties, each surety furnishing Rs. 500,000 personal bail. Ahangama police said they investigated this case but subsequently a special unit based in Galle that functions directly under the Southern Province DIG had taken over the investigation.
Galle police said that Aramex Country Manager had been directed to appear before the Galle Magistrate on April 7.
According to police, the parcel of expensive tea had been handed over on December 6 last year. The parcel hadn't been delivered within the stipulated period by the courier prompting the sender Malinga H Gunaratne of Handunugoda Tea Factory, Tittagalla, Ahangama to lodge complaints with Ahangama and Galle police. (SF)
Full Story
Post Reply To This
Police crackdown on schoolboy gangs
Sunday, 27 March 2005 - 3:13 AM SL Time
Forty young men and schoolboys have been arrested this month in a crackdown by the Vavuniya magistrate on teasing and harassment of girls and women.
Magistrate M. Elancheleyan has also ordered action against schoolboy gangs named after Tamil movies. Sixteen persons were arrested in this regard. All the miscreants were between the ages of 18 and 22 and include advanced level students.
The move has been hailed in other parts of the country, particularly crowded cities, where women and girls are often at the butt end of unsolicited jokes, comments and harassment.
`I received a lot of complaints from people saying that young people were hanging around some of big tuition houses and harassing not only tuition girls but teachers and elderly women,` Elancheleyan told the Sunday Island. `The letters were written to the judges and the magistrate. I have now given instructions to the police to arrest anybody creating trouble.`
Full Story
Post Reply To This
Read Replies ( 5 )
|
|
|
|
|
Business / Economy News
|
Rewarding Sri Lanka`s best company in waste management
Sunday, 27 March 2005 - 3:22 AM SL Time
Interest is growing in Sri Lanka`s first Community Leader Awards programme, aimed at bringing the private sector and the community together in a long-term partnership, organizers said.
The awards launched two weeks back brings the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), Sri Lanka, and The Business Club of The Sunday Times together with John Keells Holdings Ltd (JKH) in a unique initiative with the first year (2005) focused on Waste Management and selecting private sector companies that have provided benefits and leadership to communities through their exemplary work in this area.
The awards will be presented in three categories: Large, Medium and Small enterprises. The goal of the 2005 Award is to recognize Sri Lankan companies that have excelled in the implementation of efficient and effective waste management programmes and reward them.
Full Story
Post Reply To This
Country's last television assembly plant shuts down
Sunday, 27 March 2005 - 3:17 AM SL Time
The last television assembly plant in business in Sri Lanka closed last August when Singer Industries (Ceylon) Limited shut down its TV assembly department which was operationally losing Rs.1 million per month ' `yet another victim of the globalization policy,'' according to Mr. Hemaka Amarasuriya, the company's chairman.
`Relevant tariffs were increased in the November country budget, but implemented too late to save the last of the TV assembly plants in business,'' he said.
Sixty four employees who accepted what Amarasuriya called `a generous voluntary retirement package'' lost their jobs while some others opted to stay with Singer accepting transfers to other production departments.
`Settlement was reached amicably and we wish to place on record our sincere appreciation to the Ceylon Mercantile Union and our employees for a sensible approach to a problem beyond management's control,'' Amarasuriya said.
Full Story
Post Reply To This
ADB to provide additional assistance for housing
Saturday, 26 March 2005 - 1:43 AM SL Time
The Asian Development Bank(ADB) is preparing a project for Board consideration to provide an additional $40 million, including a grant of $14 million, to continue reconstruction in conflict affected areas in the North and East the visiting Vice President of the ADB Jin Liquan said in Colombo yesterday. The board paper will be completed by the end of this month. He said that the assistance will focus on restoring community based infrastructure and livelihoods, as well as roads and water supply systems.
`Rebuilding permanent residences will commence during the second phase and the ADB will streamline the progress based on the needs assessment and disburse the funds very fast,` he said.
ADB set up an Asian Tsunami Fund in February, and plans to transfer a total of $600 million from its own resources, to be disbursed as grant assistance. Out of these funds $150 million have been earmarked for Sri Lanka.
Full Story
Post Reply To This
|
|
|
|
| Sports News
|
Royal steal the show at inaugural triangular
Sunday, 27 March 2005 - 3:25 AM SL Time
Three traditional school rivals came together yesterday to battle it out for track and field glory. Royal College Colombo, S. Thomas` College Mt. Lavinia and Trinity College Kandy pitted their athletes against each in the Track and Field Triangular 2005 which was worked off throughout the day at the Royal College grounds.
The Triangular was worked off in the U-14, U-16, U-18 and U-20 age groups and featured field events such as High Jump, Long Jump, Putt Shot and Discus Throw as well as the usual track events like the 400m, 100m, 800m and relay events. `We`re trying to promote athletics within the schools, and hope that this will in turn lead to an elevation of the sport at the national level,` said Mr. Mahen Perera, Vice President of the Old Royalist Athletics Club who are the organizers of the event. `We hope that the traditional ties between these three schools will raise the level of competition here,` he said. The athletics communities of the three schools hope to make the Track and Field Triangular an annual event. `Next year this event will be hosted by Trinity College, and S. Thomas` College the year after,` said Mr. Perera.
Full Story
Post Reply To This
Sri Lanka under ' 19 in command
Sunday, 27 March 2005 - 3:19 AM SL Time
Sri Lanka under - 19, reduced Pakistan Under ' 19 for 160 for five in the second day of their second four day game in Multan yesterday. Earlier, the Sri Lankans had made 405 all out in their first innings.
The Pakistanis were struggling at 101 for five at one stage, but an unbroken partnership of 49 runs buy Fawad Alam and A. Anwar took them to some sort of safety. Naeem Anjum was the top scorer with 60 runs. Angelo Matthews and Charith Jayaweera picked up two wickets each.
Chief Scores
Sri Lanka U-19 1st Innings 405 all out
Harsha Withana 114, Upul Tharanga 61, Anjelo Matthews 41 no.
Nawaz Sardar 5/105, Jhanjir Mirza 2/48, Sohaib Maqzood 2/50.
Pakistan U ' 19 1st Innings 160/5
Naeem Anjum 60, Fawad Alam 21 no, A. Anwar 21 no.
Full Story
Post Reply To This
Sri Lanka make New Zealand return
Sunday, 27 March 2005 - 3:18 AM SL Time
Sri Lanka arrived in New Zealand on Friday for their re-scheduled Two-test series which was postponed in January following the tsunami in Asia.
And captain Marvan Atapattu says it is important that the series goes ahead.
`Most people have been asking when we are going to start. They are pretty keen to watch us again. It's more than a game for Sri Lankans,` he said.
The first Test starts in Napier on 4 April, with the second match beginning in Wellington a week later.
Before that the tourists will play a three-day match against the Major Associations XI in Christchurch, starting on Saturday.
Atapattu's men have not played Test cricket for almost five months but their next opponents have had a tough time of it on the field of play.
Full Story
Post Reply To This
|
|
