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President wants bigger role by other countries
Friday, 13 January 2006 - 3:34 AM SL Time
President Mahinda Rajapakse said yesterday he would approach the diplomatic community in Colombo in a bid to strengthen the international presence in the country`s shaky peace process.
At a lengthy meeting with Jathika Hela Urumaya Parliamentarians at Temple Trees, the President said he would approach diplomatic missions such as those of the US, India and China and get them involved in the peace process.
The President`s assurance comes on the heels of strong warning by US Ambassador Jeffrey Lunstead on Tuesday that the LTTE would have to pay dearly if it chose to abandon the search for peace.
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Mahinda directs military to act only in self-defence
Friday, 13 January 2006 - 3:22 AM SL Time
President Mahinda Rajapakse has instructed the armed forces not to provoke the LTTE into aggression and to act only in self defence.
Cabinet spokesman and Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told yesterday`s Cabinet press briefing that the government does not want to wage war with the LTTE and President Rajapakse has told the armed forces so.
`The President has told the armed forces not to provoke the LTTE and abide truly by the Ceasefire Agreement. But they are entitled to act accordingly if for example the LTTE throws a grenade or sets off landmines.`
Asked as to how long the government was going to put up with LTTE attacks which have killed about eighty Security forces and police personnel since Rajapakse assumed office, de Silva said that their commitment to negotiations and maintaining the CFA has not changed.
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8 Sri Lanka navy personnel killed in landmine blast
Thursday, 12 January 2006 - 8:43 PM SL Time
Eight Sri Lanka navy personnel were killed and eight more wounded Thursday when a bus ferrying a group of sailors going on home leave hit a landmine, a navy spokesman said.
``Eight men were killed and eight more were wounded,`` navy spokesman Jayantha Perera told Kyodo News. ``The blast occurred this afternoon at Chettikulam in the northern Vavuniya district.``
Other reports put the death toll at nine navy sailors.
The island`s Tamil Tiger rebels were accused of triggering the claymore mine, the latest in a string of attacks that have cost the lives of over 70 soldiers and sailors since December.
The attack came just hours after a Cabinet spokesman told reporters that President Mahinda Rajapakse, elected on Nov. 17, had cautioned the military not to provoke the rebels into aggression.
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Politics
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Graduate recruitments: Inland Revenue Union claims President`s directive ignored
Saturday, 14 January 2006 - 8:28 AM SL Time
Inland Revenue Service Union claims that Revenue Authorities and some Finance ministry officials had ignored President Mahinda Rajapakse`s directive to settle the graduate`s problem who were recruited as tax officials in the Inland Revenue Department.
Joint Secretary of the Union H.A. Lal Udayasiri said currently graduates in Inland Revenue were employed under two categories, as assessors and tax officers where tax officers post is considered as a lesser post.
Mr. Udayasiri said that on January 06, President Rajapakse during an inspection visit to the Finance ministry, after visiting the Department of Inland Revenue, has directed the Secretary of Finance Ministry to absorb the graduates employed as tax officers to the post of Assessors and solve the problem.
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Sinhala group attacks JVP MP
Saturday, 14 January 2006 - 8:26 AM SL Time
JVP Trincomalee district parliamentarian Jayantha Wejesekera was allegedly attacked by supporters of the North ' East Sinhala Organization in Trincomalee, yesterday, for attempting to sabotage the hartal against LTTE atrocities .
The Organization`s General Secretary Sunil Aluthgama said they launched a hartal in Trincomalee to protest the LTTE`s mass killings of security persons and charged the JVP MP initiated a campaign to sabotage the hartal.
'Mr. Wijesekera distributed handbills condemning the hartal', Mr. Aluthgama said, adding that it was at that time the crowd attacked the MP at Ambepura in Trincomalee.
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Minister plans to make CEB corruption free
Saturday, 14 January 2006 - 3:48 AM SL Time
POWER and Energy Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne has embarked upon a broad mission of minimising waste, corruption and loss at the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to make it a productive national venture soon, a Power and Energy Ministry media release said yesterday.
The Ministry has formulated a new programme - Our Vision 2006 - which will be implemented this year. The new programme includes awareness strategies to employees to make them understand their duties and responsibilities and the nature of national services expected of the Board.
Under the programme the CEB expects to supply electricity to meet the entire consumer demand covering the whole island by 2010. The power projects of Ihala Kotmale, Norochcholai, Moragolla, Uma Oya, Ginganga, Broadlands, Kerawalapitiya and Trincomalee will be inaugurated shortly and steps will be taken to arrest power piracy and delay of settlement of electricity bills to minimise the loss of income, Seneviratne said.
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Editorial News
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Slapping Uncle Sam
Saturday, 14 January 2006 - 3:44 AM SL Time
The US warning to the LTTE against ceasefire violations was still oven-hot, when the outfit in a show of contemptuous defiance blew another hole in the CFA by killing ten sailors and injuring several others on Thursday. It was, we reckon, not an attack on the Navy as such; it was a thundering slap on Uncle Sam`s face. The LTTE has done tit for tat, or in other words simply asked the US to go to hell. This was exactly what the LTTE did to the US immediately after Richard Armitage asked it in Oslo to eschew violence. It continued its terror spree as if to tell Mr. Armitage to mind his own business.
Here in this little island called Sri Lanka, which is considered a sovereign state, we are being made witness to a strange phenomenon. The mighty world powers, who are bombing Iraq and Afghanistan to the Stone Age in a bid to flush out terrorists and pouring billions of dollars, pounds sterling and yen into a global anti terror war effort, are eating a great deal of humble pie being dished out by a tiny terror outfit. It appears to be stronger than all the world powers involved in Sri Lanka`s peace process put together!
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Sick hospitals and sickening PCs
Friday, 13 January 2006 - 3:31 AM SL Time
The Health Ministry has taken over the Nuwara Eliya hospital, which was under the Central Provincial Council. Several more provincial hospitals are reportedly earmarked for take over subsequently on the grounds that they are not performing well. True, the performance of most provincial hospitals is far from satisfactory but the question is whether the health institutions under the government are doing any better.
If so, how is it that there are long waiting lists for patients seeking surgical care at the hospitals under the Health Ministry and the private hospitals are having brisk business'
Immediately after the schools were vested with the Provincial Councils, in keeping with the 13th Amendment, the UNP government took over the so-called popular schools and called them national schools. (Are other schools non-national') Funds are being pumped into those schools, much to the neglect of their underprivileged counterparts, some of which are being closed down at a rate. The performance of even popular schools is also poor despite being under the purview of the government. But for the popular tuition centres at every nook and corner, the popular schools would have been exposed for what they really are. The credit for the academic excellence reported from those schools should, in fact, go to this `sir` and that `sir` conducting `group` and `general` tuition classes day in and day out.
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Three cheers to a warning
Thursday, 12 January 2006 - 3:42 AM SL Time
When one deals with an erring child, one has to be soft and mild. But being soft and mild doesn`t pay in dealing with grown up men unleashing unbridled terror. In dealing with them, one has to speak the language they understand most. The US Ambassador in Sri Lanka Jeffrey Lunstead has minced no words in telling the LTTE where to get off. His message to the outfit is loud and clear: `Return to war at high cost!` It looks as if the Co-Chairs were beginning to live up to the expectations of the vast majority of peace loving people of this country.
`If the LTTE chooses to abandon peace, however, we want it to be clear they will face a stronger, more capable and more determined Sri Lankan military,` Mr. Lunstead has said addressing a group of businessmen. He has added that the US remains committed to the peace process in Sri Lanka and in helping the legitimate governing bodies of the island to prepare for their roles in developing and protecting their citizens.
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| Security |
Anti-LTTE hartal continues in Trincomalee
Saturday, 14 January 2006 - 3:46 AM SL Time
THE hartal by two Sinhala organisations in Trincomalee protesting LTTE atrocities against the Sinhala community in the East, continued for the second day yesterday bringing normal life to a halt.
Shops and businesses remained closed for the second consecutive day while public transport too was paralysed as a result of the Hartal.
Trincomalee Police said there was no incident or breach of peace reported during the hartal.
The Sinhala Vimukthi Sanvidhanaya and Negenahira Sinhala Pibidena Sanvidanaya declared the hartal urging for swift measures by the Government to arrest the spate of killings by the LTTE.
With yesterday being a public holiday, all public institutions and schools remained closed. `Also the transport service was totally crippled yesterday due to the hartal,` our Trincomalee Correspondent said.
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Police, army directed to recognise media accreditation cards
Saturday, 14 January 2006 - 3:43 AM SL Time
The government has directed the police and army to recognise the media accreditation card issued by the Information Department.
This follows representations made by Tamil journalists to Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa that security authorities do not recognise the Media Accreditation Card.
Editors and senior tamil journalists who met Yapa earlier this week complained that they were being harassed unnecessarily despite producing the identity card issued by the Information Department.
Yapa,said that he has asked the police and army to recognise the identity card issued by his department.
Informed sources said Yapa had assured the journalists that action will be taken against anyone found guilty of abuse or excesses of power.
He, had also assured that a specimen of the Information Department Media Accreditation Card would be sent to the police and army to make it easier for them to identify journalists.
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Karuna group kills eight Tigers
Saturday, 14 January 2006 - 3:41 AM SL Time
A group of Karuna loyalists attacked and killed eight Wanni LTTE cadres on Thursday (12) police sources in Ampara said yesterday.
However, the security forces in the East were unable to confirm the attack.
The Karuna group had fired on an LTTE camp and retreated into the Kanjukuddichcha Aru Jungle with the LTTE in pursuit. Once their pursuers had themselves entered the jungle the Karuna cadres had regrouped and attacked them, killing eight, sources said.
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Business / Economy News
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Harcouts launch Fair and Handsome launch in Sri Lanka here
Saturday, 14 January 2006 - 3:45 AM SL Time
Emami Ltd., one of the fastest growing personal and health care companies from INDIA is a part of the diversified Emami Group of Companies, with business interest in paper, information technology, healthy care services and real estate.
Emami has come a long way since it started in 1974 as an enterprise dedicated to beauty and personal care. Today, it is one of the premier FMCG companies in India with a group turnover of US$200 million.
Emami products are available in 53 countries across ASIA, EUROPE, AFRICA, AUSTRALIA and parts of NORTH AMERICA. Emami has also set up its overseas branches in UK & UAE. Emami Products were launched in Sri Lanka in 2001 through Harcourts Consumer Solutions (Pvt) Ltd. a subsidiary of Harcourts (Pvt) Ltd.
One of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the country, Harcourts (Pvt) Ltd. represents many well known international brands. Navaratna Oil has become category leader over the period. While Gold Turmeric Skin Cream, Talcum range and Amala has become popular amongst the Sri Lankan consumers over a period of time.
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6000 schools to get mid-day meal
Friday, 13 January 2006 - 3:30 AM SL Time
The Government has identified districts where a majority of school going children are malnourished.
School children in 6000 schools including the North and East will be provided with a wholesome nutritious meal from January 19, 2006, Minister of Education Susil Premajayanth said yesterday.
`President Mahinda Rajapakse was very concerned about school children being malnourished and requested me to take steps to increase the number of schools from 3100 to 6000 at a cost of 700 million rupees to the Treasury, he said. Samurdhi recipients have been identified to provide the cooked nutritious mid-day meal at a cost of rupees 20 per mid-day meal.
The progress of this nutritious mid-day meal scheme of the government will be monitored continuously.
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Hotel Corp probe - BOC received Rs 653 million for its shares -GFH Group
Friday, 13 January 2006 - 3:23 AM SL Time
Referring to our front-page stories headlined `Probe on Privatization of Hotels Corporation` and `Privatization of Hotels Corp. above board`, The Galle Face Hotel Group said that 64.25% of Ordinary Shares were always held by the Private Sector, (By nearly 7,000 shareholders) while only 35.75% was held by the Bank of Ceylon. All These shares were at all times, listed on the Colombo Stock Market. Therefore it was not a fully owned government enterprise, Priyantha Maddumage, the Group Financial Controller told The Island. We inadvertently described it as a fully government-owned enterprise. The error is regretted.
Maddumage said, `The Bank of Ceylon put their 1,072,494 shares for sale on the market with a bid of Rs. 125/- per Rs. 2.00 share and there were several entities interested in buying these shares. These included Hayleys, Jet Wing Group, Nawaloka, Soft Logic, Connaisance Group and the Galle Face Hotel Group.`
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| Sports News
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World Cup to be Murali`s swansong?
Saturday, 14 January 2006 - 3:44 AM SL Time
Sri Lanka spinning wizard Muttiah Muralitharan has revealed he may retire next year, leaving Shane Warne to be Test cricket`s leading wicket-taker for at least the next two decades.
Muralitharan, 33, says the impending birth of his first child and the wear and tear of 14 years at the elite level may mean he will quit after the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.
`I will play until 2007, then keep an open mind about whether to play or not,` he said.
`I have got married. In another 10 days time, I will get a baby boy. I am looking forward to that. I have enjoyed my cricket for 15, 16 years. Now I have my family life.`
Muralitharan (584) is behind only Warne (659) as Test cricket`s leading wicket-taker, having last held the mantle outright in mid-2004, and said he was not interested in regaining the record.
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Lanka shaky
Friday, 13 January 2006 - 3:33 AM SL Time
SRI Lanka will start the limited-over tri-series on the back of another loss after Victoria beat them by seven wickets at Melbourne`s Central Reserve.
Left-arm paceman Allan Wise`s haul of 5-27 helped Victoria bowl the tourists out for 120 in 33.1 overs, and the Bushrangers reached 3-121 with 94 balls to spare.
Two early wickets to fast bowler Dilhara Fernando put a shake through the Victorians, but opener Michael Klinger (52 not out) and all-rounder Andrew McDonald (45 not out) steered the Bushrangers home.
Sri Lanka have now lost nine of their past 11 one-dayers.
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Sri Lankan batsmen fail in one-day game
Thursday, 12 January 2006 - 3:41 AM SL Time
Sri Lanka`s batsmen failed dismally in their first test on Australian soil this summer, and have just two days to produce a huge turnaround before the triangular one-day cricket series.
The tourists could not cope with the left-arm swing of Victoria`s Allan Wise, whose 5-27 helped bowl Sri Lanka out for 120 and set up a seven-wicket win at Central Reserve.
Although the drumming and horns were a constant among Sri Lankan supporters in Glen Waverley, in Melbourne`s south-east, the batting lacked the sparkle of the last Lankans team to tour Australia, in 2002-03.
Wise, who cannot crack a spot in Victoria`s best limited overs side, had played only once in the past month but took advantage of the bowler-friendly conditions after morning rain and scythed through the top order.
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