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Proposed talks in jeopardy: SLMM Saturday, 7 October 2006 - 5:15 AM SL Time The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) yesterday warned that heavy fighting between government troops and the LTTE in the East, coupled with reported attacks on the rebels by the Karuna faction could seriously jeopardize the scheduled peace talks later this month. SLMM spokesman Thorfinnur Omarsson also expressed deep concern for the welfare and safety of hundreds of civilians trapped in Vakarai as a result of the latest fighting which erupted in Marnkerni, Vakarai and Ralkuli. 'We are deeply concerned about the refugee situation in Vakarai. If heavy fighting continues in the area the civilians will have nowhere to go,' Mr. Omarsson told the Daily Mirror adding that he hoped the fighting was not an attempt to ruin the chances of peace. 
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LTTE Defence Council discusses military situation - Ilanthirayan Friday, 6 October 2006 - 8:22 PM SL Time Sri Lanka Army troopers, engaged in a new offensive, have moved north of Mankerni into Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled area in an offensive drive towards Panichchankerni, according to Tigers. `The Sri Lankan offensive has disregarded the assurances of ceasing all violence acts and the call by the International Community for talks,` LTTE`s Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan said. The Tigers have called on the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission to ensure monitoring access to the border areas where Sri Lankan forces were engaged in offensive acts. The Defence Council of the LTTE was summoned to discusss the current development, he further said. `The defence council of the LTTE forces has been summoned. The future course of action would depend on the outcome of the meeting,` Mr. Ilanthirayan further said.
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SLFP, UNP to sign MoU Friday, 6 October 2006 - 3:35 AM SL Time Sri Lanka`s two main parties, the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the main opposition United National Party (UNP), have agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) before 15th of October 2006, SLFP sources said Thursday. The UNP and the SLFP are expected to announce formally agreement in a joint statement later in the day. Reports on six identified subjects which included the ethnic crisis, electoral reforms, and good governance were submitted by six sub-committees appointed at the second round of talks between the two parties. The agreement comes weeks after the two parties began discussions on September 15. Talks were held on September 19 and October 3.
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| Security
Security Forum
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LTTE blows up civilian bridge in Panichchankerni a day after Sri Lanka govt agrees to talks Sunday, 8 October 2006 - 6:36 AM SL Time A day after the Sri Lanka government agreed to hold peace talks on October 28-29 in Switzerland, the LTTE blew up a bridge in Panichchankerni which served as the only lifeline for over 30,000 civilians in the area, the Sri Lankan military said. Military spokesperson Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said the civilians around the areas of Vakarai, Verugal and Kadiraweli who were on either side of the bridge when it was blasted are now stranded and trapped. They are now not only unable to get back to their homes but also unable to obtain food and essential items. Brig. Samarasinghe said the LTTE in the Panichchankerni area initiated heavy artillery and mortar fire from their positions on the Forward Defence Lines (FDLs) in the Kadjuwatte-Mankerni area, starting in the early hours of Friday. Sri Lanka government troops quickly retaliated with a counteroffensive supported by the Air Force and Navy. The troops used artillery and mortar fire, inflicting heavy losses to LTTE cadres and equipment and forcing them to withdraw from Panichchankerni, the spokesperson said.
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Shocking discovery at Welikada prison Sunday, 8 October 2006 - 4:13 AM SL Time Only one toilet for 100 mentally ill inmates A visit by the Good Shepherd Congregation to the Welikada prison recently led to a shocking discovery ' there was only one toilet for the use of around 100 mentally disturbed inmates. Inmates categorised as `dangerous` and confined to cells and those who posed no threat and were under treatment in open wards were all forced to queue up to use this solitary toilet within the premises, it was found. `That`s right, there`s only one toilet for all these inmates`, Lakshman Silva, the Superintendent of the prison admitted. `There is no option right now but the problem is being sorted out`. He said that six new toilets for these inmates will be constructed bythe prison`s Welfare Association. `We are now in the process of procuring the building materials for this purpose`. (SP)
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Further indictments in federal arms sting Saturday, 7 October 2006 - 7:15 AM SL Time A federal grand jury in Baltimore has returned new indictments against six South Asian men accused of paying undercover customs agents in Maryland to export banned military weapons from the United States to LTTE terrorists in Sri Lanka. The suspected arms dealers were arrested late last week after an elaborate sting operation in which alleged representatives for the LTTE in Sri Lanka deposited $700,000 with undercover agents as a down payment for millions of dollars in sniper rifles, submachine guns and grenade launchers, officials say. The superseding indictment includes new counts of money laundering, illegal weapons export and illegal possession of firearms. Federal prosecutors in Maryland said the men - four from Indonesia, one from Singapore and one from Sri Lanka - have appeared in court in Guam.
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| Politics
Political News Forum
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Uncertainty looms over peace talks Sunday, 8 October 2006 - 6:31 AM SL Time The resumption of the peace talks later this month was in the balance yesterday with the LTTE declaring that the current military action may force it to re-examine its decision to take part. The move came as the head of the Government`s peace delegation Nimal Siripala de Silva told The Sunday Times that they were yet to receive a confirmation about the resumption of talks. A spokesman for the LTTE Peace Secretariat in the Wanni said that on Friday the senior members of the movement had discussed about the issue of taking part in the talks, but had expressed their concerns about the ongoing military action. Hanssen Baur He said following the meeting LTTE political wing leader S.P.Thamilselvan in a letter to Norwegian Peace Envoy Jon Hanssen Bauer had expressed their concerns about the military action.
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EU-sponsored resolution against SL deferred Sunday, 8 October 2006 - 4:16 AM SL Time Sri Lanka narrowly missed having a European Union sponsored resolution passed against her at the Human Rights Council last week when it was decided that all draft decisions and resolutions would be deferred till November. The council'of which Sri Lanka is an elected member'met in Geneva last week. The three-paragraph resolution was tabled on Tuesday by Finland as chair of the EU. After highlighting what it claimed were increasing violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, the resolution invited the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to consider strengthening its presence in Sri Lanka. It is learnt that Sri Lanka had been unhappy with two of the resolution`s paragraphs. `There was a lot of activity behind the scenes,` an authoritative source said.
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Aid worker murder probe `very slow` Saturday, 7 October 2006 - 7:02 AM SL Time International aid agencies have appealed to Sri Lanka authorities and to Tamil Tigers to allow aid workers to access populations trapped by the ongoing violence in the north and east. Representatives of 28 international aid organisations who met in Paris called for the parties to the conflict to abide by international law and respect humanitarian aid workers. The agencies also expressed concern on the delay in investigating the murder of aid workers in Muttur. 17 aid workers of Action Contre La Faim (Action against Hunger -ACF) were found dead with gunshot wounds on 04 August as battle continued for the control over Muttur. 'The investigation is always postponed. We are dying to see something concrete started,' ACF Executive Director, Benoit Miribel, told BBC Sandeshaya.
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| Business / Economy News
Business News Forum
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Dialog TV in six months Sunday, 8 October 2006 - 6:13 AM SL Time Dialog Telekom Ltd, the leader in mobile telephony, will go live with a pay TV channel in six months time, after which it would provide options for mobile television, company officials said. This comes on the back of Dialog last week acquiring a 90 percent stake in Asset Media Private Ltd which is licensed to operate television broadcasting and pay television services in the country. 'Dialog will not go down the path of conventional television channels, but will promote pay television channels such as AXN, ESPN, Cinemax, Star World,etc and later get into mobile television as well,' a company official told The Sunday Times FT, adding that they have not yet zeroed in on a name. The Sunday Times FT reported this eventual expansion in the company in its July 14 edition last year when Dialog parent, Telekom Malaysia Chairman Tan Sri Radzi Bin Mansor said in an interview that they may look at delivering media channels on their soon to be launched 3G or third generation technology. 'Pay television is very new in Sri Lanka and we will have a good positioning,' the Dialog official said. He said the licence was worth Rs. 325 million and this latest acquisition will be popular for the group`s strategy of achieving a quadruple play of mobile, fixed, broadband and television media product proposition for local consumers.
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White elephants in fuel pumps? Sunday, 8 October 2006 - 4:14 AM SL Time Is the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) harbouring a white elephant in the form of nearly 2000 fuel pumps that cannot register fuel prices over Rs 99.99 a litre' In a detailed letter to the editor, a reader has alleged the hidden reason behind recent fuel price reductions is that more than 1,500 fuel pumps have insufficient digits to calculate fuel prices over Rs.100. According to R Dharmadasa, a former management of the CPC had imported these pumps. He claims that they are of an obscure Chinese make (Censtar) and are geared with only a four digit price-setting facility. `This only allows the rate to be fixed at a maximum of Rs 99.99,` he says. `Neither the Technical Marketing Function of the CPC nor the manufacturers ' Censtar, China ' can do anything to rectify this inherent anomaly as this is what the inefficient decision makers ordered, instead of the five digit rate-setting facility.`
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Sampath Bank pioneers `envelope-less cash accepting ATM` Saturday, 7 October 2006 - 7:18 AM SL Time SAMPATH Bank became the first in the Asian region to install the `Bulk Note Acceptor`, the envelope-less cash accepting ATM, when they installed a machine at its Headquarters branch at Sir James Peiris Mawatha recently. Incidentally, Sri Lanka became the eleventh country in the world to have such a machine to accept bulk cash deposits in large denominations, which are instantly credited to accounts. Data Management Systems Ltd. (DMS), which has been a pioneer in the transfer of leading edge technology to Sri Lanka for the past 30 years, decided to invest in introducing envelope-less cash and cheque accepting ATMs to Sri Lanka. Sampath Bank, which has always been the pioneer in rolling out new technologies in banking to this country, accepted the challenge of joining with DMS in this unique venture. It should be noted that significant resources and time were spent in getting the Sri Lanka Rupee currency certified for acceptance on the ATM, which was carried out jointly in the USA and Germany and this process took almost a year to complete.
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| Editorial News
Editorial News Forum
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High prices and cheap coffins Saturday, 7 October 2006 - 7:13 AM SL Time We Sri Lankans pay much more for fuel, electricity and telecommunication than most of our affluent counterparts in industrialized countries. But, we don`t make a whimper of protest, do we' It was only the other day that we quoted Minister A. H. M. Fowzie saying he wished he could bring fuel prices further down. He lamented he couldn`t do so as the existing stocks had been purchased before prices dropped in the world market. It is a matter for some consolation that at least he has admitted that oil prices have plummeted in the world market. The story of stocks, we believe, is old hat. What really prevents him from passing the benefits on to the hapless consumers, who are being held to ransom, is that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), the fund busting Godzilla, wants to recover its massive losses in part at the expense of the public. The CPC trade unions which are otherwise at war with their management and the government are strangely on all fours with them on the question of fuel price hikes. It was only the other day that we reported they wanted the people to be burdened more with bigger fuel price increases. And those union worthies have the audacity to claim that they are opposing the privatization of the CPC in the public interest!
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A discordant note Thursday, 5 October 2006 - 4:25 AM SL Time President Mahinda Rajapakse must be feeling like hugging UNP MP Sajith Premadasa, who has spoken very highly of his way of handling the conflict in an interview with IANS, which was reproduced in this newspaper on Monday. Mr. Premadasa is believed to have come under heavy fire from his party leaders who are struggling to prevent more defections, over his statement that the President`s approach has the blessings of the people. Mr. Premadasa has disputed some remarks attributed to him in the interview concerned, such as the reference to Mr. Rajapakse as a two-term president. However, in his rebuttal which we carried on Tuesday, Mr. Premadasa has chosen to remain silent on most of the remarks he has reportedly made and therefore the government could take them as a glowing compliment: `For the first time people are beginning to state that here is a government, unlike any other, using a military approach in the most efficient and prudent manner`85` The President, Mr. Premadasa has said, `is quite popular among the masses.` What more does a government or a president want to hear from an Opposition MP'
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The ills, pills and the bills Wednesday, 4 October 2006 - 7:17 AM SL Time The unprecedented national interest in the long-delayed though urgently needed Senaka Bibile principles on rational drug use perhaps prompted Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva last Friday to say that he sincerely wanted to implement the essential medicines concept. Addressing a meeting at the Colombo Medical Faculty to mark the issue of a Senaka Bibile postage stamp, the Minister declared that draft legislation was being finalized and he was ready to introduce it in parliament. But for the effective implementation of the policy, he needed the active support of the people and other stakeholders who believed that the essential medicines concept was essential for Sri Lanka. While transnational drug companies are apparently not interested in the essential medicines concept because it will slash their profits by millions of rupees the other key stakeholders in this field are the doctors. The 14,000-strong Government Medical Officers Association has repeatedly declared its full and active support for the implementation of the Senaka Bibile rational drug use principles presented in the form of a National Medicinal Drugs Policy last year. Representatives of the GMOA participated at every round of discussions chaired by Professor Krishantha Weerasuriya, WHO regional advisor on drug policies. At all these meetings the GMOA came out strongly and forcefully for the implementation of the Bibile policies which have been hailed by the World Health Organisation and are being implemented successfully in more than hundred countries.
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| Sports News
Sports News Forum
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Kingswood favoured against Isipatana Sunday, 8 October 2006 - 4:16 AM SL Time Kingswood College should have it easy when they meet the sturdy lads of Isipatana College in the second semi final match of the Milo ' Presidents trophy inter school knock out rugby tournament at Royal Sports Complex this evening. The kick off is at 4.30 pm. Defending champions Kingswood College will go out as the favourites to retain the plum for the fourth year in succession in the knockout tournament this year. They got off to a flying start beating the strong Trinitians in their centenary rugby match and went on to beat Dharmaraja College in their second outing. But they were forced to kiss the dust when they lost to St Anthony`s College. Adding insult to the injury they drew against Wesley which cost them dearly in retaining the league championship title this year.
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Electrifying rugby today and tomorrow at Royal Complex Saturday, 7 October 2006 - 6:57 AM SL Time The battle for the Milo President`s trophy is almost in the final stages with four top teams in the inter-school rugby circuit fighting for honours at the Royal Sports Complex grounds in Reid Avenue today and tomorrow. Their aim is to book a berth to the final scheduled to be played on October 14 at the same venue. With two teams each from Colombo and Kandy in the contest the final outcome will be known tomorrow evening. The first of the semi final between St Peter`s and St Anthony`s will be played today and the second semi final between Isipathana and Kingswood is scheduled for tomorrow starting from 4.30 p.m. onwards. There could also be a change in the venue of the final if the two teams that book a place are from Kandy. Nevertheless till then it will be all systems go and predicting the winner is not going to be that easy, as the four teams St Peter`s who are the league champions, St Anthony`s, Isipathana and defending champions Kingswood will definitely come into the game with their own game plan and the spectators could expect rugby of high standard.
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Blue and Gold Schools Hockey Sevens this week-end Friday, 6 October 2006 - 5:26 AM SL Time Teams from 32 boys and 20 girls schools, will converge on the Royal College grounds this week end to vie for championship honours, in the fourth annual Blue and Gold seven-a-side hockey tournament. This All Island Schools Hockey Sevens, the brainchild of the Royal College Hockey Club (RCHC) had its origin in 1992, but due to varied constraints was not sufficiently sustained to enjoy continuity. And so with renewed zest and vigour was revived in the year 2003, with the active support of Singer Sri Lanka, who are the sponsors for the fourth consecutive year. This tournament through the recent four years has grown in stature to be popular and become a much looked forward to event in the schools calendar of hockey. According to the Principal of Royal College, Upali Gunasekera, by this innovative exercise of RCHC the standard of hockey at Royal and yet other schools, has improved considerably.
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