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Govt plans ban on smoking in public
Thursday, 6 July 2006 - 4:54 AM SL Time
The government plans to ban smoking in public, by introducing the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol Bill, in order to prevent non-smokers from inhaling the smoke emitted by smokers and thereby becoming passive smokers and also to prevent the younger generation from taking to smoking. This was revealed in the Parliament by Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition Nimal Siripala de Silva.
Presenting the Bill in Parliament yesterday he said `One of the main purposes in setting up the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol was to save the younger generations as it would be difficult to wean the older persons, who could be addicted to tobacco or alcohol, He said the Bill was being introduced by the government to present a major health hazard posed to the Sri Lankan nation by the increasing addiction to smoking and drinking.
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LTTE celebrate suicide bomber squads
Wednesday, 5 July 2006 - 9:58 PM SL Time
Sri Lanka`s Tamil Tiger rebels celebrated their suicide bomber squads on the 19th anniversary of their first attack on Wednesday, but in the capital Colombo troops nervously scanned streets fearing new blasts.
With a 2002 ceasefire increasingly in tatters and more than 700 people dead so far this year, many fear the rebels might unleash more Black Tiger suicide bombers against civilian, military and economic targets.
`Our Black Tigers have stood as pillars of strength and force,` said the rebel-linked Jaffna University Students Union in a statement. `Every time they walk into the battlefield... they scatter like cotton and mingle and join the air for the love and passion for their goal... without considering death.`
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President offers peace outline to LTTE
Wednesday, 5 July 2006 - 10:13 AM SL Time
With the ceasefire between the government and the LTTE in tatters, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said he would give only an outline for peace to the LTTE.
He added he would leave it to the LTTE to flesh out a peace deal, provided it came to the negotiating table.
Speaking to NDTV, Rajapaksa said there was no question of his government allowing the Karuna faction of the LTTE to operate in areas controlled by the government.
NDTV: There are reports that you were looking at direct talks with the other side. We heard Anton Balasingham on NDTV, saying that till the government reined in the Karuna faction they would not come to the negotiating table. How would you respond to that'
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Politics
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Strangers in their own land, Tamil refugees in limbo amid rising violence
Friday, 7 July 2006 - 2:26 AM SL Time
Mallavi, Sri Lanka - Former vegetable vendor Dharmaselan lost his leg and arm in an aerial bombing over strife-torn northern Sri Lanka several years ago.
But he says government soldiers did not believe him when they began harassing him again earlier this year as violence escalated in the region.
`The army kept stopping and asking me questions. They said I must be LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) because I had no leg,` said the 32 year-old father of five known only as Dharmaseelan, referring to the rebel fighters now skirmishing daily with government troops.
`I feared for my family, so I left.`
The vegetable seller from Jaffna district joined tens of thousands fleeing their homes amid tit-for-tat killings, disappearances and military operations that have killed more than 830 people since December amid a crumbling ceasefire.
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Sri Lanka`s Tamil Tiger leader defends using human bombs
Thursday, 6 July 2006 - 5:21 AM SL Time
ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press Writer KOVILPORATIVU, Sri Lanka (AP) _ A top Tamil Tiger leader on Wednesday defended the use of suicide bombers against Sri Lankan security forces, as the rebels held street parades during an annual memorial for suicide cadres who died while fighting for a separate homeland.
Every July 5, the rebels honor members of a special suicide squad, known as the Black Tigers, who are a key part of their struggle for an independent state for the country`s 3.2 million ethnic Tamil minority.
According to latest figures released by the rebels, 273 Black Tigers have died in suicide missions since 1987.
``There are many groups in the world using suicide bombers but the methods of our Black Tigers are more effective and incredible,`` rebel official Yogaratnam Yogi said in a speech on the rebel radio Voice of Tigers. A transcript of his speech was published on pro-rebel Web sites.
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US says no military solution
Thursday, 6 July 2006 - 5:10 AM SL Time
There is no military solution to Sri Lanka`s separatist conflict, outgoing US Ambassador Jeffrey Lunstead said, as daily bloodshed has raised fears of renewed war.
Lunstead, who is leaving the country after three years, also said in a statement released Wednesday that a solution to Sri Lanka`s civil strife would require 'radical changes in the way the entire nation is governed'.
These changes must 'empower all the people of Sri Lanka: Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and others, and give them a greater say in how they are governed in the areas where they live', he said in an American Independence Day address.
Spiralling violence has claimed the lives of more than 830 people and displaced tens of thousands more since December as a ceasefire agreement between Colombo and the LTTE crumbles.
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Editorial News
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Police, please wake up
Thursday, 6 July 2006 - 5:19 AM SL Time
OVER the years the problem of crime in Sri Lanka has grown to a complexity which seems to be defying all attempts at containing it. Considering the current crime rate, some would even say that the problem has assumed monstrous proportions.
To be sure, we have been saddled with a wasting ethnic conflict which has contributed in no small measure towards the militarization of Lankan society and rendered it severely violence-prone and wild.
However, while every effort should be made by the State to resolve the conflict politically, we cannot help reflecting that weak law-enforcement too has played a significant role in aggravating the problem of crime.
One of the problems which has been dogging us is that punishment has not been meted out to the wrong-doers expeditiously and effectively.
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Spilt milk; A crying shame
Wednesday, 5 July 2006 - 12:47 PM SL Time
If this country no longer flows with milk and honey and rather with blood and vengeance, one of the vital economic reasons is the manner in which we allowed ourselves to be converted from the breast to the bottle and from fresh milk to expensive powdered milk.
This tragedy of spilt milk is a crying shame for our country and largely a result of the milk of market blindness.
One of the most positive and brave steps taken by the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration in these times of uncertainty, if not confusion and contradictions, was last weeks decision to suspend the advertising of powdered milk under various brand names.
According to Central Bank figures, Sri Lanka imported about 125 million dollars worth of powdered milk last year, most of it from Australia and New Zealand. Sri Lanka produced only 15 percent of its total milk requirements.
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Cutting of CEB melon and allied matters
Tuesday, 4 July 2006 - 6:20 AM SL Time
The UNP`s offer to cooperate with the government is salutary. The two major parties have always been at loggerheads, with each other over all national issues from privatisation to terrorism. Such cooperation is long overdue. But their efforts will reach fruition only if they stem from a genuine desire to help the country rather than from an ulterior motive to tide themselves over till time is opportune to resume fighting. Reconciliation has never been possible as, in making overtures to each other, they are driven by the cunning of the proverbial spider that invited a fly to his parlour.
Adversity, it is said, makes strange bedfellows. The UNP is desperate to prevent further crossovers. The government is wary of being remote controlled by the JVP: They don`t see eye to eye on many issues, the most pressing being the CEB reforms on the cards. The government may have thought of cutting the JVP down to size by flirting with the UNP.
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Female suicide bomber identified
Thursday, 6 July 2006 - 5:08 AM SL Time
The suspected LTTE female suicide cadre responsible for the attack on Army Commander Sarath Fonseka has been identified and three other suspects wanted in connection with the blast inside the Army Headquarters have been arrested, police said.
Detectives arrested a couple and another male suspect at Rambukkana and recovered the national identity card of the 32-year-old suicide bomber Manjuladevi.
The three suspects had reportedly helped the suicide bomber in planning and carrying out her dastardly deed.
IGP Chandra Fernando told a news conference at police headquarters yesterday that a special CID team sent to Rambukkana soon after the incident had located the suspects.
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More women with HIV/AIDS
Thursday, 6 July 2006 - 5:04 AM SL Time
There was an increase in the number of registered female HIV/AIDS patients in the first quarter of this year. The figure stood at 71 as compared to 61 during the corresponding period last year, according Dr. Shantha Hettiarachchi, Information Coordinator of National HIV/AIDS Prevention Programme.
Of this number, 17 are children who contacted the infection from their mothers. Studies have revealed that the mothers were infected through their husbands and this had been the trend in South Asia including Sri Lanka, Dr. Hettiarachchi said.
`With the prevention and controlling programmes carried out at national level, the number of patients seeking treatment, too,increased. Because of the stigma attached to the disease, patients get discouraged to seek treatment. This should be wiped out and patients encouraged to seek the free treatment available,` he said.
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Army Captain-led robber gang arrested
Thursday, 6 July 2006 - 5:02 AM SL Time
The Peliyagoda Crime Division yesterday arrested a robber gang led by a Captain of the Army, now a deserter. The gang was said to be responsible robbing luxury vehicles and selling them to the LTTE.
Among the vehicles recovered by the police from the gang are a Prado worth ten million rupees, a car and a van.
The suspects have been arrested in the areas of Battaramulla, Tissamaharamaya, Kegalle, Ratmalana and Ranna. A bank executive was also a member of the gang, police said.
Investigations have revealed that the gang had already sold most of the vehicles robbed.
Vavuniya police took in to custody the Prado when it was being taken to a Tiger controlled area.
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Business / Economy News
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Finlays installs world`s latest tea bagging machine
Thursday, 6 July 2006 - 5:20 AM SL Time
The worlds leading tea bag machine manufacturer Industria Machine Automatiche (IMA) of Italy, and James Finlay & Company (Colombo) Limited announced the arrival and installation of the worlds latest tea bagging machine, the IMA C27 in Sri Lanka.
The high-tech C27 tea bagging machine was launched in April 2005 at the Interpack in Dusseldorf and James Finlays became the first company in Asia to purchase one.
The C27 has the ability to produce up to 250 tea bags per minute and is based on a traditional non heat-sealable double chamber bag (flow thru type), that guarantees optimum infusion efficiency enabling the natural tea aroma to flow out.
Other advantages of using the C27 machine include high process control, high flexibility and versatility, reduced maintenance and spare part consumption, and easy maintenance.
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Oil drawing foreign powers to Lanka like bees to a flower - CPC
Thursday, 6 July 2006 - 5:03 AM SL Time
Foreign powers are rushing to Sri Lanka, like bees to a flower, after it had been confirmed by the Norwegians that there were oil deposits between Mannar in the North and Hambantota in South, authoritative Petroleum Corporation sources said.
Minister of Petroleum and Petroleum Resources development, A. H. M. Fowzie told The Island that a Cabinet memorandum had been submitted to hold a Road Show by way of convening meetings with major oil exploration companies and countries globally
He said the Road Show promotions were scheduled to take place in Houston, Texas, London, Singapore, Dubai, and at the Commonwealth Countries Heads meeting in Colombo in September 2006.
Meanwhile, the sources said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had given the greenlight to neighboring countries such as India, and China to obtain a few blocks of oil reserves off the Gulf of Mannar on a preferential and priority basis. He said this could cause disappointment among other oil explorers in the world anticipating to bid.
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Mahapola lottery involves in IT development
Wednesday, 5 July 2006 - 12:52 PM SL Time
Mahapola Lottery has taken steps to involve IT in its programmes to support development of IT knowledge among students on the advice of Trade, Commerce, Consumer Affairs and Marketing Development Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle.
The Mahapola Lottery had its first IT exhibition in keeping with its new plans, recently, at the 256th Mahapola Trade Fair, held at Madduma Bandara Central College in Weliweriya, Gampaha district.
The Lottery`s Marketing Manager Romero R. Linden said that the Lottery would carry out programmes and awareness campaigns throughout the island on the importance of IT education . `The aim is to get rural youth round the IT field to motivate the children towards IT with a practical approach,` he said.
Asked if the Lottery was prepared to provide them with computer facilities in this connection, Linden said that the Ministry of Education had taken a stride in this, already that schools in villages are now equipped with computer terminals. `However, there`s a phobia that has built around IT in some rural areas. We plan to remove that out of the minds of the students and make it palatable to them as with the ongoing Mahapola programmes,` he explained.
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Isipatana dominate schools rugby, clinch Abans Trophy
Thursday, 6 July 2006 - 5:05 AM SL Time
Isipatana College won the Abans Trophy, defeating St. Peter`s College by 15 points (1 goal 2 try 1 penalty) to 14 (2 goals) in a nerve tingling match played at Havelock Park, recently.
The Plate was won by Thurstan College, who beat Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa, by 22 points to nil. The Bowl was won by Nalanda College who beat Zahira College, Colombo by 19 points to 7, while the Shield award was won by Wesley College, who beat Carey College by 21 points to 12.
There was also a ladies`s exhibition match between Black Mares and Seethawaka. Seethawaka beat Black Mares by 7 points to 5, while the boys` Under-14 match was won by Piliyandala Central who beat Royal College, Panadura by 7 points to nil.
The chief guest was Channa Pathirana, General Manager, Abans Ltd., while the guest of honour was E. W. Wijesingha, Principal, Carey College, Colombo.
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Jayawardene elated by Sri Lanka`s `killer instinct`
Tuesday, 4 July 2006 - 6:32 AM SL Time
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene was proud of the ruthless way his side finished their tour of England with a 5-0 one-day series whitewash here at Headingley.
Set a seemingly taxing 322, Sri Lanka cruised to a dominating eight-wicket win with a massive 75 balls to spare after a world record opening stand of 286 between Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga.
While being savaged by the 37-year-old Jayasuriya, who marked his record-equalling 362nd one-day international with an almost contemptuous 152 off 99 balls, is an experience common to many attacks, his fellow left-hander Tharanga, still only 21, scored a far from sluggish 109 in 102 balls.
That was evidence of the progress made by Tharanga and other younger players such as 22-year-old quick Lasith Malinga, who took an impressive four for 44 at Headingley on Saturday.
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Mahinda stumps colleagues
Saturday, 1 July 2006 - 4:15 AM SL Time
President Mahinda Rajapakse has prohibited any ruling party member from contesting the forthcoming Cricket Board presidency.
The elections are scheduled to take place on July 15. Well informed sources said that Rajapakse directed that UPFA members would not be allowed to join the fray.
Sports Minister Jeevan Kumaratunga is believed to have welcomed the President`s decision. Kumaratunga openly clashed with Deputy Minister Sripathy Sooriyaarachchi over the latter`s decision to contest the incumbent Sri Lanka Cricket Chief Jayantha Dharmadasa who heads the interim administration.
Kumaratunga continues to back Dharmadasa, accused by the opposing camp of wasting SLC funds to strengthen his position ahead of the elections called by Kumaratunga.
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