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Human Rights awareness programmes for cops Thursday, 14 June 2007 - 4:48 AM SL Time The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has launched a series awareness programmes for Police officers. About 40 officers from stations in the North Central Province participated in the first programme held in Anuradhapura last week. Officers of the Women and Children`s Desks of the Police stations were given special attention in selecting the participants, a HRCSL spokesman said. Providing awareness on international standards and local laws relating to child rights, updating knowledge on new laws and recent amendments to the law on child rights, developing skills of the participants and changing their attitudes, minimizing human/child rights violations, identifying child rights violations in the respective areas and developing collaboration among the institutions dealing with child rights are the objectives of the series of programmes. 
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Sri Lanka placed in human trafficking watchlist by US Wednesday, 13 June 2007 - 10:53 PM SL Time US Middle East allies Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, as well as key trading partner Malaysia were added Tuesday to a Washington blacklist of countries trafficking in people. Algeria and Guinea were the other additions to the blacklist of the US State Department`s annual `Trafficking in Persons Report,` which analyzed efforts in about 164 countries to combat trafficking for forced labor, prostitution, military service and other purposes. The seven countries, all of whom were on a special watch list last year, join Myanmar, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan and Venezuela in the dreaded `Tier 3` list as the worst offenders of human trafficking. Being on the blacklist, they could face sanctions, including the withholding by the United States of non-humanitarian, non-trade related foreign aid.
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Sri Lanka told to focus on mass transport to clear urban traffic chaos Wednesday, 13 June 2007 - 5:36 AM SL Time Sri Lanka should switch to mass urban transport to combat traffic congestion, and start a powerful umbrella organization to implement projects, a Sri Lankan-born professional heading a big US transport utility has advocated. The island should also build concrete roads, said Walter Wickramasinghe, Vice President and Director of Management of Metropolitan Transit Authority, in Houston, Texas, one of the largest transportation and regional development agencies in the United States. Public Relations Transport authorities should also have good public relations and hike fares gradually after making improvements commuters can feel, he told a seminar on Transportation Solutions for Rapid Economic Growth` organised by the Chamber of Construction Industry.
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| Security
Security Forum
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Colombo admits Sri Lanka Navy shot NGO worker Friday, 15 June 2007 - 6:35 AM SL Time A Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) sailor who was guarding a sentry post at the SLN naval detachment shot the International NGO worker Wednesday night wounding the Philippino national as he `failed to stop walking towards the SLN point ignoring the warning shots` fired by a SLN sailor on duty, a spokesman at the Sri Lankan government media centre said Thursday. The shooting incident comes a day after UN expressed deep concern regarding the safety and security of humanitarian workers in the aftermath of an interview by the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary who charged that the NGO and UN have been infiltrated by the Tigers for 30 years. Antonio Villeomour from Philippines, attached to Mercy Corps, an International NGO, was shot while he was walking back to his residence Wednesday night. `A sailor who was performing sentry duties issued verbal warnings and as there was no response fired warning shots at the unidentified person who walked towards the security area. The unidentified person has then run towards the Club Oceanic hotel in Trincomalee,` the media centre for SL National Security said.
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Lankans sentenced to death Friday, 15 June 2007 - 6:32 AM SL Time Two Sri Lankans and an Indian were convicted of the murder of an Arabian woman in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia while attempting to rob her of her jewellery. They were sentenced to death by Jeddah Courts. Five other Sri Lankans were sentenced to five years imprisonment and 500 lashes with the whip during their period of imprisonment. These crimes had been committed in April 2006 in the Rajuda area of Jeddah. The sentence was passed last week. The Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau had been informed of the sentence through the Sri Lanka Embassy in Saudi Arabia.
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LTTE Child soldier surrenders Friday, 15 June 2007 - 6:31 AM SL Time A 15-year-old boy surrendered to the Polwatta Army camp at Kavaththamunai on Wednesday around 10.45 am. P. Devan, of Baddulu Road, Karadiyanaru, said that he was forcibly conscripted by the LTTE as a child soldier. A total of 645 boys and girls of have surrendered to the Security Forces and the Police since February 22, 2002. Of this 454 were from the Eastern Province. All those who have surrendered have said life in the organization was unbearable due to harassment and they longed to continue with their education.
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| Politics
Political News Forum
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Dhanapala speaks on peace at book launch Friday, 15 June 2007 - 6:38 AM SL Time Former Secretary General of the Secretariat for Coordinating Peace Process (SCOPP), Jayantha Dhanapala, said yesterday that time and circumstances would eventually lead the LTTE Leader, Prabahakaran, to change from being a ruthless terrorist to go to the negotiating table. Dhanapala made this point at the launch of the book `Negotiating with LTTE` by Former Secretary General of SCOPP, John Goonaratne at the Mahaweli Centre yesterday. He called on those who say Prabahakaran will not come to the negotiating table, to study the many instances where terrorist organizations have become political organizations. `Who would have expected the IRA to become a political movement during the days it was engaged in terrorism?` he asked.
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Ruling party bigwig under scrutiny over Mavilaru compensation Friday, 15 June 2007 - 6:37 AM SL Time A powerful ruling party politician, from the Anuradhapura district, is under scrutiny over the disbursement of compensation to Mavilaru farmers who were affected by the closure of the anicut by the LTTE. Nearly Rs. 7 million has been disbursed fraudently, the head of the investigating team said. The special team, appointed by the government to investigate irregularities and malpractices in the disbursement of compensation, yesterday recorded statements from a large number of victims. The team, which is from the Agricultural Development and Agrarian Services Ministry, headed by A. A. Wickramasinghe is on a six-day visit to Mavilaru. It recorded statements from farmers at the Seruwila Pradeshya Sabha, Navodya School in Mahaweligama, Kilivedddi camp for Internally Displaced People and the Seruwila Raja Maha Vihara.
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Sri Lanka accuses `bullying` West Wednesday, 13 June 2007 - 5:33 AM SL Time Sri Lanka`s defence secretary has said the international community, especially the UK and other European nations, are bullying his country over human rights. Gotabaya Rajapaksa also said Tamil Tiger rebels had infiltrated the UN`s offices in the capital, Colombo, and were feeding it incorrect information. The British government and UN said Mr Rajapaksa`s allegations were unfounded. His claims came after the controversy over a police operation to evict 400 minority Tamils from Colombo last week. The Sri Lankan government said the Tamils were being sent to their home areas in the north and east but backed down after an outcry at home and abroad and following a Supreme Court interim order stopping any more evictions. `This is international bullying,` Mr Rajapaksa, who is President Mahinda Rajapaksa`s brother, told the BBC and Reuters.
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| Business / Economy News
Business News Forum
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Sri Lanka Navy arrest three boats transporting cement to Tigers Friday, 15 June 2007 - 6:48 AM SL Time Sri Lanka`s Media Centre for National Security said that the Sri Lanka Navy arrested three dinghy boats transporting cement from Pesalai to Wedithalathivu in the rebel held Mannar district areas in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Navy has taken the three boats into custody with five persons. Ten 50 kg bags of cement were also found and Navy suspects the arrested persons threw some more bags into the sea before they were arrested. The boats and the suspects have been handed over to the Thalaimannar Police for further investigations.
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Dialog Sri Lanka`s largest Rights Issue oversubscribed Friday, 15 June 2007 - 6:47 AM SL Time Dialog Telekom Ltd. (DTL), announced yesterday, that its Rights Issue, which would raise 15.54 billion for the company, was successfully subscribed for by over 100%, thereby making the issue the largest ever equity raising to be executed in the Sri Lankan capital market. The success of the landmark issue symbolizes a strong vote of confidence placed on Sri Lanka and Dialog Telekom by the investing community, with Dialog`s parent Telekom Malaysia leading the pack by enhancing its direct investment in the country by Rs 13 Bn, through subscribing in full for its entitlement under the rights issue. The Dialog Telekom Rights Issue attracted substantial interest from Dialog`s shareholders spanning foreign institutional, domestic institutional and domestic retail segments. The inward foreign currency remittances for the rights issue have exceeded USD 130 Mn representing one of the largest foreign investment flows to the country.
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Supreme Court halts Sri Lanka telco sale to Malaysia Friday, 15 June 2007 - 6:45 AM SL Time Sri Lanka`s highest court halted the sale of shares of the country`s largest fixed access operator to a Malaysian firm Thursday, after a lawmaker filed suit against the deal. Japan`s NTT which holds a 35.2 percent stake in Sri Lanka Telecom was negotiating to sell a 25.3 percent stake of the Telco to the Usaha Tegas group of Malaysia controlled by billionaire Ananda Krishnan. The Supreme Court suspended the sale, pending a full hearing of the petition and also directed all documents relating to the deal to be filed in court. NTT has a contract to manage Sri Lanka Telecom which expires as soon as its stake falls below 10 percent. The government which owns 49.5 percent of Sri Lanka Telecom has appointed a committee to work out a new management agreement with the Malaysian group.
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| Editorial News
Editorial News Forum
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Tax fraud: Some baffling questions Thursday, 14 June 2007 - 4:49 AM SL Time This is a land of confusion and obfuscation, where allegations of all sorts are levelled against various people and probes held but the people are left none the wiser in the end. The Auditor General`s Department claims to have blown the lid off a mega tax fraud. It was exposed by none other than the then Auditor General S. C. Mayadunne himself last year. His report revealed that the fraud had deprived the country of a whopping sum of Rs. 389 billion! This revelation should have galvanised the government into calling for an immediate probe. The Opposition should have taken to the streets. But, nothing of the sort happened. Some noises were made and they fizzled out with the passage of time. Secretary to Treasury Dr. P. B. Jayasundera has contested Mr. Mayadunne`s claim. He has said the Auditor General`s Department inquiry was not accurate. According to him, the total revenue loss to the state has been only 6.2 billion rupees. Mr. Mayadunne, now in retirement, has disputed Dr. Jayasundera`s statement. He stands by his report, which is now before Parliament. Confusion worst confounded!
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Don`t disturb Kadir in his sleep! Wednesday, 13 June 2007 - 5:35 AM SL Time Politicians and canines have one thing in common. (Of the two, the latter are the better in most respects!) They raise a leg wherever they feel like doing so with no concern for the objects they cause to stink in the process. (Remember some years ago a minister, sozzled to the gills, got into hot water by mistaking a hotel swimming pool for a urinal.) Our comment is, however, not on a mistakenly polluted pool but an intentionally sullied think tank. The institute founded by the late Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar to promote specialised training in international relations and strategic studies has, as we have pointed out previously, gone to the dogs. Today, it has come to such a pass that not even scientists, opinion leaders, academics and mandarins can meet there, without being harassed by a pack of hyenas aka the security personnel of Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama. Yesterday, we reported how a recent gathering of intellectuals, who volunteered to defend Sri Lanka`s rights vis-à-vis the Sethusamudram Project at a top-level conference, had been disrupted by those asinine guards, who denied them entry into the institute on the grounds that the Minister was having his breakfast! They had been kept waiting and many of them had left in a huff.
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The blame game and other matters Tuesday, 12 June 2007 - 6:10 AM SL Time The JVP, which is gifted with glibness, has dubbed the UNP Edawela Tours (a derisive term for a private bus, whose operations hinge on the daily income it generates). This epithet derives from the JVP argument that the UNP is shifting from issue to issue on a daily basis without a long term programme of action. Ironically, the JVP, which is calling others names, is also qualified for that sobriquet, given its penchant for populist campaigns without a specific goal in mainstream politics. Pot calling the kettle black! While the two main parties in the Opposition?whether the JVP, which is technically a part of the ruling UPFA coalition, belongs to the Opposition may be debatable?have reduced themselves to Edawela Tours, the government is proceeding like an outstation driver lost in the Colombo city owing to the new traffic arrangements. Its confusion knows no bounds. It keeps taking wrong turns and moving both ways along one-way roads, creating mayhem. Worse, it signals left and turns right causing others coming behind it?especially the olden Reds?to slam the brakes on. The latest wrong turn it took was the forcible eviction of Tamils from lodges in Colombo. Booked for the offence, the driver of the UPFA juggernaut is now trying to pass on the blame to the cleaner!
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| Sports News
Sports News Forum
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Lankan spikers make a clean sweep Friday, 15 June 2007 - 6:44 AM SL Time Sri Lankan spikers made a clean sweep of the three Test series when they completely outplayed the Maldivians to win the series at 3-0 yesterday in the final Test Sri Lankans defeated the visitors three sets to nil. But the Maldivian who lost the first and the second games put up a splendid fight proving they are improving tremendously game by game. In the final game yesterday the first set was won by the locals. It was interesting to note the highly improved Maldivians going to a slender lead at the start and held onto it until the locals equalise at 5 all: Fighting strongly the visitors once again went ahead when the local blockers failed to halt few smashes that came from their opponents. After coming to equal terms at 8 all the Lankan spikers combined well to collect five points at a stretch to take a firm grip of the set. They never allowed the Maldivians to come terms until they finish the set at 25-14.
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Pakistan releases Woolmer`s support staff Friday, 15 June 2007 - 6:43 AM SL Time Pakistan said Thursday it would not extend the contracts of late cricket coach Bob Woolmer`s foreign support staff. Trainer Murray Stevenson and physiotherapist Darryn Lifson had worked with Woolmer before the former England batsman died in Jamaica during the World Cup in March. Jamaican police said on Tuesday that Woolmer, 58, was not murdered as they had previously thought but had died of natural causes. `We are not extending the contracts of Woolmer`s support staff after their tenures finished this month,` Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) operations director Zakir Khan told AFP. Lifson and Stevenson, both from South Africa, were hired on Woolmer`s recommendation in 2004. The duo were with the Pakistan team during the World Cup and they returned to South Africa two weeks after Woolmer`s death.
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Isipatana cleared Thursday, 14 June 2007 - 4:48 AM SL Time Justice finally triumphed for Isipathana College rugby team not at the blow of a whistle in the arena, but in the Court of Law when the District Court Colombo pronounced its verdict in favour of Isipatana College, Colombo yesterday. Isipthana College that was kept in the cold for too long has been now received the green light by the court in the form of canceling the enjoining order taken against Isipatana by an old boy of Royal College Colombo, which prevented the school taking part in the tournament alleging that the school played an ineligible player at the last years inter school rugby tournament. This pronouncement by the court will enable the school rugby team to continue with their tournament matches in the ongoing Singer League rugby tournament for which the Isipatana players were denied participation for three weeks following the court order.
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