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Reports of Sri Lanka missing `overhyped` -minister Friday, 3 August 2007 - 10:22 PM SL Time Reports of hundreds of disappearances in Sri Lanka are overhyped and they can be explained by poor record-keeping rather than sinister activities, the country`s foreign minister said on Friday.
Rohitha Bogollagama also told Reuters that the tropical island needed no external help to investigate cases of civilians who have disappeared amid renewed civil war between the state and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels. `If there are disappearances it`s only a few numbers. These are disappearances that can be investigated. Our legal system is so rich one can go to the supreme court of the country and raise any matter,` said Bogollagama in an interview in Manila. `They (the disappearances) are overhyped.` 
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University students should equip themselves with knowledge without dabbling in politics Friday, 3 August 2007 - 4:52 AM SL Time University Students should not think that they could topple the government by getting involved in political agitation. They should study well and contribute to the well being of the country. They must be equipped with knowledge needed to live in the technological world, said Minister of Higher Education, Professor W. A. Wiswa Warnapala at a ceremony held at Kegalle St. Joseph`s Girls College to award Mahapola Scholarships to 309 students. English is a must language to communicate with foreign countries. It had become an international language. Students in universities should study this language to gain wide knowledge and to uplift our economy without wasting time in political agitation, he said.
The minister said, our country required graduates of high educational and social standards. It would not be possible for them to prosper in life unless they were in possession of those good attributes. They should not fall a prey to deceiving politicians he said.
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Thondaman`s CWC pulls out of government Friday, 3 August 2007 - 12:05 AM SL Time Ceylon Workers Congress, an upcountry Tamil trade union and political party, led by Arumugan Thondaman, a Cabinet rank minister in Rajapaksa`s United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) on Thursday said his party was withdrawing its support to Rajapaksa government due to political differences.
Mr. Arumugam Thondaman and his three junior ministers have tendered resignations, a CWC source told media in Colombo Thursday evening. Rajapaksa government came to power with the support of extreme Sinhala nationalist forces, the JVP and the JHU, the all monks party.
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Security Forum
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A`sangaree Advises Jaffna Students .. Saturday, 4 August 2007 - 2:08 PM SL Time TULF leader V. Anandasangaree, in a statement from London yesterday condemning the killing of Jaffna University student Sahadevan Nilakson, but advised students in Jaffna to avoid participating in demonstrations and agitations until normalcy returns to the peninsula. The statement further said: `This is not the first time a University student is killed in this manner in the North and may not be the last one, too. The failure to condemn this type of killings be it in the North or South whether the victim is Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim or from any other community has encouraged the assailants to repeat such acts at regular intervals without being tracked.
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Forged money in court employees` pay Friday, 3 August 2007 - 4:59 AM SL Time The CID has started inquiries into two separate cases involving forged currency notes allegedly found among the salaries paid to staff of Badulla High Court and Colombo District Court. Badulla SSP, Sunil Maturata, said that the case, dealing with the six forged Rs. 1000/- notes allegedly found in money paid as salaries to Badulla High Court staff, had been handed over to the CID. The note machine at a bank had identified notes as forgeries when the money was being deposited at the bank. Subsequently, a court official had lodged a complaint with the Badulla police and forwarded the notes as well. The case has been handed over to the CID. Meanwhile a female staff member of the Colombo District Court had lodged a complaint with the CID asserting that she had received several forged Rs.1000 notes in her pay packet on Monday.
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Troops begin ops in Vanni Friday, 3 August 2007 - 4:54 AM SL Time The Army yesterday commenced a limited operation in the Tiger held Vanni, close to the Vavuniya border. Twenty LTTE cadres were killed, Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka told The Island. No further details were available about this latest operation at the time of going to press Meanwhile in Jaffna, on a tip off from a civilian, Army recovered five suicide belts from an abandoned house at around 2 pm yesterday. Along with the five suicide belts the security forces also reovered: three anti tank mines, two hand grenades, a T-56 weapon, two T-56 magazines, 54 T-56 rounds of ammunition, two 5kg claymore mines, two micro pistols, four claymore connectors, a claymore receiver, two claymore remote controllers and 13 electric detonators.
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Political News Forum
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Police say sorry to Kataragama pilgrims Saturday, 4 August 2007 - 2:13 PM SL Time The police department yesterday apologized to devotees who were assaulted by a police officer while they were engaged in a ritual in the Menikganga on Thursday. It said the assault was a shocking and highly undisciplined act. The Police Department said Police Chief Victor Perera had given written instructions to Southern Range Deputy Inspector General Jayantha Gamage to identify and interdict the police officer concerned immediately and follow up with prompt disciplinary action against him. Hambantota Assistant Superintendent L. A. Wickramaratne had been appointed to conduct a preliminary investigation. The police urged eyewitnesses to give their statements to ASP Wickramaratne.
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Rizana case: Govt vows action against all responsible Friday, 3 August 2007 - 5:03 AM SL Time The Government yesterday assured that action will be taken against all parties responsible for sending 17 year old Rizana Nazik for foreign employment. `The authorities are in the process of taking necessary steps against every person involved in the incident starting from the Grama Niladhari to the foreign employment agency. It will be done according to the stipulated procedure,` Cabinet spokesman Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said. The Minister said that the Government has done its best to save the under-age Rizana from the death penalty for the alleged murder of her employer`s infant. The International Human Rights Watch is handling the legal matters regarding the issue. `However, in discussing this issue one has to keep in mind that we are dealing with the legal system of another sovereign country. We are not in a position to force any person. All we can do is to make a request,` he said.
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Wasps sting 150 at Sigiriya Friday, 3 August 2007 - 4:55 AM SL Time About 150 visitors to Sigiriya were stung by wasps yesterday. About 70 of the victims were school children. The wasps had been disturbed by students from a school in Negombo as they walked past the lion`s paws at about 12.15 pm. About 70 of the victims who needed medical treatment were admitted to Sigiriya rural hospital and another 32 to Sigiriya hospital. Four who were in a serious condition, including the school principal, were transferred to Dambulla hospital. Sigiriya police say the din made by the school children would have disturbed the wasps. Three foreigners were among those hurt. Much of the harm could have been avoided if the visitors had been able to retreat to the wasp proof shelters that had been constructed for the purpose -- but this had not been possible as these were being used for other purposes.
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Israel - Lanka to strengthen the relations Friday, 3 August 2007 - 5:02 AM SL Time Dr. Palitha Kohona, Secretary to the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry met his Israeli counterpart, Aaron Abramovich, Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, to strengthen the relations between the two countries. Both sides condemned terrorism in all forms. Both sides agreed that they have suffered from this menace and agreed to oppose terrorism as a political tool. The Israeli side expressed the hope that the internal conflict in Sri Lanka will be solved soon through negotiations and peaceful means. Dr. Kohona conveyed his country`s wish for a successful outcome of the Peace Process between Israel and the Palestinian People. During the four-day visit Dr. Kohona discussed regional issues with Abramovich. Both sides agreed to cooperate in fields of high tech, agriculture, industrial development, tourism, investments and exchange of students and trainees. The Israeli government also conveyed its desire to cooperate in various fields of priority for Sri Lanka, through MASHAV ? the Israel Foreign Ministry`s Center for International Cooperation.
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One-day private bus strike against diesel hike Friday, 3 August 2007 - 4:53 AM SL Time The Private Bus Owners Association (PBOA) yesterday warned that it would launch a one-day island-wide token strike next Thursday in protest against the recent diesel price hike of Rs 4 per litre. If, however, immediate steps are taken to vest the Road Passenger Transport Authority in the Government, the proposed strike would be called off, the Association assured. Since, the Transport Authorities are under the Provincial Councils and function as semi-government bodies, corruption is rampant. The PBOA said that bus owners part with Rs. 80 million per month as extortion money all over the country and the main culprits are time keepers. `If it is vested with the Government there would be no need to pay extortionists` PBOA President Gemunu Wijeratne said. Asked whether vesting the passenger transport authority in the government would bring any reduction to the diesel prices, He said the savings on the extortion money would easily offset the diesel price increase.
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Special Deal will allow Expatriates a break EN route Thursday, 2 August 2007 - 4:47 AM SL Time SriLankan Airlines have announced a number of special promotions for travellers who use their service during the summer months. From 15th June to 15th July, any passenger purchasing a ticket to South India can enjoy a two night holiday in Sri Lanka staying in either the beach resort of Negombo or the capital of Colombo , for a discounted price of AED 250 and AED 270 respectively. Customers travelling further afield to the Far East until the end of September can avail themselves of a special two night free stay in Negombo on their return or add on an extension to South India or North India for AED 500 and AED 800 respectively. SriLankan Airlines Country Manager for the UAE and Russia, Ms. Desiree Premachandra, believes that the special deals will prove particularly attractive to expatriates in the UAE who are flying home for their holidays and wish to take a small holiday break on the way. `We introduced these special offers with expatriates in mind,` she says. `Many employees from India and the Far East travel home during the hot summer months to visit their families and these deals will allow them to either enjoy a short break en route, staying at the capital or the resort at Negombo or to add on an extra destination for a specially reduced air fare,` she says.
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The Cock is fed up with kurakkan Saturday, 4 August 2007 - 2:11 PM SL Time So, Mr. Arumugam Thondaman left the government with four others on Thursday. That he would shift allegiance was a foregone conclusion, given his differences with the government. Since his pole-vault to the government, he had been grumbling about his portfolio and allied matters. Being a cock-of-the-walk of sorts, Thondaman may not have liked being dictated to by the President`s inner circle. His grandpa and mentor the late Mr. S. Thondaman was one of the few ministers in the UNP government, who had the courage to stand up to President JRJ. Perhaps, Arumugam may have thought of doing a grandpa. It is also alleged that his exit had something to do with a Customs matter. However, one of his lieutenants is reported to have said they have left because of the way the government is treating the ethnic minorities. If that is the reason then the CWC can never support either of the two main parties that have given a raw deal to the minorities?as well as the majority community. They look after the interests of only the elites belonging to all communities and not those of the ordinary masses with whose votes they get elected. The CWC`s claim of being concerned about the rights of minorities should be taken with a pinch of salt?cum grano salis! For, as far as we can remember the CWC didn`t break ranks with the JRJ administration in 1983, when a government-sponsored pogrom was carried out against Tamils. Nothing worse than that has ever happened to the minorities in this country. Never mind the main parties. What about the CWC`s track record as regards minorities? The CWC has failed to mitigate the suffering of the unfortunate estate Tamils toiling like slaves under trying conditions. It has been in power for decades with the help of its political somersaults but why hasn`t it been able to liberate those innocent men, women and children? Is it that the CWC only uses those hapless people as voting machines without helping them break the shackles of semi-slavery so as to keep its leadership, which is passed from grandpa to grandson, unchallenged?
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High fuel prices: A manageable crisis mishandled Friday, 3 August 2007 - 5:00 AM SL Time While the people are being crushed under the heavy burden of cost of living aggravated by continual fuel price hikes, the government is resorting to piecemeal measures to deal with the situation to the neglect of strategic economic planning. On Wednesday, it granted a diesel subsidy to fishermen who were on the warpath demanding relief. The government may have done so in the hope that the fish prices would come down as a result. How naïve politicians can be! Fishermen`s woes are mainly due to their exploitation by the mudalali Mafia, which manipulates the market, keeps prices high artificially and exploits both the producer and the consumer. Subsidies are contagious. There will be many others demanding concessions. Three wheeler operators are also agitating for a fuel subsidy. Private bus operators are likely to follow suit. And the government seeking short cuts may choose to paper over the cracks by dishing out subsidies in keeping with its populist agenda.
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Let`s hear their voice, too Tuesday, 31 July 2007 - 6:41 AM SL Time Support for a military solution among the Sinhala community is dwindling according to a recent survey conducted by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA)?from 35.1 per cent in February 2007 to 27.9 per cent in June?and the majority of the Sinhalese are supportive of peace talks. However, about 54 per cent of them are supporting the continuation of the government`s military campaign to weaken the LTTE, while the Up-Country Tamils (69 per cent) and the Muslims (57 per cent) do not endorse the government`s war effort. About 53 per cent of the Sinhalese, 95 per cent of the Up-Country Tamils and 93 per cent of the Muslims are supportive of peace talks to resolve the conflict. Interestingly, 0.7 per cent of the Sinhalese, as opposed to 1.4 per cent in February, still believe that the LTTE defeating the government will pave the way for a solution. Strangely, none of the Up-Country Tamils living in areas infiltrated by the LTTE are of that view. Is it that they are too afraid to speak out or the support for the LTTE in the hill country is no more?
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Aravinda stuns village cricket team Saturday, 4 August 2007 - 2:10 PM SL Time Players at a lowly amateur English club were bowled over when former Sir Lanka skipper Aravinda de Silva turned out for the opposition and helped demolish it with ease, British newspapers reported yesterday. The 1996 World Cup winner stunned Wimborne and Colehill players by marching out for Sherborne in the Premier division of the Dorset Cricket League. And even the Sherborne team was hit for six when the Test hero, a friend of one of the players, showed up in the car-park. Hapless opponents Wimborne and Colehill shook their heads in disbelief as the 1996 World Cup winner took the field, reported `The Sun`. The retired 1996 Wisden cricketer of the year dusted off his right-arm off break skills, taking 2-4 as the host was skittled for 77.
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Sri Lanka Cricket`s new selectors to choose the Twenty20 world championships team Friday, 3 August 2007 - 5:01 AM SL Time Sri Lanka Cricket`s new selection committee chaired by Asantha de Mel is to select the national team for the Twenty20 world championships in South Africa in September as their first job. Former test wicket keeper Mahesh Goonatilleke who was named to the selection committee of Sri Lanka Cricket has submitted a letter expressing his disinterest to hold the position due to personal reasons, Sri Lanka Cricket said. Goonatilleke said to media that he had expressed his position to Sri Lanka Cricket prior to the submission of proposed names to the Minister of Sports. Meanwhile the name of Ranil Abenayaka was removed from the list of new selectors within hours after publicizing as he works in the caliber of a professional commentator. Don Anurasiri and Ranjith Madhurasinghe are the rest of the selectors named.
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SL finish seventh in Asian Athletic Championship Thursday, 2 August 2007 - 4:44 AM SL Time The five day Asian Athletic Championship ended on Tuesday with Sri Lanka securing the seventh position in the medals table with three gold medals, two silver and two bronze. The 12 member Sri Lankan contingent did exceptionally well in Jordan where 36 countries participated. China topped the medals table with seven gold medals, four silver and four bronze while India finished second. Saudi Arabia secured the third place. Of the South Asian nations that took part in this year`s event, only Sri Lanka and India managed to win gold medals. The next Asian Athletic Championship will be held in China.
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