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Sri Lanka oil minister defends bid timing Thursday, 21 February 2008 - 9:23 PM SL Time Petroleum minister A H M Fowzie said Sri Lanka would have lost the confidence of global oil firms if it had postponed the bids for offshore exploration and was keen to ensure transparency in the bidding.
Sri Lanka had to compete with other countries, some already producing oil, which also offered exploration blocks around the same time, he told parliament Thursday. He said the government was committed to conducting the oil exploration bidding round in a transparent manner with maximum benefit to the country. He was responding to queries by opposition member Wimal Weerawansa of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna about why the government did not postpone bidding. 
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`Over 50` LTTE cadres killed today in Sri Lanka Thursday, 21 February 2008 - 4:29 AM SL Time More than 50 members of the LTTE were killed in fighting on Wednesday, Sri Lankan government said.
Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said at least 53 rebels were killed and six more sustained injuries in two separate clashes in Mannar. Military spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, told BBC Sandeshaya that two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were also killed in Mannar. An offensive by the Tamil Tigers was thwarted by the security forces in Parappakandal, a statement published in the Defence Ministry website said. However, quoting LTTE sources, the pro-rebel Tamilnet said at least 10 SLA soldiers were killed in battles in Mannar district.
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President removes Bribery Chief Wednesday, 20 February 2008 - 8:59 PM SL Time President Mahinda Rajapaksa Tuesday issued a controversial order transferring the Director General of the Permanent Commission Investigating Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (COIBOC), Piyasena Ranasinghe with immediate effect. Informed sources said the Director General who was a judicial officer appointed to the Bribery Commission by former President Chandrika Kumaratunga has been transferred to the Presidential Secretariat. Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga confirmed that Ranasinghe had been informed of his transfer and asked to report to the Secretariat in due course.
It is learned the Director General was overseeing the investigations into the controversial MiG deal and the COPE report forwarded by parliament at the time the transfer order came. The complaint on the MiG deal was made by SLFP(M) MPs Mangala Samaraweera and the late Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi. The Wijedasa Rajapakse led COPE report was forwarded for inquiry by the Secretary General of Parliament, Priyani Wijesekera.
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| Security
Security Forum
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5 civilians killed in SLAF bombardment in Poonakari Sri Lanka Friday, 22 February 2008 - 12:33 PM SL Time Five civilians were killed and 13 wounded in a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) aerial bombardment of Kiraagnchi in the Poonakari (Pooneryn) division of Ki`linochchi district Friday morning. The injured are reported to have been taken to Muzhangkaavil hospital and the seriously wounded were being transferred to Ki`linochchi hospital, initial reports say.
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Security Council must act now on Sri Lanka`s LTTE - Human Rights Watch Friday, 22 February 2008 - 12:32 PM SL Time US: An international human rights watchdog yesterday asked the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on armed groups in Sri Lanka for using children in their ranks. The UN Security Council s Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict met yesterday for the second time since February 2007 to consider violations against children committed by the LTTE and the Karuna group, an armed group that split from the LTTE in 2004. The LTTE and the Karuna group continue to use children to fight their battles in clear violation of international law and Security Council resolutions, Jo Becker, children s rights advocate at Human Rights Watch said, adding the Security Council should punish their brazen violations with concrete action.
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Sri Lanka Foreign Minister meets with Defence Minister of Singapore Wednesday, 20 February 2008 - 12:51 PM SL Time Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, who is leading the Sri Lanka delegation to the Singapore Airshow 2008 met with Teo Chee Hean, Minister for Defence of Singapore on 18th February 2008. Outlining the recent developments in Sri Lanka, Foreign Minister Bogollagama apprised his counterpart of the successes of the Sri Lankan Security Forces due to enhanced capability and sophistication. He also made mention of regional co-operation in the area of countering terrorism. The Minister provided the Minister with an overview of the peace process and stated that after terminating the Ceasefire Agreement on 3rd January 2008, the Government of Sri Lanka on 23rd January decided to fully implement the 13th Amendment to the constitution. He added that the Government wanted to give leadership to the Tamil people. The Minister said that local government elections will be held in the East on 10th March 2008.
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| Politics
Political News Forum
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Ranil wants Sripathi s death investigated Friday, 22 February 2008 - 12:34 PM SL Time Stating that Mr. Sripathi Sooriarachchi s widow had voiced suspicions regarding the manner of her husband s tragic death, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe called for an inquiry into it, in Parliament, yesterday. Mr. Wickremesinghe made this call when Jaffna District MP K. Sivanesan (TNA) raised a privilege issue, alleging that he had been harassed by security forces personnel, on the A9 highway, while he was on his way to Colombo on Tuesday. He said that he had been held for an hour and sniffer dogs had been used to check his vehicle
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Sri Lanka government to open an escape route for civilians fleeing from Wanni Wednesday, 20 February 2008 - 5:18 AM SL Time As heavy fighting continue to escalate in the northern region, the Sri Lankan government said that it would open a `gateway` for trapped civilians in the Wanni area to crossover to the government controlled areas, media reports said. We would open an escape rout for civilians in the Wanni area and would give necessary accommodation, government Defence Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukkwella told media. He said that the government would create a no war zone to facilitate the civilian movements. We will drop leaflets to educate the public on our strategy which includes escape routes for them like we did when liberating Sampur, the Minister has said. Defence spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said some 100 civilians had already crossed over to cleared areas in Mannar and Vavuniya and they have been provided with food and shelter.
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Mervin not qualified for CC appointment Jeyaraj Wednesday, 20 February 2008 - 5:14 AM SL Time The Government yesterday denied reports that Labour Minister Mervin Silva was to be appointed to the Constitutional Council. The Government said that no member of a political party could be appointed to the CC under the provisions of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution that stipulated that only persons of eminence who are not members of political parties could be appointed, said Chief Government Whip Jeyaraj Fernandopulle to a question by JVP group leader Wimal Weerawansa. He said though Minister Mervin Silva could be described as an eminent person he was a member of a political party.
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| Business / Economy News
Business News Forum
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Policemen refuse to pay Rs. 15,000 bill Wednesday, 20 February 2008 - 5:15 AM SL Time Two police officers had allegedly refused to pay a Rs. 15,000 bill for liquor and food they had consumed at a restaurant in Colombo on Monday night and had instead arrested one of the waiters on the pretext that the restaurant did not have a licence to operate during late hours. According to an employee of Hotel Venus Lanka, a Tourist Board approved restaurant in Kollupitiya, they have a licence to sell liquor until 2.00 am and the incident involving the police officers had taken place around midnight. Two police officers, including an IP in plainclothes, came to our restaurant at around 10.00 pm and had food and drinks. When we gave them the bill they came up with a story that we had no licence to sell liquor at late hours, and called in the special branch of the Bambalapitiya
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JVP to ask Sri Lankans to boycott Indian products Wednesday, 20 February 2008 - 5:12 AM SL Time If India fails to stop interfering in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka, the JVP would request the public to boycott Indian products, JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe told a rally in Anuradhapura. This was the first of a series of meetings to be held island wide requesting the Government to stop forthwith any idea of devolving power to the North and East and also give up any plan to stop the war against the LTTE. `The JVP has spoken so much against separation and has always opposed any move to devolve power. We stand for a unitary State,` Somawansa said.
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Tamil homeland fantasy Monday, 18 February 2008 - 10:18 AM SL Time The conflict in Sri Lanka is inextricably linked with the demand for secession, deceptively designed to wrench the sympathy of the international community. Last month, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), urged the United Nations to recognize `Tamil sovereignty` and end the conflict in Sri Lanka. The international community must be told that, beneath a plausible veneer, the demand for a separate state for Tamils of Sri Lanka is rooted in fiction. There never was at any time in Sri Lankan history `a traditional Tamil homeland` in the north and east of Sri Lanka, as claimed by the LTTE. If historically, the LTTE demand for a separate state is a downright fabrication, what is the case they can make to justify a separate state? The claim of discrimination is made in relation to language, standardization in education, justice, etc., for Tamils.
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| Editorial News
Editorial News Forum
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Present effort needs encouragement in Sri Lanka Friday, 22 February 2008 - 12:35 PM SL Time The fact that the SLTB is overstaffed is well known. Ministers of successive governments have throughout bemoaned this problem. But none of them did anything meaningful to deal with it. Most of them, in fact, made matters worse by their actions. Today, Transport Minister Dallas Alahapperuma says, there is a surplus of 4,000 employees in the SLTB. Ironically, while there is a surplus of employees, there is a dearth of personnel to operate the buses that have been `unearthed` from SLTB depot graveyards, repaired and put on the roads as a result of the minister`s efforts to resuscitate the organization.
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Child recruitment: Flogging a lame ass Wednesday, 20 February 2008 - 5:17 AM SL Time A government-appointed committee which toured the Eastern Province recently on a fact finding mission has reiterated that the offence of child abduction/recruitment carries a penalty of 30 years in prison. Now we know why it is said the law is an ass! In fact, it is a lame ass! That is too lenient a punishment for so serious a crime. A snake that harms a child is crushed before you could say Jack Robinson but the ogres that prey on children in their hundreds are accommodated in the government boarding at the expense of tax payers. We are puzzled by this kind of logic. Of a child abductor and a snake, the latter is the less evil as its spontaneous action is only in self-defence. So, why crush snakes and spare ogres? The punishment for anyone who harms children must be death by hanging in public. Today is Navam Full Moon Poya Day and perhaps we shouldn t be advocating such action on a day like this. But, desperate problems need desperate solutions. We are without anyone blessed with super human powers to deal with the modern day Devadattas, Angulimalas and Alawakas, through non-violent means.
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When gift bearing mudalalis stand at the door Tuesday, 19 February 2008 - 5:12 AM SL Time The government has fallen flat on its face much to the amusement of a bunch of lads and lasses working for drug companies that make a killing at the expense of the sick. The hoity-toity government worthies bellowing empty rhetoric have been made to bite the bullet and suspend the much advertised ban on medical sales representatives visiting hospitals to lobby doctors to promote their sales. What a sorry spectacle! Big businesses work in mysterious ways! The imposition of the ban was consequent on the new scheme of prescribing drugs by generic names. Notwithstanding the real motives of the government, the ban was a real godsend for the public waiting in winding queues, as it prevented doctors from wasting time to entertain smartly clad girls and boys just out of school imparting pharmaceutical lessons to the medical fraternity. Predictably, following the ban doctors developed withdrawal symptoms of sorts and the pharmaceutical Mafia flew into a fit of rage. Easy money like narcotics is habit forming!
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| Sports News
Sports News Forum
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Sri Lanka lose a thriller in Adelaide Wednesday, 20 February 2008 - 5:10 AM SL Time Sri Lanka took their Commonwealth Bank Series day-night encounter against India to the wire and were beaten by the narrowest of margins, but time certainly is running out for them in this tri-nation competition. They certainly don`t look the team they were a year ago during the Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean. The batsmen aren`t firing and the fielding looks awful while for the first time in this series their bowling too looked out of depth. With yesterday`s two wicket defeat, the runners-up of the World Cup are getting closer to an early elimination and their task of making it to the best of three finals looks extremely slim. However, unlike against the Australians in Sydney and Perth, the tourists went down fighting this time and another ten or 15 runs could have made all the difference.
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Aussie coach wants Mahela to mind his own business Tuesday, 19 February 2008 - 5:09 AM SL Time Australian coach Tim Nielsen told the touring Indians and Sri Lankans here Monday to worry about their own form instead of concerning themselves with the home side`s performances. Nielsen was responding to claims from both that the Australians were struggling, despite being the clear leader on the tri-series ladder. Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene once again said here Monday that he believed cracks were appearing in Australia`s game, while Indian opener Virender Sehwag claimed twice in recent weeks the home side was running scared of his team. At the moment I`m quite interested to hear how much the opposition are talking about us, to be honest, Nielsen said.
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India slump hands Australia win Monday, 18 February 2008 - 10:07 AM SL Time Australia produced a superb bowling display to beat India by 50 runs and take a big lead in the one-day series. The Aussies needed Michael Clarke (79) and Brad Hogg (32) to help them to 203-9 as Irfan Pathan (4-41) and Ishant Sharma (2-32) shone for the tourists. Sachin Tendulkar fell for only five as India slumped to 59-4 in reply before Yuvraj Singh (26) and Mahendra Dhoni (37) rallied them with a stand of 56. Once they went the Indians were out for 153, with Mitchell Johnson taking 3-42. It was quite a turnaround after the Australian top order, which has struggled in the series, misfired again on a decent batting wicket.
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