Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

The United National Party (UNP) today announced that it had begun a battle to topple this government.

We have given repeated warnings to the government over and over again and urged for relief for the people but we will not do it again and therefore will topple the government as soon as possible, Leader of Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe said at a May Day meeting at the UNP Head quarters, Siri Kotha today.

Too much influence of the Ministry of Sports in the affairs of Sri Lanka Cricket is one of the main reasons for the decline of the game today, former Sri Lankan Test Cricketer Sidath Wettimuny said.

There are many reasons for the decline but too much of influence by the Ministry of Sports has been a major reason, Mr. Wettimuny said at the Forum with Eran a panel discussion conducted by UNP MP Eran Wickremaratne in Colombo last evening.

`I played for 20 years in the Lankan team, I did not have any problems as a Tamil. The government and the cricket board always supported me throughout my career even when I went through a lot of problems. Earlier there was a time of war between the Tamils and Lankans but now people are living in peace in my country. So the concerned authorities in India must come and see how we are living in Sri Lanka and forget what happened in the past. We don`t want another war-like situation now.`

It looks as if Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had resorted to UDI (Unilateral Declaration of Independence). She runs her state according to her whims and fancies without caring two hoots about the writ of the Centre. India is urging Sri Lanka to respect human rights quite rightly so but regrettably it cannot even safeguard Sri Lankan cricketers` right to play on its soil! Jayalalithaa has banned them from playing in the IPL matches to be held in Chennai. She has also thrown out Sri Lankan schoolchildren who went there to play soccer.

Opposition UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe lending an ear to an elderly woman during the launch of UNP`s new publicity force `Sannivedana Balakaya` in Biyagama today while Gampaha District UNP parliamentarian Ruwan Wijewardene looks on

Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Prof. Hareendra Dissabandara has tendered his resignation from May 27, stating that he could not continue to work in his capacity based on his principles.

Based on my principles and considering the current set up at SEC, I was compelled to take the decision to resign, he told Daily Mirror online.
Earlier, Chairman of the SEC Thilak Karunarathne resigned from his post, alleging that `there was pressure from very powerful people`.

While commending the statement made by the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU) to separate Halal and non Halal certificated goods, the Jathika Hela Urumaya today said such a separation would not work in practice.

Pointing out the facts in the standard operation procedure for Halal Certification published for the Product Sector, JHU General Secretary and Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka told a news conference that ACJU guideline showed whole procedure of Halal certification should not blend together with any of the other non Halal items.

By Rama Lakshmi, Thursday, February 21, 10:15 AM

NEW DELHI A pair of explosions ripped through a busy neighborhood Thursday in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, causing dozens of casualties, authorities said.

India`s home secretary, R.K. Singh, said 10 people were killed and 50 injured in the blasts. But local police said at least 15 people died.

The explosions occurred during rush hour soon after sunset, the first at 7:01 p.m. in the Disulkhnagar neighborhood on the outskirts of the city at a cinema parking lot and a bus stop teeming with restaurants and tea shops.

Brilliant cartoon!

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has accepted the resignation of Minister Mervyn Silva from the post of organiser of the Kelaniya electorate, the Government Information Department said.

Data derived from the FBI`s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) shows that November 25, 2011, Black Friday, had the most background checks for firearm purchases in a single day (129,166) with a 32 percent increase over the previous NICS high (November 28, 2008). Federal law requires FBI background checks on all individuals purchasing firearms from federally licensed retailers.

These statistics represent the number of firearm background checks initiated through NICS. They do not represent the number of firearms sold. Based on varying state laws and purchase scenarios, a one-to-one correlation cannot be made between a firearm background check and a firearm sale.

The Hindu newspapers yesterday alleged that Sri Lankan refugees living in Tamil refugee camps in Madurai, Tamil Nadu were facing shoddy treatment by the Tamil Nadu government.

Surveillance and shoddy treatment by the State are some of the things which we commonly hear in the case of refugees across the world and the Madurai Sri Lankan Tamil refugee camps at Anaiyur and Koodal Nagar (Tamil Nadu) are no exception. Everyday life in terms of basic amenities is still out of reach for them, it said.

TUESDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER 2012 13:22

The lawyer of the Army Major, who was injured during a brawl at JAIC-Hilton Colombo, filed an affidavit before the Colombo Fort Magistrate today stating that Malaka Silva and Rehan Wijeratne did not assault him.

The affidavit also stated that five others, who are in the remand prison, have assaulted him and also agreed to settle the matter amicably.

The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma, said yesterday that he saw no deficit in democracy in Sri Lanka. I don`t think there is a deficit in democracy in Sri Lanka. However, considering the fact that democracy is a continuing process, there are certainly areas that could be addressed and improved, he said. He made these statements at a media briefing held last evening.

When questioned on Canada`s apprehensions about attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2013, which is to be held in Sri Lanka, Mr. Sharma said it was his intention and hope that as many heads of government as possible would attend the meeting.

A mystery surrounds the shape of the Sun - it is just too perfectly round, scientists have said.
In fact the Sun turns out to be one of the roundest objects ever measured.
Scaled down to the size of a beach ball, the difference between the Sun`s widest and narrowest diameters would be far less than the width of a human hair.
Having no solid surface, the Sun`s rotation should make it slightly flattened.
But the new measurements show that the flattening is much smaller than expected.
If the Sun was shrunk to a ball one metre across, its equatorial diameter would be only 17 millionths of a metre larger than the diameter between its poles.