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   http://www.lankanewspapers.com/elephanthouse - Archive of Jun 2011




Sri Lanka film director enters Hollywood
Wednesday, 1 June 2011 - 2:16 PM SL Time

Sri Lankan film director Chandran Rutnam has become the first Sri Lankan to direct a Hollywood movie.

The movie titled `A Common Man` is a co-production between Hollywood and Sri Lanka and the script of the movie was written by Rutnam.

Rutnam said Monday that the plot of the movie revolves around the character played by Oscar winning actor Sir Ben Kingsley, and an attempt by terrorists to blow up Colombo.

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Sepp Blatter re-elected as president amid FIFA s corruption scandal
Thursday, 2 June 2011 - 12:18 AM SL Time


June 01, 2011

Raf Casert


ZURICH Sepp Blatter was re-elected FIFA president on Wednesday after a major bribery scandal left him as the only candidate to deal with a sport reeling from a wave of corruption allegations.

Blatter, a 75-year-old Swiss executive who has been in office since 1998, was handed a final four-year term as head of soccer`s governing body in a vote at FIFA`s congress.

He won 186 votes out of 203 ballots.

The election went ahead after England`s call for a postponement of Blatter`s unopposed coronation amid the ethics crisis was overwhelmingly rejected by the delegates.

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Rising Harmful Emissions Trigger Grave Concern
Thursday, 2 June 2011 - 2:48 PM SL Time

By Jaya Ramachandran

BONN (IDN) - The United Nations` top climate change official has expressed profound concern over a report that greenhouse gas emissions emerging from energy generation around the world have reached record levels in 2010.

Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), considers the latest estimates of the International Energy Agency (IEA) `a stark warning to governments to provide strong new progress this year towards global solutions to climate change.`

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India must apologize to Sri Lanka
Friday, 3 June 2011 - 3:19 AM SL Time


By Shenali Waduge

While the LTTE is blamed for carrying out 30 years of terror in Sri Lanka, the question that needs to be answered is who actually created this group, why was it created, for how long was it meant to exist and to what extent did the creators have actual control over their creation? India must now answer and India must now apologize for the thousands of people whose lives it has helped kill by aiding a terrorist organization.

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Plan to Host 2018 Commonwealth Games Opposed
Friday, 3 June 2011 - 2:58 PM SL Time

Feizal Samath

COLOMBO, Jun 3 (IPS) - Sri Lanka plans to host the Commonwealth Games seven years from now and spend two billion dollars, in what politicians and economists slam as another extravagant adventure aimed at boosting President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka is bidding against Australia to stage the 21st edition of the Games in 2018. Both countries presented their bids during the meeting of the Commonwealth Games Federation executive committee in Kuala Lumpur on May 11. The vote by 70 countries on the venue of the Games will take place at the Federation`s general assembly in St. Kitts and Nevis on Nov. 11.

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Tunisia: Citizens Save Hundreds As Another Lampedusa-Bound Boat Capsizes
Friday, 3 June 2011 - 11:22 PM SL Time

At least 150 people have drowned and scores remain missing following a boat capsizing off the Tunisian coast on Wednesday afternoon. This appears to be one of the worst and the deadliest incidents in the Mediterranean so far this year.

The overcrowded boat carried an estimated 850 people mostly from West Africa, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It set sail on Saturday afternoon from the Libyan capital Tripoli and was headed for Lampedusa in Italy.

UNHCR`s team in Tunisia spoke to some of the survivors who said that the boat was manned by people with little or no maritime experience. It ran into difficulties soon after departure and experienced problems with its steering and power. Effectively lost at sea, by the third day of the journey the passengers ran out of food and water.

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Overuse of Natural Resources Threatens Economic Ruin
Saturday, 4 June 2011 - 9:53 AM SL Time

By Ronald Joshua

GENEVA (IDN) - The United Nations is urging governments to exercise greater political will to make the transition to `green economy` warning that unless economic growth is `decoupled` from natural resource use the world will be faced with environmental disaster and economic ruin.

`Will we be able to evolve towards a green economy and sustainable development? Will we be able to stop destroying ourselves?,` asked Joseph Deiss, the President of the UN General Assembly in his remarks to the Assembly`s debate on the green economy on June 2, 2011.

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History-Maker Li Na Wins French Open for China
Sunday, 5 June 2011 - 12:56 AM SL Time

History-Maker Li Na Wins French Open for China
Allan Kelly | June 05, 2011

Li Na told the Roland Garros crowd that she hoped her victory would inspire other tennis players in China. (AFP Photo)

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A victorious army keeps busy despite the lack of an enemy
Sunday, 5 June 2011 - 5:35 AM SL Time

IN THE run-up to Vesak, the holiest day in the Buddhist calendar, which this year coincided with the second anniversary of its victory against the Tamil Tiger rebels, Sri Lanka`s armed forces had plenty to do. The throngs who clogged Colombo`s streets on May 18th for the festival of light marking the Buddha`s birthday were treated to an array of glimmering, white paper lanterns, each meticulously assembled by a soldier, sailor or airman.

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CULTURE CLUB 13 (1/2) - The Bilingual Advantage
Sunday, 5 June 2011 - 1:12 PM SL Time


By CLAUDIA DREIFUS


A cognitive neuroscientist, Ellen Bialystok has spent almost 40 years learning about how bilingualism sharpens the mind. Her good news: Among other benefits, the regular use of two languages appears to delay the onset of Alzheimer`s disease symptoms. Dr. Bialystok, 62, a distinguished research professor of psychology at York University in Toronto, was awarded a $100,000 Killam Prize last year for her contributions to social science. We spoke for two hours in a Washington hotel room in February and again, more recently, by telephone. An edited version of the two conversations follows.

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CULTURE CLUB 13 (2/2) - MAMA MIA
Sunday, 5 June 2011 - 8:40 PM SL Time

Boy, when I walked into the Prince Edouard Theatre in London on a nice spring evening in 1999 (the show is still on, but at the Prince of Wales Theatre), I was miles away from expecting to see a musical that became so famous over the years. The other evening the movie version was shown on M6 (French private TV station) and I decided to share this with you. Just for the benefit of those not familiar with ABBA: this Swedish group was really discovered during a Eurovision Song Contest I talked about recently. Note that the movie was shoot in the Greek Island of Skopelos.

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Sri Lanka Navy launches whale watching ship in Eastern coast
Monday, 6 June 2011 - 12:46 PM SL Time

Leading News from Sri Lanka::

* Sri Lanka Navy launches whale watching ship in Eastern coast
Mon, Jun 6, 2011, 09:16 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.


June 06, Colombo: Sri Lanka Navy launches a passenger ship today for whale watching from the Ashraff Jetty in the Trincomalee harbor in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka.

The ship carries 100 passengers for three hour and six hour journeys in the sea. It is operated by the Navy three days per week for the local and foreign tourists.

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Yemen s Women Hoping for a New Era
Tuesday, 7 June 2011 - 1:48 PM SL Time


By NADIA AL-KOKABANY


Sana, Yemen

THE shelling of Yemen`s presidential palace last Friday represented the end of the road for President Ali Abdullah Saleh a decisive conclusion he had never expected, or even considered, when the youth revolt erupted four months ago.

Yemen`s tribal society, its problems with Al Qaeda, its struggle with separatist movements, and its rate of gun ownership, one of the world`s highest, should have led him to react cautiously and to realize that the people, having taken to the streets to demand freedom and dignity, would not return home until they achieved victory.

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World Bank appreciated the Sri Lanka s post war economic growth path Report
Tuesday, 7 June 2011 - 4:36 PM SL Time


By Muditha Gamage in Colombo


Colombo, 07th June (Asiantribune.com):

Sri Lanka`s post-war economic recovery is greatly appreciated by the World Bank in its Global Economic Prospects report (June 2011), which is released today and said that the India and Sri Lanka will lead the South Asian growth path reaching 7.9 percent in 2013.

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What Your Business Can Expect on World IPv6 Day
Tuesday, 7 June 2011 - 9:28 PM SL Time

By Bruce Gain, PCWorld

Some 200 technology companies including Akamai, Facebook, and Google will make the switch to IPv6 during the World IPv6 Day trial for 24 hours June 8. The test is intended to see how ready technology companies are to handle IPv6 addresses as well as what to expect when Websites are obliged to enable IPv6 in the future. There could be glitches Wednesday, but the Internet Society (ISOC) estimates that 99.95 percent of all users worldwide will not notice anything at all this Wednesday.

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Sri Lanka raised 2.1 Billion U.S.Dollars to rebuild the war damaged Northern Province
Wednesday, 8 June 2011 - 1:36 PM SL Time


A.A.M.Nizam in Colombo


Colombo, 08 June, (Asiantribune.com):

As per a Finance Ministry report, Sri Lanka has raised 2.1 billion US dollars to rebuild roads, rail, power, hostpital, water supply and help resettle refugees in the war torn Jaffna region in 2010.

These funding programmes have helped to resettle internally displaced people within a short period of time and restabilise civil administration and public infrastructure by replacing damaged roads, schools, hospitals and administrative buildings. These projects would help meet the basic, immediate needs and the medium term requirements of the people in the North, and create sustainable employment opportunities for the affected people in their respective areas.`

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Sri Lanka scraps colonial-era telegram service
Wednesday, 8 June 2011 - 11:05 PM SL Time

Picture:
A Sri Lankan workman hangs from a telegraph pole in Valachchenai, some 180 kms north-east of Colombo, in 2004. Sri Lanka is to finally scrap its telegraphic service, which has been overtaken by mobile phones and the Internet.

Sri Lanka is to finally scrap its telegraphic service, which has been overtaken by mobile phones and the Internet and handles just 50 telegrams a day, an official said Wednesday.

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Sri Lanka is to gain from the boom in world tea exports
Thursday, 9 June 2011 - 12:31 PM SL Time


A.A.M.Nizam in Colombo


Colombo, 09 June, (Asiantribune.com):

Demand for Sri Lanka tea is expected to increase by 10 percent in 2011. An official of the Sri Lanka Tea Board said that a boom in world tea exports continue, with a 10 percent increase in volume fuelled by the world economic recovery.

Tea industry experts say exotic and organic teas are reported to be wooing tea drinkers and challenging traditional black tea`s dominance as never before. In this background a tea factory in Dubai despite it being more than 2,000 kilometres to the nearest tea bushes in the lush misty mountains of South Asia and East Africa bids to become the world`s largest tea-blending and packing plant in the middle of a major tea-consuming market -- the oil-rich Middle East

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SriLankan airlines is to re-start their services to Zurich in Switzerland
Thursday, 9 June 2011 - 9:32 PM SL Time


By Muditha Gamage in Colombo


Colombo, 09 June (Asiantribune.com):

Sri Lanka`s national carrier SriLankan airlines will re-start their services to Zurich in Switzerland from December 23, 2011 said the airline.

SriLankan airline now flies 34 countries worldwide and Switzerland, Zurich is the 53rd destination of the airline.

`This will significantly strengthen our services to travelers in central Europe, which is viewed as a market with great potential for tourism to Sri Lanka,` SriLankan Airlines chairman Nishantha Wickremasinghe said.

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We deal with India, not with its States, says Sri Lanka
Friday, 10 June 2011 - 2:08 PM SL Time

Published: juin 10, 2011 03:07 IST | Updated: juin 10, 2011 03:24 IST

R. K. Radhakrishnan




Dismisses Tamil Nadu Assembly resolution on economic sanctions against it

Dismissing the unanimous resolution of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly that called upon the Government of India to impose economic sanctions against Sri Lanka and declare its President Mahinda Rajapaksa a war criminal, a Minister here said Sri Lanka dealt with India and not with individual States.

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Sex in the Digital Age: Just One Human Required
Friday, 10 June 2011 - 5:04 PM SL Time

Jeremy Hsu, InnovationNewsDaily Senior Writer
LiveScience.com Jeremy Hsu, Innovationnewsdaily Senior Writer
livescience.com
Thu Jun 9, 1:15 pm ET

Sexuality in the Digital Age can mean sexting on smartphones, hookups through Craigslist and Facebook, and transmitting lewd photos like Anthony Weiner or Brett Favre. But while humans continue to define the do`s and don`ts of online lust, a new generation of computer programs may have already figured it out. Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, a scandal like Anthony Weiner`s doesn`t even necessarily need two humans anymore.

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Sri Lanka May tourist arrivals up 39 pct y/y
Friday, 10 June 2011 - 11:27 PM SL Time

COLOMBO, June 10 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka`s tourist arrivals rose 39 percent in May from a year earlier as the island nation attracts more foreign visitors after the end of its long civil war.

Arrivals have risen every month on a year-on-year basis since the end of the war in May 2009.

The number of visitors in May hit 48,943 from 35,213 a year ago and arrivals in the first five months of 2011 have jumped 40.2 percent to 327,902.

Arrivals hit a record high of 654,476 in 2010 with a 46.1 percent year-on-year rise and broke the previous record of 566,202 set in 2004, when a peace accord between the government and the separatist Tamil Tigers was in place.

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CULTURE CLUB 14 (1/3) - India Calling: An Intimate Portrait of A Nation`s Remaking By Anand Giridharadas
Saturday, 11 June 2011 - 9:22 PM SL Time

Reversing his parents` immigrant path, a young American-born writer returns to India and discovers an old country making itself new.

Anand Giridharadas sensed something was afoot as his plane from America prepared to land in Bombay. An elderly passenger looked at him and said, `We`re all trying to go that way,` pointing to the rear. `You, you`re going this way?`

Giridharadas was returning to the land of his ancestors, amid an unlikely economic boom. But he was interested less in its gold rush than in its cultural upheaval, as a new generation has sought to reconcile old traditions and customs with new ambitions and dreams.

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Swamy: State resolution on Sri Lanka ridiculous
Sunday, 12 June 2011 - 5:03 AM SL Time

CHENNAI, June 12, 2011

Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy on Saturday described as not only ridiculous but also highly damaging for India`s national interest, the Tamil Nadu Assembly resolution asking the Centre to impose economic sanctions on Sri Lanka. The resolution arose out of a U.N. report holding human rights excesses during the war against the LTTE in Sri Lanka but the report also blamed the Tigers for provoking and committing human rights violations in equal measure. The resolution made no mention of that, he said in a statement.

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LE MANS 24 hours
Sunday, 12 June 2011 - 1:57 PM SL Time

This car race is something very special and I was very fortunate to see it 3 times on the spot. It`s amazing and I`m quite impressed by the progress made in terms of security.

About 10 years ago the Audi drivers involved in the 2 serious accidents would have hardly survived.

The video refers to the first accident .

Less than an hour in to the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Audi R18 TDI of Allan McNish is out of contention. With McNish at the wheel, the R18 ran up on slower GT traffic coming into the Dunlop curve. Instead of backing off, McNish tried to shoot the gap underneath a slower Ferrari 458 Italia. As McNish reached the apex of the corner, he touched the Ferrari, sending both cars hard into the barrier.

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CULTURE CLUB 14 (2/3) - A very particular version of ` Blowing in the wind`
Sunday, 12 June 2011 - 11:37 PM SL Time

Katie has a very clear voice and I particularly like her version of `Blowing in the wind`.

Ketevan `Katie` Melua (Georgian: ქ ე თ ე ვ ა ნ `ქ ე თ ი ` მ ე ლ უ ა listen (help info), English pronunciation: /ˈ mɛ luː .ə / born 16 September 1984) is a Georgian-British singer, songwriter and musician. She moved to Northern Ireland at the age of eight and then to England at fourteen.[2] Melua is signed to the small Dramatico record label, under the management of composer Mike Batt,[3] and made her musical debut in 2003. In 2006, she was the United Kingdom`s bestselling female artist[4] and Europe`s highest selling European female artist.[5]

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CULTURE CLUB 14 (3/3) - Sri Lanka Society & Culture : Customs, Rituals & Traditions
Monday, 13 June 2011 - 12:54 PM SL Time

Just happen to discover an interesting website on this Whit Monday and I hope some of you also have a day off.

http://www.lankalibrary.com/rit.html
is the one I`m talking about that is providing a lot of information on Sri Lankan culture and it also has a forum.

Here just a few examples for your discovery.
Happy reading.

Your CultureElephant

Sri Lankan Music, Theatre and Dancing

Classical Dances of Sri Lanka( The origin of Sri Lankan dances goes back to immemorial times of aboriginal tribes and `yakkas` (devils). According to a Sinhalese legend, Kandyan dances originate, 2500 years ago, from a magic ritual that broke the spell on a bewitched king.)

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World Bank Blamed for Fuelling Climate Chaos
Monday, 13 June 2011 - 9:45 PM SL Time

By Jutta Wolf
BONN (IDN) - Reflecting profound concerns of developing countries, a new report has strongly criticised the World Bank group for promoting false solutions to climate change, such as carbon trading, megadams, agrofuels and industrial monoculture tree plantations.

The report `Catalysing Catastrophic Climate Change` also gives vent to anxieties of social movements, environmental and social justice organisations, and affected communities. It was tabled at a side event by Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) during the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn that concludes on June 17, 2011.

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India-Sri Lanka ferry services resumes after 30 years
Tuesday, 14 June 2011 - 9:43 AM SL Time

By Charles Haviland
BBC Colombo

For the first time in three decades, there are to be passenger boat services between India and its close southern neighbour, Sri Lanka.

The first ferry since the early 1980s is making the journey on Monday night from the south Indian port of Tuticorin to the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo.

The Scotia Prince can carry more than 1,000 people. It has a bar, restaurant and casino.

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Channel 4 Show - Something for meditation
Tuesday, 14 June 2011 - 4:29 PM SL Time

This is just one reply related to yesterday`s article in the Guardian (U.K.) called
Lifting the lid on Sri Lanka`s war crimes .

Full article and comments can be seen on
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/13/sri-lanka-war-crimes?commentpage=2#start-of-comments

ranbonzy
14 June 2011 3:39AM
Is this an honest man speaking or a cruel salesman who is trying to sell his `product` working hard on advertising?

What was the ground reality?

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Sheep `saved owner`s life`
Tuesday, 14 June 2011 - 8:42 PM SL Time

A Wiltshire woman says her pet sheep saved her life - by spotting her breast cancer.

Emma Turner, 41, from Wroughton, had no idea she had a tumour when Cotswold sheep Alfie suddenly began butting her in the chest, reports the Daily Mail.

A deep bruise developed on the archaeologist`s chest over the next few days and she then discovered a lump in the middle of it.

Ms Turner went to hospital to have the lump checked out and a biopsy revealed the early stages of breast cancer.

She has now undergone chemothers_day.jsp' class=black>motherapy to treat the tumour, which doctors believe could have gone unnoticed for years if Alfie hadn`t butted her.

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Canada arrests 4 over Sri Lanka migrant ship
Wednesday, 15 June 2011 - 4:33 AM SL Time

30 mins ago
OTTAWA (AFP) Canadian police arrested Tuesday four Sri Lankan nationals accused of being behind a 2009 operation that illegally brought 76 Tamils from war-torn Sri Lanka to Canada on a rickety freighter.

All 76, including the four people arrested, requested asylum when they arrived off the coast of British Columbia in October 2009, after reportedly paying tens of thousands of dollars for passage on the freighter Ocean Lady.

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Sri Lanka to take action against war crimes
Wednesday, 15 June 2011 - 4:54 PM SL Time

Wednesday, 15 June 2011 09:22

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Wednesday denied it targeted civilians while crushing Tamil Tiger rebels but said action would be taken if war crimes allegations contained in a new British documentary were true.
The Sri Lankan High Commission in London said images shown on Channel 4 on Tuesday night had not been verified as genuine and the disturbing footage could incite hatred among Sri Lankan communities.

However, it added that a local panel known as the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was ready to take note of the claims and take remedial legal action.

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UK urged to halt deportation of Lankans
Thursday, 16 June 2011 - 12:18 PM SL Time

Human rights watchdogs have criticised the decision by the British government to deport Sri Lankan asylum seekers.
They should not be sent back home until the situation improves in Sri Lanka says Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Brad Adams, South Asia director of the New York based human rights organisation, say `we urge the British government to hold off sending people who could face persecution on return`.

Swift return

Many asylum seekers detained in centres across the United Kingdom are awaiting a swift return. Some of them were handed over air tickets to be removed from the UK.

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Berlin shop lures half-naked customers with free clothes
Thursday, 16 June 2011 - 10:46 PM SL Time

Hundreds of shoppers wearing only their underwear descend on a German fashion store that promised a free new wardrode to those who took up the dare.

:22PM BST 16 Jun 2011

Spanish label Desigual gave away free clothes to the first one hundred semi-clad shoppers to enter its store in Berlin as part of its summer promotion.


According to a store employee, police had to ask the shop on Berlin`s busy Kurfuerstendamm boulevard to open its doors 30 minutes early after several hundred shoppers began queueing outside in their underwear.

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Tamils deported from UK reach Sri Lanka
Friday, 17 June 2011 - 12:20 PM SL Time

17 June 2011 Last updated at 04:58 GMT

Several dozen Sri Lankans deported by the UK have arrived back in Colombo on an overnight charter flight.

A BBC reporter outside the airport and sources inside confirmed that their plane had touched down.

International human rights groups have criticised Britain for deporting them, saying the mainly Tamil asylum seekers may not be safe on returning.

Before their departure, the UK Foreign Office said it would not comment on the flight operation for security reasons.

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Sri Lanka released all 26 deported by British immigration authorities - Sri Lanka Police
Saturday, 18 June 2011 - 12:06 PM SL Time


By Muditha Gamage in Colombo


Colombo, 18th June, (Asiantribune.com):

Sri Lanka`s Immigration and Emigration authorities yesterday released all Twenty-six (26) Sri Lankans who arrived at the Bandaranayke International Airport on Friday morning after being deported by British Immigration Authorities.

We didn`t question them or didn`t hand over them to the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) as media reported. Only Immigration and Emigration authorities did the investigation. Sri Lanka Police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody said.

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Culture Club 14 (1/3) - Stars of Venice Shine in Basel
Saturday, 18 June 2011 - 9:31 PM SL Time


By CAROL VOGEL


BASEL, Switzerland The German artist Hans-Peter Feldmann said that the sheer size of his $100,000 Hugo Boss Prize inspired him to paper a gallery at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York last month with 100,000 $1 bills.

Were Mr. Feldmann at Art Basel this week, $100,000 might not have seemed like so much after all. Examples of his work are in many booths at this granddaddy of contemporary art fairs, some priced around $50,000. And if business is as brisk as people say it is, by the time Art Basel ends on Sunday, Mr. Feldmann may have made another $100,000, and probably more.

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CULTURE CLUB 15 (2/3) - Whitney Houston
Sunday, 19 June 2011 - 4:23 AM SL Time

Latest news on Whitney is quite alarming. Judge it yourself. Here a song from the good old days when things were a bit easier for her.

Sources: Softpedia and Tje Daily Express U.K.

Whitney Houston Diagnosed with `Deadly Emphysema,` Claims Report
Whitney Houston has not relapsed into drug use, says a new report. Her recent trips to rehab and the hospital are down to another, more serious condition: she`s been diagnosed with emphysema, an irreversible degenerative condition that affects the lungs.

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Sri Lanka s economy is bouncing back with a project growth of 9%
Sunday, 19 June 2011 - 1:17 PM SL Time


By A.A.M.Nizam in Colombo


Colombo, 19 June, (Asiantribune.com):

Sri Lanka`s Senior Minister for International Monetary Cooperation Dr. Sarath Amunugame has said that Sri Lanka`s economy, which is bouncing back with a projected nine per cent growth in 2011, is also on track to get a further fillip through increased foreign direct investments, or FDIs, switch a big surge in tourist inflow.

He has said that in the aftermath of three decades of civil strife, the country`s new investor-friendly laws would help attract more global investors into sectors including infrastructure, IT, tourism and irrigation, and the increasing investor confidence in the country in the post-civil war era is underscored by the surge in FDI flow. He has pointed out that the country has received foreign direct inflows of $236 million, growth of almost 160 per cent, in the first quarter of 2011 representing the highest-ever quarterly inflow of FDI into the country.

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CULTURE CLUB 15 (3/3 ) - Robbie Williams
Sunday, 19 June 2011 - 9:57 PM SL Time

I did it my way!

I`m sure you have heard this song before Robbie Williams sang it
his way. By the way: do you remember who it was?

Oh, The Royal Albert Hall in London. I really have a lot of good remembrance of this place.

Your CultureElephant
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Importance of focusing attention to World Situation in solving Sri Lanka s problems
Monday, 20 June 2011 - 4:27 PM SL Time


By A.A.M.Nizam in Colombo


Colombo, 20 June, (Asiantribune.com):

The need to be conscious of the International situation in finding solutions to the internal problems, J.R.`s failure to settle the dispute with India amicably, clearly shows U.N.P does not have any moral right to speak against the 13th amendment and the need to find a permanent solution to the ethnic problem.

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Post-War Sri Lanka: Rethinking Reconciliation
Monday, 20 June 2011 - 10:50 PM SL Time


Posted: 06/20/11 10:52 AM ET







.


As my doctoral dissertation deals with Sri Lankan Tamil activism in Canada, I was asked by a few people why I had not yet weighed in on the recent Channel 4 documentary, Sri Lanka`s Killing Fields, which in conjunction with the United Nations Report released in March, provides a devastating account of war crimes committed by both Sri Lankan government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

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Sri Lanka rickshaw drivers say no to Nano taxis
Tuesday, 21 June 2011 - 10:48 PM SL Time

Tue Jun 21, 8:23 am ET

COLOMBO (AFP) Hundreds of rickshaw drivers blocked streets in Sri Lanka`s capital on Tuesday to protest against the entry of India`s Tata Nano, billed as the world`s cheapest car, into the island`s taxi market.

The Federation of Self-Employees (FOSE) said its members, who mostly drive smoke-belching tri-shaws, would lose business if a taxi service using Nano cars launched earlier this month was allowed to expand.

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SRI LANKA: Thayasevan, `I`m starting to feel normal again`
Wednesday, 22 June 2011 - 11:00 PM SL Time

BATTICALOA, 15 June 2011 (IRIN) - Thayasevan, aged 36, who lost his right leg fighting for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was recently released from a government rehabilitation centre and is trying to restart his life. Four thousand other former rebels remain in the centres. He told IRIN his story:

`I lost my leg during the conflict, and until recently felt I had lost my entire life.

It`s been a tough road. I joined the LTTE in 1991 of my own free will. There were frequent roundups and arrests of innocent people in my village, leading me to become a long-term LTTE member.

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KOICA volunteers help vocational training in Sri Lanka
Thursday, 23 June 2011 - 11:03 AM SL Time

The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Nuwara Eliya Technical College held the opening ceremony of the upgraded computer CAD lab at Nuwara Eliya TC recently. The project for upgrading of the computer CAD lab was designed and completed by KOICA volunteer Shin Eugene, in cooperation with the Nuwara Eliya TC under the KOICA`s grant aid scheme to Sri Lanka over the last seven months.

The KOICA`s volunteer, Shin, as a mechanical engineering instructor, has been dispatched to the Nuwara Eliya C upon his arrival in Sri Lanka in July 2009. since his deployment in the TC, he found out that the Nuwara Eliya TC had been suffering from the lack of appropriate equipment for students` training activities.

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Sri Lanka rethinks Atomic Energy Act
Thursday, 23 June 2011 - 9:14 PM SL Time

23 June 2011

Sri Lanka is to repeal its 1969 Atomic Energy Act to replace it with a provision to establish an Atomic Energy Regulatory Council. According to a governmental release, the current act needs to be amended to allow for the introduction of nuclear power generation technology in the country and also to address concerns over the security of radioactive sources and to deal with radiation emergencies. The government also says it needs to establish an independent nuclear regulatory arm in keeping with advice from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The Sri Lankan cabinet has approved the drafting of the new bill. In September 2010, the Sri Lankan government commissioned a pre-feasibility study into the use of nuclear energy for power generation in the country.
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SRI LANKA: Job creation challenges in former conflict zone
Friday, 24 June 2011 - 2:09 AM SL Time

VAVUNIYA, 22 June 2011 (IRIN) - Private investment is key to stability in Sri Lanka`s conflict-affected north, officials and experts say.

Private investments are very important. There are so many unemployed, Piencia Charles, the most senior government official in Vavuniya District, told IRIN.

`Private investments are key to creating sustainable income in the area, said Anthonypillai Vinothraja, provincial project manager for the Ministry of Economic Development in Sri Lanka`s Northern Province.

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The Global Climate Regime on the Brink
Friday, 24 June 2011 - 12:11 PM SL Time

By Martin Khor*

GENEVA (IDN) - We agreed in Bali in December 2007 to build a much stronger international climate regime to better cope with recent alarming analysis of the disastrous effects of climate change. But instead of achieving this new regime, we now see quite unbelievably an attempt to dismantle even the weaker regime that we now have.

Instead of a legally binding system to lock in adequate emissions cuts to 2020 for developed countries collectively and individually which is what was agreed to there is now the most likely prospect of a `voluntary pledge` system in which developed countries merely state what they can do, without a formal system of assessing the adequacy of each country`s target or the adequacy of the collective effort. This will itself be a disincentive for developing countries, when they see those who are supposed to lead the process, falter instead.

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Controversial Channel 4 Producer Meets UK Deputy High Commissioner
Friday, 24 June 2011 - 7:51 PM SL Time


2011-06-24 07:14 editor

Breaking News

By Our Special Correspondent


London, 24 June, (Asiantribune.com):


Callum Mcrae, the producer of the notorious documentary, Sri Lanka`s Killing Fields took part in a discussion aired by the Asian Network of the BBC on Wednesday.

This gave him the opportunity to meet Mr P M Amza, the acting High Commissioner of the Sri Lankan High Commission, along with two representatives of the Sinhalese community and that of Tamil one from each.

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CULTURE CLUB 17 (1/3) - No more questions: Columbo actor dies
Saturday, 25 June 2011 - 12:16 PM SL Time

June 25, 2011 - 11:12AM

Peter Falk, who played television`s rumpled detective Columbo for 30 years in an acting career that included 50 movies and spanned half a century, has died. He was 83.

He died last night at his home in Beverly Hills, family friend Larry Larson said. Falk had dementia, possibly related to Alzheimer`s disease, since at least 2009.

Falk, a former stage actor, worried he was being typecast as a mobster in movies when in 1968 `along came a police lieutenant named Columbo, and my life would never be the same`, he wrote in his memoir, Just One More Thing, a title that came from his `forgetful` detective`s favourite line.

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CULTURE CLUB 17 (2/3) - Extreme meditation in Sri Lanka
Saturday, 25 June 2011 - 3:28 PM SL Time

I certainly would not be able to stay very long in the Lotus position.

Your CultureElephant

Sat, Jun 25, 2011

GO FEEDBACK : It sounded like the ideal way to unwind after six months travelling through India but it turned out to be the toughest thing YVONNE MORAN had done in years

THE IDEA OF meditating with no contact with the outside world for days on end on the sultry, tropical island of Sri Lanka might sound heavenly but it proved to be the toughest thing I`d done in years.

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CULTURE CLUB 17 (3/3) - Let s forget the fake C4 video and remember ALL THE WAR VICTIMS
Saturday, 25 June 2011 - 10:12 PM SL Time

Here some good music to recover from this C 4 video controversy and remember all our war victims.

We all know very well why this campaign coincided with the beginning of the Human Rights Conference here in Geneva.

Look at the various pros and cons comments and you hardly see any reference to all the real war victims. Is this the way to sort out the differences and the best way to finally go ahead with the long awaited peace process?

Read again Dr. Stuart Reisse`s comment I posted yesterday:

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The Sunday Debate 1 - Gay Marriage: A Bittersweet Victory?
Sunday, 26 June 2011 - 12:45 PM SL Time

By Howard Chua-Eoan
I woke up this morning to discover that, despite my best efforts, I was still only married to my job.
I had spent part of the night in Greenwich Village with the crowds outside the Stonewall Inn celebrating the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York state. I proposed to several passersby but every single one laughed. The thumping of `Y.M.C.A.` on an adjacent boombox killed any possibility of romance. (Why is that song always played at weddings?)
I had wandered down from a party about 10 blocks north, in Chelsea, one of New York City`s gay enclaves. The gathering at that apartment was slightly surreal. It appeared to be familiar: handsome young men flirting with each other over sweets and alcohol. But now they had a complex new dimension to navigate through albeit the kind of calculus that heterosexuals can do in their sleep. Or when they sleep with each other. Or when they wake up and discover who they have slept with. It`s the possibility of marriage, lurking subtly somewhere in one`s head. Imagine all the psycho-sexual-financial-commercial-legal dramas that will emerge as that little formula weaves itself into the lives of gay New Yorkers. Soon, we can have the kind of domestic life straight people have. One day, we may no longer even be gay. Just the people next door. No more parades. (See pictures of New Yorkers celebrating the legalization of gay marriage.)

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Canadian Tamils call upon the Tamil Diaspora to act responsibly and wisely
Monday, 27 June 2011 - 4:08 AM SL Time

By I.Yasothapillai of Toronto

The Canadian Tamils for Peace and Democracy call on the Tamil Diaspora to act responsibly to find out a possible way for a reconciliation that would help the Tamil people living in Sri Lanka to find an amicable political solution.

The immediate need of the hour in the North and East is to rehabilitate the people affected by the war and reconstruct and develop the provinces to create an atmosphere for the people to run their lives smoothly.

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Over 100 former LTTE members in Sri Lanka preparing to take GCE A/Level
Monday, 27 June 2011 - 11:36 AM SL Time

June 27, Colombo: Commissioner General of Rehabilitation in Sri Lanka, Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe has said that 108 former members of the terrorist outfit, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are preparing to take the GCE Advanced Level examination in August this year.

The former Tiger cadres are currently undergoing rehabilitation, the Commissioner General has said.

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The End of Cheap Labor in China
Tuesday, 28 June 2011 - 11:45 AM SL Time

By Bill Powell

On May 25, U.S. businessman Charles Hubbs made the short trek to Hong Kong from his office just outside Guangzhou, a city in Guangdong province in southeastern China that is known for good reason as the manufacturing workshop of the world. For the 64-year-old native of Louisiana, it was a trip that may have marked the beginning of the end of his successful 22-year run as a China-based exporter of medical supplies.

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Cairn seeks Sri Lanka first catch
Tuesday, 28 June 2011 - 9:44 PM SL Time


Edinburgh-based independent Cairn Energy is spearheading Sri Lanka`s push to exploit its untapped oil and gas potential after reportedly being awarded an exploration block in the country`s first licensing effort.


Majority-owned Cairn India is now set to start drilling in Sri Lanka`s prospective north-western Mannar basin in August, though production could be some way down the road, a company official was reported as saying.

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Sri Lanka Q1 GDP seen growing 7.5 per cent
Wednesday, 29 June 2011 - 4:37 AM SL Time



June 29, 2011




COLOMBO: Gross domestic product (GDP) in Sri Lanka is likely to have expanded 7.5 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier, slowing from annual growth of 8.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Twelve analysts gave a range of estimates from 6.4 per cent to 8.3 per cent. The median forecast for full-year growth is 8.0 per cent, with estimates from 7.1 per cent to 8.9 per cent.

In the first quarter, there was a record amount of realised foreign direct investment, $236 million, and private sector credit growth in April hit a 16-year high of 31.4 per cent year-on-year, though that was helped by a low base.

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C4`s Sri Lanka doc sparks 118 complaints
Wednesday, 29 June 2011 - 8:46 PM SL Time

29 June, 2011 | By Catherine Neilan
48 minutes ago

Ofcom is investigating Channel 4 documentary Sri Lanka`s Killing Fields following more than 100 complaints that it was misrepresentative and misleading.


The media regulator has received 118 complaints since the broadcast of the film, presented by Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow, on 14 June.

The doc featured an investigation into the final weeks of the 25-year-long civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebels.

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World`s First Tickle Spa Opens in Spain
Thursday, 30 June 2011 - 4:29 AM SL Time

Elena Gil admits she is an addict. `It started when I was a kid,` she says. `I`ve just always loved the way it feels.` For years, Gil, a 25-year-old occupational therapy student, sought out her vice wherever she could, even bribing her boyfriend with home-cooked meals in exchange for a few minutes of pleasure. But now that the world`s first tickling spa has opened in Madrid, she has a new way to satisfy her urges.

There are no facials or hot-rock massages at Cosquillarte (the name translates both as Tickle Yourself and Tickle Art). In its two quiet treatment rooms, the urban spa offers only tickling. If that sounds more like torture than pampering, take note: the place has built a steady roster of clients, many of whom book weekly appointments, since it opened in December. (See the top 10 odd spa treatments.)

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The surge in global demand for apparels to boost Sri Lanka s apparel exports
Thursday, 30 June 2011 - 9:23 PM SL Time


Thu, 2011-06-30 11:42 editor
News
A.A.M.Nizam in Sri Lanka
Colombo, 30 June, (Asiantribune.com):

The Chairman of Sri Lanka largest single apparel exporter Brandix Lanka, Mr. Ashroff Omar said that Sri Lanka is seeing a surge in demand for apparels abroad which may allow the sector to meet industry targets earlier than planned.

Sri Lanka`s Joint Apparel Export Forum, an industry body has forecasted apparel exports to reach 5.0 billion dollars by 2015, from 3.4 billion dollars in 2010.

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