May 15 (AFP) Software piracy increased last year in the Asia-Pacific region, boosted by China's growing use of personal computers, an industry group said on Wednesday. The Asia-Pacific's average PC software piracy rate in 2007 increased to 59 percent of the software in use in the region from 55 percent the previous year, said the Business Software Alliance (BSA), which works to fight piracy. more..

May 15 (LBO) Fonterra Brands Lanka is investing 1.2 billion rupees to double yoghurt output and boost local raw milk supplies to cushion against volatile international prices, an official said. "The Sri Lankan yoghurt market has experienced double digit growth in the past five years and consumers now eat more than 12,000 metric tonnes of yoghurt annually," Fonterra managing director Achyut Reddy said Tuesday. more..

May 15 (AT) A few more months will usher in the 21st anniversary of the signing of the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord. That agreement, akin to a shotgun marriage forced on Sri Lanka by India, and signed by President J.R. Jayewardene in his capacity as the Executive President of Sri Lanka, entailed the hasty amalgamation of the Northern and the Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka. The Indo-Lanka Peace Accord is reminiscent of the equally famous, or as some may argue, the equally infamous, agreements of 1957 and 1965, between more..

May 15 (AT) If one examines political developments since 1970, they smack of a form of raw feudalism, perhaps a modernized form of feudalism which one may describe by an oxymoronic term, democratic feudalism. The power and influence of the Executive Presidency today is very reminiscent of the power and influence of Sri Lanka’s Kings of past. One’s rise and fall is at the Presidents pleasure or displeasure as the case might be. more..

May 15 (LBO) Fonterra Brands Lanka is investing 1.2 billion rupees to double yoghurt output and boost local raw milk supplies to cushion against volatile international prices, an official said. "The Sri Lankan yoghurt market has experienced double digit growth in the past five years and consumers now eat more than 12,000 metric tonnes of yoghurt annually," Fonterra managing director Achyut Reddy said Tuesday. more..

May 15 (ANI) National Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) D Raja on Wednesday reiterates the demand to reopen Kachativu agreement with Sri Lanka. Raja reiterated the demand while discussing the problems faced by fishermen in seawaters between India and Sri Lanka at a meeting jointly organised by states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry Fishermen Federation in Chennai today. The fishermen complained that the number of attacks on them by naval forces of Sri Lanka has been increasing. more..

May 15 (BBC) The latest political party in Sri Lanka has vowed to find solutions to the island nation's political ills ‘within ten years’. Leader of the Jathika Nidahas Peramuna (JNP), Wimal Weerawansa, accused the major political parties of failing to find solutions to burning questions of Sri Lankan people. Addressing the inaugural representatives meeting in Colombo the leaders of the newly formed JNP accused the JVP of forgetting the basic foundations of the party. more..

May 15 (BBC) The Supreme Court in Sri Lanka on Wednesday ordered the state to pay Rs. 150,000 to a former prisoner who was severely assaulted in custody. The Supreme Court ruled that prison guards’ failure to protect Anthony Emmanuel Fernando was in violation of his Fundamental Rights (FR). Two members of the three-bench panel, Dr. Shirani Bandaranaike and Jagath Balapatabendi, ruled that prison authorities should take direct responsibility for the attack. more..

May 15 (LD) The newly formed National Freedom Front has accepted the challenge of being an alternative to the two main political parties in the country within the next decade. Its Chairman Wimal Weerawansa told the inaugural delegates' conference of the party that the JVP had failed to be the third option in the local political arena in the past 40 years. The NFF was ceremonially launched at the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies in Colombo at 9.30 am today (May 14th). more..

May 15 (LG) Tissa Attanayake, Gen. Secretary of the UNP speaking to the media said, this Govt. has no capacity to do anything legal and honest, whether it is administration, development or in the conduct of elections. It thrives only on murder, mayhem, corruption and malpractices. The Eastern Provincial Council elections bore all those hallmarks, he added. At the last Presidential elections it entered into a pact with the LTTE paying them billions of rupees betraying the country, and won. more..

May 15 (LG) Tension prevails in Rameswaram as the 19 fishermen who ventured into the seas about two weeks ago are still missing. The fishermen set off to the sea from Thangachimadam in four country boats on May 1. But 12 days have passed and they have not reached the shore. This has caused tension in the fishing hamlets around Rameswaram town. Relatives of missing fishermen suspect that either the sea Tigers might have abducted them or Lankan navy might have arrested them. more..

May 15 (LG) The renegade leader Col Karuna was transferred to immigration detention on May 9, after serving a nine months sentence for entering the UK with a false diplomatic passport. Karuna faced the same fate like many other immigrants caught with possessing false documents to enter the country. British authorities came to know Karuna’s illegal entry when the surreptitious Asian Tribune web newspaper conspired with the government officials and politicians in Colombo to publish the details of his departure from the Colombo airport. more..

May 15 (LG) The UPFA has won the first ever elections to the Eastern Province Provincial Council amidst allegations by the UNP-SLMC of intimidation corruption and other familiar "facts". The election held previously was for the Northern and Eastern Provincial council and not for the Eastern Province Provincial council. However, it is not the first time that the UNP has come up with these charges and neither will it be the last occasion. more..

May 14 (AFP) The Sri Lankan government may be celebrating a key election victory in the ethnically-mixed east but it is still a long way from winning over the island's Tamil minority, analysts and observers say. The polls on Saturday saw voters in the east give President Mahinda Rajapakse's ruling coalition control over a new provincial council designed to give more autonomy to the area and address the root cause of civil war. more..

May 14 (PTI) Sri Lanka has accused LTTE of not reciprocating to its efforts for a dialogue while seeking global support in defeating the rebel force. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, addressing the Oxford University Student Union at the institution on Tuesdaystressed that he did not believe in a military solution to the ethnic problem. "We have attempted talks with the LTTE on several occasions - thrice since my election as the President - but they have not reciprocated," he said. more..

May 14 (ML) All Muslim Ministers in government have decided to resign their portfolios if newly elected provincial Councilor M.L.M. Hizbullah is not appointed Chief Minister of the Eastern Province, The Morning Leader learns. Informed sources said several Muslim Ministers in Government including those who broke away from the Muslim Congress met yesterday and arrived at this decision. more..

May 14 (AP) Air force jets pounded a Tamil Tiger rebel training base deep in the jungles of northern Sri Lanka early Wednesday and troops killed 11 guerrillas in other fighting, the military said. The airstrike took place about 7:15 a.m. inside the separatist rebels' de facto state in the north. Separately, ground battles erupted Tuesday on the civil war's fronts of Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar and Welioya, Nanayakkara said. more..

May 14 (UPI) The electoral process is one method by which democratic societies provide for change to occur. The election in Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province on May 10 provided an opportunity for the issue of a military or political solution to the country’s current crisis to be canvassed among the people. There were doubts about the possibility of the government winning the elections. About 80 percent of the eastern population is equally divided between the Tamil and Muslim communities. more..

May 14 (Hindu) Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil has expressed concern over the reported air capability of the LTTE that could be a threat to the vital installations in South India. Stressing the need to synergise the efforts of all key partners for a safer and more efficient functioning of the installations in various sectors, he said the government would take all steps to protect the atomic energy installations and ports. more..

May 14 (DM) The Ceylon Workers Congress general secretary Arumugam Thondaman has allocated funds for the development of a new building of Ratmalana Hindu College. The Minister was greeted by the students, teachers and principals and was honoured with a shawl after lighting the ceremonial oil lamp at the auspicious time. The minister unveiled the commemorative plaque to inaugurate development project after more..

May 14 (DM) The Colombo High Court, yesterday, imposed the death penalty on six persons who were found guilty of killing a man in broad daylight at Kolonnawa. High Court judge Ms. Deepali Wijesundara convicted Brian Anthony Samuel, Roger Christopher Samuel, Ralston Desmond Decker, Mohamed Arun alias Choppe, Charles Samuel Norti and Baabu of committing the murder of Kapila Perera, alias Fareed, on July 21, 1996 in Kolonnawa. more..

May 14 (Island) The Government Medical Officers Association has requested the Secretary to the Health Ministry Dr. Athula Kahadaliyanage to implement a transparent, effective and fair mechanism with the guidance of the Public Service Commission in order make the the health sector function smoothly in any crisis situation such as strikes, work-to-rule or picketing campaigns. more..

May 14 (Island) Despite giving the Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake prior notice of a detailed UPFA plan to rig the Eastern Provincial Council Election (EPCE), no preventive action was taken, SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem said yesterday. He, told a news conference in Colombo that the Elections Commissioner merely sent some "Observation Officers", who were unable to stop UPFA candidates, including TMVP cadres and their goon squads, from stuffing the ballot boxes. more..

May 14 (DN) A Closed Circuit Television System (CCTV) presented by the Australian Government to the Immigration and Emigration Department is expected to enhance passenger processing capacity at the Bandaranaiake International Airport (BIA). According to Assistant Controller for Immigration and Emigration Parakrama Fernando, the CCTV system built according to the latest technology, would improve surveillance methods addressing a long felt need. more..

May 14 (DN) Development in the agriculture sphere depends on the introduction of advanced and modern technologies to the local agriculture sector which in turn will lead to self sufficiency and boost the economy, Agriculture Development Minister Hema Kumara Nanayakkara said yesterday. He said the local agriculture sector will do better by employing indigenous technologies rather than opting for costly methods adopted by developed countries. more..

May 14 (SAMN) The Government’s plan to provide essential commodities at a subsidised rate will not address the issues of the estate community even if it is implemented fully, Community Development and Social Inequity Eradication Minister and Leader, Upcountry People’s Front (UPF) P. Chandrasekaran said. The government had arranged to provide rice at a subsidised rate to the estate community a few months ago. more..

May 14 (Thenee) Tamil Democratic Congress unreservedly condemns the murder of a leading Tamil citizen Maheswary Velautham who was providing yeoman service for the needy in an extremely difficult situation in Sri Lanka. Beyond her political affiliation to the EPDP she had tirelessly worked to help many Tamils, ignoring all the violent barriers that prevented her from helping our fellow Tamil brethrens. more..

May 14 (SAMN) A two-day training workshop is scheduled to be held for the recently elected members of the Eastern Provincial Council. Local Government and Provincial Councils Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon said all new MP’s would be invited for the training programme which would be conducted in both Sinhala and Tamil mediums. “The training programme will be conducted by the Training Unit of the Ministry with the help of translators,” he said. more..

May 14 (SAMN) The government has decided not to spend money on expatriating stranded migrant workers if they have not got themselves registered with the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLBFE) prior to their migration. SLBFE Chairman Kingsley Ranawaka said the Bureau would not spend a single cent in expatriating Sri Lankan migrant workers stranded in Kuwait or any other Middle East country unless they had got themselves registered before migration as more..

May 14 (SAMN) Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake said here Tuesday the government would never enter into any more cease-fire agreements with the Tamil Tiger rebels. Wickramanayake said LTTE had exploited cease-fire agreements with the government in the past. "I will tell you one thing for sure. There will never be anymore cease-fire agreements in the future with the LTTE", the prime minister said. more..

May 14 (LNP) Dust has settled on the eastern front where a fierce political battle was fought the other day. The victor is cock-a-hoop and the vanquished licking its wounds vowing to make a comeback. And the sobering political reality is beginning to dawn on the government which lavished pre-election promises on the eastern people who were eager to rebuild their lives after a lapse of two decades. Promises, they say, are like babies: They are easy to make but hard to deliver! more..

May 14 (LNP) Had he been given a chance to lead the campaign for last Saturday s Eastern Provincial Council polls, the UNP would have recorded a landslide victory over the Government, UNP National Organiser S.B. Dissanayake said yesterday. `Allegations of intimidation of UNP activists during the campaign are on record. I know how to win elections under such threatening situations. But I was denied an opportunity. more..

May 14 (PISL) With the prices of food across the world increasing drastically in many markets in Asia, producing it has become a challenge for governments and Central Banks to manage the terms of trade deficits which is widening monthly. The phenomenon of the local currency depreciating in Sri Lanka is no exception to this problem. more..

May 14 (GDI) The Government has taken steps to construct houses for 15,000 families under the 'Gama Neguma' housing programme at a cost of Rs. 750 million. "A total of 1000 houses will be constructed in Ampara district at a cost of Rs. 50 million in the initial instance", Minister of Housing and Common Amenities, Mrs. Ferial Ashraff said addressing the Jana Hamuwa held at 'Unagaslanda Ella' Jana Sevana housing project, Padiyatalawa. more..

May 14 (GDI) The Government will dispatch 20 tones of relief assistance to Myanmar and urges the public to come to the aid of the people affected by the current tragedy in that country. Addressing a press conference, Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said Myanmar was hit by cyclone Nargis on May 2 which caused devastation in five provinces comprising 600 villages killing over 100,000 with around 49,000 missing. more..

May 14 (GDI) Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told the UN Human Rights Council yesterday that the Government's ultimate aim was to implement a National Action Plan on the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Sri Lanka. The Minister, addressing the working group of the UNHCR during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) emphasized that the Government regarded safeguarding human rights of all Sri Lankans as a primary duty. more..

May 14 (GDI) President Mahinda Rajapaksa, addressing the Oxford Union yesterday, said that the thrust of the Government's development strategy was in empowering the rural economy of the country and pointed out that this has become a critical matter in view of the emerging world food crisis and challenges to the global environment. He also placed these initiatives in the wider context of constraints, especially the scourge of terrorism and the need to protect the citizenry of the country from this threat. more..

May 14 (LD) Minister of Justice Dilan Perera wants one of the bonus seats the UPFA has won at the East PC polls given to a Tamil candidate to realistically represent the interests of the community in Trincomalee. In a letter to the party's General Secretary Susil Premajayantha, Mr. Perera says the 48 per cent of Tamils in the district are not properly represented at the provincial council. more..

May 14 (LD) Government-affiliate Lanka Sama Samaja Party has called for granting all powers under the 13th Constitutional Amendment to the Eastern Provincial Council. Secretary of the LSSP Wimalasiri de Mel says immediate steps should be taken towards that end in accordance with a report by the cabinet sub committee. He was speaking at a new briefing organized by the party yesterday (May 13th) that was also attended by Raja Collure and Vasudeva Nanayakkara. more..

May 14 (LD) The Civil Monitoring Committee is reporting a rapid increase in the disappearance, abduction and extortion of Tamils. From April 18th to May 13th, the CMC has received complaints of 14 abductions. In latest such incidents, a youth who had been running a fruit stall in Colombo was seized by a group from his lodge on May 03rd. He has been identified as Selvadorai Kannan, a resident of Badulla. more..

May 14 (LG) Ceylon gained Independence in 1948. At that time it had the highest living standard in Asia next only to the Philippines. Japan was devastated after the second world war. Slums then and even now are known as ‘Koreawa’, as Korea was a very backward country. Ceylon Rs. 3 was the value of a Sterling Pound. During the second world war, Great Britain obtained Foreign Aid from Ceylon. more..

May 14 (LG) Although, with the recent assassinations and beginning of the war, things looks gloomy, there are many positive developments I see in the present situation. We should build on these positive developments, and move towards a solution. Let me take one such development, the Supreme Court has deemed that the North-East merger was illegal. What then is the course to follow with regards the de-merger; there are demands that it should be re-merged and counter demands that it should remain so. more..

May 14 (MG) Eastern Provincial Councils election is over. The UPFA has emerged winners securing 20 out of 37 members. Opposition (UNP and SLMC) have rejected the outcome and threatened to take legal action and launch street demonstrations. JVP as usual taken the high moral ground and claim “We told you so”. Whatever the monitors or observers say the day of the election was marred by incidents of violence and anti-democratic actions. . more..

May 14 (wsws) Since the cyclone engulfed Burma on May 3, there has been an incessant campaign in the international media to push for foreign militaries, along with aid officials, to be allowed into the country. Article after article contrasts the paranoia, incompetence and callousness of the Burmese junta with the supposed willingness of the US and other major powers to generously provide humanitarian assistance. more..

May 14 (LG) In its own larger interests, India must help Sri Lanka more actively to free itself from LTTE extremism and terrorism. But there is a precondition for this: sincere devolution of power to the Tamils along federal or quasi-federal lines within a united Sri Lanka. There is an urgent need for India to define its Sri Lanka policy and delineate its options, because of India’s unique relationship with Sri Lanka. more..