Aug 11 (AT) For those who advocate devolution the victory of the TNA at the Vauniya Urban Council must be a delight because of the very real prospect of the fruits of devolution, for if there had been devolution today all the Sinhalese and Muslims would have been ordered out of the Urban Council limits of Vaunia with intimidation and threats coupled with stoning the roofs of their houses at night while legally no land under the purview of the Vauniya Urban Council will be sold to Sinhalese and Muslims. more..

Aug 11 (wsws) Jaffna University students and staff recently spoke with WSWS correspondents over the run-down state of the campus, its desperate lack of basic facilities and the ongoing military repression in the northern Sri Lankan town of Jaffna. Despite the military defeat of the separatist LTTE in May, Jaffna remains under heavy army occupation with extensive roadblocks and constant patrols. more..

Aug 11 (SLW) Much has been written about the LTTE in the Media. But there are just a few who are competent to speak about the true nature of the LTTE terror network. Prof. Rohan Gunaratna and Shanaka Jayasekara, both are Sri Lankan born professionals and internationally acclaimed experts on LTTE terrorism. Both mold future agents of Intelligence and counter Terrorism who would contribute to combat Terrorism in this World. more..

Aug 11 (SLW) Our media office in Waiben in Torres Strait Island popularly known as Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia was inundated with calls ever since our feature on aspirants for Tiger leadership appeared in Sri Lanka Watch and Infolanka in the wake of the arrest of the man of many identities also known as Selvarasa Pathmanathan. He is the man who will go down in history as the one who enriched himself and more..

Aug 11 (SLW) The first post war election results generates some serious propositions regarding the future of democracy in Sri Lanka in general, in the North East –once accepted as the traditional Thamil Provinces, in particular. After thirty years of suffering and paying the high cost of an abysmally bloody armed struggle and currently under a virtual (Sinhala) military rule, the residents of Jaffna Municipal Council have voted for the candidates of UPFA. more..

Aug 11 (GDI) The exam is now being held in 1,830 centers throughout the island, Commissioner General of Examinations Anura Edirisinghe told www.news.lk. He pointed out 242, 300 candidates sit the examination this year. 12 examination centers have been established at relief villages in Vavuniya for candidates of Kilinochchi and Mullaitheiv district. The number of candidates now sitting the examination in those centres is 1,300. Of them 152 are inmates. more..

Aug 11 (GDI) Treasurer of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, Minister Dallas Alahapperuma said the United People’s Freedom Alliance has managed to obtain a three-fourth majority of the Uva provincial council as the party won the election by a two-third majority. Under the Proportional Representation System obtaining a two-third majority is a difficult task. more..

Aug 11 (GDI) Interviews for Grade One admissions for 2010 will commence next week, the Ministry of Education has announced. “Letters have already been sent to parents regarding the first round of interviews to be held,” said Sri Lal Nonis, Director of National Schools. Interview panels have been appointed for the purpose and work in that regard has already commenced at national schools, he said. more..

Aug 11 (LP) The communities together with the associated officials are able to eradicate poverty and the menace of alcoholism from the society said Professor N Shanmugalingam, Vice Chancellor of the University of Jaffna. It is time to put in to action the works and findings of Professor Nandesena Rathanapala said Professor N Shanmugalingam addressing the 2nd memorial oration of Professor Rathanapala more..

Aug 11 (GDI) "Terrorism is not only a problem for Sri Lanka. It is also a problem for the whole world. All these countries that have been fighting and talking against terrorism must get together and put a stop to this menace", said President Mahinda Rajapaksa in an interview with News X India. Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP's arrest last week was very important for Sri Lanka because he was the person who claims to be the new leader of the LTTE more..

Aug 11 (LP) At the opening Session, Minister Bogollagama, while welcoming the Viet Namese Deputy Foreign Minister and his Delegation expressed pleasure in hosting the Second Meeting of the Joint Commission and highlighted the significance of having the second Joint Commission as a prelude to the State visit of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Viet Nam this year in October. more..

Aug 11 (LP) Sri Lankan retired employees who are dwelling now in foreign countries following their retirement in service in Sri Lanka would be able to get their pension where they are residing at present. Pension Department hopes to introduce a new system to accomplish this task. Accordingly, over 25,000 pensioners will benefit by this measure and this would be more efficient than the present Pension system. more..

Aug 11 (LNW) A local soap manufacturer told Lanka News Web that the Unilever Company was misleading the government and earning heavy profits by using distilled fatty acid (DFAD) instead of coconut oil as claimed by the Company in manufacturing Sunlight soap. The source said that DFAD is unhealthy for humans. While the importation of coconut oil and palm oil for the manufacturing of Sunlight soap costs the company import taxes amounting to about 235%, more..

Aug 11 (DN) New Colombo Archbishop Rt. Rev Dr. Malcom Ranjith yesterday requested the international community not to isolate the country as such action would aggravate the sufferings of the people. The new Colombo Archbishop was speaking at a felicitation ceremony organised by the Colombo diocese on his appointment as the Archbishop of Colombo at the BMICH yesterday. more..

Aug 11 (LP) President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed the District Organizers for the ruling party, the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) yesterday (10) at the Temple Trees. Accordingly Mohamed Hilmy and R.D Samaranayake were appointed for Kandy while D.W Prathapsinghe and Aruna Gunarathna are the organizers for Matara. The President also addressed the UPFA members who gathered at the Temple Trees. more..

Aug 11 (LG) The news item in the Hindu datelined August 4th., 2009, India and posted by renounced Indian journalist Mr. B. Muralidhar Reddy highlighted the reality of terrorism in Sri Lankan in 2002. Journalist B. Muralidhar Reddy clearly has stated that, "On 2nd of August 2002, when the Nalanda Old Boys Association first took into organizing a war hero commemoration, all hopes of defeating terrorism militarily were blown away from this country. more..

Aug 11 (DN) President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday said the new Archbishop of Colombo Rev. Dr. Malcolm Ranjith occupies a special place among the Archbishops in Sri Lanka who brought great honour and prestige to the country. Especially the service he rendered to build the image of the country will always be remembered with gratitude. Occupying two prestigious positions in the Holy See he still continues with this mission both more..

Aug 11 (LP) Legal documents including National Identity Cards (NIC) to the IDPs in the welfare villages of Vavuniya will be issued. The programme to issue the documents is conducted by the The Constitutional Affairs and National Integration Ministry in collaboration with the UNDP. Under the UNDP Equal Access to Justice (A2J) project implemented, birth, marriage and death certificates and other legal documents will be issued to IDPs who have lost these vital documents amidst the conflict. more..

Aug 11 (LT) The Human Rights Commission has decided to inquire into a complaint of an incident where a student has been immediately dispelled from St. Anthony’s Girls School at Katugastota in Kandy for using a mobile phone. The parents of the student have complained to the Kandy branch of Human Rights Commission that the fundamental rights of their daughter have been violated as a result of the decision taken by the principal of the school to more..

Aug 11 (LNP) Sri Lanka has a conducive environment for investment and more Japanese investors are welcome to the country. The Government will provide the infrastructure facilities and has embarked on a project to upgrade the available facilities, Minister of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said at an interactive discussion with the Japanese Ambassador and a Japanese business delegation yesterday in Colombo. more..

Aug 11 (LT) The ceiling of the Office of the Divisional Secretariat at Buttala, declared open on the 2nd of this month by President Mahinda Rajapakse, collapsed this morning injuring two people who have been admitted to Buttala Hospital. The work of the newly constructed Divisional office as a part of the government’s development project was completed in haste targeting the Uva PC election. more..

Aug 11 (Island) Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva yesterday said that the UNP had suffered its worst defeat in the history of polls, not only in the Uva Province but also in the districts of Jaffna and Vavuniya which they claimed were their strongholds. "The voters have taught a good lesson to the UNP leadership and it can never recover from this defeat for at least another decade," more..

Aug 11 (LT) No one has been arrested regarding the abduction, assault and torture of Nipuna Ramanayake, a student at Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) allegedly carried out by a group including Son and wife of Colombo Crime Division SSP Vas Gunawrdene and the attempt to force Nipuna to make a statement falsely admitting that he was connected to the underworld says police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekera. more..

Aug 11 (LG) IGP and his deputies have failed even to develop a credible system for the transport of suspects during investigations. There seems to be nobody to ensure law and order in the country. Naturally, anyone would ask the question, "What are the guardians doing?" As the Sri Lankan police service has a leadership by way of the IGP and his deputies, known as Deputy IGP, it would be interesting to find out what they are doing instead of what their jobs. more..

Aug 11 (Island) Uva Chief Minister elect Shasheendra Kumara Rajapaksa, said he would keep the pledges he made on the election platform and give priority to upgrade the education sector and employment for youth in the Province. His months in office would be spent on accelerating the Uma-Oya project to provide water to the farmers of Uva-Wellassa. more..

Aug 11 (DN) The Transport Ministry has succeed in finding sponsors for its flagship project under “Uthuru Mithuru” with twenty six sponsors from the Government and the private sector organizations and companies pledging their support to construct 26 railway stations on the Northern railway line from Omanthai to Kankasanthurai. The project would cost around Rs.400 million. more..

Aug 11 (DN) A pilot project to grow chillies, green gram, soya, onions, Kurakkan and Undu in home gardens in the Eastern Province would be started during the next Maha crop season with the participation of 30,000 families. The Agriculture Ministry and the Samurdhi Authority will assist this pilot project and the Government will provide seeds, organic fertilizer and also assist in land preparation for the cultivation if necessary, more..

Aug 11 (LNP) The problem with creating monsters is that the creator becomes the creature`s prey. The US created Al Qaeda as a force against Russians and became a victim of its violent prot g . But for India`s blunder of supporting separatist terrorists in Sri Lanka as part of her gunboat diplomacy, Prabhakaran and his confederates including KP would have become a bunch of nondescript smugglers in the northern parts of Sri Lanka. more..

Aug 11 (Island) Commissioner of Elections Dayananda Dissanayake meets the District Secretaries of Galle ,Matara and Hambantota and the Assistant Comissioners of Elections in the three districts today at 11.00 a.m. to discuss formalities in accepting nominations, from August 21 to 28, to the Southern Provincial Council elections. The Southern Provincial elections would be held according to the Electoral register for the year 2008. more..

Aug 11 (HP) At a farewell gathering for a long-time employee, Ahangamage Tudor Ariyaratne, founder of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, approaches the podium dressed in his trademark white sarong, knee-length shirt and sandals. Speaking in both Sinhala and English, Ariyaratne first apologizes for rarely praising his employees. "The greatest enemy that each one of us has is our ego," more..

Aug 11 (Island) Peradeniya University’s Veterinary Department Senior Lecturer Dr. Asoka Dangolla, who has been entrusted the task of looking into the welfare and health aspects of the baby tuskers Raju and Sindhu, told The Island yesterday that they were doing well. He is solely responsible for their health but he would discuss the matter with international experts and seek their advice. He said already discussions were going on in this regard. more..

Aug 11 (DM) The Malaysian hotel from where the self proclaimed LTTE leader Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP was arrested conducted it’s own investigations and found that there were no signs of such an arrest in the hotel premises, an official of the hotel told Daily Mirror online today. It was widely reported that KP was at the Tune hotel in Kuala Lampur meeting with relatives of some top LTTE officials when he had received a telephone call on his mobile phone. more..

Aug 11 (WFTV) An Ohio girl ran away to Orlando because she said her family threatened to kill her for converting to Christianity. Rifqa Bary, 17, said she was threatened by her family because she converted from Islam to Christianity. "What did your father say to you?" WFTV reporter Mary Nguyen asked. "He said he would kill me!" replied Bary. more..

Aug 11 (DM) Hundreds of SLIIT students staged a demonstration outside their university at Malambe yesterday against the brutal assault on Nipuna Ramanayake and urged the authorities to carryout an impartial inquiry as they felt the police were not acting impartially, a protesting student said. “That day it was Nipuna but it can be anyone of us. The SLITT authorities sorted out the problem between our student group and that of Ravindu’s but his group is seeking us out to take revenge,” more..

Aug 11 (DM) The government said yesterday other countries especially those in the Asian region would be keen to know what Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP reveals during his interrogation especially since he was believed to have established links with terrorist groups from around the world. Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohona told the Daily Mirror, was reputed to have detailed knowledge of LTTE’s fundraising network, its illicit business ventures, more..

Aug 11 (DM) The sight of dozens and dozens of Sri Lankan Muslim youth cheering the Pakistan team and celebrating its victory over Sri Lanka at the last two one-day matches was something that had disturbed quite a few in this country. When a prominent local Muslim politician was asked for his interpretation of this scenario, he quipped, “Yes it is quite disturbing. May be they don’t have a sense of belonging to Sri Lanka. For some reason they may be feeling they are discriminated”. more..

Aug 11 (LBO) Sri Lanka has ample space for foreign borrowing under a 20-month IMF program, which has set a ceiling of 1,750 million US dollars for new commercial loans, officials said. A US dollar bond issue, sold mostly to domestic buyers with access to foreign exchange, matures this week. "A 175 million dollars in bonds are maturing and we only called bids for 150 million US dollars," more..

Aug 11 (LBO) Sri Lanka should cap election spending to prevent honest politicians being crowded out and criminal elements entering the parliament, a breakaway ruling party politician has said. "One of the proposals I have submitted for consideration for the next manifesto is to have some form of a cap for election spending because I really think you must have a level playing field for all candidates," more..

Aug 11 (FT) After the government of Sri Lanka finally and violently crushed the 25-year-old insurrection by Tamil rebels last May, there were hopes this sparkling island in the Indian Ocean would finally emerge from its dark history into the light. That is already looking forlorn. Put simply, while the conflict has ended, Sri Lanka is careering back to where it was when the conflict began. more..

Aug 11 (LBO) Sri Lanka's banking regulator said it intends to regulate and closely supervise payment card service providers almost a year after the collapse of one firm triggered a crisis in a local conglomerate. The Central Bank said in a statement that use of payment cards, such as credit cards, debit cards and stored value cards, was growing because of their convenience. more..

Aug 11 (EB) Sri Lankan Tamil refugees and expatriates in Switzerland contributed the most to the LTTE’s war chest, the captured LTTE leader, Selvarasa Patmanathan alias KP, reportedly told his interrogators in Colombo, the weekly Nation reported in its latest issue. KP told Nation that he was not aware of the total collection received by the war chest as the LTTE founder V Prabhakaran had entrusted those functions to others. more..

Aug 11 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's trade deficit for the first half of 2009 narrowed 60 percent to $1.25 billion, with both exports and imports falling at slower rates in June, signalling the worst may be over for the island nation's economy. The trade deficit in June narrowed 51 percent to $267.1 million from $539.5 million a year earlier, the central bank said on Tuesday. "We expect this recovery trend to continue in the second half," more..

Aug 11 (IE) The Catholic Church was not aiming at converting Sri Lankan Buddhists into Christianity and will focus on contributing to the progress and well-being of the country, the new Archbishop of Colombo has said. "The Christian community in Sri Lanka has tremendously contributed to the development of country and they have actively been involved in the country's liberation struggle," Rt Rev Malcom Ranjith said here on Monday. more..

Aug 11 (PTI) Months after its troops defeated the LTTE in the northern beaches, Sri Lanka today foiled an attempted "suicide mission" by suspected Tigers, seizing a van laden with claymore mines meant to be driven to Colombo after detaining two persons. Acting on information from the detained LTTE suspects, the army detected 20 claymore mines -- each weighing five kg -- fitted inside a van in northwestern Mannar, police said. more..

Aug 11 (AFP) Amnesty International on Monday made a fresh appeal for the release of tens of thousands of war-displaced Sri Lankan Tamils locked behind military-run camps in the island's north. The London-based rights watchdog said their "unlock the Camps" call was being issued at the start of their international council meeting in Turkey and urged the Sri Lankan government to give freedom of movement to camp detainees. more..

Aug 11 (BN) Sri Lankan stocks may offer better returns as the end of the 26-year civil war frees up government spending for investments in infrastructure and agriculture, investor Jim Rogers said. The island-nation’s benchmark index has gained 33 percent in the past three months, the second-best performance worldwide as the army defeated the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam in May. more..

Aug 11 (Xinhua) The Sri Lankan government has said the displaced people living at the relief camps in the country's north would be allowed to leave only when the members of the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels hiding at these centres are identified. The attorney general in a written submission to the Supreme Court said Monday the officials are in the process of identifying the members of former rebel group LTTE. more..

Aug 11 (AP) The top US diplomat for South Asia says Sri Lanka's failure to share power with minority Tamils following the end of a bloody 25-year civil war in May could lead to renewed violence. Mr Blake expressed disappointment that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has indicated he will not pursue political reconciliation until after presidential elections are held, probably in January. more..

Aug 12 (AT) A bit of good news has finally arrived for the badly battered Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Three months after it suffered military defeat at the hands of the Sri Lankan armed forces, a party regarded as its mouthpiece in parliament and beyond has defeated President Mahinda Rajapakse's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in the first elections to be held in post-war Sri Lanka. more..