Feb 24 (BL) The JHU formally announced its 10 point election manifesto on Monday. Leaders of the JHU presented the declaration to the Chief Prelate of the Asgiri Chapter, Most Ven. Udugama Buddharakhita Thera, Deputy Chief Prelate of Malwatte Chapter, Ven. Niyangoda Wijithasiri Thera and received blessings at the Sacred Temple of the Tooth and the Sri Maha Bodhiya. The main target of the JHU is to work tirelessly to protect the sovereignty and more..

Feb 24 (BL) The government has a few famous sports stars in its ranks for the upcoming general election. It is not often that sportsmen are associated with active politics. Sanath Jayasuriya and Susanthika Jayasinghe are sportspersons loved and admired by the entire nation. Thus, when these sportspersons get involved in politics it should come as no surprise that it has given rise to many debates on whether sportsmen should get involved in active politics. more..

Feb 24 (ICG) For the past quarter-century the Tamil diaspora has shaped the Sri Lankan political landscape through its financial and ideological support to the military struggle for an independent Tamil state. Although the May 2009 defeat of the LTTE has dramatically reduced the diaspora’s influence, the majority of Tamils outside Sri Lanka continue to support a separate state, and more..

Feb 24 (BL) For the first time in Sri Lanka, Latitude 655 - a partnership between a Sri Lankan entity and a Silicon Valley innovator (Monvia) - brings to the nation’s businesses the access to world-class technology innovation and professional IT expertise - all leveraging local talent and prices. Sri Lankan businesses will now be able to increase revenue or cut business costs by using the innovative technology services offered by Latitude 655. more..

Feb 24 (BL) It was the walls, culverts and public notice boards that suffered most during election times in the recent past. This time too, without any difference, walls, culverts and public notice boards all around the country are covered with posters of candidates who are seeking the ‘manape’ at the upcoming general election. It is sad to see how politicians assume that the more posters they put up, the more ‘manape’ they are going to receive. more..

Feb 24 (IL) Foreign Secretary David Miliband's Written Statement to the House of Commons on recent developments in the political and humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka. David Miliband gave an update on recent developments in Sri Lanka in a Written Ministerial Statement to the House of Commons. I would like to update the House on recent developments in the political and humanitarian situations in Sri Lanka. more..

Feb 24 (ER) Sri Lanka's government expressed disappointment with the European Union's decision to temporarily remove the country's duty free export status, while at the same time said it will continue to implement measures to foster economic growth and improve the judicial system, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said Tuesday one of his first actions following his re-election will be to foment employment for young people. more..

Feb 24 (HT) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has asked the Sri Lanka government to provide documentary evidence about the death of Tamil Tiger chief V. Prabhakaran, prime accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case of 1991. Prabhakaran is said to have been killed in the third week of May 2009 while fighting government troops. His death was formally announced on May 19. more..

Feb 24 (IL) The archetypal Catch-22, as formulated by Heller, involves the case of John Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Forces bombardier, who wishes to be grounded from combat flight duty. To be grounded, he must be officially evaluated by the squadron's flight surgeon and then found "unfit to fly." "Unfit" would be any pilot that is actually willing to fly such dangerous missions: more..

Feb 24 (TN) TMVP political party led by Eastern Province Prime Minister Pillayan submitted its list of candidates contesting Jaffna district Tuesday in Jaffna Secretariat. Four of the twelve candidates are women and the chief candidate in the list is Kanthiah Arumailingam. Pillayan who had come to Jaffna did not enter Jaffna Secretariat but chose to wait in his vehicle outside Jaffna Secretariat on the occasion due to security reasons, more..

Feb 24 (Times) Relations between Britain and Sri Lanka are likely to hit a new low after David Miliband addresses a meeting of Tamil activists from around the world at the Houses of Parliament today. The Foreign Secretary is due to make the opening speech at the inaugural meeting of the Global Tamil Forum, which campaigns for selfdetermination for Sri Lanka’s ethnic Tamils and to bring to justice more..

Feb 24 (SOS) The Temporary Care Project for refugees at Chettikulam has taken in 232 lone children to date and we have successfully reunified 56 children with their families. At present there are 176 children left living with us on the project. We are doing our very best to provide these children with some sort of normality and we are giving school stationary, dry rations, clothing and foot supplies to more..

Feb 24 (DS) In a sun-bright studio, surrounded by paintings saturated in vibrant colors, a lone artist stoops to pour acrylic paint into opaque blobs on a white canvas. Hours later, when the acrylic has dried, he dips his brush into oil paint and whooshes it across a canvas - the first abstract forms of an interpretive figure. The process is a messy one, DJ Perera explained as his wide eyes, held inches away from the canvas, more..

Feb 24 (TC) Democracy’ is neither organic nor home-grown. It was a foreign imposition upon a polity that was segmentalized and divided against itself. It is the tragedy of our times that we Sri Lankans are gullible enough to swallow all this tripe about elections as the universal remedy for all our problems or the fulfillment of our hopes and dreams. Our sundry and various politicians shout more..

Feb 24 (LG) The word nation in this series does not imply the usual meaning of the word. What is described here is a situation where the nation that was living in this country before the Portuguese arrived, lost power to an alien nation initially in the maritime provinces and then in the whole country after 1815. The first alien nation to capture power was the Portuguese and if one were to say that there were no nations before the advent of capitalism we more..

Feb 24 (TC) A banner headlined in the Financial Review of 3rd February 2010 proclaims; ‘Government earns Rs. 52.4 bn from tobacco co". The Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC) never tires of telling the public of its great generosity to the country. Proof of its generosity is that it contributes billions of rupees to government coffers. The impression that is sort to be created is that it voluntarily contributes vast sums out of its profits for public welfare. more..

Feb 24 (LG) In the Fools’ Paradise where philosophers, theoreticians and eulogists are many and conspiracy theories are abundant, why should not I try my luck with one such conspiracy theory? A government Minister has said that Sri Lanka will ban guilty NGOs. “NGOs found to be conspiring against the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa will be banned once investigations are complete, more..

Feb 24 (wsws) Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court yesterday turned down a request for an interim order to release defeated opposition candidate General Sarath Fonseka, who was detained by military police on February 8. The hearing involved a fundamental rights petition brought by Fonseka’s wife, Anoma, challenging the legality of the arrest. The court ruling has a significant political impact. more..

Feb 24 (DN) ‘People leave managers, not companies’ claim Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, authors of the book ‘First, break all the rules: what the world’s greatest managers do differently.’ The conclusion is drawn from a survey of a over a million employees and 80,000 managers. The authors claim that managers can stress out employees to the point of quitting in a number of different ways such as being too controlling, too suspicious, too pushy, too critical and too nit-picky. more..

Feb 24 (GDI) The Criminal Investigations Department yesterday informed Court that although a warrant had been issued for Dhanuna Tilekaratne, son-in-law of Sarath Fonseka, he was still absconding. Under the directions of a senior CID officer, all the identified places had been inspected. They said that they had even recorded statements. On February 15th the Colombo Fort Magistrate issued a warrant on Dhanuna Tilekaratne more..

Feb 24 (GDI) Deputy Director of the Agrarian Research and Training Institute L.P. Rupasena says the agricultural products from Jaffna are now reaching the Dambulla market. He said these include potatoes, red onions and plantain (banana) varieties from Jaffna. Deputy Director pointed out around 25 thousand kilos of potatoes reach the Dambulla market each day. The quantity of red onions received daily is around 12 thousand kilos. more..

Feb 24 (LNP) The 131st Battle of the Blues between Royal College and S. Thomas College which is regarded as the oldest school cricket encounter in the world will be worked off from March 11 to 13, 2010 at the SSC grounds. The Chairman of the Match Organizing Committee Akmal Sathuk speaking at a press briefing at the Colombo Hilton thanked Etisalat for coming forward to sponsor the event for the next three years and more..

Feb 24 (GDI) An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team is currently in Sri Lanka to conduct the second review of the US$ 2.6 Stand-By Agreement, approved July last year. The IMF team will determine whether the country has made adequate economic progress for it to recommend the release of the third tranche of the loan, IMF country representative Dr. Koshy Mathai said. more..

Feb 24 (TN) Jaffna Commander, Major. Gen. Kathurasinghe said Tuesday that travel restrictions in Valikaamam North in SLA High Security Zone have been relaxed so that people in Jaffna could travel freely, participating as chief guest in a Marathon race event held in Jaffna town. But Welfare Organizations representing IDPs said that this relaxation is mainly for the benefit of Buddhist devotees from the South visiting Naakatheepa Buddhist temple in Nainaatheevu and more..

Feb 24 (LG) Reports of the Sanga Convention called by the three great chapters of Buddhism and signed by the four Sanganayakes led to severe and adverse reactions on the part of the government, and the result was that the three great Buddhist Mahanayakes were pressurized by government officials and through a section of Buddhist monks themselves to postpone the convention which was to be held on the 18th February. more..

Feb 24 (PSM) A capacity building workshop to strengthen the network structure of the Muslim Information Centre (MIC) was held yesterday in Colombo for its volunteers based island wide. The event was organized by the MIC and supported by PSM and is part of a collaborative information sharing endeavor the two organizations have undertaken on vital issues affecting the Muslim community in Sri Lanka. more..

Feb 24 (DN) Those who are gifted with a particular creative skill are denoted by the term ‘artistes’. The artistes are of various types. Some are singers, while some are dancers. Some others are performers of various fields inclusive of stage, radio and television. From time to time they emerge as opinion leaders, who help the masses to evaluate and/or promote certain significant social attitudes, ideologies and projects. more..

Feb 24 (LP) UPFA would launch a new political culture from Hambanthota with the handing over of nominations on the 26th says youthful candidate Namal Rajapaksa in his debut into Politics. UPFA would not resolve to mass scale processions (Pelapali) but begin an exemplary programme, such as blood donation programmes, Shramadana programme and milk rice dansals for the benefit of the people of the area in the mornings and more..

Feb 24 (GDI) The file containing bills of the satellite phone used by General Sarath Fonseka during the time he served as the Commanding Officer of Jaffna in the year 2000, has disappeared. Comprehensive investigations are in progress to recover the file. The Government provided a satellite telephone to General Sarath Fonseka when he was serving as the Jaffna Commanding Officer to be used for official purposes. more..

Feb 24 (LP) Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama launched his website, www.rohithabogollagama.lk on 22nd February 2010 amidst a distinguished gathering at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations. Addressing the gathering, Foreign Minister Bogollagama stated that the website fulfilled a long felt need as it would enable greater interaction with the members of the public. more..

Feb 24 (LNP) The Sri Lankan electronic manufacturing industry has many opportunities of partnership to meet the requirements of the US$ 41 billion market in India with a professionally calibrated marketing strategy. TOS Lanka Executive Director Merrick Gooneratne told Daily News Business that buyers have renewed their interest following the war victory and political stability. On time delivery of goods was a serious problem earlier more..

Feb 24 (MoD) Close relatives of War Heroes who sacrificed their lives for the motherland were awarded medals in a project launched jointly by the Ministry of Defence and Ranaviru Seva Authority. The ceremony for awarding of medals to the relatives of War Heroes in Gampaha District was held attended by Secretary of Defence Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the Chief Guest. It was held in the Commando Regiment Camp in Ganemulla on 23rd February morning. more..

Feb 24 (LP) The Embassy of Sri Lanka in France initiated a project to promote Sinhala and Tamil languages among children of the Sri Lankan community residing in France with a view to promoting the Sinhala and Tamil cultures. The project would be geared towards enabling children of Sri Lankan origin to sit for Ordinary Level examinations in Sinhala and Tamil. more..

Feb 24 (LT) There are many rumours being spread by various sources that UNP Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe had discussions with Gen. Sarath Fonseka and Ms. Anoma Fonseka and Gen. Fonseka agreed to contest the general election from the UNF. When inquired regarding this from Gen. Fonseka's office a spokesman said Gen. Fonseka has not changed his decision. This spokesman said that Mr. Wickremasinghe invited Gen. Fonseka to contest from the UNF but more..

Feb 24 (LT) Sources in Ministry of Health and Nutrition indicate the BTI bacteria from Cuba that was scheduled to be brought here in January to curb the dengue hazard that is spreading throughout the island and vaccinations for H1N1 flu to be brought here through Word Health Organization would be delayed further. The Ministry of Health had earlier planned to get down 30,000 liters of BTI bacteria to destroy dengue mosquito larvae. more..

Feb 24 (Island) The number of bottle lamp victims is increasing day by day in the Kurunegala district. According to Dr. Asiri Munasinghe, Residential medical officer of the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital, most of the patients with burn injuries are reported from remote areas like Ambanpola, Maho, Galgamuwa, Megalewa and Nikaweratiya. "Every week at least 7 or 8 patients are admitted to the hospital. more..

Feb 24 (LT) Colombo Fort Magistrate Ms. Lanka Jayaratne ordered yesterday that Lt. Col. Rohan Gotabhaya Wijesundara who was arrested on detention orders alleging he had conspired with Gen. Sarath Fonseka to topple the government be released. When a fundamental rights petition filed by Lt. Col. Wijesundara was taken up by the Supreme Court on the 22nd the Supreme Court ordered the Attorney General to take steps to immediately release him. more..

Feb 24 (LNP) The Elections Secretariat dishes out large sums of money to the police to remove unlawful posters, banners etc in the run-up to each and every election. It has allocated funds once again for that purpose as we reported yesterday. The legality of this kind of exercise cannot be contested but such expenditure gives rise to a serious question of morality. Money being thus wasted to clean an unholy mess that politicos create belongs to the poor people of this country. more..

Feb 24 (LNW) Popular teledrama actress, Upeksha Swarnamali had signed nomination papers yesterday to contest the forthcoming general election from the Gampaha District under the UNP, sources from Sirikotha said. She had decided to contest the election following an invitation received by UNP Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya. more..