June 5 (CI) Even in good batting conditions, for a team who were bowled out for 82 five days ago to reach 231 for 1 when the opposition have amassed 486 shows they have plenty of fighting spirit. Tillakaratne Dilshan led the way for Sri Lanka at Lord's with an unbeaten captain's innings of 127, in a record opening stand of 207 alongside Tharanga Paranavitana, to ensure England toiled after enjoying a fine morning when Matt Prior hit 126. more..

June 5 (SL) The major Muslim party in the country, SLMC says that any political solution to the ethnic issue should be acceptable to the Muslim community. Some Muslims have claimed that various solutions proposed to solve the ethnic issue have so far failed due to the non-inclusion of the Muslim community. The SLMC is therefore to officially request the government to include them as the third party in the talks between the govt and major Tamil party, the TNA on more..

June 5 (Guardian) Around 2.45pm a yellow weather balloon bobbed up above the Lord's pavilion. It had "Boycott Sri Lanka" scrawled on the side in thick black ink, and a Tamil flag tied around the rope that tethered it to the ground. Cricket has often been portrayed as something that has helped hold Sri Lankan society together in the last 30 years. Only this week Kumar Sangakkara described it as the "heal-all of Sri Lanka's social evils". more..

June 5 (Island) Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has told German Ambassador Jens Plotner that he had violated protocol by writing to him over last Monday’s incidents at the Katunayake EPZ. The Defence Secretary called an urgent meet at the Defence Ministry with the German envoy immediately after receiving a two-page letter warning him of police excesses, which could have a detrimental impact on existing and future investments made by Germany. more..

June 5 (ST) The Human Rights Commission has summoned two top officials of the Ragama Teaching Hospital on complaints that they obstructed the duties of human rights officials probing last Monday’s Katunayake attack in which one Free Trade Zone worker was killed and more than 250 were injured. HRC Chairman Priyantha Perera, a former Supreme Court Judge, has summoned the hospital’s director Dr. U.L.R.H. Perera and deputy director Dr. Champa Aluthweera to appear before more..

June 5 (Island) Dr. Chris Nonis, designated as Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to London, is awaiting clearance from the British Government, official sources here said. There was speculation earlier that former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda would succeed Nihal Jayasinghe, who completed his stint in January this year, but Karannagoda has been sent to Japan instead. The British government had reservations about security for Karannagoda, who is a former navy commander. more..

June 5 (ST) The government saw it coming, but not in its wildest dreams did it expect the turn of events this week to turn into such a nightmare. Most of the activity revolved around the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) also known as the Export Promotion Zone (EPZ) where from last week workers, a bulk of them women, began agitating against the proposed Private Sector Pensions Bill. These workers had turned violent beginning last week. more..

June 5 (ST) Anton Marcus with the FTZ Workers Union charged that the authorities have now brought out the army to stifle legitimate protests by the workers angered over the death of a colleague. Hundreds of enraged workers who took to the streets to protest the FTZ slaying were held back by heavily armed personnel from the Special Forces. The workers waving white flags to mourn the death of their colleague were blocked at several fronts by a cordon of security forces personnel, more..

June 5 (NS) A third year student of the Open University of Sri Lanka at Nawala committed suicide recently by throwing himself before a moving train at Dematagoda. It transpired at the inquest held by the Inquirer into Sudden Deaths at Ragama, Priyankara Lal that the 26-year-old student was in a depressed state of mind as his parents could not find money for him to pay the course fees which amounted to Rs.32,000. Testifying at the inquest, the mother of the deceased, more..

June 5 (ST) Health authorities are keeping a close watch on imported canned vegetables, fruits and meat products following the outbreak of a severe food-borne disease that has killed 19 persons in Europe and is spreading across the continent. The Ministry along with the Customs, and other departments had strengthened surveillance as there was a possibility of the new strain of Escherichia coli (E.coli) entering the country. more..

June 5 (Island) British High Commissioner John Rankin said Britain’s investment in business entities in Sri Lanka is around US$ 100 million. Conversely, Sri Lanka’s exports to the UK is now valued at approximately US$ one billion. "Britain’s investments in Sri Lanka includes tourism and education", he told a breakfast meeting with the Council for Business with Britain (CBB) at the JAIC Hilton last week. more..

June 5 (Island) The possession and consumption of duty-free foreign liquor at private events in hotels, restaurants and other leisure facilities, has come under legal scrutiny with authoritative officials pushing for legal restrictions with punitive measures to root out a thriving blackmarket business. "We have already taken up this issue with the Finance Ministry", more..

June 5 (SO) The newly appointed members of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption are in the process of clearing a staggering 3,000 bribery cases which had piled up during the 13 months of its inaction, Chairman Justice D. J. de S. Balapatabendi siad. He said the Commission received 112 new cases, during the past two weeks after assuming duties. “We discuss 50 - 75 cases during working hours and take home around 25 - 30 files daily. more..

June 5 (ST) Senior Sri Lankan military officers, who had played a vital role as field commanders during the humanitarian operation, found an unlikely ally in the US Embassy's Defence Attaché Lawrence Smith when a question was raised about the alleged move by some LTTE leaders to surrender during the last few days of the war in May, 2009. The matter came up for discussion at the seminar on "Defeating Terrorism-The Sri Lankan Experience." more..

June 5 (NS) The sprucing up of Colombo with emphasis on serving the tourist with a ‘Clean city and a Green city’ with the accent on beautification is in full swing, according to the Special Commissioner of the CMC, Omar Kamil. “The road development drive and the city beautification programme coined the ‘Garden City’ concept is being personally overseen by the Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa under whom the UDA comes,” more..

June 5 (NS) More than one million landmines are yet to be cleared from an area of approximately 400 square kilometres in the conflict affected areas, a government official said last week. Brig. K. M. U. Wijeratne said, “according to an estimate, 1.6 million landmines have been laid in Sri Lanka, of which 366,870 have been cleared. This leaves the country with an estimated number of 1.23 million landmines still to be cleared”. more..

June 5 (Island) Infighting in the UNP has assumed proportions where even joint Opposition action aimed at weakening the Rajapaksa government has been compromised. Political sources say in spite of the current crisis at the Katunayake Export Processing Zone (EPZ) giving the Opposition a rallying point, UNP big wigs are now fighting over how best to exploit the situation. more..

June 5 (LB) As far as objectives went, the Sri Lanka Army’s international seminar on counterinsurgency achieved at least three. First, it demonstrated to delegates how a focused, politically-backed, flexible military strategy could succeed against a brutal, multifaceted terrorist organisation within a short span of two years. Sri Lanka’s approach was relatively low-tech when compared with that of more powerful nations. more..

June 5 (ST) The Indian Government will insist on following up on the points contained in the controversial Joint Statement issued a fortnight ago following the visit of Sri Lanka's External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris to New Delhi for bi-lateral talks. India’s position will be reiterated when the postponed visit to Colombo of a high powered delegation of Indian officials takes place late next week. National Security Adviser Shiv Shanker Menon and more..

June 5 (LB) The undisputed strength of the employees attached to the Free Trade Zone (FTZ), Katunayake was witnessed last week when they were able to force the IGP to resign from his post. It was indeed an unprecedented move on the part of IGP Dr. Mahinda Balasuriya as he became the first IGP and the first state sector employee to do so in a country which is not known for such acts of accountability. more..

June 5 (ST) The Government is to go ahead with the controversial private sector pension scheme, after making suitable amendments in consultation with trade unions and others, senior ministers said yesterday. The decision was taken at a discussion chaired by President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday night in the aftermath of Monday’s incidents at Katunayake and the subsequent developments including the protest campaigns. more..

June 6 (SL) In the face of worker protests, Mahinda has retreated rapidly, resigning the head of police and withdrawing a dumb bill. This goes to show that he still depends on public consent. Parades, tamashas and titles aside, Mahinda’s rule depends on consent. It seems that the minute he messes with people’s money, the people will hit the streets. People often complain that the Sri Lankan people have no power and that Mahinda rules with an iron fist. It’s not true. more..

June 6 (SL) The much hyped celebrations to commemorate the second anniversary of the end of the war was put off due to the Wesak celebrations. The planned summit to show case to the world how Sri Lanka defeated terrorism was heralded with much fanfare. The government had invited 54 nations to this summit aptly named “ Defeat of Terrorism – The Sri Lankan Experience” but fissures appeared at the initial stages. That the summit failed to attract countries such as more..

June 6 (Cimic) A team of senior students of Poramadulla Central College in Kandy who wish to see that education standard of Jaffna students goes up, donated a stock of school items and uniforms to students of Atchelu Methodist Tamil Mixed School. Fifty seven students of Advanced Level commerce classes of Poramadulla Central College with their Vice Principal Mr. I.A. Wimalarathna and six assistant teachers came to Jaffna and more..

June 6 (NS) The Agreement Prof. G. L. Peiris has signed with India on behalf of the Sri Lankan Government has once again brought up the issue of the 13th Amendment to the fore and created a situation wherein we will have to decide whether we are to implement it fully, amend it, or repeal it totally. We seem to have reached a crisis situation with very little chance to play around. No hedging or prevarication appears to be feasible. more..

June 6 (NS) The recent demonstrations by FTZ workers in Katunayaka and the overzealous response by the Police, with at least the tacit approval of the political leadership and probably direct sanction, took me to the early eighties. The then Govt, elected in a landslide in 1977, cracked down hard on striking workers in July 1980. It broke the back of the trade union movement and buried for all time the Old Left as an effective champion of workers’ rights. more..

June 6 (SO) Minister Wimal Weerawansa called upon the working class not to fall prey to provocative acts of the reactionary forces who want to destroy the precious lives of workers to consolidate their position. Commenting on the recent incident at Katunayake, Minister Weerawansa said the JVP misled the workers to resort to various unlawful activities which eventually resulted in the unfortunate death of a worker. more..

June 6 (LB) Why has this government taken to such an all out confrontation with intellectuals and the university community - that is students, teachers and prospective future students? I think it is to do with the intrinsic mental character of the Rajapaksa regime. What I mean is, MR, GR and SB have not sat down and mapped out a strategy which says ‘Let’s go out and defecate all over the intellectual community because we have an inferiority complex.’ more..

June 6 (LB) For thirty long years, the LTTE could not be defeated. For a variety of reasons. The negatives were always there such as the lack of political will, overestimation of enemy, underestimation of capacity, disunity, the sway of pro-LTTE forces, inability to counter LTTE propaganda abroad, a largely unsympathetic international community, foul play by India and numerous Tiger-bailout efforts. The positives came together eventually. more..

June 6 (SL) Dear Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Given that communication between the two of us is limited (to a great extent) I concluded that writing you a letter is my only option. You must be beat after that invigorating but nevertheless stimulating seminar last week where you preached to one and all the truly heroic role played by Sri Lanka’s military in defeating terrorism. ‘Sharing Sri Lanka’s experience on the road to military defeat of the LTTE’ – I would have loved to more..

June 6 (LB) If there was ever an instance of a government putting the cart before the horse, this has got to be it. And what a spectacular putting of the cart before the horse it was! One dead, hundreds injured, two police officers interdicted, one IGP gone, an entire Free Trade Zone closed for two days, millions of rupees in damage, the army deployed, investor confidence shattered and the private sector pension bill withdrawn. Was it really worth this humiliating tangle? more..

June 6 (Island) We learn from the media that Minister G. L. Pieris, speaking to a select group of journalists in New Delhi recently declared… "There is never going to be another civil war in Sri Lanka. Never again" (The Island May 22). Although it is indeed comforting there are many, inside and outside this country, who would have asked the same question that was raised by one from audience – how could he be sure? And, also find the Minister’s answer less convincing. more..

June 6 (NS) A shelter for female prison inmates with children below five years was recently declared open at Kalutara Prison premises. A joint venture of the Dept of Prisons (under the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms), Ministry of National Languages and Social Integration and the United Nations’ Development Programme (Equal Access to Justice Project), the special home enables children to access a healthier living environment in the maternal comfort. more..

June 6 (GV) I write this as a response to Concerned Citizen’s comments on the public lecture and discussion on the Burning of the Jaffna Public Library led by Silan Kadirgamar held at ICES a few days ago, recounting those pre-’83 days days of terror and terrorism. In order to break the silence that concerned citizen her/himself is propagating, I will write in one of my many names. Concerned Citizen says that the discussion was paltry and diverted attention from more..

June 6 (GV) The 21 year old Free Trade Zone (FTZ) worker Roshan Chanaka, who was seriously injured during the clash between the police and the FTZ protesters on Monday, passed away mid-week to his deadly injuries. His death has now sent shock waves to the government. According to reliable sources, prominent cabinet ministers were seen at his residence this morning, shedding crocodile tears over Roshen’s death. It is reported that all the SLFP party more..

June 6 (NS) It’s a sunny morning as we drive through heavy traffic past the picturesque Beira Lake, and turn into a side lane. At its entrance stands a faded yellow building – an ancient relic of a bygone Colonial era. On it are painted in black the words, CMC Maternity Clinic. The building signals the path to our final destination. We drive past it and stop outside a plush two storied building where the words ‘Health Curative Dept more..

June 6 (Island) Even nearly four decades after his death, Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto of Chile continues to trouble the imperialist forces he fought against. One of the greatest poets of the 20th Century, Basoalto or (Pablo) Neruda as he was better known the world over, died in 1973 and the cause of his death is believed to have been cancer, but his driver has, as we reported in the World View section on Friday, claimed lately that the poet was poisoned in more..

June 6 (DM) Winning the environment battle too...As the country ‘celebrates’ another environment day today, we cannot ignore the shocking facts facing the country’s fauna and flora. Continuing to be victim to politically interfered targets and mismanaged policies of ill informed officials under successive regimes; our records indicate a very pathetic state indeed. Be it the dwindling forest cover due to overly ambitious development plans, or the increased deaths of an already depleted elephant population; more..

June 6 (ST) The Govt, in another disturbing move though less controversial than the Pension Bill, has directed all private provident funds sector to invest 40% of its funds in state banks or Treasury Bills in a move to minimize investment risks and protect member contributions in these funds. The move has triggered concerns among private sector workers and employers. more..

June 6 (Island) A top govt minister urged Japan to boost trade ties with Sri Lanka and invest in emerging opportunities in the post-conflict economy ‘without delay’, inviting businesses to relocate to the island where over 60 Japanese firms already operate BOI establishments with investments amounting to US$ 350 million. "As Sri Lanka steps into a new era of development we call upon Japanese businesses to enhance trade and invite Japanese investors to exploit more..