Apr 9 (ST) Issuing of stamps is similar to issuing of currencies; both should be done with maximum security through proper channels and be first issued to the citizens of the country of origin. A stamp depicting a Peony flower, a flower named after a Greek myth, was issued in March this year by the Philatelic Bureau of the Department of Posts, the authorised body to issue stamps. It bore a face value of Rs 30.00. Though it was issued in March, more..

Apr 9 (SM) Several women are among the applicants for the post of hangman at Welikada and Bogambara Prisons, said prisons chief P.W. Kodippili. Although no official calling of applications has been made yet, he said a large number of applications have been received following considerable publicity given by the media. These applications will be kept safely until such time an official calling of application takes place, he said. more..

Apr 9 (Island) Yasmin Louise Rathinasamy Sooka, one of the three co-authors of the controversial ‘Darusman report’, has failed to secure the much coveted post of Special Rapporteur on the Promotion of Truth, Justice, Repatriation and Guarantee on Non-recurrence of Serious Crimes and Gross Violations of Human Rights. The UN preferred Colombian Pablo De Greiff to South African Sooka and Monica McWilliams (Ireland). more..

Apr 9 (Island) Many would have thought it was the end of the road for controversial Minister Mervyn de Silva following his recent public threat to break the legs of those who campaigned against Sri Lanka in Geneva and openly claiming he was the reason behind journalist Poddala Jayantha fleeing the country a few years back, but he was back at his best yesterday, addressing a new year festival at a Dhamma school at Kelaniya. The Minister who took off to Japan for a holiday possibly to escape more..

Apr 9 (AD) Mihin Lanka states that the smoke warning in the cargo area of a Jakarta-bound flight, which resulted in a precautionary landing one hour after takeoff today morning, has been concluded by the investigation team as a “false warning.” Mihin Aircraft MJ603 was flying scheduled services from Colombo to Jakarta today and after one hour of take off there was a smoke warning in AFT cargo area. The pilot carried out the applicable recommended actions and more..

Apr 9 (LT) The disappearance of two members of ‘Jana Aragalaya’ movement cannot be abbreviated to a mere incident but should be considered as another step in the repression unleashed by the govt, and incident in its agenda of violating democratic rights and should be defeated by the mediation of masses says the Leader of the group of JVP MP Anura Dissanayake. Speaking at a media conference held yesterday more..

Apr 9 (BN) Sri Lanka’s rupee will stabilize further and economic expansion may accelerate to 8 percent next year from 7.2 percent in 2012, the island’s central bank said. Inflation will remain in “single-digit” levels this year even as “high and volatile” food and energy costs add to uncertainty about price movements, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka said in its annual report released in Colombo today. more..

Apr 9 (DM) The arbitrary increase not only inconvenienced the vehicle-owners-to-be, but also the importers themselves, who would not have a flowery tale to relate in the coming Avurudu. Despite the blabbering of government mouthpieces that such an increase would effect only a minority given the number that can afford vehicles, a family car or a motorbike have long seized to be luxury items in the market. Besides the question arises as to how this could be an issue of a minority when more..

Apr 9 (LR) Sri Lankans living in Canada will enjoy a special treat to quench their thirst this summer. “We will launch a coconut drink made with Sri Lankan coconuts in the Tetra Pak format this May. It will have a distinct taste of Sri Lankan coconut water,” said Lucky Lankage, CEO GraceKennedy (Ontario) Inc. His comments came during the Toronto visit of Douglas Orane, Chairman and CEO, GraceKennedy to celebrate the company’s 90th anniversary. Currently, coconut water more..

Apr 9 (wsws) Sandhya Priyangani Ekneligoda, wife of disappeared Sri Lankan journalist and cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda, recently spoke to the WSWS about her ongoing struggle to discover what happened to her husband, and the continuing harassment of the Sri Lankan authorities. Prageeth Ekneligoda disappeared on 24 January 2010, after he went to report on Sri Lankan presidential election meetings. Police investigations have drawn the usual blanks and more..

Apr 9 (LBO) Sri Lankan shares closed slightly weaker Monday and trading slumped to a low of 132 million rupees, the lowest since May 2009, ahead of traditional new year holidays. The main All Share Price Index fell 0.19 percent to 5,413.12, while the more liquid Milanka index rose 0.07 percent to close at 4,897.16. Turnover was a low 132 million rupees. Lanka Securities said market activity was very low and the daily turnover was the lowest since May 2009. more..

Apr 9 (LT) ‘Women for Rights’ demand the govt to take measures to launch a programme to socialize war widows in the North and the East. This was stated at a media meeting held by ‘Women for Rights’ at Nelli Hotel in Vavuniya. The media meeting was attended by the President of WfR Attorney Ms. Sumana Benaragama, Co-President Ms. Saroja Paulraj, Co-President Ms. Porsia Hassan, General Secretary Ms. Kanthi Pushpalatha, Executive Members Ms. Samanmalee Gunasinghe and more..

Apr 9 (CI) Mahela Jayawaradene has reiterated that his current role as Sri Lanka captain is a short-term job and he wants to find his successor as soon as possible. He accepted a request to captain the team again after Tillakaratne Dilshan lost the post following the tour of South Africa and the results have been creditable so far, especially in this Test series and the CB Series in Australia where they pushed the hosts to a third final before drawing 1-1 more..

Apr 9 (DM) To capture the essence of watching cricket in Galle in the month of March, view your next Test Match from a microwave oven. Spectating there is exhausting, so playing has to be a nightmare. Sri Lanka does this to England in return for our requiring them to play in Cardiff in April. I was part of an audience of 10,000, mostly England supporters, masochistically exposing ourselves to the sun. There was something surreal in having travelled so far to be then more..

Apr 9 (UCAN) Prior to the passage of a US-sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka on March 22, the Sri Lankan govt gave free rein to its nationalist members. Those powerful speakers mobilized the nationalist sentiments of the general population and brought them to the streets to demonstrate public opposition to the charges leveled against the govt. More than a fortnight after the vote in Geneva, the public stance of the Sri Lankan govt appears unchanged in its opposition to more..

Apr 9 (CT) “The issue of abductions has again taken center stage in Sri Lanka as President Rajapaksa prepares to travel to Geneva to deliver a speech to the ILO on June 15 and meet with Louise Arbour. On June 1, President Rajapaksa announced a new committee designed to aid family members of abductees obtain information. However, he also publicly dismissed 90% of reported abduction cases as fictitious, attributing them instead to more..

Apr 9 (SLN) Sri Lanka Navy assisted in the repatriation of 9 Sri Lankan fishermen released from Indian custody, today. The fishermen and two fishing boats named “Lakashana - 1” and “Chejana - 9” were received from the Indian Coast Guard Ship “Rani Abbakka” at the International Maritime Boundary Line off Kankasanthurei by the Sri Lankan Naval Vessel P 497 attached to the Northern Naval Command. Sri Lanka Coast Guard Vessel CG 42 too assisted the mission. more..

Apr 9 (Xinhua) After enjoying impressive gains previously, Sri Lanka has slipped in the latest Network Readiness Index (NRI) compiled by the World Economic Forum, a report said. In the 11th annual 2012 Global Information Technology Report, Sri Lanka was ranked 71 with a score of 3.88. In the previous report for 2010-11, Sri Lanka was placed at 66th with a score of 3.81. Though the score has improved a bit in the latest survey, Sri Lanka has slipped in the ranking. more..

Apr 9 (Xinhua) While officials continue searching for a political leader in Sri Lanka that disappeared over the weekend, his political party, the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), was launched on Monday, an official said. Dual Sri Lankan and Australian citizen Premakumar Gunaratnam is reported by his family and party members to have been abducted on Friday. The leader of the women's wing of the party, Dimuthu Attygalle, also disappeared on the same day. more..

Apr 9 (LBO) Sri Lanka is planning to spend 89 billion rupees to re-build former war zones in the north and the east in 2012 to bring the areas to normalcy, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said. He said de-mining has been accomplished fast and ahead of predictions, and most displaced families were already resettled. Over the last few years the government has spent 260 billion rupees to build roads, power distribution, water, health and irrigation facilities in the area, more..

Apr 9 (DM) A retired navy petty officer blew himself up with explosives stuffed into his belt. Police media spokesman Ajith Rohana said the incident was reported on Makubura area in Homagama this morning at around 5.30am. It is believed that he used a stock of fire crackers and stuffed them in his belt. He was found dead inside his room by two of his relatives living with him. Police said that the 59 year old victim was a mentally sick person following the death of his more..

Apr 9 (AFP) Tough economic times lie ahead for Sri Lanka as it grapples with an uncertain global climate and a ballooning trade deficit after posting record growth in 2011, the Central Bank said Monday. The bank has already predicted lower growth of 7.2 percent for the tropical island nation in 2012, down from 8.3 percent in 2011. New measures to hike interest rates, sharply depreciate the rupee and double import taxes in order to tackle the more..

Apr 9 (SM) How can an Australian citizen go crazy here? An Australian citizen cannot do politics here. An Australian citizen should remain in his country, said defence secretary Gotbhaya Rajapaksa, commenting on the disappearance of Frontline Socialist Party leader Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. Lankacnews reports that Australian high commissioner Robyn Modie has telephoned Mr. Rajapaksa and asked him to find the missing citizen of her country. The defence secretary has responded by saying that more..

Apr 9 (Reuters) Sri Lanka will see a surplus of $1.2 billion in its balance of payments by the end of this year, the central bank said on Monday, reversing the last year's deficit of $1 billion. "Sri Lanka would see a balance-of-payments surplus of $1.2 billion this year if the measures we have taken work," Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal said while releasing the bank's annual report for 2011. The central bank spend more than $2.7 billion in the second half of last year to more..

Apr 9 (DM) The Frontline Socialists Party today refuted a govt officials statement made to the effect that there is no documentary evidence of Kumar Gunarathnam arriving in the country. The former Propaganda Secretary of the Movement for Peoples Struggle Waruna Rajapakshe said “Gunarathnam was born in Kegalle and studied and St. Mary’s College after which he was a student of the Engineering Faculty at the Peradeniya University, A senior govt official more..

Apr 9 (Hindu) During a visit to Sri Lanka last week, this writer caught up with a diplomat and the conversation ran as follows. Q: How are the Sri Lankans taking India voting against them in the US-sponsored resolution at the UNHRC? A: Well, they feel India has back-stabbed them, but they also understand India's political compulsions. Q: It was backstabbing indeed, wasn't it? A: Well, India had to vote in favour of the resolution because Sri Lanka has not kept its promises. more..

Apr 9 (SMH) The men came an hour before dawn on Saturday, carrying guns but wearing no uniforms, to tell the neighbours of Premakumar Gunaratnam to keep quiet. They encircled the leftist's house in Colombo and cut the power, before storming it and taking him away. Mr Gunaratnam, a socialist politician with a long history in Sri Lanka who moved to Australia in 2006 under the skilled migration program, has not been seen since. His wife, Champa Somaratna, a GP in Sydney, more..

Apr 9 (Xinhua) President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday reiterated that he stands committed to protect the human rights of his people. Speaking at the launch of the annual report of the country's Central Bank, President Rajapaksa said that the govt is also keen to ensure the peace which was achieved after 30 years of war is sustained. Sri Lanka will in May celebrate three years since the Tamil Tiger rebels were defeated by the military after a bloody more..

Apr 9 (PTI) The CPI-M today urged the Centre to take up political and diplomatic efforts to ensure full rehabilitation and resettlement of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. Expressing concern at the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka, a resolution adopted at the party's 20th congress said the Centre should also impress upon the Sri Lankan govt to conduct an independent and credible enquiry into alleged human rights violations there and reach a political settlement, more..

Apr 9 (DM) The Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) launched today by JVP dissidents charged that recent abductions of their activists showed that the capitalist govt was alarmed at the revival of socialism in Sri Lanka. Party Chairman Senadeera Gunatilake said the forming of their party was the beginning of a new era to unite the socialist movement in the country for a struggle against the capitalist administration and to bring about social reform. more..

Apr 9 (LBO) Indian Oil Corp.'s Sri Lanka unit plans to invest about 35 million US dollars to expand an oil tank farm in the eastern port of Trincomalee to store and export products, an official said. Lanka IOC Managing Director K R Suresh Kumar said the firm has completed initial studies on revamping the tanks which are of World War 2 vintage. "We plan to revamp the tank farm and upgrade the facility," he told LBO. "We want to use it to store petroleum more..

Apr 10 (NS) How did the UN Panel report on Lanka affect the local commentators? I say nothing about foreign commentators because all cultures across the World have popular tropes that depict foreigners as credulous fools (the Brooklyn bridge story, the ‘parangiya kotte giya’ story, etc.) and we can draw on this common heritage to come to terms with the acts of some foreign commentators. But, what about the natives (who are savvy individuals full of native cunning according to the same tropes)? more..

Apr 10 (NS) The fourth BRICS Summit met in New Delhi on March 29. It was attended by Presidents Dilma Rouselff (Brazil), Dmitry Medvedev (Russia), Hu Jintao (China), Jacob Zuma (South Africa) and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh (India). Started as the Russia-China-India strategic dialogue 10 years ago on the initiative of President Vladimir Putin, the grouping was later joined by Brazil in 2009 and South Africa in 2011.Today BRICS represents 43 percent of the world population and more..

Apr 10 (SO) The UNP, which was the most formidable political force in the country had rendered invaluable services to the nation since its inception under a number of leaders. Some of them had been epoch-makers in the political and socio-economic history of Sri Lanka and earned the most appropriate designations such as Jaathiye Piya and Bath Dun Piya for the immeasurable services they rendered to the nation during their tenures of office. more..

Apr 10 (LB) With the abyss of a collapsing external economy staring it in the face, the government finally stopped encouraging profligacy in vehicle imports and raised duties. Nothing, other than automobiles, seem to have been touched, hence though welcome for other reasons, the impact on the trade deficit will be limited; too little, too late, a knee-jerk reaction. The plunge in the exchange rate will do more than the new vehicle duties to check sinking external accounts. more..

Apr 10 (LB) Though the treasury vehemently rejected the claim, that the tax revision which came into effect from March 31, was made on the requirements of the IMF, facts were revealing. The Treasury said that the decision to raise the import tax on vehicles was taken for the economic development of the country and to save foreign exchange. The decision to increase taxes on vehicle imports was taken on a common basis and therefore taxes for three wheelers and motor cycles more..

Apr 10 (TC) Gotabhaya Rajapaksa does not want the national anthem to be sung in Tamil. Two more Buddha statues are being erected Jaffna by the Lankan Armed Forces. The statues of two Tamils, one Indian and one Englishman, located in the Batticaloa town High Security Zone, have been beheaded. Connect the seemingly disparate dots and a coherent picture emerges: that of a regime committed to a Sinhala supremacist peace in a Sinhala supremacist Sri Lanka. more..

Apr 10 (LB) This week this columnist discusses some of the issues of current import, including the post-Geneva political situation, in ‘question and answer’ mode with an interlocutor from our newspaper’s staff. At least once a month in future, this columnist hopes to revert to such a Q and A ‘internal dialogue’ format — focusing on the key issues of the day. Q: The NGO community and those of them who campaigned to pass a resolution against Sri Lanka at the recently concluded 19th UNHRC sessions, more..

Apr 10 (GV) If Sri Lanka is fast becoming a pariah state in the eyes of the world, it has nothing to do with the recent UNHRC Resolution. The writing has long been on the wall. As a nation, we are ruled by a group of men who seem to have nothing but contempt for the rule of law, let alone for truth in the public sphere. Violence and threats of violence against critics, the suppression of media freedom, extra-judicial killings, misplaced economic priorities and corruption on a scale that more..

Apr 10 (LB) Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to France says “The Sri Lankan public paid him to use his capacity to think and write, not to play the role of a deaf mute.” In an e-mail interview, in the aftermath of the controversy over his being sent a fax by the External Affairs Ministry over alleged corruption issues after he made some statements (post-Geneva), he answers questions about what happened. Q: What did you mean when you said that more..