Aug 5 (SL) The post of hangman has attracted over a 175 applications and counting. The high demand for the position is testament to growing unemployment in the country and the people’s desperation for a monthly pay check. Applicants have described the job as one which is purely ceremonial and offers them a salary. According to Prison Commissioner M. Wickramasinghe more..

Aug 5 (Island) A senior lawyer and writer who served as the Legal and Media Consultant of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has filed a case in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, against the HRCSL and the local unit of the United Nations Joint Programme on Human Rights (UNJPHR), for violation of his human rights. The complainant, Mr. H.A. Seneviratne had been the Legal and more..

Aug 5 (NS) As the mystery deepens on stray dogs missing in numbers, there is strong evidence that dog meat is mixed with mutton and sold at mutton stalls in and around Colombo. Police and Animal Welfare Associations have confirmed reports of stray dogs going missing all over Colombo. Incidents of rabies is on the rise, claimed the Colombo Municipality adding that it was widely spread through the stray dog population. Latest reports said, nearly 10 dogs that haunted the Ranmuthu Hotel more..

Aug 5 (NS) The entire university education structure will be revamped alongside the secondary education system shortly to implement a ‘National Human Resources and Employment Policy’ for Sri Lanka. The objective of the new policy is to transform Sri Lanka into a global hub, the sources noted. This proposal made by Senior Minister D.E.W. Gunasekera is likely to be given approval on Wednesday when more..

Aug 5 (NS) School vans have turned out to be a road monster accounting for 232 deaths of schoolchildren under 18 years, and 89 students badly injured from January 2011 to date raising serious concern about the safety of schoolchildren, according to the Police. In the wake of last week’s school van-container truck collision at Nittambuwa that left 13 students between ages of 12, and 15, from leading Colombo boys and girls schools (Ananda College and Devi Balika) injured more..

Aug 5 (DM) UNP Southern Provincial Council member Krishantha Pushpakumara alias ‘Raththaran’ was taken into custody today for allegedly disrupting the duty of traffic policemen in the Thalgampala area in Yakkalamulla. The PC member had allegedly disrupted the duty of the policemen who had been diverting traffic to another location as it created a massive traffic jam along the Udugama-Yakkalamulla main road on Saturday. They were attending a wedding when more..

Aug 5 (Xinhua) The govt has urged its security forces to remain vigilant of groups both within and outside the country who may attempt to destabilize the peace following 30 years of war. Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa was quoted by the Defence Ministry on Sunday as saying that that even though the 30-year- long war has ended, it is the primary duty of all military personnel to ensure continued security and stability of the country. more..

Aug 5 (LT) The Ministry of Education has handed over the teaching of English in schools to an NGO say reports. Despite there are trained teachers to teach English, an NGO has been assigned for the task say these reports. The project has commenced from Mahinda Rajapaksa Vidyalaya at Homagama and there is information that students from international schools are being deployed to teach English to students of the school. The NGO has accepted the project on a request by the more..

Aug 5 (ST) The Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) is to continue talks with Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa to resolve the deadlock over their demands and bring an end to the strike that has been going on for almost five weeks. FUTA spokesperson Dr. Devaka Weerakoon said that Minister Rajapaksa has expressed hopes of resolving the issue as soon as possible because academic activities at the universities should resume without further delay. more..

Aug 5 (SL) The Sri Lanka Air Force is currently conducting a feasibility study to purchase Mi-17 helicopters as part of a US$ 300 million Russian credit line. Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the SLAF following the feasibility study would decide on the number of helicopters to be initially procured. He explained that the country has provision to procure up to 14 helicopters under the Russian credit line that was initiated during the latter part of the war. more..

Aug 5 (AD) UNP Southern Provincial Councilor Krishantha Pushpakumara and Bope-Poddala Pradeshiya Sabha member Amila Nuwan, who were arrested on charges of obstructing police, have been remanded till August 08 by the Galle Magistrate’s Court. Pushpakumara, also known as Raththaran, was arrested along with the UNP Pradeshiya Sabha member this afternoon for obstructing the duties of police officers in the Akmeemana area. Their arrests bring the number of local politicians more..

Aug 5 (LT) Farmer associations in Kanthale carried out an agitation near Kantale tank today (5th) morning complaining that the Army is interfering in affairs of farmer associations and against the attempt to destroy the Kanthale tank. The farmers emphasize that a sea-plan project has been proposed for Kanthale tank, a building at the catchment area of the tank is being renovated to be used as a restaurant and these activities are a strain on their cultivations. more..

Aug 6 (LB) Historians agree that there was no bitter division or explosive violence between the Tamils of the north and the Sinhalese of the south until the constitutional changes introduced by the British in the early twenties and thirties led to the rise of communalism in the north, particularly with Sir. Ponnambalam Arunachalam leaving the broad multi-ethnic Ceylon National Congress to form the narrow communal organisation, the Tamil Mahajana Sabhai in 1921. more..

Aug 6 (LB) Southern Provincial Councillor Anarkali Akarsha, last week had voiced her concerns regarding the increasing number in rape and abuse of children. In what I read as a delivery resonant of much earnestness and commitment, but without much broad political or social sense to complement, Akarsha makes some startling statements. Rape and abuse of children, according to this young politician, are in the main caused by more..

Aug 6 (SO) Although the media was his forte, on the threshold before him lay politics as his chosen career. Minister Dullas Alahapperuma, an outstanding orator could hold his political audience spellbound with his eloquence always blended with Sinhala idiom. The Minister said instead of achieving a victory based on mere statistics, the Govt, after a lapse of 30 years, has ushered in peace and restored democracy in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. more..

Aug 6 (DBS) I have noted previously that the failure of govt to make its position clear on a number of issues has been one of the main difficulties about Reconciliation. I say this because, by and large, the govt position on most issues has been extremely positive, and inadequacies are more due to inefficiency than policy. But because the system does not encourage transparency, very good practices do not get the appreciation they deserve. With regard to Resettlement, more..

Aug 6 (DBS) The Sri Lanka Youth Parliament will be set up in Kilinochchi, National Youth Services Council (NYSC) chairman Lalith Piyum Perera said. “The Youth Parliament was to be established in Anuradhapura. However, considering the peaceful situation in the North, it was decided to set it up in Kilinochchi,” Perera said. The construction to be completed before the middle of next year, he said. He said the Youth Parliament concept was an example to other countries. more..

Aug 6 (DBS) The Tamil political landscape with the exclusive Tamil Congress and the emerging alternative voice of the Federal party had great legal luminaries as GG Ponnambalam and SJV Chelvanayakam. The Late Sivasithamparam was a unique blend of all these greats filling the knowledge gaps and emerging as a personality in his own right. That is the picture I glean from rereading his work. more..

Aug 6 (GV) Sri Lanka is endowed with rich and sustainable water resources emanating from the central highlands. The island wide average of rainfall is about 1,900 mm, almost two and a half times more than the world annual mean of 750mm. We are water rich! The total volume of fresh water received annually is 13,230 million m3. The average annual river flow, which is 31% of the rainfall, is 40,680 million m3. Although Sri Lanka has abundant water resources in aggregated terms, more..

Aug 6 (GV) Following the assassination of Neelan Tiruchelvam by the LTTE on 29 July 1999, in a spontaneous outpouring of grief and loss, friends and people with whom he worked, including from the institutions he founded, remembered and honoured him by painting peace and floral motifs and the quote ‘Secure the Sanctity of Life’ in Tamil, Sinhala and English on the surface of the road where his life was snuffed out. This initiative called for the celebration of life and more..

Aug 6 (SO) Clad in a white cotton shirt he wears a pair of simple slippers. The soft-spoken man explains the downfall of the 'outfit', that was once thought as being impossible to destroy. After 30-years of a struggle to divide a united country to win their rights, the 'man' says every youth, including him, was misled by politicians of a by-gone era. Calling himself a victim, he says, youth who had different dreams in life got 'trapped' in Eelam and destroyed their future. more..

Aug 6 (CT) The theory of the right of nations to self-determination was enunciated almost but not quite simultaneously by Lenin and Woodrow Wilson, with Lenin taking the lead. Though the theory purported to be for the purpose of liberating nations from oppression, the real aim was strategic or more correctly, grand strategic. The USA wished to weaken its rivals, the autocratic and colonial empires while Lenin wished to break up Tsarist autocracy as well as the imperialist system more..

Aug 6 (CT) Education brings a broad range of benefits not only for the individuals but also for the society as a whole. Public expenditure on education is considered a worthy human capital investment for a country since it brings immense social and economic benefits. Empirical studies consistently demonstrate that future economic development is largely determined by the level of knowledge and skills of a labour force of a country. With the emergence of a new era in the 21st century, the knowledge economy and rapid more..

Aug 6 (FT) A bilateral Joint Task Force for economic promotion announced by India in Colombo on 3 August has been further expanded, within a mere 24 hours of its initial announcement. India also announced that a special delegation will be arriving in town by 14 August with regard to the pharma hub, one among the two new export zones to be set up in Sri Lanka by India. “We commend the prompt action taken by the Indian side to more..

Aug 6 (Island) One cannot think of a better logo for the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) than the one it already has. The man in the buff running with a torch, in our book, represents the corrupt pandam karayas ('torch bearers'––local slang for the ruling party stooges) getting away with their fuel rackets. When it was reported a few days ago that the CPC had once again imported a consignment of low quality diesel, which was causing vehicles to stall, the kneejerk reaction of the govt was to more..

Aug 6 (ST) Official pronouncements that give glowing accounts of the economy overlook significant emerging problems. Recent statements on the external trade performance give the impression that the balance of trade is becoming more favourable. The plain truth is that the deceleration of import expenditure in May is not good reason to be optimistic about the external trade situation. It hardly provides a basis to expect an improvement in the trade balance during more..

Aug 6 (ST) After over a 10-year hiatus, British Airways, UK’s national carrier, would be returning to Sri Lanka in March next year. The airline would operate from Gatwick to Colombo three times a week via Male. Authorities have already given consent for British Airways to resume its flights to Colombo upon the carrier’s submission of its application for slot clearance. Currently only SriLankan Airlines operates to London seven times a week, it was pointed out. more..

Aug 6 (FT) A top economist and columnist W.A. Wijewardena is cautioning against the sharp rise in commercial and non-concessionary borrowings, which he estimates to be 50% of foreign debt by end this year from just 5% in 2004. According to Wijewardena, as per his weekly column on Page 15 in today’s issue, the ratio of commercial and non-concessionary borrowings in 2011 had risen to 43% of foreign debt from less than 5% in 2004. With the new sovereign loan of US$ 1 billion more..

Aug 6 (Island) Over the years the state has been guilty of heaping up dis-savings while the private sector drove economic growth through its savings, which generated into investments. Last year however, the government was able to reduce its dis-savings while private sector savings declined, resulting in the savings-investment gap widening from 2.2% of GDP in 2010 to 7.8% in 2011. "In 2011, the domestic savings to GDP ratio contracted by 3.9 percentage points to 15.4% more..

Aug 6 (Island) A team of British MPs, who were on a fact finding mission, said in Colombo yesterday, that they were looking to the future, but would certainly address concerns expressed by the TNA with regard to missing persons during the final stages of the war against the LTTE. The TNA’s call to trace the whereabouts of thousands of civilians, who went missing or were killed during the last phase of the conflict, which ended with more..

Aug 6 (Island) Sri Lankan marathoner Anuradha Indrajith Cooray, who is scheduled to compete in the Olympics marathon in a week’s time, here in London, was disappointed and dejected Sunday, after National Olympic Committee authorities here ‘rejected’ his request to bring in his close relations to the Olympic Village, stating that allocations for visitors had already been reserved. "I am thoroughly disappointed, to the point of giving up everything. I was denied the opportunity more..

Aug 6 (DN) The Economic Development Ministry provided Rs 896 million to develop education facilities in the Sabaragamuwa Province. These funds are spent to launch 225 projects in the Sabaragamuwa Province. Constructing half completed buildings, providing new buildings, completing estate school buildings and renovating school buildings in the Sabaragamuwa Province are included under these projects. Meanwhile, the Economic Development Ministry will provide more..

Aug 6 (Island) The SLFP-led ruling coalition is divided over the UPFA constituent, SLMC, going it alone at the forthcoming elections for the Eastern Provincial Council, The Island learns. Differences emerged yesterday at a media briefing called by the UPFA, with the participation of Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, Deputy Minister Faizer Musthapha, and Prabha Ganeshan, MP. more..

Aug 6 (Island) Krishanthi Kariyawansam, Assistant Divisional Secretary serving in Panadura who had been transferred 11 times in nine years, has been transferred again, this time to the Western Provincial Council office in Colombo from August 1. The mother of a six-year-old daughter attending a convent in Panadura had refused to accept her letter of transfer and had made appeals against it to the relevant authorities, including the Public Service Commission (PSC), but more..

Aug 6 (DN) “The country cannot move forward if political parties resort to inciting communalism with the petty intention to secure more votes,” Technology and Research Deputy Minister Faiszer Musthapha said. Addressing an UPFA press conference at the Mahaweli Centre yesterday, the deputy minister observed it is easier to secure more votes by rousing communalism among Muslims and Tamils, but the time is ripe to detach from this kind of cheap political tactics. more..

Aug 6 (Island) The police had arrested 40 politicos and instituted legal action against them during the past 12 months, Police Spokesman SP Ajith Rohana said. Among them were ministers, deputy ministers, ordinary parliamentarians, provincial council and local government members and charges against them included murder, abduction, assault, rape, land grabbing and child abuse, he said. The majority of the politicians arrested were from the ruling UPFA. more..

Aug 6 (Hindu) The North police have recommended an investigation by the Crime and Intelligence (C&I) wing of the territorial police into the attempt to ferry Sri Lankan Tamils to Australia from Puducherry. A communication seeking a detailed probe by C&I has been sent to the police headquarters, a senior officer said. Following a tip-off from residents of Periyakalapet about suspicious movements of some outsiders in their locality, the Kalapet police swooped on the house where more..

Aug 6 (LBO) Pakistan based Lakhani group is looking to invest eight million dollars to build a university and a three star city hotel in Colombo, a top executive said. Naveed Hussain Lakhani, Chairman of Imperial builders, a subsidiary of the Lakhani group said the company is currently looking for a suitable site in Colombo for the proposed hotel. "We have requested for land and is currently looking for a suitable place," Lakhani said. The company is to make an initial investment of more..

Aug 6 (SL) Following the increase in tariff on all motor vehicles early this year motor vehicle sales have dropped drastically. The sales have dropped by 48 per cent and the fastest moving motor cycle sales has dropped by 50 per cent says the chairman of the Ceylon Motor Traders Association, Tilak Gunasekera. He says that the motor vehicle companies are ailing and finding it difficult to continue its business, “The companies are running with difficulty”. more..