Feb 20 (Island) All eye surgeries in the Kandy Teaching Hospital came to a standstill last Friday as surgical gloves and syringes needed by surgeons were out of stock. Eye operations in the Colombo Eye hospital, including Karapitiya, Ampara, Krunegala and several other hospitals would also be affected this week unless the Medical Supplies Division (MSD) takes immediate measures to distribute the gloves and syringes, ACHSU General Secretary Gamini Kumarasinghe alleged. more..

Feb 20 (Hindu) R. Sarath Kumar, president, All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi (AISMK) led a demonstration on Sunday condemning the Sri Lankan Navy for unleashing violence against innocent Indian fishermen. A large number of AISMK cadres took part in the agitation held at Rameswaram. Raising slogans against the Sri Lankan govt, particularly Sri Lankan Navy for opening fire on Indian fishermen they also urged the State and Central govts to act decisively to stop the killing and more..

Feb 20 (DN) The govt was compelled to increase the price of fuel due to its difficulty in shouldering the massive economic weight imposed by the rise in world oil prices, a decision the govt was forced to take against its will, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said. “The govt has never imposed hardships on the people willingly,” he said. He said the govt has taken measures to provide relief to all needy sectors affected by the fuel price hike. more..

Feb 20 (DN) Maha Shiva Rathri is a festival that should be celebrated with devotion, sans religious affiliations, by all Sri Lankans, Prime Minister D M Jayaratne said. The Prime Minister in a message to mark Maha Shiva Rathri celebrated by Hindus today, said Maha Shiva Rathri is the day when Hindus around the world worship deities for the fulfillment of wishes for their well-being. The message: “A close study of Hindu legends and Maha Shiva Rathri poojas reveal that God more..

Feb 20 (Island) The Flying Squad of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) has been temporarily suspended by Mayor A.J.M. Muzammil who has directed the Internal Audit to take over its functions. The City Father told The Island that the Flying Squad was not functioning properly at all. They were inefficient and even had gone to the extent of threatening individuals and ‘holding back’ files instead of investigating. The Flying Squad officers pick and chose whom to investigate more..

Feb 20 (GDI) Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Dr. Palitha Kohona has outlined the key features and recommendations of the final report of the LLRC. On May 15, 2010, President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed the Commission of Inquiry on the LLRC and hardly 15 months after the end of the conflict, on August 11, 2010 this independent body commenced hearings. The hearings were open to the public. more..

Feb 20 (DM) It is compulsory for all the vans and buses in the country to be registered with the National Transport Commission the NTC chairman Roshan Gunawardana said. It has also been decided to introduce a uniform for drivers of the school vans and buses. This decision has been taken in consultation with the three associations of the school transport vehicles owners in a meeting held on Feb 18 on the instruction of the Minister C.B.Rathnayaka the chairman further stated. more..

Feb 20 (DM) UNP MP Jayalath Jayawardene who was hit by tear gas at the protest lead by his party at Colombo Fort last week and had a short spell in hospital claims that he has a bone to pick with the govt and is planning to go on a legal path with a likely fundamental rights case. He said he is weighing the possibility of filing a fundamental rights case against the attack. He said he would also take up the matter with the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Commonwealth more..

Feb 20 (Island) UNP MP and Chief Economist Dr Harsha de Silva said that he had wanted Central Bank Governor and EPF officials summoned before the Public Accounts Committee in Parliament. He also said that the Accounts and the Financial statements of the EPF had also been called for by the Public Accounts Committee. "We will probe all the activities and the manner in which the EPF Funds have been made and more..

Feb 20 (Island) An electrician attached to the Airport and Aviation Services Ltd. was caught trying to take out 1,062 grammes of gold worth Rs. 6.9 million from the Bandaranaike International Airport in the early hours of yesterday by an alert AASL Deputy Security Marshal. According to customs the consignment of gold was confiscated and the man was fined Rs.100,000 and on him paying the fine promptly he was released as per customs regulations. more..

Feb 20 (Island) Bakery owners threaten to jack up the prices of all bakery products from next Friday, if the govt fails to provide them with a tax relief. Chairman of the All Ceylon Bakery Owners’ Association, N. K. Jayawardena said that the price of a loaf of bread had to be increased by Rs. 3 to Rs. 10 and other bakery products by Rs. 3 to Rs. 6. The rupee devaluation, huge increases in fuel prices and hikes in cost of transport and raw material including flour, vegetable oil, margarine and yeast had compelled more..

Feb 20 (CT) The govt is to introduce a monthly price revision mechanism for petrol, diesel and kerosene. This new move comes in the wake of the massive fuel price increase, announced by the govt last week. With this price revision plan, oil prices will be revised at the beginning of every month and the prices will be adjusted according to the prices of the global market. A senior official said, a monthly oil price revision will enable the govt to more..

Feb 20 (Island) The UNP was planning a series of protests against the high cost of living, Party’s National Organiser Daya Gamage said. Making a public request to masses to join the UNP’s protests, Gamage said that the UNP had already initiated talks with other opposition parties and civil organizations to rally their support to plan out a united campaign against the UPFA govt. "Last week’s fuel price hike was unprecedented as no other govt in history had increased fuel prices by more..

Feb 20 (Island) Central Range Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police HNB Ambanwela will shortly file legal action against some sergeants and constables of the Hasalaka Police who have been caught without valid riding licenses, revenue licenses and insurance for their motor cycles. I will be filing legal action against these people as they being in the Police, should have set an example to society being law enforcement officers, Amabanwela told The Island yesterday. more..

Feb 20 (GDI) Maalu Maalu Resort & Spa a tourism resort set up in the east with the boom of tourism after the end of terrorism in 2009, hosted its first wedding on 18th February 2012 at the pristine Passekudah beach, in the East Coast of Sri Lanka. This was the first of its kind held in this region after the end of three decades of war. These Russian nationals, Ms. Olga Yurievna Gorbacheva (Bride) & Mr. Vladimir more..

Feb 20 (Island) Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said that the country’s 4th largest reservoir which was being constructed at Moragahakanda should be completed before the next general election in 2016. Participating in an inspection tour of the Moragahakanda and Kaluganga reservoirs coming under the same project, the minister said that it was started in 2007 and so far utilising local funds and local engineers, but now more..

Feb 20 (SL) Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera says that the extra revenue earned through the fuel price revision would be earmarked to meet the subsidy cost of the targeted subsidy schemes. He noted that while general subsidy schemes are not effective solutions, the targeted subsidy scheme currently adopted by the govt remains within the overall subsidized pricing policy of fuel operated by CPC, more..

Feb 20 (LB) ‘Have we done our homework before we came out with these price hikes?’ is one big question in the mind of EDB Chairman, Janaka Ratnayake. While economists and leading industrialists are ‘happy’ the way Sri Lanka is moving forward with its development projects and high earnings on exports, underscoring that this should be the year of exports, fuel and power price hikes have been astronomical leaving the masses wondering as more..

Feb 20 (SM) The murderous rulers as well as the so-called patriots are responsible for the murder of journalist Richard de Zoysa, said leading literary figure Gamini Viyangoda. He was delivering a lecture at today (19) organized by Journalists for Democracy to mark the 22nd death anniversary of journalist de Zoysa. Mr. Viyangoda said he disagreed with the popular belief that the journalist was murdered due to more..

Feb 20 (ES) Sri Lankan skipper, Mahela Jayawardene, said his side would not take India lightly in the triangular series match in Brisbane on Tuesday. "Dhoni is in good form and he is a match winner. But they have also got some really big players. We can't be complacent. We will focus on the entire Indian team and try and execute a good game plan. I think we didn't have a good start but we have improved as a team in every game," more..

Feb 20 (LT) Four including a brother of a Pradeshiya Sabha member in Ratnapura district have been taken into custody by a special police team regarding the brutal murder of the mother and her daughter at Kahawatta. Already two hundred people have been questioned regarding the murders and three special police teams have been deployed for the investigation. Media had reported that a powerful politician of the ruling party in Ratnapura District was pressurizing more..

Feb 20 (ST) Private sector job vacancies advertised in 2010 in Sri Lanka's two main govt weekly newspapers, the Sunday Observer and the Silumina, fell 16%, to 59,593, from the previous year, and were almost half those from 2008, according to the seventh edition of a job vacancy survey published recently by the Planning, Development and Research Division of the Ministry of Productivity Promotion, which used these newspapers as a basis to more..

Feb 20 (Island) No matter what the TNA might clamour for he believed that the Provincial Councils were entrusted with the necessary powers to manage their territories under the 13th Amendment said Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesthurai Chandrakanthan at a media briefing at the end of the 30th meeting of the Chief Ministers’ Forum in Kandy yesterday 19. The meeting of the forum was held at the Earl’s Regency Hotel. more..

Feb 20 (GDI) ‘The increase in fuel prices would only have a minimal impact on the public and even the increase in the electricity tariff would not have a major shock on the consumers’ monthly bills’, said Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal. He said that an average customer who had a monthly electricity bill of around Rs. 291, now would have to pay an additional Rs. 100, while a household which had a bill of around Rs. 550 would more..

Feb 20 (DM) The public never had much faith in the government or its economic policy-makers ; for the policies brought about by them often lacked sustainability and feasibility. With the devaluation of the rupee, a move that was said to encourage foreign investors, the public foresaw, and voiced their concerns on a possible rise in the cost of living. Yet, the socalled policy-makers who flapped their ears at such comments, thought, people’s concerns are due to their lack of more..

Feb 20 (NF) During a period when the debate on devolution of power beyond the 13th Amendment, continues the 30th Chief Ministers Conference took place in Kandy yesterday. The conference which was chaired by Chief Minister of the Central Province, Sarath Ekanayake commenced yesterday. Eight Chief Ministers attended the event. A notable absentee at the meeting was the Chief Minister of the Uva Province, Sasheendra Rajapaksa. Officials including the Secretary to more..

Feb 20 (DM) The owner of Biyagama Village Hotel, Bernard Jayaratne (65) was hacked to death this morning in one of his estates in Pahala Dompe in Dompe by an unidentified person who had come on a motorbike, the police said. According to eyewitnesses the killing had been carried out by the unidentified person who was hiding inside the estate at around 6.30am. Police said that the victim was hacked to death with a manna knife while he was in one of his coconut estates. more..

Feb 20 (LBO) Exporters Association of Sri Lanka (EASL) will be hosting a forum on flexible exchange rates on February 28, after the Central Bank stopped large scale defence of a currency peg earlier in the month. "The Forum aims to assist Exporters understand the impact of the changeover to Flexible Exchange Rates from the stable regime which was in place during the last few years," the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, of which EASL is a member body, said in a statement. more..

Feb 20 (DM) The govt is weighing the possibility of merging the Pelawatte and Sevanagala Sugar factories which were taken over under the Revival of Underperforming Enterprises and Underutilised Assets Act which was passed in Parliament last year. Treasury Secretary Dr. P. B. Jayasundara said that the govt is waiting for the recommendations of the cabinet sub committee that had been appointed to look into the 37 enterprises that was acquired by more..

Feb 20 (SL) A group of school children have been arrested for stealing computer parts and selling them to internet cafes, the police said. The children are all students attached to leading schools in Moratuwa and Panadura and had stolen computer parts from their respective schools. According to the police, eight students between the ages of 16 and 18 were involved in the racket together with two adults from an internet café. The police arrested all 10 suspects and more..

Feb 20 (SL) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Sunday received the representative of Sri Lanka, MP Namal Rajapaksa, in Ramallah, and informed him of the recent developments in the peace process. Abbas also noted the current crisis in the peace process due to the Israeli refusal to recognize the 1967 borders of the Palestinian state and to stop settlement activities. Rajapaksa conveyed a letter to Abbas from the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in which he stressed the depth of more..

Feb 20 (DM) UNP MP Dr. Harsha De Silva challenged Central Bank Chief Nivard Cabral for a public debate on the IMF standby agreement and the economic policy decisions which the govt had already taken in accordance with it. Dr. De Silva who announced this today charged that the govt had to bow down to the IMF demands in exchange of the next phase of the standby agreement and apparently adjusted the interest rates and cut subsidies. more..

Feb 20 (BBC) Women activists in northern Sri Lanka have strongly protested a move by the military to construct a new army camp in Eluthoor, Mannar. The Women Rural Development Societies from nine villages in eastern Sri Lanka say they held a meeting to discuss their concern over the allocation of land along Tharavanlottai road. The army camp is to be constructed adjacent to a tank constructed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to be used by resettled families from more..

Feb 20 (DM) The Govt Medical Officers Association (GMOA) today urged the govt to provide an increased transport allowance of Rs.33,000 due to the increased fuel prices. GMOA Assistant Secretary Sankalpa Marasinghe said the GMOA may take a decision to go on strike if the government does not increase the allowances and would be compelled to engage in more private practice. During discussions between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and other senior govt officials and the GMOA in January it more..

Feb 20 (AD) For the past nine months we have been trying to explain to the government how its “foolish economic management” would affect the people, UNP MP Harsha de Silva said pointing out that it ended with the people of the country suffering a staggering blow. He stated that the cause for the breakdown in the country’s economy was due to “artificially” dropping down interest rates and the “artificial” rupee appreciation. more..

Feb 20 (FS) A team of Sri Lankan and Canadian researchers in the Wayamba province are helping to improve farm practices in shrimp and oyster farming to achieve sustainable development to improve incomes and contribute to Sri Lanka's food security goal, said Project Manager and research associate in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Canada Dr Tim DeJager. Dr DeJager was delivering the key-note address on Empowering People to Achieve and more..

Feb 20 (SL) Maldives President Mohamed Waheed Hassan says he has no rift with President Mahinda Rajapaksa despite Sri Lanka giving refuge to the family of former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed. Speaking to a group of foreign journalists in Male last week, Waheed said President Nasheed’s family is free to be wherever they wish to be. “Sri Lanka again is very close to us. We are like brothers and sisters. We share our language, history and culture. President Nasheed’s more..

Feb 20 (DM) In the wake of increased fuel prices, non-academic staff of all universities in the country have decided to go on a 48-hour strike this week to urge the govt to provide higher wages and benefits. Non-academic university staff will go on strike on Thursday and Friday this week. The non-academics had requested for a salary increase last year and met with the Salary Cadre Commission on February 2 to discuss a proposal to increase wages. more..

Feb 20 (AM) A doctor has been struck off after being accused of having links to the Tamil Tigers. Dr Muregeshu Vinayagamoorthy wanted to return to his GP surgery in Enfield, north London, after he spent four-and-a-half years in a US prison for providing material support to Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers. He was detained following a taped conversation with undercover US govt agents in which he attempted to bribe them into removing the LTTE from the country’s list of designated more..