Mar 6 (CI) Sri Lanka stacked their side with two frontline spinners, a slow-bowling allrounder and a reliable part-time option, and on a wearing Mirpur pitch, the spinners inflicted a mid-innings trauma the hosts could not recover from. The top five wickets within for 45 runs, belying the promise of a sturdy start, and though the middle order arrested the collapse, they were short of the ambition that might have resisted Sri Lanka's more..

Mar 7 (NS) UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillai, has come up with a report on promoting reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka. Report will be taken up at the 25th session of the UNHRC. TNA, a regional and communal political entity that represents approximately 25% of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka and whose political stronghold happens to be the very areas where the fighting between Govt forces and the LTTE, naturally, is concerned about any document more..

Mar 7 (NS) I spent ten years of my adult life operating a two hectare farm in the dry zone. Living and interacting with peasant farmers, I witnessed the needs and priorities of the peasantry and the gross mismatch between farmer needs and govt support services (extension, research, marketing). Thereafter, I spent another 25 years working with a variety of govt agencies (research division of the Department of Agriculture, Mahaweli Authority, integrated rural development projects), NGOs more..

Mar 7 (SO) Some criticism have been levelled by a section against the scheme of Banking and Finance Companies Consolidation that has been proposed by the Central Bank in its Road Map. However, economists say that this was a step taken in the right direction and could have been introduced even sooner. The benefits of the financial sector consolidation have already been recognised by the entire industry and Central Bank has more..

Mar 7 (CT) Economic muscle taking multiple forms is needed for favourable decisions. More in war and yet more in peacetime relationships and negotiations. It is not farfetched to say that US’s financial resilience and industrial capacity for aircraft manufacture – combat and support – had a decisive impact on World War ll. She accounted for 303,000 of 790,000 produced for the war. Of her production, 39,000 supplemented UK’s 131,000. Whatever be the high tech nature for future wars, more..

Mar 7 (PTI) About 140 Indian fishermen who were on a two-day fast in Sri Lankan prisons, demanding that they be released along with their boats, withdrew it following a request from various fishermen's associations, official sources said today. S Emerit, President of Fishermen's welfare association, said the fishermen lodged in jails in Jaffna and Anuradhapuram and agreed to withdraw their fast late last night only after they were assured that action would be taken to release them. more..

Mar 7 (CT) UPFA candidate at the upcoming WPC Election, Hirunika Premachandra, is at present the cynosure of all eyes in the political firmament. Being the talk of the nation, Hirunika shared her views in several areas with regard to her personal and political life. Despite the untimely death of her beloved father, Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, Hirunika remains a strong young woman, refuting all the stories that more..

Mar 7 (DM) Most politicians revel in making news and being a hot topic of discussion, but Minister Rauff Hakeem would not have relished the publicity he earned a few days ago when it was revealed that President Rajapaksa berated him at last week’s Cabinet meeting. Hakeem was censured because some of his ministerial colleagues claimed that SLMC had provided information regarding attacks on mosques to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay when she visited SL more..

Mar 7 (DM) Following the suicide of a teen from Kurunegala few weeks ago, several other suicides and suicide attempts of teens were reported from various parts of the country. Although it is difficult to say whether the incidents were isolated occurrences or results of a chain of causation triggered by media reports on the Kurunegala story, the incident has once again been an important eye-opener on how to deal with the teen psyche and suicidal tendencies. The situation has not been made any easier more..

Mar 7 (ST) Though it was always expected and even we too had spoken about it, when I saw the six faces placed in-a-row in our sister paper with the story saying that the ‘six seniors’ in the Lankan side were contemplating retirement in the near future. At once my train of thought began to ‘chug’.The contribution made by Sangakkara, Dilshan, Lasith Malinga, Rangana Herat and Nuwan Kulasekera to the nation’s cricket cause and the resulting impact are just unfathomable. more..

Mar 7 (Island) Russians marched on Crimea recently ‘while all the world wondered’, but no one from the other side ‘flashed sabres bare’ and killed ‘gunners there’ unlike in the first Crimean War (1853-56), a scene of which inspired Lord Tennyson to immortalise a group of intrepid British cavalrymen in a beautiful poem. This time around, to begin with, there was no war; it was a cakewalk for Putin’s brigade. The Ukrainian riots were not spontaneous as is common knowledge. more..

Mar 7 (CT) This week, critics have been blaming facebook (FB) and other social media sites, following the death of Venusha Imendi, a school girl from John Kotalawala Maha Vidyalaya, Kurunegala, who committed suicide. Though the cause of death remains a suicide, the reason behind the death has left many parents and young adults alike in shock. While many have pointed at facebook as the cause and others at the principal more..

Mar 7 (CI) Shamsur Rahman was looking good and had already struck six fours when Ajantha Mendis came on to bowl his first over. Mendis didn't start particularly well, and conceded five singles in his first five balls. Last ball of the over, Shamsur decided to do something cheeky to show who was boss. Having taken a big step forward even before Mendis released, Shamsur went down on one knee and nonchalantly flicked the ball over his own shoulder for four. more..

Mar 7 (CT) This is not THE resolution. Let’s keep that in mind. It is not even a ‘draft’. It is a leaked draft, at best. But in these days of leaks and gushes when the key political issue that bothers the world is, in a word, Ukraine, but ‘Geneva’ thinks Sri Lanka is bigger than Ukraine, Russia, the USA and the EU put together, there’s no harm in commenting on this piece of paper, one might argue. Is this resolution on (sic) Sri Lanka (read, ‘against Sri Lanka’) a ‘tightening’ considering the more..

Mar 7 (CI) Pressing forward to a length ball from Shakib Al Hasan, Angelo Mathews bunted the ball into the off side and ran, ran like he'd just lit the fuse of a firecracker. Thisara Perera, sprinting to the batsman's end, may well have feared the cricketing equivalent of a loud explosion in his face. Perera had barely got halfway down the pitch when Arafat Sunny, running in from point, was poised over the ball, shaping for an underarm more..

Mar 7 (DM) Our Condominium Act was based on the condo operations of Singapore. Singapore obtained more information with regard to setting up condominiums from Australia. Since the introduction of condominiums in Singapore, they also have various problems that have to be attended to. SL’s Condominium Act of March, 1973 (Apartment Ownership Law) came into effect over decades ago. Since then, condominium sector has experienced remarkable growth and changes. more..

Mar 7 (Island) Professions Supplementary to medicine (PSM) and nurses of the Kandy and Peradeniya Teaching Hospitals yesterday staged a one hour protest demanding that the Health Ministry revert its decision to reduce by one year the four year Allied Health Science degree. President of the Govt Nursing Officers’ Association said that approximately thousand nurses and PSM participated in the protest outside the two teaching hospitals. more..

Mar 7 (LBO) Aggregate profits at Sri Lanka's listed companies rose 5.9% to 51 billion rupees in the December 2013 quarter from a year earlier, though bank profits were down 16% on loan losses. Without one-off gains, profits were down 1% for the quarter, with 274 companies reporting. But it was a recovery from 29% fall in the September quarter. In 2013, aggregate profits were down 13% to 170 billion rupees from a year earlier. more..

Mar 7 (LR) Award-winning American television comedy series Modern Family made a special reference to Sri Lanka’s classical dance icon Chitrasena in its latest episode ‘Spring-A-Ding-Fling’. The plot featured the beloved, legendary Spanish teacher, Señor Kaplan played by guest star Will Sasso, who returned to class from a sabbatical in Sri Lanka and stole the spotlight from Cameron, played by Eric Stonestreet who had just organized the school’s most successful fundraising more..

Mar 7 (Island) Attorney General Palitha Fernando objected to bail being granted to four suspects, allegedly involved in the murder of businessman, Mohammed Shyam. These four applications for bail came up before High Court Judge, Lalith Jayasuriya. State Counsel, Vasantha Perera, objected to bail arguing that those four police officers had behaved like criminals and that there were other suspected criminal acts implicating those suspects and they were being investigated. more..

Mar 7 (BN) Sri Lanka’s deepening economic ties with China offer it a cushion from any measures aimed at pressuring the South Asian country into cooperating with investigations into alleged crimes during its civil war. The U.S. introduced a resolution this week calling on the UN to investigate Sri Lanka’s past abuses and more recent attacks on human-rights advocates, Sarah Sewall, an undersecretary of state, said March 4. Sri Lanka has denounced the measure, more..

Mar 7 (DN) 5th Textech Sri Lanka 2014 International Expo on Textile and Apparel Technology, Machinery and Related Services along with concurrent events such as 18th Dye+ Chem Sri Lanka 2014 International Expo and the fifth Colombo International Yarn and Fabric Show 2014 organized by CEMS-Global USA began yesterday at Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre (SLECC), Colombo. The three comprehensive exhibitions are focused on the entire textile and garment sector of Sri Lanka. more..

Mar 7 (IN) After learning that, four years after the conclusion of the civil war, Sri Lanka has the most cases of disappeared people anywhere in the world apart from Iraq, I began reflecting on the evidence of a prolonged ethnic divide I came across during my time on the island nearly three years ago. A weekend on a tea plantation staying in the Super Intendants bungalow made the gap between the Sinhalese and Tamil populations obvious to me. I had been picked up by the man himself and, more..

Mar 7 (stuff) Fonterra has ordered the destruction of 130 tonnes of milk powder in Sri Lanka worth more than $700,000. New Zealand dairy giant asked that the milk powder, imported before June 1, 2013, to be destroyed. Milk powder had been held since last year when there were Sri Lankan concerns about possible contamination by fertiliser aid DCD. Disposal of the powder was because it was nearing its expiry date and more..

Mar 7 (HP) Pressure on the Sri Lankan govt continues to mount as they appear not to be pursuing any genuine plan of reconciliation. With neither President Rajapaksa's regime nor the Tamil political parties being able to agree on any productive steps that can be taken to ensure reconciliation, the govt is now facing a third U.S.-sponsored resolution at the UNHRC in Geneva. As the country prepares to face this resolution, in what appears to be a losing battle, more..

Mar 7 (ST) The govt is mooting mutual cooperation in the power and energy sector between Sri Lanka and some African countries, in a bid to capitalise on the renewable energy projects in those nations, officials said. “We had a meeting recently to prepare a working model to streamline processes for private sector firms involved in renewable energy to venture into African countries,” Dr. Nishantha Nanayakkara, member – Small Hydro Power Association told the Business Times. more..

Mar 7 (CT) Leader of the JVP, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, said the JVP accepts that the National Anthem should be sung in the Sinhala and Tamil languages as a policy. JVP as a Party recongnizes that all languages should be given equal recongnition, he added. "Even now the National Anthem is sung in Tamil in the estate sector. Tamil translation of the National Anthem is printed in school text books as well. more..

Mar 7 (Island) Doctors of the Cardio Thoracic Surgical Unit of the Lady Ridgway Hospital for Children (LRHC) saved the life of a three-year old boy by removing an iron rod that had pierced his chest. One of the surgeons told The Island that the boy from Anuradhapura and had been playing with his toy car when the accident occurred. The boy had been removing the wheels of the car. One of the wheels had rolled away with the remaining wheel propping up the iron axle. more..

Mar 7 (DM) Two girls studying at two reputed girl’s schools in Colombo were found by the Maharagama police at a bus stand at around midnight on Wednesday. Police say they were wearing short skirts and T-shirts and appeared to be under the influence of liquor. They had attended the birthday party and afterwards gone to the bus stand to board a bus to return home. Police had spotted them and taken them to the police station in order to protect them from rapists, who were in the vicinity. more..

Mar 7 (Island) TNA intends to request India not to dilute the proposed US-led resolution against Sri Lanka over accountability issues as well as post-war developments which it considered inimical to the interests of Tamils. TNA decided to make representations to India at a meeting held at the parliamentary complex on Wednesday. Sources said TNA was exploring ways and means of strengthening the proposed US led more..

Mar 7 (LBO) Sri Lanka's Dialog Axiata said it had offering a 4G Smartphone to its own-brand range. Customers wanting to upgrade to the firms 4G-LTE network with burst speeds of up to 40Megabits per second could use the Dialog Q 143L Smartphone. "Sri Lankan mobile users are hungry for sophisticated yet affordable mobile phones that allow them to reap the benefits of the mobile internet," Lasantha Theverapperuma, Senior General Manager at Dialog Axiata said. more..

Mar 7 (Island) Private Secretary to the leader of the Aadiwasi Wannile Eththo, Muthubandale Eththo said that their ancient Aadiwvasi culture was threatened owing to modern laws including the one that they carry their identity cards when they entered jungles. He said they were bound by law to leave home around 6.00 a.m. and return at 6.00 p.m. with the introduction of identity cards, their wives who used to help them collect bees honey in the jungle would be forced to confine themselves to more..

Mar 7 (CG) UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay urged the UNHRC to establish its own international inquiry mechanism on Sri Lanka. Making a statement after presenting her annual report to the Council, Pillay said that nearly five years on from the end of the conflict in Sri Lanka, she regrets to note that the Govt has failed to satisfy the Council’s call for a credible and independent investigation into allegations of more..

Mar 7 (DM) In another massive haul, close on 100 kilograms of heroin was detected last night by Customs Revenue Task Force (RTF) officers. It had been brought down from Pakistan and is believed to have a street value of around Rs.1.2 billion. The heroin was still being weighed by RTF officers at the time of going to press. The detection was made last evening and weighing was begun at around 6.00pm yesterday. The heroin was found inside a 40-foot container which was to be cleared on more..

Mar 7 (CT) Investigations conducted by the Department of Archaeology with regard to the mass grave in Talaimannar, reveal that the area could have been a cemetery, SSP Ajith Rohana, said. "The mass grave was discovered two months ago with 84 bodies buried in it, and investigations to ascertain its origins had commenced. The Archaeological Department had been conducting excavations, and the Department said, that it was possible a cemetery had existed in the area," more..

Mar 7 (DM) Minister G.L. Peiris during his meeting with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navaneetham Pillay said that the highly prejudiced actions taken by sections of the international community and the Office of the High Commissioner to give disproportionate attention to Sri Lanka had only made the separatist diaspora Tamil elements and their proxies in the north more intransigent, more..

Mar 7 (DM) While the Govt is to import 20,000 milch cows from Australia at a staggering cost of about Rs. 9.6 billion in foreign exchange to revive the dairy milk industry, a leading Deputy Minister shocked the country this week when he made a strong speech defending the slaughter of cattle and other animals. Deputy Minster H.R. Mithrapala, speaking in Parliament, accused those whom he sarcastically referred to as “modern-day devadattes” of having the ulterior motive of trying to sabotage more..

Mar 7 (DM) The general opinion in the Western world today is that the Rajapaksa regime has failed to comply with two successive UNHRC resolutions. The failure to address accountability issues on alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the final phase of the armed conflict is highlighted by the lack of power devolution among the other problems that have draw n the attention of all stakeholders. This popular international thrust emphasizes the need for decisive HRC action more..

Mar 7 (DM) As the day of polling nears, contestants from several parties in the fray are in a race against time in campaigning to bag as many preferential votes as possible. Preferential votes, as observed at many other elections under the Proportional Representation (PR) system, have been the central cause for violations of election laws. In this political skulduggery, some stoop to the lowest level to outpace or outsmart another. more..