June 15 (LG) There is a lot of talk about media freedom in this country. If we go by what the so-called 'Free Media Movement (FMM)' spits out every now and then, this is a government that is taking pot-shots at journalists at the drop of a hat. Happily, though, everyone knows that the FMM is nothing more, nothing less, than a bunch of jokers who operate under the mistaken belief that journalists are above the law and who will bend themselves backwards to make mountains out of molehills and more..

June 15 (AT) Speaking at the recent Ranaviru celebrations, President Mahinda Rajapakse once again pledged not to leave the LTTE problem to the next generation. A worthy determination and a necessary undertaking - so long as it is based on a real, factual analysis of the enemy and his physical, material and psychological strengths and capabilities rather than on that familiar and deadly concoction of wishful thinking and hubris born of fatal incomprehension. more..

June 15 (AT) V. Anandasangaree, the President of the TULF has taken an uncompromising stance and let loose barrage of accusations against Minister Douglas Devananda in his latest communication. This time Anandasangare addressed his letter directly to Douglas Devananda and asked, �Did I ever look at you or smile at you?� He gave his reason. Sangaree said �Even after enjoying power as Member of Parliament and as a Minister, you did not change your attitude towards the suffering masses.� more..

June 15 (SL) President Mahinda Rajapakse dissolved the provincial councils of the North Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces giving an impression it was a sudden decision. However, the events that unfolded in the last few months all played a part in Rajapakse�s decision to dissolve the two PCs. Soon after the decision to hold PC elections in the east was announced, an American company along with two other companies were requested to carry out a survey to more..

June 15 (SL) Hot on the heels of JVP renegade Wimal Weerawansa's attempts to politically re-engineer his image, a long forgotten ghost from his dark and mysterious past has materialised to haunt him. This ghost has cast a shadow over his already shaky credibility and moral authority. Startling revelations have emerged that the fire-breathing, one time superstar of the JVP, Weerawansa was a contradiction to the many heroic and patriotic statements made by him with regard to fighting a war. more..

June 15 (SL) While the government continued to adopt a Jekyll and Hyde approach to human rights violations, media freedom and good governance issues in the face of mounting concerns from the international community, President Mahinda Rajapakse opened another front last week by announcing provincial council polls for the North Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces heightening in the process tensions in the political arena. more..

June 15 (SL) Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mahinda Wijesekara is of the view that the time has come for unison between the UNP and the UPFA to find a solution for the prevailing economic crisis in the country. "Rather than getting Pirapaharan to the negotiation table the need of the day is to get Ranil Wickremesinghe and President Mahinda Rajapakse to work together in order to over come this difficult situation in the country," Wijesekara told The Sunday Leader. more..

June 15 (LBO) Sri Lanka Cricket, the island's richest sporting body, is currently surviving on a 7.5 million dollar overdraft, a media report said. Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who was appointed head of Sri Lanka Cricket by the nation's President Mahinda Rajapakse in January, said the board was surviving on bank borrowings and was counting on India's tour next month to ease the cash crunch. more..

June 15 (LB) With government coffers drying up, the Treasury is looking for ways to find another Rs.400 million to hold the Central Provincial and the Sabaragamuwa Council Elections, finance sources say. The recently held Eastern Provincial Council election and Eastern local government elections cost the government nearly Rs 260 million. Meanwhile the government also raised a syndicate loan of US$150 million from the international money market. more..

June 15 (LB) When Ranjith Siyamabalpitiya, minister, was interviewed in this paper last week he was blunt about one fact. He said ��we are compelled to have a large cabinet because the JVP did not support us.� So there it is on record. It is all about �us� staying in power. It is not about the people - - it is about the fact that the JVP did not support the government to survive. It seems that this �ME� politics of survival is the government�s credo. more..

June 15 (LB) President Mahinda Rajapaksa met British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at Number 10, Downing Street, last week when he went to the UK to attend a two-day mini summit of the Commonwealth heads of government. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama soon became an object of gossip when he tried to jump into a photograph that the two leaders were posing for following a cordial discussion. more..

June 15 (LB) The principal and a senior school master of Royal College, Colombo have received death threats after they took disciplinary action against a son of a government minister hailing from Kandy. The beleaguered principal then dropped charges against the boy last week fearing reprisals. The principal and the school master had received anonymous calls asking whether �they wish to walk on this earth any longer?� more..

June 15 (LNP) With an alliance between UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and former President Mrs. Chandrika Kumaratunga likely ahead of the forthcoming elections in the North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provinces, the leader of the opposition will not give in to ongoing efforts to clip his wings. The sources said Wickremesinghe's recent appearance on a political platform along with Kumaratunga and SLFP breakaway Mangala Samaraweera had marked the beginning of a new alliance. more..

June 15 (GDI) The Ministry of Indigenous Medicine is planning to setup Ayurvedic centers in Australia, Sweden and Cuba in response to requests made from these countries and arrangements have been made to set up four ayurveda centres in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Perth in Australia. The Ayurvedic centers set up in Australia will get the service of the Ayurvedic doctors and staff while the medicines required will be provided by the Ministry. more..

June 15 (GDI) Under the guise of a 'Sports Competition' the proscribed terrorist outfit LTTE is working on holding a fund raising campaign through British Tamil Forum (BTF) and Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO) suspected LTTE front organizations, sources from London reveal. Sources also say that the event has been organized to glorify suicide cadres of the LTTE. The event is to take place on the 29th of June in London. more..

June 15 (SAMN) Leading trade unions are set to go on a general shutdown in the coming weeks, with the date for the possible strike expected to be announced Monday. JVP Parliamentarian and the National Trade Union Centre (NTUC) President, K.D. Lalkantha Saturday warned they would be compelled to observe a general shutdown if the government failed to increase the salaries of public servants by Rs. 5,000. more..

June 15 (SAMN) Senior journalist and Sunday Times freelance columnist J.S. Tissainayagam goes into his 100th day in detention by the Terrorism Investigations Department (TID) today without formal charges being filed against him. On Friday, he was produced before Colombo�s Chief Magistrate N. Hettiarachchi who ordered that he be further detained by the TID. Tissainayagam�s lawyer M. A Sumanthiran said the journalist was being held in wrongful custody. more..

June 15 (SAMN) The government is planning to place an order for a larger fleet of motor vehicles to be used during the forthcoming South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Colombo. The proposed fleet of vehicle will comprise 10 cars for the use of VIPs, 43 pilot cars, 25 Defender Jeeps for the security escorts, and 60 motor cycles which will also be used to provide security for the vehicle convoys. more..

June 15 (SAMN) A suspension of diesel supplies to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) forcing power blackouts will become inevitable if outstanding dues are not settled, a Petroleum Minister A. H. M. Fowzie, warned Saturday, adding�Even with the tariff revision in March the CEB has not paid up Rs. 3.3 billion in arrears to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC).� But, the CEB is having difficulties despite the increase in tariff hikes, more..

June 15 (LD) The UNP has decided to handover its campaign work at the forthcoming elections for the North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provincial Councils to the party�s National Organizer S.B. Dissanayake, party sources said. UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake will be entrusted with the related coordination activities. The two decisions are expected to be adopted at the party�s Working Committee meeting on June 16th. more..

June 15 (LD) JHU leader Ellawala Medhananda Thera has claimed a running dispute between the Buddhist clergy and the authorities as a result of the Archaeology Act. �Buddhist monks and the Archaeological Department are at odds due to the Archaeology Act that was introduced by foreigner after their invasion,� he told a media workshop on the protection of artifacts held in Sigiriya recently. more..

June 15 (LD) Several opposition figures in the Western Provincial Council are presently at talks with the Opposition Leader and the JVP leadership to discuss the possibility of dissolving the council and going for an election. A UNP spokesman told �Lanka Dissent� that the opposition could bring in such a proposal, in view of the dissolution of the North Central and Sabaragamuwa PCs despite vehement objections. more..

June 15 (LD) Video surveillance cameras are now being installed in selected locations in Colombo city as part of tightened security arrangements in view of the SAARC Summit meeting in late July. Such cameras will be positioned at crucial entry points to the city, a top law enforcement official said. The chosen locations include Kelani Bridge, Baseline Road, Kollupitiya, the BMICH and Flower Road.

June 15 (LD) A leading government minister has secured a Rs. 30 million loan from the Bank of Ceylon to a businessman who got married to his daughter only last week, �Irida Lanka� reports. The grant has been given under a rural industries loan scheme, which has earlier disbursed Rs. 320 million to a brother of the same minister. The loans thus obtained are deposited in a private bank to draw a high interest, according to the newspaper. more..

June 15 (LD) The government is on a vehicle buying spree for the forthcoming SAARC summit to be hosted by Sri Lanka, according to �Irida Lankadeepa.� The newspaper reported that 80 motor vehicles, including 10 for the use of the VVIPs, 45 pilot cars and 25 Land Rovers, will be imported. Sixty motorcycles for outriders are in the shopping list as wells.

June 15 (BBC) A minister in the recently established Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) has urged the aurhorities to disarm Chief Minister�s paramilitary group. Minister Uduman Lebbe, a member of the ruling coalition in the ECP, told BBC Sandeshaya that the TMVP, known as Pillayan group, should lay down arms. ECP Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan also known as Pillyan is the current leader of the TMVP, which is formed by breakaway LTTE leader Karuna amman. more..

June 15 (BBC) The American-based organisation, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), has protested to the Sri Lankan government over its policies towards journalists who write critically about the conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels. In a letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, trhe committee says that it has seen an increase in harassment, intimidation and detertion of reporters. more..

June 15 (SO) The controversial ex-hardcore JVPer and currently the General Secretary of the newly formed National Freedom Front, Nandana Gunatilake while inviting genuine members of the JVP to join them in their freedom struggle claimed that the present leadership of the JVP has deviated from its original struggle - the struggle to defeat imperialism. He told the �Sunday Observer� that the JVP, which took a different turn since 1995, more..

June 15 (SO) Three economic centres will be set up shortly in Maradana, Narahenpita and Ratmalana to sell essential food items at reduced prices. Customers can purchase rice, vegetables, dried fish, milk and milk foods and sweets from the producers directly at their sales stalls in these economic centres, said Trade, Marketing Development Cooperatives and Consumer Services, Minister Bandula Gunawardena. more..

June 15 (SO) It was decided at the first executive committee meeting of the University of Sri Jayawardenapura Alumni Association to raise Rs. 10 million to develop the University and the Alumni Association. Immediately after the announcement of the fund Rs. 2.9 million was donated by the executive committee members including Mahinda Wijesekera, Bandula Gunawardena, S. B. Dissanayaka and Abeyratna Bandara. more..

June 15 (SO) The former President of the Sri Lanka Accountants� Service Association (SLASA), A. M. P. Amarakoon at a media briefing called upon the Government to take stern action against senior Treasury Officers who were responsible for the closure of the Public Enterprise Department (PED) on August 19, 1998 by submitting incorrect information to the then Government. more..

June 15 (NS) With a fresh coup attempt distressing UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, the seemingly nervous UNP Leader was seeing attempting to lure party members and also approaching rebel MPs who had defected to the government, promising them plum positions if they sided with him. Highly-placed sources, who spoke on the condition of strict anonymity, claimed that over the past week, Wickremesinghe had been having one-to-one meetings with UNP Parliamentarians to test the waters more..

June 15 (NS) Of late, there has hardly been a dull moment in Sri Lankan politics. And just when one thought that the dust was about to settle after the hullabaloo over the Eastern Provincial Council elections, the Provincial Councils in the North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provinces were dissolved last week. This would mean elections in these two provinces, probably in mid-August. more..

June 15 (NS) With the dissolution of the Sabaragamuwa and North Central Provincial Councils (PC) the political realm heated up again last week. The UNP and the JVP are incensed at the decision to dissolve the Councils, with the Reds claiming that it was criminal to spend so much money on another election, because of a Government whim, especially, given the ongoing economic crisis and soaring prices of essential items in the country. more..

June 15 (NS) The UNP is in a muddle. Many party members are of the opinion that present UNP Leader and Opposition Leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe, is the stumbling block in the party�s forward march. Under Wickremesinghe�s leadership, the party has not been able to win elections and some think he should be ousted. However, the question of replacement is one that then needs an answer since the party is seriously short of potential leaders who could carry the policies of the party forward. more..

June 15 (Island) With elections to North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provincial Councils scheduled for August, the government�s pledge to cut down on consumption of fuel as part of proposed austerity measures will be no more than a sick joke, UNP spokesman Dayasiri Jayasekera said yesterday. In fact, there could even be a significant increase in government expenditure if the whole lot of wasteful expenditure and extravagance that accompany elections are taken into account, he warned. more..

June 15 (Island) The government has stepped in to establish three special Reserves for elephants in the Hambantota, Anuradhapura and Puttalam districts following the heavy toll of 179 pachyderms and 50 villagers the elephant-human conflict claimed in 2007. The three proposed Reserves, spanning 2000 hectares each, will be complete with electric fencing to ensure that the pachyderms, mostly rogue elephants, which had marauded villages, are more..

June 15 (Island) Chief Executive Officer, SLT VisionCom (Pvt) Ltd., Thusha Weerasooriya spoke to The Sunday Island on the SLT TV event, which unfolds today at the BMICH. Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) means that customers could command their TV programmes. This means not merely select a film or programme but, say you get back home after work and was late to catch the 6 O�clock news, all you need do is switch to rewind mode and you would be watching the news programme you missed. more..

June 15 (Island) Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena, MP, wants Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayaka to summon the House privileges committee immediately to discuss safety and security of all opposition MPs. The UNP MP yesterday told The Sunday Island, that the recent Court of Appeal directive that he should be given a back-up vehicle, two police drivers and communication equipment as he faced threat on his life had highlighted the urgent need to review security. more..

June 15 (ST) President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said the Sri Lankan media can and do chastise him and the government for the high cost of living, high prices of food and fuel and other issues and he could understand that. His plea to the media, however, is not to publish information and material that could be beneficial to the LTTE thus undermining his government�s efforts to weaken militarily those who are trying to divide the country, engage in terrorism and kill civilians. more..

June 15 (ST) Heavy rains and earthslips yesterday cut off parts of the Colombo-Avisawella road at Hanwella, disrupted traffic and damaged pipelines supplying water to Colombo and several other areas, officials said. A 70-foot long and 30-foot wide part of the road was washed away at Pahala Hanwella, about half a kilometre from the town. At the same spot the main water supply line to Colombo was breached. more..

June 15 (ST) In his policy statement to the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC), the recently appointed Eastern Province Chief Minister, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pilleyan, said he intended to recruit a large number of Tamil and Muslim persons to join the province�s police force. �It is our policy that every police station in the province should be served by police officers belonging to the Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities,� the Chief Minister said. more..

June 15 (ST) The Army and the Police are conducting comprehensive search operations in the Nuwara Eliya region in a bid to rid the area of LTTE operatives who are using the area as a transit point for smuggling weapons and explosives to different parts of the island. Search operations have been intensified after a massive cache of explosives was discovered last Wednesday in Mahagastota, Nuwara Eliya, by the Terrorist Investigations Division (TID). more..

June 15 (IANS) The longing for a little adventure - a fishing trip with his elder brother - has led to a nightmarish experience for a 16-year-old schoolboy as he was caught by the Sri Lankan Navy and put in prison. Joseph is languishing for over two weeks in a prison in Anuradhapuram, Sri Lanka. He is a Class 11 student in the Muthupet Higher Secondary School in Pamban area. more..

June 15 (IANS) Sri Lankan military claimed Sunday that air force supersonic fighter jets have bombed and destroyed 'a key combat-logistic facility' of the LTTE in the rebel-held Mullaitivu district in the north. 'SLAF (Sri Lanka Air Force) fighter jets launched precision air sorties, destroying a key LTTE combat-logistic facility located at Venavil, southwest of Puthukkudiyiruppu in the Mullaitivu district Sunday around 10 a.m,' more..

June 16 (LG) Several years ago I asked a woman who wished to have legal advise whether she thought the discrimination she faced was because she was a woman or because she was a Muslim and her immediate response was "but I am both". To separate one's identity is impossible. This is the general dilemma posed by family laws to Sri Lankan women. While they discriminate against women in several ways and also differentiate between classes of women depending on the community they belong to, more..

June 16 (LG) This week, Sri Lankan Buddhists celebrate Poson Poya. It is no exaggeration to say that the Lankan culture and Poson Poya are synonymous. History says it was on a Poson Poya day that Arahath Mahinda, son of the great King Asoka of India, and a group of missionaries came to Sri Lanka to spread the word of the Buddha. Asoka was a harsh king. He was known among his subjects as �Chandasoka�, meaning �cruel Asoka�, but after embracing Buddhism he came to be known as �Dharmasoka�. more..

June 16 (LG) My fellow drinker and thinker Aratchige Medis - he claims he is the legendary Archimedes reincarnated and points to similarity in names - was attempting to answer the query: What is his solution to the problems facing Sri Lanka -terrorist, economic, political, fuel and food? Perched on a high stool at the ancient water hole, Archie as he is called by his friends was holding forth: To every problem there is no solution. Take the problem of squaring the circle. more..

June 16 (LG) Whoever conjured up this wild idea that the Tamils of Jaffna had no business to stay in Colombo � notwithstanding the war that evicted thousands of them from their homes � is surely so morbidly racist and bigoted, that he should not be permitted to hold high office. It is this type of thinking that started the ethnic war because we all know that war begins in the minds. more..

June 16 (LG) Today our country is confronted with one of the worst crisis in known history. At a time like this we as Sri Lankans should forget our differences and rally round as one group irrespective of cast, creed, religion, ethnicity and politics. Even if it means, hiding our pride, it has to be done because there is a national crisis affecting both the rich and the poor, big and small. more..