Mar 15 (LB) The government is thanking its stars that the Indian political hierarchy�s comments on the Sri Lankan situation, along with other international pronouncements do not in fact call for a ceasefire � even though the stated script under review may be a call for a ceasefire. The script of the European parliament statement calls for a ceasefire, but that is the script in black and white and not the sub-text. more..

Mar 15 (NS) The UNP rebels are vowing to go public with their rebellion from Tuesday, if party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe fails to allocate time for a vote on his leadership during the group meeting that day. According to a leading rebel, the group meeting was actually scheduled to be held on Monday (16), since there would have been ample time to take a vote concerning the suitability of Ranil Wickremesinghe to remain as the party leader. more..

Mar 15 (LB) Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal in an e-mail interview that he offered us last week clarifies issues surrounding the controversial standby arrangement that the government is seeking from the IMF. Below are edited excerpts: Q: Could you enlighten us on the present situation as regards the foreign reserves of the country? Media reports suggest that Sri Lanka is running out of its foreign reserves. more..

Mar 15 (NS) Muralitharan�s entry into the SLFP, gives fresh hope to the political spectrum. The expectation is that, the entry of such personalities to the two mainstream political parties- instead of forming yet another political outfit of their own, will lead to their voices being heard from within these parties, rather than from outside. This is all the more significant now, because, the ruling SLFP-led coalition must guard against getting carried away by the more chauvinist elements within it, more..

Mar 15 (NS) The eastern province that has been wreaked due to the ethnic war is gradually raising its head. After the government forces pushed the LTTE out of the province the government successfully, held local as well as provincial council elections. Today, the province headed by the Eastern Province Governor Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama has plans to compete with other provinces. According to the governor, the eastern province gets more funds from more..

Mar 15 (NS) A first time traveller along the Bloemendhal Road is bound to be surprised by the sight of a small hill, quite an uncommon sighting for an urban area, covering acres of land on the side of the road. But the traveller soon realises that this is no hillock, but a giant mountain of rotting and decaying heaps of garbage. Last Saturday, part of this wall crumbled down; destroying some of the houses which were built nearby in Mahawatte destroying close to dozen houses but luckily no one was harmed. more..

Mar 15 (Island) The Government as well as the UNP and JVP have urged Commissioner of Elections Dayananda Dissanayake to reconsider his decision to have the votes counted at the same polling station itself during the Western Province election scheduled for April 25. This matter came up for discussion at a crucial meeting convened by the Commissioner of Elections for political party secretaries and party representatives at the Elections Secretariat at Rajagiriya on Friday. more..

Mar 15 (Island) Lawyers representing Golden Key depositors and the counsel for Ceylinco Consolidated Chairman Lalith Kotelawala are scheduled to meet at the Attorney General�s Department this week to map out the long-delayed and much-awaited repayment plan to grant relief to suffering depositors. The counsel for both parties will meet in consultation with Attorney General (AG) Mohan Peiris and Deputy Solicitor General (DSG) Sarath Jayamanne at 2 pm on Wednesday, more..

Mar 15 (Island) There has been a sea change in the rhetoric of long time pro-LTTE groups. After many years of promoting the LTTE as the �sole representative of the Tamil people�, urging successive governments to negotiate with Prabhakaran, providing ideological back-up to the terrorist and on-the-ground logistical support by way of historical falsification, inflation of strength and wild conjecture about rights violation, these shouts have petered out to little more than whimpering about the safety of civilians. more..

Mar 15 (Island) Sunethra Bandaranaike, the eldest sister of the late Anura Bandaranaike has in a court application sought to share his estate estimated to be worth well over a billion rupees with Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga on the basis that Anura died intestate and they were his sole heirs. Papers filed by Sunethra Bandaranaike in this connection values her brother�s immovable property at over Rs. 1.1 billion. more..

Mar 15 (ST) As troops move triumphantly to end Tiger guerrilla domination of their rapidly shrinking terrain in the Mullaitivu district, the fate of civilians trapped in the war has become the most critical question. Their numbers vary. Official United Nations estimates, through their agencies on the ground, place the number at more than 200,000. The Government has declared a lower figure of 75,000 and maintains the numbers are reducing. more..

Mar 15 (ST) �Faithful in Distress� is their motto and with the increasing intensity of battle in recent months and resulting increase in the number of casualties on both sides, the personnel of the Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps have been working with great commitment to attend to this vital part of the war effort. �On November 16 last year at Akkarayankulam, just before entering Kilinochchi town, we had 215 casualties coming in throughout the day,� more..

Mar 15 (ST) Plans to reacquire Sri Lankan archaeological and religious artifacts housed in foreign museums are underway after the government approved a proposal by Urban Development and Sacred Area Development Minister Dinesh Gunawardene. The minister told The Sunday Times this was in accordance with the report of a Presidential Commission which had recommended steps to reacquire religious relics taken out of the country during the colonial period. This is to be done through bodies such as the UNESCO. more..

Mar 15 (ST) After a prolonged period of denying that the country�s foreign exchange reserves were inadequate, the government has suddenly turned to the IMF for a stand-by facility of US$ 1.9 billion. For quite sometime now the Central Bank has maintained that the country did not have a serious foreign exchange problem. Besides, its announced strategy to replenish foreign exchange reserves did not include dependence on the IMF. more..

Mar 15 (NST) In Sri Lanka's northeast, on a small sliver of land between the sea and two raging armies, some hundred thousand civilians are huddled under trees with little water, dwindling food supplies and no medical care. This is what many people in Sri Lanka and overseas believe is the final stage of the 30-year-old war fought between armed Tamil militants and the state for a separate country within the island for the minority Tamils. This fight has been led since the mid-1980s by the LTTE, more..

Mar 15 (IANS) Nanjil Sampath, MDMK propaganda secretary and an open supporter of the banned LTTE, was Sunday charged under the National Security Act a day before he was to be released from jail, the police said. According to police sources, Sampath was due to be released from detention Monday on the directions of a judicial magistrate of Tirupur but was served with fresh detention orders Sunday morning. more..

Mar 15 (AJ) Kumar Sangakkara's appointment as Sri Lanka cricket captain in place of Mahela Jayawardene comes just nine days after the team escaped from an ambush by heavily-armed killers on their way to a Test match in Lahore, Pakistan. In a wide-ranging telephone interview with Al Jazeera's sports website from the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, the world's No 3 batsman described the extra responsibility of leading a group of players for more..

Mar 15 (AFP) Government forces shot dead at least 32 Tamil Tiger rebels in north-eastern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said on Sunday, as troops moved closer to finally defeating the separatist guerrillas. About 30 rebels were killed on Friday in the Puthukkudiriruppu area, the last stronghold of the Tigers, while another two were killed on Saturday, the ministry said. "Infantrymen further advanced into LTTE hiding areas... inflicting heavy damages to terrorists," more..

Mar 15 (AP) All surgeries have stopped at a makeshift hospital in Sri Lanka's war zone because of a lack of basic supplies such as anesthetic and blood bags, the top government health official there said Sunday. Dr. Thurairaja Varatharajah said the situation was so bad that bed sheets were being used for bandages, while sticks were being used to brace fractured limbs. "We don't have bandages or gauze, we tear up bed sheets to bind the wounds and use palm sticks to support fractures. We are in need of a quick supply," more..

Mar 16 (LG) The Lankan economy is in crisis and foreign reserves hitting rock bottom is one of the major factors. There are a number of causes which led to this situation. Clearly the world economic crisis is hitting the poorest countries and in spite of the Mahinda Chinthanaya Lanka could not escape. For such countries foreign direct investments are to fall by 20%. The cost of borrowing has risen significantly, and in some cases, maybe unavailable. more..

Mar 16 (BBC) An election monitoring group says that a majority of candidates contesting in local polls are violating the elections law. The Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) said many candidates in the forthcoming Western Provincial Council (WPC) elections have failed to declare their assets and liabilities. Only nearly 30 candidates have already declared assets out of 2000 candidates. more..

Mar 16 (BBC) Police authorities in eastern Sri Lanka say that a suspect arrested on alleged abduction and rape of a six-year old schoolgirl was shot dead as he tried to escape. Superintendant of Police (SP), Trincomalee, Vaas Gunawardene told BBC Sandeshaya that suspect Mervyn Niroushan was shot by a police sergeant as he attempted to escape from the police vehicle while being transported to hospital to investigate whether he was responsible for raping the girl. more..

Mar 16 (CI) The chairman of the new seven-member interim committee to run Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), former legspinner Somachandra De Silva, has outlined his plan for the next two years. De Silva pinpointed the ICC World Twenty20, the Under-19 World Cup in 2010, and the 2011 World Cup as targets for Sri Lanka and said that he will give the country's players full support. more..

Mar 16 (LT) Liam Fox one is Ranil-Chandrika agreement and now Liam Fox II has begun said General Secretary of the Patriotic National Centre (PNC) JVP Parliamentarian Vijithe Herath. Speaking at a media meeting held at PNC centre today (15th) Mr. Herath said, �Dr. Liam fox of Britain has commenced �Liam fox ii. He has said he came to Sri Lanka this time on a request by the government of Sri Lanka. more..

Mar 16 (AT) Unconfirmed reports emerging from Bangkok reveals that Thakshin Shinawatra�s aides are approaching Sri Lanka and another South Asian country for asylum to the deposed former Thai Prime Minister.But it is not clear why Thakshin's aides decided on a country like Sri Lanka. However it is on record that the current Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has initiated vindictive measures to extradite former Thai Prime Minister. more..

Mar 16 (AT) "Shelling doesn't spare even babies in wombs" lamented the pro-Tiger media Tamilnet yesterday (15 March,) citing some photographs, as it put it of the allegedly injured or burnt-out children, to prove its point. However, what the editor of the Tamilnet did not know was the fact that the analysis of these images is neither his monopoly nor the divine right. more..

Mar 16 (AT) The statement on Sri Lanka by the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, reveals a clear bias towards a terrorist organization by equating the Government of Sri Lanka with that of a ruthless terrorist organization, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The statement could have been considered just unfortunate or a mistake if it was made under a different situation. more..

Mar 16 (AT) This is a comment on the article "Return of Gareth Evans --resurrection of terror" that appeared in the Daily News of Thursday 12th March 2009. I am grateful to the writer Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha for exposing Gareth Evans the way he has done. Of all the enemies Sri Lanka has, no one has descended to the depths that Gareth Evans has descended to discredit us with indiscriminate killing of Tamils and more..

Mar 16 (AT) The UNP today charged that the Government has not registered the Indian doctors who had arrived for providing medical services to the mobile hospital in the North that the Indian Government has provided. It is indeed sad that this Government�s Health Minister is the Chairman of the Executive Board of the World Health Organisation and he does not seem to be aware of the conditions governing the formalities of visiting doctors, more..

Mar 16 (TC) As Sri Lanka celebrated its Independence Day on February 4, the Sri Lanka Army was closing in on the last pockets of resistance occupied by fighters from the separatist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in their jungle hideaways. After almost three decades of violent conflict, the government appeared confident that victory in the struggle for control of the island was finally within sight. more..

Mar 16 (Hindu) Sri Lanka has politely declined �offers of assistance� made by India and the United States to evacuate civilians trapped in the 35-km. territory still under the control of the LTTE. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama conveyed the government�s decision to visiting British Shadow Defence Secretary Liam Fox last week. The nature of �offers� made by New Delhi and Washington is not clear as neither have spelt out how they intended to assist Colombo in evacuation of the stranded citizens. more..

Mar 16 (AJ) First came the attacks, then the recrimination. The focus following Lahore has, not surprisingly, centred on Pakistan. But in Sri Lanka, a country that is no stranger to acts of violence, the first direct attack on their cricket team has had a profound effect. "I think for cricket it's very sad, it's our country our team, so we're concerned," said a fan when I visited the Cricket Club cafe in Colombo a day after 12 gunmen opened fire on more..

Mar 16 (TT) Duleep Mendis, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chief executive, has denied that he�d been asked by the new chairman, one-time teammate Somachandra de Silva, to put in his papers. �That�s just not true... The bit about my migrating to Australia is also rubbish,� the Colombo-based Mendis told The Telegraph on Sunday evening. Mendis, whose contract with SLC is till December, was commenting on a report in one of the leading newspapers of Sri Lanka. more..

Mar 16 (AFP) Sri Lanka's new cricket captain Kumar Sangakkara and star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan say they want security guarantees on future tours after their team survived an attack in Pakistan. The Sri Lankan team bus was ambushed by armed militants in Lahore on March 3 as it drove towards the Gaddafi stadium during the second Test, killing eight people and leaving seven players and the British assistant coach injured. more..

Mar 16 (IANS) Troops Sunday smashed their way further into the fast shrinking Tamil Tiger-held territories and captured their "police post" and a "court centre", inflicting heavy damages on the rebels in the north-eastern Mullaitivu district, defence ministry here said. The advancing troops of the 58 Division captured a LTTE strong point after hours of heavy fighting since Sunday morning at Puthukkudiyiruppu, the last major stronghold of the guerrillas, more..

Mar 16 (eK) Nepal Red saved the blushes for a full-house home crowd, thanks to a 4-2 win in a cliff-hanging tie-breaker against Sri Lanka. In the final of the six-team inaugural Prime Minister Cup Invitational Football Tournament on Saturday, the star-studded Nepali team defeated the Sri Lankan national side in a penalty shootout. After Sanjay Pradeep Kumara, the last penalty taker of Sri Lanka saw his shot sail above the bar, more..

Mar 16 (TC) Let me begin my talk to you today with a description of my visit to a Maoist army cantonment site in eastern Nepal in December. The cantonment was set up after a peace agreement. In this cantonment were child soldiers recruited by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in their struggle against the Nepalese state. We had earlier met many young people who had been recruited by the Maoists with false promises, who had run away because of abuse. more..

Mar 16 (AT) Sri Lanka�s Tourism Minister speaking at the Sri Lanka � Small Miracle Cultural Evening organized in Beijing thanked the China National Tourism Authority, the travel trade & Chinese media for the support extended through the difficult times and requested co-operation in bringing about a progressive development in the tourism industry with the ushering in of a new chapter of peace & prosperity in the country. more..

Mar 16 (LG) Once again, Sri Lanka has reacted with resilience. Unlike the Eighties, whose baggage still haunts the nation, once again in recent years, the �Akuressa attack� on a Milad-un-Nabi procession has failed to trigger communal violence of any kind. It is a lesson for pro-LTTE groups and otherwise concerned sections of the international community that continues to see ghosts where none may now exist. more..

Mar 16 (LG) Questions are being raised in the British Tamils circles about the desperate attempt made by the Sri Lankan government to specifically invite the British opposition Conservative Member of Parliament and shadow British Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox to discuss about the current military and humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka. Dr Liam Fox�s visit comes at the time Sri Lankan government is in a confrontational mood with the British government over the appointment of Rt Hon Des Browne MP as its special envoy for Sri Lanka. more..

Mar 16 (LG) A journalist invited former President JR Jayawardene to comment on then President Chandrika Kumaratunga�s military �victory� over the LTTE in December 1995. His laconic reply, �so far so good�, no doubt came out the chastening experience of his army commander (and nephew) Brigadier Weeratunga supposedly winning the war fifteen years earlier, in December 1979. Altogether Sinhalese regimes have �defeated� the LTTE three times: by Jayawardene�s in 1979, Kumaratunga�s in 1995 and most recently by President Mahinda Rajapakse�s regime this year (2009). more..

Mar 16 (LG) �There is no point in carrying piece of paper outlining a peace deal and walking towards an LTTE terrorist pointing his gun at you, as he will shoot you dead through the piece of paper that you are holding against your chest for him to see. Therefore, the only way left forward is shooting the terrorist dead first�. A Colombo newspaper once said the above in its editorial and the editor could not have been more truthful in his assertion. more..

Mar 16 (PSM) The All Party Representative Committee�s (APRC) meets today after a lapse of 3 weeks to finalise the report prepared by the committee. The 108th and the 109th meetings are to be held today and tomorrow under the chirmanship of Minister Prof. Thissa Vitharana. The final report contains a political package to be implemented through a new Constitution needs to be ready when the ongoing military operations come to an end shortly as more..

Mar 16 (GDI) The Polonnaruwa fresh water fish breeding centre which has been leased to a private company since 1992 is to take over by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the ministry sources said. The decision was taken at the special discussion held Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Felix Perera with Export Development and International Trade Minister G.L. Peiris and Agricultural Development Minister Maithripala Sirisena at his Ministry on Friday (13). more..

Mar 16 (GDI) The first phase of the solar power project providing electricity to remote undeveloped corners in Monaragala District has been successfully completed, and several villages in Monaragala are already supplied with power using solar cells. The project is conducted under �Sunithaya �Power and Energy Authority. Galgamuwa, adjoining indigenous ancestral Rathugala village in the Monaragala district, was the first to be facilitated with solar cells. more..

Mar 16 (GDI) �Sri Lanka appreciates the supportive rule of donor agencies including the UN in achieving its development goals. We also welcome such international conferences as we are attending here today�, Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickramanayake said at the Inauguration ceremony of the ECOSOC annual ministerial review regional ministerial meeting on financing strategies for health care held at the Cinnamon Grand hotel this morning (16). more..

Mar 16 (GDI) The World Bank (WB) approved a US$160 million package of assistance to Sri Lanka to develop the country's national road network and to support the education system yesterday. The assistance package from the International Development Association (IDA), the lending arm of the WB, will provide a US$100 million credit to finance development of the national road network, and a US$60 million grant to support the education system. more..

Mar 16 (LT) The plot carried out to get Rs.30 million after abducting the six year old girl from Trincomalee and later found murdered had been to raise money to begin a radio station for the TMVP reveals investigations carried out by the police. It has been revealed to the police that Janarthan, a local leader of the TMVP in Trincomalee, Karan, a member of TMVP, Oswin Mervin Rinawushan, more..

Mar 16 (AT) The mother of the chief suspect of the recent Trincomalee murder/ ransom case Obrein Mervyn Renowson alias Sahan has refused the dead body of her son and will be buried today at state expense. This follows the suspect being shot dead by the Trincomalee Police while attempting to escape from Police custody yesterday noon after biting the neck of a Trincomalee Police Constable while he was taken by Jeep to the Judicial medical Officer of the Trincomalee Hospital. more..