Oct 11 (Island) Man, it�s been said, is a political animal. What might that mean? I do not know. It could mean that man is conscious of the things that affect his way of living and seeks those that make life comfortable in some way. That of course would be true of other animal species as well. How do they seek to get there? In a society that has developed around systems of shared values, the processes in place for resolving conflicting views have proved adequate for the purpose. more..

Oct 11 (PTI) The lone surviving militant of the Pakistan Army Headquarters siege was linked to the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore and has close links to banned terrorist groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Harkut-ul-Ansar, Pakistani military officials said on Sunday. Aqeel alias 'Dr Usman', described by military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas as the leader of the terrorists involved in the attack at the army headquaters, more..

Oct 11 (ST) Ten Indian MPs from Tamil Nadu arrived in Colombo yesterday to assess the ground situation in the northern and eastern camps for the internally displaced people. According to Sri Lankan government and Indian High Commission sources, the visit was a result of a formal invitation President Mahinda Rajapaksa sent to Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi three months ago. more..

Oct 11 (ST) The IMF is looking into the implications of the government's decision to hold a vote-on-account this year instead of the normal budget, a spokesperson said. The government announced on Thursday it would present a vote-on-account instead of a budget in view of pending parliamentary elections. The IMF spokesperson told the Sunday Times it was discussing the implications of the vote-on-account move with the government and more..

Oct 11 (ST) �Convoy ahead! Please dim your lights.� A military motor-cyclist was speaking.�Get off the road! Hurry!� ordered another. � ��.. if you don�t,� cheerfully cut in a third, �I�ll have those d�d lights of yours smashed.� The first Jaffna journey was going to be historic, anyhow. Up to the time we ran into an unexpected convoy which materialized out of the Vanni night two months ago, we had been good Samaritans on our way. more..

Oct 11 (ST) For President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the daily schedule in the past days has been punishing. He dashed from town to town, village to village in an Air Force VIP helicopter. His ministers and UPFA stalwarts assigned specific sectors for yesterday's Southern Provincial elections, were all on the ground and busy. A victory for the UPFA was never in doubt. However, the heavy deployment had a singular objective - more..

Oct 11 (AFP) A quarter of a million Tamil civilians detained in state-run camps since the end of Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict are in an increasingly "tense and ugly" situation, a rights group said Sunday. Deteriorating conditions, drinking water shortages and the imminent monsoon have raised tensions among the detainees and sparked clashes with military guards, said the New York-based Human Rights Watch. more..

Oct 11 (AFP) Indonesia has detained about 260 Sri Lankan migrants in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra while attempting to make their way by wooden boat to Australia, local police have announced. Police and the Indonesian Navy had intercepted the boat in the waters off Krakatoa island at around dawn, Banten Sea Police director Alex Fauzi Rasad told reporters. "The migrants, including women and children, more..

Oct 11 (AFP) Sri Lanka's small stock exchange has become one of the world's top performing bourses as investors reap the peace dividend from the end to the island's bloody ethnic conflict. Investors are banking on renewed economic strength and profits in the country that emerged in May from a bloody and protracted civil war which claimed between 80,000 and 100,000 lives over nearly four decades. "All the economic indications are in the right direction but the end of the war has been the key factor" more..

Oct 11 (Hindu) A group of 10 parliamentarians of the ruling combine from Tamil Nadu arrived here on Saturday afternoon on a four-day visit. It met representatives of the Tamil and Muslim political parties and exchanged views on the plight of the 2.5-lakh war displaced and the need for a permanent solution to the ethnic conflict with meaningful devolution. Though this is the largest Indian parliamentary contingent to visit the island nation since more..

Oct 11 (ST) The United States has lodged a �strong protest� to Sri Lanka over remarks by Prime Minister, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, on state radio that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has forgotten the �Monica Lewinsky episode� and should �put her house in order.� Sri Lanka�s Ambassador Jaliya Wickremasuriya, was summoned to the Department of State to be told of the US Government�s displeasure. more..

Oct 11 (Hindu) The UPFA secured an absolute majority in the Southern Provincial Council, bagging 38 (including bonus seats) in the 65 member House. As per the final results given by the Election Commission the ruling UPFA polled 804,071 votes (67.88 per cent), taking 38 seats, the main opposition (UNP) obtained 297,180 votes (25.09 per cent) with 14 seats and the JVP polled 72,379 votes securing three seats. more..

Oct 12 (TC) It was Velupillai Prabhakaran the late Tamil Tiger leader who once said the Sinhala people have only a short memory. Perhaps it is so and it seems quite in order at this elections, where the war against the Tamil Tigers with Prabhakaran projected as the icon of "terrorism" was turned into a glorifying victorious vote puller. While the war was being waged with only State witnesses to the battle allowed to get on the dock, more..

Oct 12 (AT) Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama in a message on the landslide victory of the UPFA at the just concluded Southern Provincial Council elections has described the victory as an endorsement by the people of the UPFA�s leadership under H. E Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President. In his message, Foreign Minister Bogollagama also stated that the election has been recognized as being free and fair more..

Oct 12 (AT) My experience in the North is that people there were efficient and time conscious and committed to work and thus we have a lot to learn from �the Jaffna People� for their dexterity and commitment said Athauda Seneviratne, Minister of Labour Relations and Manpower at the National Productivity Awards 2008 held at the BMICH. He said that those farmers in the North got up early and were in their farms by 6 am and more..

Oct 12 (Hindu) Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Sunday clarified that it was the collective initiative of his party, the Congress and the Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi that led to a 10-member team of MPs going to Sri Lanka and that it would submit its report to the leaders of the parties. In a statement here, the Chief Minister said that neither the Centre nor the State government would have to bear the expenditure for the visit. more..

Oct 12 (Hindu) The visiting 10-member parliamentary delegation from Tamil Nadu went on a tour of the camps for the war displaced in Vavunia district and interacted with the inmates. The residents complained of congestion and day-to-day difficulties. Most of the displaced people expressed their desire to return to their homes at the earliest. Accompanied by Indian High Commissioner Alok Prasad and Sri Lankan officials, the delegation landed at the Palaly airport more..

Oct 12 (Hindu) The visit of the Tamil MPs� delegation to camps in Sri Lanka, where the Tamils have been kept for the past five months, is a mere eyewash, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko has alleged. �The Tamil MPs� plan to meet Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the end of their visit is a shame,� he said. During an informal chat with reporters after attending a wedding more..

Oct 12 (LG) Hillary Clinton was the target of Rajapakse propaganda hitmen last week as predicted the previous Sunday in our column about �potting targets on a revolving stage.� No doubt, Clinton and America deserved all the vituperation of UPFA politicos and scribes for the massive faux pas of the State Department. The US Secretary of State had while speaking in the UN Security Council on a resolution calling for more..

Oct 12 (LG) It was Hilary Clinton�s casual example. She was giving a list of countries that used rape as a weapon of war. Just because the war on terror had one of its episodes in Sri Lanka, it doesn�t mean it was fought the Iraqi-style. Kathleen Willey and Juanita Broaddrick alleged they were raped by (Bill) Clinton. Gennifer Flowers, Elizabeth Ward Gracen, Sally Perdue, Dolly Kyle Browning and of course Monica Lewinski claimed to have had more..

Oct 12 (AT) In the Sri Lankan Tamil literary world, Se. Ganesalingan is an important figure, more so in the world of literature by refugees. He is based in Chennai since 1983, the year when the ethnic problem burst out in the island nation. He is 81, and he has about same number of books authored by him to his credit. �What more I want, I am more than contended,� the Marxist-literary writer-author said, more..

Oct 12 (AT) Former Southern Provincial Council Chief Minister Shan Vijayalal de Silva who contested the elections under the UPFA topped the preferential votes in the Galle district as well as in the southern province. The former Chief Minister received a massive 90, 294 votes. Randima Gamage and and Nishantha Muthuhettigame of the UPFA secured the second and third places in the Galle district and in the province securing 77,418 and 71,718 votes respectively. more..

Oct 12 (LeN) SLFP Organizer and Minister Dallas Alahaperuma said that this election victory is a gift from the people of the South to President Rajapakse. It is a fact that the South of SL was low down in the map and in development, but President Rajapakse changed this, whereby the voters of the South showed their gratitude to the President, Dallas stated this to Lanka e news. more..

Oct 12 (LeN) Speaking on the Southern PC elections, UNP gen. Secretary and MP Tissa Attanayake said, the beginning of the end of Rajapakse reign has begun is evident from the Southern provincial Council elections results. The President descended to the level of the Chief Minister of the South, taking residence there, using all the State resources, assets and vehicles unlawfully from the day nomination closed. more..

Oct 12 (LT) Even when the government used maximum state power, the minimum percentage the UPFA received was from the district where the President hails from and the JVP received its maximum percentage from the same district said General Secretary of the JVP Tilvin Silva. He said the Southern PC election was the turning point which begins the downward trend of the government and the beginning of the upward trend of the JVP. more..

Oct 12 (GDI) While pointing out that the overwhelming mandate from the people of south has once again reinforced the Government�s progressive path, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that the message given by the people at the Southern Provincial Councils Election is a decisive and strong message to those groups who are trying to create misconceptions about the Government and also to the international community. more..

Oct 12 (DC) Chief minister M Karunanidhi on Sunday categorically rejected the opposition charge that the MP delegation�s visit to Sri Lanka was manipulated to stave off the opposition parties from visiting Lanka. He dared them to undertake a visit if they were so concerned over the plight of the Tamils. �It appears Ms Jayalalithaa, who returned to the state capital after three months� rest and certain parties who are not sure if they are still AIADMK�s allies, more..

Oct 12 (EB) The residents of Jaffna generally ignored the MPs from Tamil Nadu who visited them on Sunday, sources in the town told Express over the phone. There were no spontaneous crowds to greet the MPs, though among the visitors was Kanimozhi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi�s daughter and a star in her own right. �If there was a crowd in some places, they were all followers of Social Welfare Minister and EPDP leader Douglas Devananda,� more..

Oct 12 (wsws) The ruling UPFA failed to win the resounding victory in Saturday�s Southern Provincial Council election it had anticipated. Having repeatedly boasted it would secure 85 to 90 percent of the vote, the government coalition received 68 percent, winning 38 seats in the 55-member council. Two months before, the UPFA won 72 percent of the vote in the Uva Provincial Council poll. more..

Oct 12 (SLW) The govt won the Southern PC polls convincingly along with a string of other elections they also won, But amidst of all these successes we still see a tendency developing to the bad. This time the south PC elections voter turnout was low as 65%. But when you look carefully the Uva polls had 70% voter turnout, western PC 63.2% central PC 66.4% Northwestern PC 60.7% Sabaragamuwa 68.4% eastern province 65.7%. more..

Oct 12 (SLW) The UNP yesterday demanded the Election Commissioner to cancel the southern provincial council poll results in some areas. Earlier the Election Commissioner warned that the results will be nullified at any polling station in cases of violence or malpractices. General Secretary of the UNP Tissa Attanayake accused that yesterday's election in Southern PC was highly corrupted. more..

Oct 12 (SLW) The southern Provincial Council elections have been won by the UPFA led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa getting a total of 804,071 votes from all three districts. They have secured 38 seats in the final overall results of the polls. The main opposition the UNP came second getting 297,180 votes and securing 14 seats. The JVP became third in the race with 72,379 votes and securing only just 3 seats in the provincial government. more..

Oct 12 (LG) The government, nay President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has scored a spectacular win once again. The UPFA has bagged the Southern Provincial Council (SPC) with a two-third majority in terms of both seats (38 of 55) and votes (68 per cent), though the overall result is below the government's expectation. That the UPFA expected at least 40 seats as well as 72 per cent of the votes, being the percentage the government had polled in the Uva PC polls, was no secret. more..

Oct 12 (LG) Somewhere in the mid 1990s, I had the opportunity to meet Nissanka Wijeratne, Education Minister in JR�s first Cabinet. I was just accompanying my father, who was paying a courtesy call on an officer who was senior to him in the CCS. At some point in the conversation, the issue of the Workers� Charter, at that time the signature initiative of Mahinda Rajapaksa (he was Labour Minister), came up. more..

Oct 12 (LG) There has always been an unprecedented abuse of women in politics particularly at election time. The recent threats and obscene cartoons on Anarkali is, therefore, nothing new. It has been a longstanding practice for men in parliament to use obscene language and plenty of �double entendre� as well as sexist comments on female MPs. Moreover the media has for decades been full of cartoons, verses, editorials and misogynist articles which reduce women in general � and more..

Oct 12 (LG) Not that journalists are over-fond of writing about America. But then when the US Secretary of State says rape was a war tactic in Sri Lanka, and later gets the state department to do a lame retraction of sorts on her behalf, we can�t shut up and put up. No, not even when some other worthies say that we are unnecessarily and maybe even crudely demonising America. The point being made by some folks, succinctly, is that more..

Oct 12 (CaFFE) CaFFE observed that there was a low reportage in relation to election violence during the voting process on Election Day in the Southern Provincial Election. This is in stark contrast to the high level of election related violence during the Pre Election period during this Southern Provincial (SPC) Election. The indication that law enforcement officials and institutions were ineffective in curbing this trend during more..

Oct 12 (UNP) UNP MP Tissa Attanayake said, the beginning of the end of Rajapakse reign has begun is evident from the Southern provincial Council elections results. The Govt. fell far below its expected target of 90 % votes. The President boasted before elections that the PA would not get anything less; south being the Rajapakse fortress, the polling only of 65 % votes there which is below more..

Oct 12 (GDI) The educational activities of the South-Eastern University will be upgraded to meet with international educational standards. Modern educational systems and methodologies would be introduced to meet the task, said the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Dr. S. M. M. Ismail. He was addressing the ceremony to motivate the students selected for the university academic year 2009 as the chief guest. more..

Oct 12 (GDI) The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations celebrates World Food Day each year on 16 October, the day on which the Organization was founded in 1945. The World Food Day and TeleFood theme for 2009 is"Achieving food security in times of crisis" At a time when the global economic crisis dominates the news, the world needs to be reminded that not everyone works in offices and factories. more..

Oct 12 (LG) There is no need to tell much about who Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat is - a former chief of Naval staff (India) and remarkable person who is well known on military, political and strategic relations commentary. Admiral Vishnu Bagawat is the person who hunted down the first ship which belonged to the LTTE. According to the press statement released by the former Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha in 1999 when more..

Oct 12 (GDI) Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said a visit by a Tamil Nadu political delegation to Sri Lanka enhanced India�s confidence on President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Minister Bogollagama participating in a live radio programme of the SLBC this morning said the international community was extremely appreciative of the government�s policy of acting with a sense of transparency regarding local and international issues. more..

Oct 12 (GDI) The �Vap Magul� festival 2009 is now held at the at Kandalama, in Dambulla today (12) at a national scale. Minister Maithreepala Sirisena attended the ceremony as the Chief Guest while several other religious leaders present at the festival. Several cultural events are organized to add colour to the festival. Farmers and their families contribute a great deal for the festival aimed to increase productivity. more..

Oct 12 (GDI) The consent of both parents, in applying for passports for children under 16 years of age, has been made mandatory with effect from today. �The new requirement has been made mandatory due to numerous irregularities that had taken place when children are being taken abroad. In the recent past, a number of rackets had been bared making use of the loopholes in the regulations with regard to the issue of passports to children under the age of 16, more..

Oct 12 (UNP) UNP M.P. Palitha Range Bandara said, though the Govt. is laboring to show that it has secured a big victory at the yesterday�s Southern PC elections; according to analysts, the results carefully studied goes only to show the decline and decay that has started in the Rajapakse reign. In the President�s own fortress where he, his brothers and so many Ministers hail, the President could not achieve the target he bragged . more..

Oct 12 (MoD) "From the 4th of next month", he said in his gruff voice, " we shall be responsible for our own defence". His teeth showed white beneath the iron grey walrus moustache. The sides of his eyes crinkled but he was not smiling. "Actually as a matter of fact, we may have help against foreign aggressions, but we will have to handle any enemy within the country". His eyes became penetrating. more..

Oct 12 (LNP) Financial literacy is very important to the day-to-day life in today s modern world and the global scenario is more finance driven than trade driven. Financial activities contribute more for the economic development and the overall development of a country, said Dr. Saman Kelegama. The financial literacy rate in Sri Lanka needs to be improved if the country is to benefit by the global financial activities. more..

Oct 12 (LNP) The South goes to the polls today. All the parties in the fray claim they are confident of victory! But, the winning party is already known even to a mediocre political observer. Suffice it to say that the JVP may consider it an achievement, if it could secure at least one seat in the 53-member Southern Provincial Council (SPC). And the UNP will have a good reason to be happy if it could fare a wee bit better than it did in Uva. more..

Oct 12 (LT) An attempt to sacrifice a child at a house called Mahawalawwa at Divulwelagoda, Uduhawara in Uva Paranagama to get a treasure has been thwarted by villagers and Uwa Parnagama Police. 7 men and 2 women with a 6 month old baby were arrested by the police on the night of the 10th for trying to make a human sacrifice to get a treasure. The villagers who had been vigilant and had noticed �pirith� being chanted in the house for more..