Apr 20 (ICP) On Sri Lanka, with the UN Secretariat in seeming paralysis holding back the war crimes Panel of Experts' report five full days after portions were leaked, presumptively by the govt, to The Island newspaper, sources have described the process to Inner City Press. The report, they say, is 196 pages long. On April 11, ICP learned that it would be handed to Ban Ki-moon on April 12. After it was, it was also provided -- on hard copy only -- to more..

Apr 20 (DM) The local government election amendment Bill, when passed in parliament next week will create a positive change with regard to the democratic rights of the masses, Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkasa said yesterday. At a ceremony to felicitate local council officials who will be attending a study tour in the Kerala Institute of Local Administration, the minister said the new electoral system would encompass a better representation of the people. more..

Apr 20 (Island) The Mahinda Rajapaksa government�s failure to address Tamil grievances nearly two years after the LTTE had been defeated, was one of the reasons for the unprecedented international pressure being exerted on Sri Lanka, UNP MP Dayasiri Jayasekera said yesterday. He told a news conference in Colombo that no sooner the war had ended, the causes that had led to the long drawn out ethnic conflict should have been addressed with a sense of urgency. more..

Apr 20 (Island) The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) says that a minor earth tremor occurred near the Kirinda-Yala junction, in the Tissa Divisional Secretariat area, on Monday night, causing damage to six houses. However, Chairman of the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) Dr. N. P. Wijayananda said that according to initial inquires conducted by his institution there had been no tremor according to data obtained from more..

Apr 20 (NF) Seven suspects connected to an extortion racket at the new Peliyagoda fisheries complex and seven more suspects connected to an incident of assault were further remanded until April 29. After the suspects were produced before the Colombo Acting Magistrate, they were produced before an identification parade as well. Non of the witnesses had been able to identify the suspects. more..

Apr 20 (Island) Director General of Media Centre (MCNS) Lakshman Hulugalle says thousands of lives, particularly those of children, could have been saved had the LTTE stopped child recruitment in May 1998 in keeping with an unprecedented agreement with the UN. Hulugalle says had the parties to the bilateral agreement implemented it, the war wouldn�t have lasted till May, 2009. He said that those who now targeted Sri Lanka over more..

Apr 20 (Island) Co-Deputy Leader of the UNP Sajith Premadasa, MP, yesterday warned party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe that he wouldn�t keep quiet if the harassment of reformists continued. An irate Premadasa lashed out at the Wickremesinghe Camp for gunning for those who had supported his candidature for the post of the party leader. The Hambantota District MP warned that he would stand by his Reformist colleagues whatever more..

Apr 20 (ES) The Sri Lankan government and the cricket board have decided to stick to their decision of calling back national cricketers, playing in the IPL, by May 5. Early this month they had ordered the players to return to the country to prepare for the upcoming England tour. Though no meeting took place between the BCCI and SLC but Indian officials did speak to their Lankan counterparts on the matter and requested them to let more..

Apr 20 (LBO) Gold futures hit a new high of 1,500 US dollars an ounce amid concerns about the US currency and budget deficits, with one state passing a law to make gold and silver legal tender. Modern fully paper fiat money, which a central bank can pass to the population in unlimited quantities and generate high levels of inflation started in 1971 when the US dollar cut its last links to gold and floated its currency. more..

Apr 20 (GN) The Immigration and Refugee Board is probing whether a Tamil migrant who arrived in Canada last summer on the MV Sun Sea may have had a role in the shooting of dozens of detained Sri Lankan army soldiers at the end of a battle. Though the migrant testified that he didn't take part in the shooting, a key question arose about whether he may have directed subordinates to do so. more..

Apr 20 (DM) The UNP said today that the government should turn the UN report into a favorable one by implementing some of the recommendations made by the panel in their report. UNP Deputy Chairman Lakshman Kiriella told a news conference today that the government should follow Israel which adopted a similar approach when they were charged of war crimes after the conflict with the Hamas group. more..

Apr 20 (CI) Former Sri Lanka cricketers and administrators have reacted with caution to the appointment of Tillakaratne Dilshan as Sri Lanka captain for the upcoming tour of England following Kumar Sangakkara's resignation from the post. Dilshan, who was the top run-scorer in the World Cup, was named captain across all three formats and ended speculation over whether he or 23-year-old allrounder Angelo Mathews would be named as Sangakkara's successor. more..

Apr 20 (DM) The Director Board of Hotel Developers (Lanka) PLC�HDL (owners of Hilton Colombo) recently passed 20 years of annual audited accounts in a jiffy. Speaking to the Mirror business, the company�s single largest shareholder Cornel Perera said the company accounts are unacceptable. �Hilton is still mine. These accounts cannot be accepted, as the figures are incorrect. Accounts are heavily in favour of the government� Perera pointed out. more..

Apr 21 (IANS) India registered their first victory in the junior Davis Cup with a 3-0 win over Sri Lanka in the Asia-Oceania Junior Davis Cup at the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA) complex here Wednesday. Fatehdeep Singh put the hosts ahead in the first singles after rallying to pull off a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Sharmal Dissanayake in two hours. India's No.1 Shaik Abdullah then consolidated on the lead beating Nadarjah Nishangan 6-3, 6-2. more..

Apr 21 (AFP) Sri Lankan cricketers currently playing in the Indian Premier League will return home early to prepare for the upcoming England tour, new skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan said Wednesday. Dilshan is among 11 players who have been asked by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to return home by May 5, more than three weeks before the lucrative Twenty20 tournament ends. "Personally, I am not unhappy to return early," Dilshan told reporters. more..

Apr 21 (NN) A group of LTTE proxies who operate a so called �Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam� have declared May 18th as �National Mourning Day of Tamil Eelam� to remember the final days of the war in Mullivaaikkal. A statement by the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) said that a proposal regarding the day of Mourning first put forward to the Assembly of the TGTE as a Private Member�s Bill by Mrs Jeyamathy Sivasothy, was debated by the Assembly and, more..

Apr 21 (UCAN) Religious leaders from different faiths are protesting a UN report that alleges the Sri Lankan government committed war crimes in the final stage of the conflict against Tamil rebels two years ago. �While terrorists were attacking religious places and civilians, the UN did not talk about human rights violations,� said Father Sarath Hettiarachchi, co-chairman of Inter-religious Alliance for National Unity (IANU) today at the protest site in Colombo. more..

Apr 21 (AFP) Sri Lanka were forced Wednesday to leave out star fast bowler Lasith Malinga while also naming four uncapped players for the 16-member Test squad for the tour of England. Sri Lanka play three Tests, five one-dayers and one Twenty20 international during the tour starting on May 14. Malinga, who last played a Test in August last year, was in top form during the recent World Cup and is currently taking part in the Indian Premier League (IPL), more..

Apr 21 (DM) The Trial-at-bar in the White Flag case today allowed accused former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka till May 4 to re-consider on making a statement in court due to the current tension situation within the ountry. The Trial-at-bar Judges Ms. Deepali Wijesundera (President) W. T.M.P.B. Warawewa and M.Z. Razeen made this order on the defense following the submissions made by Senior Defense Counsel Nalin Ladduwahetty before the High Court. more..

Apr 21 (LBO) Sri Lankan shippers could see the cost of shipping goods to key markets rise as shipping lines are expected to follow Hanjin's recently announced rate hike with the peak season for cargo getting underway. Shipping lines on the main East-West trade route are struggling to raise rates to cope with rising oil prices and overcapacity caused by the deployment of bigger ships ordered before the global economic crisis. Hanjin Shipping last week announced a more..

Apr 21 (AFP) Sri Lanka's main opposition party urged the government to respond to United Nations allegations of war crimes by launching an immediate official investigation. The UNP demanded action over leaked parts of a UN report into alleged atrocities committed by Sri Lankan soldiers as the civil war against Tamil Tiger rebels came to an end in 2009. The report, commissioned by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, is to be officially released this week. more..

Apr 21 (LBO) Sri Lankan Airlines managed to sharply reduce losses in 2010 as revenue rose with a recovery in air travel and the end of a war increased tourist arrivals. The national carrier made an operating loss of 6,272 million rupees in 2010, down 49 percent from the previous year, according to the central bank. Revenue increased by 26.3 percent to 67,835 million rupees while the airline's operating cost increased by 12.4 percent to 74,107 million rupees. more..

Apr 21 (DM) While claiming that the United Nations should not complicate the process of reconciliation in war-battered Sri Lanka, Russia said that the report prepared by the panel of experts, appointed by the UN Secretary General is not a UN report, but it was a personal initiative of the UN Chief. �We speak not about a 'UN report', since it was prepared neither by a UN body or nor even by its request. It was just a personal initiative of the UN Secretary General�, more..

Apr 21 (IL) President Mahinda Rajapaksa who is on a three day official tour in Bangladesh visited the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhaka on Tuesday morning 19 April. The President paid a floral tribute to the Bangladesh founding leader, the late Bangabandhu Sheik Mujibur Rahuman�s statue erected in the museum, the house where the Father of the Bangladesh Nation lived most of his life until he was assassinated in a predawn military coup in 1975. more..

Apr 21 (AD) The report on Sri Lanka which was submitted by the UN Expert Panel appointed by the General Secretary Ban Ki Moon was prepared under the influence of bribes by LTTE sympathizers according to the National Freedom Front Leader, Minister Wimal Weerawansa. He claimed that according to information that has been received, the LTTE supporting Tamil Diaspora had bribed the members of the panel using LTTE funds. The Minister added that the UN had anticipated that more..

Apr 21 (NN) The army has unearthed an attempt by an organized group in Jaffna to create a false image of the security situation in the country especially in the north and east. According to the military, the group had been carrying out a clandestine operation, pretending to be members of the security forces, in order to seek asylum in foreign countries as refugees and also in order to extend the Refugee status of a majority of the Tamil Diaspora. �In the latest incident, more..

Apr 21 (IL) President Mahinda Rajapaksa returned to Sri Lanka today (Wednesday) on 20 April after a three day State visit to Bangladesh. President returned with sacred hair relics (Kesha Dhathu) of the Lord Buddha given by Bangladesh. The sacred relics will be deposited at the Hunupitiya Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo from 6.00 pm today. Responding to a request made by the Sri Lankan President, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina agreed to release the more..

Apr 21 (DM) These notes on radicalism, based on our Budun Wahanse�s Charter on Free Inquiry, the Kalama Sutta, are based on certain assumptions about the creature under consideration, namely the radical. The �radical� relevant to this discussion is one endowed with integrity and an aversion to sloth. He/she would not shove into footnote, �superstructure� and other convenient dismissal-categories such as imponderable and externality that which doesn�t fit theory but more..

Apr 21 (DM) Following statement is sent by Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha in reply to Dr Paikiyasothy Saravanamuttu�s article appeared on Daily Mirror page 9, April 19. I am writing in response to criticism of me contained in Dr Saravanamuttu�s article in your newspaper this morning, arising from some reports in Sunday Leader. His main criticism is that I took no action on the note about Sarath Fonseka I was given at the British High Commission, which he reports without adding more..

Apr 21 (Cimic) Another mega show that presented a fine blend of Tamil and Sinhalese music, organized by the Security Forces Headquarters-Jaffna (SF-J) together with DAN TV, thrilled many thousands of music lovers gathered at Muththawali grounds in the middle of the city on Sunday evening. Jaffna people got an exclusive opportunity to enjoy their favourite songs of both languages be sung on one stage continuously more than four hours. more..

Apr 21 (LG) Can there be development in the modern context without law? This is a relevant question in today�s context where is lot of talk of development on one hand but where there is lawlessness in the country. Can development and lawlessness co-exist? In answering this question it is better to have a glance at the 19th Century, as the modern economy and law both started during this time. Sri Lanka�s modernization began during this century when it was a British colony. more..

Apr 21 (LG) At a surprise meeting held in a public hall in Manor Park, East London, on April 15, 2011 prominent Tamils of diverse views met and decided to put aside their differences and come together to remember the genocide against their community in Sri Lanka in the week leading to 19 May 2011. Members belonging to those espoused the cause of the LTTE and those opposed came to the common forum and decided that the week leading to May 19, must a week to more..

Apr 21 (NS) The new Central Fish Market in Peliyagoda, which would most likely be called the Peliyagoda Malu Kade soon, is back in the limelight after being opened by President Mahinda Rajapaksa barely two weeks ago. The sprawling new complex, going through the usual teething problems associated with such large projects, was highlighted in the media again over an extortion attempt by certain individuals and when The Nation visited the more..

Apr 21 (LG) Cyber Terrorism defines our times. It has brought seismic changes to the way we approach terrorism. This is because global and national reliance placed on cyberspace for the development and sustenance of human interaction will continue to grow in the years to come and with that continued development will come ominous threats and daunting challenges from cyber terrorism. Cyber terrorism has the advantage of anonymity, which in turn enables the hacker to obviate checkpoints or more..

Apr 21 (LG) I keep thinking about the leaked UN Report on Sri Lanka and I compare with Wikileaks. In both instances the information does not come through Due Official Processes but only the final �outcomes� have been taken out for discussion, acceptance or rejection. It has been stated in �The Island� newspaper that UN deputy spokesman Mr. Farhan Haq had said �Whenever we share a communication with a member state there is an understanding that it will not be leaked�. more..

Apr 21 (FT) In tandem with growing affluence and sophistication, more Sri Lankans are doing their payments via both credit and debit cards despite the base of the former dipping. Value of transactions of credit and debit cards via the payments systems last year amounted to a record Rs. 91 billion, up 20% or Rs. 15 billion over 2009. Payments via credit cards, the larger of the two forms, had grown by 15.4% to Rs. 75 billion in 2010 whereas it had dipped by 11% to more..

Apr 21 (Island) It is being asked both locally and internationally how on earth The Island has secured a copy of the Moon Panel Report. That, however, is not the question to be posed to us, we reckon. We should be asked how we predicted the conclusions and recommendations contained in that flawed report even before the so-called advisory panel started its work. Ratner, Darusman and Sooka were handpicked to carry out a contract for some western governments and more..

Apr 21 (DM) Alea jacta est. As we have pointed out in our earlier editorials, it is rather saddening that a certain �image� had been formed about everything of Sri Lanka in the eyes of the world. When the ICC Cricket World Cup started former Sri Lankan cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga made an appeal requesting the Elections Commissioner to postpone Local Government elections in districts where World Cup venues had been located. We said that it was a shame on our society that more..

Apr 21 (FT) Achieving another remarkable milestone, Sri Lanka tourism welcomed the 250,000th tourist at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) yesterday. A team of tourism officials headed by Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau (SLTPB) Acting Managing Director Malraj Kiriella welcomed the guest, Ronke Noordhuis, who arrived here with his family on the QR 302 flight from Doha at 5:15 p.m. Noordhuis, a Dutch national working as a more..