July 17 (ST) The ongoing probe on the import of contaminated fuel by the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) from the Singapore-based Emirates National Oil Company, is baring some startling details. Independent inspectors at the port of loading had declared that the stock of oil purchased from Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC did not conform to CPC standards. Yet, the CPC�s Deputy Commercial Manager had directed that it be loaded. more..

July 17 (LB) The UNP and the JVP are in a tussle to coax wife of former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, Anoma Fonseka, to come forward as their Mayoral candidate for the CMC. �The JVP had asked Anoma Fonseka to campaign for them some time back and getting wind of this the UNP also made approaches. However if she does come forward and support a party, it is most likely to be the JVP,� one source said. JVP MP Vijitha Herath however claimed that this was merely a rumour, more..

July 17 (AN) An Indian social service organization based in Riyadh on Saturday offered to help a distressed Sri Lankan maid find her way home. Sri Lankan maid Nawaz Dawood Sifana, 25, had run away from her Saudi sponsor�s home seven months ago. After her employer complained, police arrested and detained her in Malaz jail for four months until three months ago, when she was transferred to a deportation camp in Riyadh. Sifana�s father is a Sri Lankan citizen, while her mother is from more..

July 17 (LB) A London court has effectively dismissed attempts by CPC to blame Sri Lanka�s controversial oil hedging deals on just two officials - former chairman Ashantha de Mel and deputy general manager Lalith Karunaratne. London High Court Judge Justice Hamblen�who presided over Standard Chartered Bank vs CPC�decided last week that CPC owes the international bank over US$162 million in defaulted dues linked to a hedging agreement. more..

July 17 (SL) The US$ 30 million World Bank (WB) project to develop the country�s wildlife sector which was lost due to Finance Ministry (FM) bungling may yet be revived under a new WB project to develop South Asia�s wildlife sector. The regional project currently covers Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh, with the possibility of inveigling in India. The local FM has admitted that they had made a mistake and asked whether the project for Sri Lanka could be revived, it�s learnt. more..

July 17 (ST) The man who admitted to the Kahawatte killings, was an army deserter of the same village, who was mentally disturbed and liked seeing blood, investigators have found out. The 21-year-old father of one was arrested on a tip-off by a member of the regional Civil Defence Force (CDF) last Thursday, three weeks after he allegedly butchered his last victim on June 19 on Opeta-Kahawatte estate. According to police, he was most forthcoming in admitting to killing two women, more..

July 17 (ST) Two years after the military defeat of Tiger guerrillas, both Sri Lankans and the govt are reaping some peace dividends. The biggest dividend for Sri Lankans is the confidence to move without fear of bomb explosions that had caused loss of lives and limbs. To the govt, which quite rightly took the credit for that transition after two and half decades of war and violence, priding itself for development activity and pledging to provide a more..

July 17 (SL) The Human Rights Commission (HRC) is unable to inquire into 2,000 complaints received due to the lack of funds to operate the Commission, a member of the HRC Prof. Ananda Mendis said. The Presidential Secretariat has already been informed about the matter in writing. The financial crisis has resulted in delays in inquiring into complaints, recruiting officers to the HRC�s regional offices and moving into a new office. more..

July 17 (SO) The Govt of Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has granted Rs. 1.4 billion to construct five bridges in the Eastern Province in Sri Lanka. The Cabinet has granted approval to the project proposal forwarded by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to construct the bridges on the Peradeniya- Badulla-Chenkaladi road (A-O5), one on the Batticaloa- Tirikkondiadimadu -Trincomalee road (A015). The Govt is to contribute Rs.530 million for the project. more..

July 17 (ST) Despite the antipathy towards Sri Lanka by the present British government, its Defence Minister Liam Fox took time off to come to Colombo last Saturday to deliver the fifth Lakshman Kadirgamar oration. It was held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute with a crowded audience. Fox is, perhaps, the only British Cabinet minister who could be termed as a good friend of Sri Lanka. more..

July 17 (ST) Fresh attempts by the Elections Commissioner to implement election regulations in the run up to next Saturday�s local polls have failed, with a circular issued by the polls chief being openly violated, opposition parties charged. New Elections Commissioner General Mahinda Deshapriya set out guidelines in accordance with the election laws and dispatched them to all ministries, more..

July 17 (SO) Arrangements have been made to ensure a free and fair poll to elect 875 members to 65 local bodies on Saturday, July 23, Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said yesterday. A total of 5,688 candidates are contesting the poll at which 2,630,985 voters are eligible to cast their votes at 2,226 polling booths, said Commissioner Deshapriya. more..

July 17 (SO) US congressman Heath Shuler in an open letter to his fellow colleagues in the House of Representatives has emphasized that the US future policy towards Sri Lanka should be focused on supporting the country�s reconciliation efforts and engagement with the US. The member for North Carolina and a member of the Steering and Policy Committee, Shuler, more..

July 17 (LB) An estimated 40,000 quack doctors are reportedly practicing in the country, and in view of the numerous complaints received from the public, the Minister Maithripala Sirisena has ordered the inspection unit at the ministry to nab these persons who are fraudulently practicing medicine. Doctors who pass their final exams have to undergo a period of internship at govt hospitals after more..

July 17 (ST) The Ministry of Sports will lay the foundation stone for a fully fledged international sports stadium in Killinochchi next Wednesday. The upcoming sports complex which boasts to have three separate grounds is estimated to complete at a cost of Sri Lankan rupees 325 million. The complex will be able to hold practice sessions of all sports importantly cricket, rugby, football and athletics. more..

July 17 (NS) The progressive decimation of Sri Lanka�s bio diversity was a cause for serious concern, observed Professor Kotegama. Speaking on �Preserving our Bio Diversity� at a workshop last week, Prof. Kotagama said, �We are losing our bio diversity and it�s a major issue. Today, plants and animals are the third largest illegal trade in the world. Before we go to conservation we should understand what bio diversity is.� more..

July 17 (Island) Contrary to earlier utterances by the authorities that they would introduce a new pension scheme for the private sector employees after the first bill had to be withdrawn hastily due to JVP sponsored protests led to the killing of a Katunayake Export Processing Zone employee last month and threatened to create havoc in the industrial sector, the govt now says it has dropped the proposal completely. more..

July 17 (ST) Sri Lanka lost a crucial verdict in London vis-�-vis the Standard Chartered Bank case (SCB) for denied payments from the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) over controversial oil hedging deals but political analysts say even more damaging was a statement by former SCB CEO in Colombo, Clive Haswell. Mr Haswell, at the centre of the controversy with SCB senior officer Rukshan Dias, in a statement to the British court has in the �overview of more..

July 17 (ST) Could this be termed as the biggest betrayal of Sri Lanka cricket in its annals? The Sunday Times learns that the much taunted Sri Lanka Premier League tournament will bring more harm to the Lankan game�s future than any gain. Firstly it is learned that the SLC�s agreement with the Somerset Entertainment is in violation of the SLC�s constitution. more..

July 18 (ST) There will be no inquiry into a complaint lodged with the police that Galle district MP Nishantha Muthuhettigama had made abusive remarks against the officer in charge of a southern police station. Senior Deputy IGP (Administration) Gamini Nawaratna said the IGP, N. K. Illangakoon, had received a complaint to this effect, but there was no decision to hold an inquiry. �This Member of Parliament has made similar remarks before, and we were not surprised,� he said. more..

July 18 (Xinhua) At least 36 prisoners in Vavuniya have begun a hunger strike, officials said Sunday. Official said the protest action began with just four inmates later expanded with more joining them who want the legal process expedited or release from prison. Commissioner General of Prisons V.R. de Silva said their cases are currently being considered by the Attorney General. He said the prison authorities are helpless to accede to the protesting inmates' action as more..

July 18 (CI) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have confirmed that the DRS will be used in the upcoming home series against Australia, contradicting earlier reports. Sri Lankan media had previously reported that a cash-crunched SLC was looking at saving money by not using the DRS, the technology for which is estimated to cost about US$ 5000 a day. Upali Dharmadasa, the SLC interim committee chairman, said: "The use of DRS is a priority for us, since the decision was taken during more..

July 18 (Hindu) Jammu and Kashmir Police have busted an international network of sapphire smugglers in Kishtwar district of the Jammu region with the arrest of three Sri Lankan nationals and their local accomplice. Senior Superintendent of Police Kishtwar Bhim Sen Tuti told The Hindu that the network was broken after the police acted on a tip-off that three Sri Lankan nationals had come to the area to smuggle out the world-famous sapphire extracted there. more..

July 18 (LBO) Sri Lanka's first expressway which is due to open later this month will have curbs on advertising to prevent drivers from being distracted, RDA chief R W Pemasiri said. "No construction will be permitted within 500 metres of expressway, without permission from the RDA," Pemasiri said. "No advertising billboards will be permitted in this area." He said there were concerns that advertising may distract drivers, increasing the risk of accidents. more..

July 18 (GDN) A manpower agency could be blacklisted after it failed to report the case of a housemaid who ended up in hospital after jumping from a second-floor building in Riffa. The Sri Lankan suffered leg, hip and spinal injuries as she tried to escape from her sponsor, who allegedly told her to strip naked and take a bath in front of some plumbers. Thushari Palkaherath, 27, filed a complaint at Hamad Town Police Station alleging mistreatment last month. more..

July 18 (DM) Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne said today country�s youth should be reintroduced to paddy cultivation so as to develop the agricultural sector in the country. He told a gathering at a ceremony that held to prepare a field for cultivation at Ranmulkaduwa fields in Gampola that �at a time when we wee trying to stand firmly as a nation to achieve our economic goals, economic development was a vital factor. We should understand the importance of agriculture. more..

July 18 (DM) Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said his country is already having a dialogue with Sri Lanka for a currency swap arrangement to strengthen trade and economic ties, the Express Tribune reported. President Zardari, who is on a visit to Iran proposed a currency swap agreement with Iran to strengthen trade and economic ties between the two countries. He said Pakistan was already in a dialogue process with Turkey, Sri Lanka and China for currency swap arrangements. more..

July 18 (BBC) A former official at Sri Lanka Cricket has told the BBC it signed a five-year deal allowing a foreign company to run Sri Lanka's Premier League. Nishantha Ranatunga, the former secretary of the cricket board, denied reports a 25-year deal had been struck. The former board of Sri Lanka Cricket, including Mr Ranatunga, was dismissed by the country's sports minister and a new interim administration is in place. more..

July 18 (LT) Many candidates of the ruling party are engaged in election violence and violations but the Commissioner of Elections or the Police are unable to control them says the General Secretary of the JVP Tilvin Silva. While his party contests the election without asking for preference votes or without any personal goals for its candidates the government is unleashing violence for their personal gains and to grab power said the General Secretary of the JVP. more..

July 18 (AD) The Ministry of Education is attempting to amend the Teaching Service Act without consulting the matter with teachers� trade unions, the Ceylon Teachers� Union (CTU) accused. Its General Secretary, Joseph Stalin states that bringing forth such amendments without proper discussion is incorrect. He claimed that there is an attempt to decrease the approved number of teachers to 197,279, from the current 213,694 teachers employed, through this amendment. more..

July 18 (MVN) Maldivian financial authorities are reportedly in negotiations with Sri Lanka to try and establish a currency swap mechanism in an effort to stabilise the value of the rufiya against the US dollar � a move opposition MPs claim is at best, a short-term relief. A deal between the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka was �in the pipeline� in order to try and create a system for more..

July 18 (AD) If the Petroleum Industries Minister is not willing to take responsibility for the import of substandard petrol then who should take responsibility, questions UNP MP Jayalath Jayawardana. Is it the public or the UNP who is responsible for this, he asked from the govt. He made this statements referring to an article in a newspaper in which Minister Susil Preamajayantha had stated that he was not responsible for the import of the controversial petrol. more..

July 18 (DM) Democratic Peoples Front (DPF) Leader Mano Ganesan had joined the TNA campaign for the local government election and had already addressed several meetings. Mr. Ganesan also hinted out the possibility of his party forming an alliance with the TNA in the future. �I will not rule out an alliance with the TNA in the future but at the moment we have not got into any alliance,� he said Mr. Ganesan explained that his party played a vital role in the UNF which he said is now defunct. more..

July 18 (NN) The TNA says it may pullout from contesting the upcoming local government elections in Jaffna if its members continue to face harassment and intimidation. TNA MP M.K Sivajilingham said that several TNA members had urged that the party withdraw from the polls but a final decision has not been taken. He said that if such intimidation and harassment of TNA members continue in Jaffna then the party will have to seriously consider withdrawing. more..

July 18 (LG) Leopards, as we all are perfectly aware of, happen to not only be dominant cats related closely to tigers, lions and jaguars, but are also graceful creatures and a perpetual supplementary asset to our forests. Perpetual, nevertheless, only if we protect them, or leastwise, refrain from destroying them. Nevertheless, the ongoing occurrences in present day Sri Lanka, quite often than not, are utterly contrast to the above fact. more..

July 18 (LG) It is understood President Mahinda Rajapakse will be campaigning in the Jaffna District soon to ensure the defeat of the TNA in the upcoming local elections. The TNA has convincingly won all elections in recent times where campaigning and the electoral process were relatively free and uninterfered with. This also inspite of the presence of the Govt Minister Douglas Devananda and his goons - no less the politicised army It is common knowledge the army is seen to be more..

July 18 (LG) This writer feels strongly that the print and electronic media in this country assumes perhaps that the local Thamil cultural activities do not deserve coverage, exposure and evaluation in the larger context of what could be termed "Sri Lankan Culture". In other words the assumption and conception seem to be that such �minority culture� is an alien one. To many Sri Lankan Culture means is only Sinhala culture whether the components are more..

July 18 (LG) V S Vasan is 64 years old and is father of five children. He claimed asylum in the UK with his wife and two children. He and his family members underwent harrowing experience in the war in Sri Lanka before migrating to the UK. His two children died in the ill-fated hijack of the Ethiopian plane that landed in the mid seas off Comoros Island in 1996. Vasan won the hearts and minds of many people for his hard work, commitment and honesty. Even at retirement, his friends from more..

July 18 (LG) When US Presdient Richard Milhaus Nixon summoned General Alexander Haig and asked whether he could obfuscate evidence of tapes he bugged he was hoping against hope his faith in his coterie of advisors would ward off public prosecution. That 18 and a half minute erasure of Watergate tapes would bring down the 37th President of the United States of America and earn him the name of traitor of the 20th century in the annals of US history. It took well over two years for more..

July 18 (TC) The Rajapaksas are determined to win the upcoming local government election in the North � by whatever means necessary. The Northern election season commenced on an ominous note: a very public attack on a TNA meeting by a group of soldiers. That outbreak of violence and the authorities� failure to apprehend the culprits set the tone for the Northern election campaign. Other incidents followed, ranging from the common or garden more..