July 20 (Island) A petroleum shipment that has arrived in Colombo might take a record time to unload due to the pipeline from the harbour to Kolonnawa being full of leaks, a senior official said. The unloading of the 27,000 tonne shipment might require as much as six to seven days as it is being done very slowly to minimize the spillage. This is likely to lead to the CPC having to pay demurrage to the vessel as well owing to the delay in unloading. more..

July 20 (LB) The Convenor of the RWRPPU, Sumathipala Manawadu says that the railway tracks and other material assets costing over Rs.150 million that were removed to reconstruct the new Galle-Matara railway line should be accounted for, to the country, by the officials of the Ministry of Transport. These trade unions say that the money set apart for the construction of the new railway line could have been used to buy at least 25 engines at a time when more..

July 20 (DM) The FUTA said yesterday that the academics were not satisfied with the outcome of the discussions held between FUTA members and govt officials on Monday and added that they would continue the trade union action until their demands were met. Following a meeting held with members, FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri said that they had put forward three main demands to be met by the govt before they accepted the govt's interim proposals more..

July 20 (DM) Lack of transparency in the Executive has led to many problems in the country, said former chief justice Sarath N. Silva yesterday He alleged that there was no openness or transparency in the Executive. �Though the activities of the legislature and the judiciary are accessible to the public, the Executive acts in a secret manner,� he said. The former chief justice said that the lack of the right to access public information had strengthened the arm of the Executive. more..

July 20 (WSJ) When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Chennai today, both United States and Indian officials will be eager to emphasize the robust commercial and people-to-people ties that increasingly bind America to one of India's most dynamic regions. The consulate in Chennai issues more skilled temporary worker visas than any other U.S. outpost in the world. Tamil Nadu, the state of which Chennai is the capital, houses a flourishing Ford Motor factory, and more..

July 20 (DM) The Viharamahadevi flower exhibitors will soon become the Waters Edge flower exhibitors after Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa recently permitted the exhibitors to use a section of the Waters Edge premises bordering Parliament Road in Battaramulla as their new location. The move came after flower exhibitors complained that they were in need of a new location to exhibit flowers after being requested to vacate more..

July 20 (LBO) Sri Lanka has revived cargo transport into Colombo port by rail after a lapse of four decades with a shipment of export containers by SG Logistics, part of the newly listed Expolanka Holdings group. Niroza Gazzali, chief executive of SG Logistics, said they were working closely with Sri Lanka Railway to transport cargo to the port by rail in future which would reduce delays and pollution caused by trucking. more..

July 20 (Island) Some serious last minute haggling is delaying the US $500 million first terminal of the new Colombo South Harbour with final agreements, which should have been signed by at least March this year, yet remaining in limbo. In terms of the Letter of Intent issued to the winning consortium, headed by China Merchant Holdings last September, the final agreements should have been signed within six months. more..

July 20 (Island) Rupees 2.3 billion has been squandered on importing sub standard petrol, but nearly two months later the govt was yet to commence a proper investigation into the fiasco, the UNP said. UNP MP Tissa Attanayake, said that tax payers� money had been wasted due to gross negligence on the part of the authorities, but Minister Susil Premajayanth was still refusing to accept the blame. more..

July 20 (NN) The Head of Amnesty International, United Nations Office, Jose Luis Diaz, met with the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Dr. Palitha Kohona, to initiate a dialogue on issues relating to Sri Lanka, particularly those arising from the screening of the Channel-4 video. This contact followed the comments made by Permanent Representative, Ambassador Palitha Kohona and Deputy Permanent Representative, more..

July 20 (DM) The government yesterday opposed the controversial hedging deal being raised in Parliament by the opposition as a question under the Standing Order 23-2. As usual, JVP MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake rose to his feet to raise this issue in the House soon after the oral question time. Then, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva raised objections saying that a matter, now pending before an international court of law, could not be debated or discussed in Parliament. more..

July 21 (DM) The UNP today requested the Commissioner of Elections Mahinda Deshapriya to be firm in upholding the law at the coming Local Govt election. UNP Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya said that the Election Commissioner should be bold in taking steps with regard to the election laws. �Laws should be upheld from the nomination day until the results are declared,� he said. He made this point by stating that the election laws are being blatantly violated during this Local Govt election. more..

July 21 (DM) Rizana Nafeek who is in death row in Saudi Arabia is awaiting a pardon from the Saudi family concerned, contacts her parents in Sri Lanka every month, a Saudi based Sri Lankan doctor who is the only person allowed to see Rizana said yesterday. Dr. Kibaya Isthikar hailing from Kandy and based in Saudi Arabia is on holiday in Sri Lanka now. She said that protest campaigns against the Saudi Arabian Govt demanding a pardon for Rizana might have a negative effect on her release. more..

July 21 (IPS) Monthly �visiting hours� at the female ward of Sri Lanka�s notorious Welikada Prison are as traumatic for the inmates as they are for their family and friends. A tiny room, measuring 10 feet by seven feet, is divided in half by a mesh counter. On one side, mothers, fathers, children and relatives jostle for standing room. On the other the inmates, in white prison clothes, shout to be heard over the din. This monthly ordeal is emblematic of more..

July 21 (NN) Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa announced today that the hedging issue can be discussed in parliament. The govt had yesterday objected to moves by the opposition to raise the issue during parliament proceedings. Govt MP Nimal Siripala Silva had said that the hedging issue cannot be discussed in parliament as the matter is before a court. However JVP MP Anura Kumara Dissanaike said that the issue can be discussed as a case on the hedging deal is now only before an international court more..

July 21 (DM) Sri Lanka Cricket Interim Committee which meets today will discuss the alleged malpractices committed by the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Umpires Committee when selecting the nominees for the International Cricket Council (ICC) umpires panel. SLC Interim Committee Chairman Upali Dharmadasa confirmed that he has received several written complaints regarding the process of selections. �We will take this matter up at the IC meeting tomorrow. I feel, if what more..

July 21 (LBO) Sri Lanka has launched a sovereign bond to raise a billion dollars from global capital markets, with a 'book building' process starting with Asian fund managers, financial sources said. The process of 'book building' or taking orders from fund managers starts as Asian markets open and moves to Europe as the day extends and concludes in the US. Govt officials connected to the bond are under US 'radio silence' rules. more..

July 21 (LBO) Sri Lanka's Ministry of Industry & Commerce will provide free consultancy services to 10 companies to help them improve environmental management systems under a 'green' initiative to meet requirements of foreign buyers. "Going green is the future for our industries," said Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce. The ministry will help industries with free consultancy to acquire the ISO 14001 certification on environment management, more..

July 21 (LT) Propaganda campaign for �Api Wawamu � Rata Nagamu- (Let�s grow and develop the country) programme from 2008 to now has cost Rs.34.2 million says the Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene. Responding to a question posed today (20) in Parliament by the DNA Parliamentarian Ajith Kumara the Minister further said the propaganda campaign for the programme in 2008,2009 and 2010 has cost Rs.808 million, Rs.577 million and Rs.100 million respectively. more..

July 21 (LBO) Sri Lanka is seeing a peace dividend in the form of lower interest rates, taxes, inflation and higher capital expenditure after a 30-year war ended, Treasury secretary P B Jayasundera said. He said defence expenditure which was about 5.0 percent of gross domestic product during the war years, has now dropped to 3.0 percent. "We managed the budget under stress, because the country was at war," Jayasundera told members of the more..

July 21 (GDI) Minister Basil Rajapaksa inaugurated the provincial Road Development project of Sri Lanka's Southern Province Galle District today (20). Theproject is launched by the Southern provincial Council with funding from the Ministry of Economic Development under 2011 budget proposal. A stretch of 310 Kms of the provincial Roads is to be developed and carpeted in Galle district under this Programme and total cost of this project is Rs. million 3100. more..

July 21 (DM) A youth alleged to have sexually harassed a woman by sending obscene picture messages through Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) to her mobile phone was remanded till August 1 by the Colombo Fort Magistrate today. The woman, a resident of Colombo 2 had complained to the Slave Island police that an anonymous caller had repeatedly harassed her by sending obscene MMS messages in sexually explicit and offensive language. The victim had further complained that more..

July 21 (PTI) US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday voiced concern over the plight of Internally Displaced Persons in Sri Lanka and said United States was looking at some innovative and creative ideas to break the impasse over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue. Hillary, who called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at the secretariat in Chennai, told her that US was looking at enabling Sri Lankan Tamils in camps get back to their own homes. more..

July 21 (LBO) SriLankan Airlines plans to extend its floatplane services to the island's east coast where new resorts are being developed as a tourism boom continues after the end of a war. The national airline's subsidiary, SriLankan Air Taxi, will also spread its wings to destinations in the north, which like the east, is recovering from the effects of war, officials said. New domestic air services to Arugam Bay, a surfing spot on the east coast, more..

July 21 (NN) The US govt says Sri Lanka has been successful in its efforts to resettle a large number of war displaced people in the island�s north and east. The US Ambassador in Sri Lanka Patricia Butenis told reporters in Colombo today that thanks to the efforts of the Sri Lankan army and Sri Lankan and international demining organizations, large swaths of the north and east of the country are now cleared of mines. She was speaking at a ceremony at the US embassy more..

July 21 (DM) The CID informed Colombo Chief Magistrate that the LTTE Vavuniya Political Wing Leader Thamalini, was taken to the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) from the prison in a lawful manner on the orders of a Magistrate to investigate into another inquiry conducted by the TID. The CID made this disclosure in respect of the order made by Colombo Chief Magistrate Rashmi Singappuli on considering a complaint made by the suspect�s more..

July 21 (IC) Former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara did not meet with Patricia A. Butenis, the US ambassador to Sri Lanka, on Monday. The Sinhala-language Divaina newspaper reported that Sangakkara allegedly met with ambassador Butenis on July 18, and stated that all attempts to contact Sangakkara to verify if the meeting actually took place had failed. Island Cricket learns that the former captain was visiting the southern coastal towns of Seenigama and Galle on charity work from more..

July 21 (AFP) Sri Lanka�s first Twenty20 tournament, which promised initially to rival the hugely popular Indian Premier League (IPL), begins Thursday amid doubts about its interest even for domestic cricket fans. The Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) was originally modelled on the Indian version and was seen as a way of bringing in profits for the cash-strapped Sri Lanka cricket administration. The aim was to hire top cricket stars from India, Australia, South Africa and more..

July 21 (RNW) First a damning UN report accused both sides in the country�s 30-year civil war of atrocities � a claim the current government refutes categorically. Then in June Britain�s Channel 4 broadcast a devastating account of the closing weeks of the conflict in 2009 � at this time, the programme said, the Sri Lankan military systematically murdered thousands of civilians. Colombo says the evidence is �fabricated�. more..

July 21 (DM) The Department of Registration of Persons which is under the purview of the Defence Ministry said today that they are accepting completed application forms from Muslim males who are either students of Arabic Colleges or Ulamas, for national identity cards (NICs), with their photographs showing them wearing skull caps. This decision had been taken after a meeting with Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs Director Y. L. M. Navavi, the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama�s (ACJU) more..

July 21 (AFP) Sri Lanka on Wednesday announced its one-day and T20 squad for Australia's tour of the island next month, but stopped short of naming a skipper. Tillakaratne Dilshan, who was named captain for the just concluded tour of England, was included in the 20-man squad scheduled to play five ODIs and two Twenty20 games against Australia. They will also play three Tests, but the squad for the longer version of the game was not announced. more..

July 21 (DM) This weekend in the North as well as in some other parts of the country, polls to local govt bodies would be held. Generally it is impossible for govts in power to lose the local elections, dependent as such bodies are on government patronage, which a politically aware, Sri Lankan electorate knows only too well. Turnout also will not be high, as interest is low, though this opens the opportunity for election malpractices in the later part of the day, as the poll progresses. more..

July 21 (LG) Each generation has its own challenges. Not long ago the great challenge was to dispel the foreign invader and to claim our land as our own. Today we face a far different challenge, which is, to become our own. Today�s challenge is a societal one. We are call upon to develop our own collective will for development of societal arrangements within which each individual can claim that his or her society as in reality their own, that in a basic sense we belong to each other. more..

July 21 (Cimic) Ten houses built by Army personnel for newly resettled families at Keeramalai were handed over to respective recipients by His Excellency the President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday. Later, Hon President inspected those houses walking in and around the houses. He also went into the old houses finished using cadjan and tin sheets, and spoke to people who were resettled a few weeks ago. The area earlier came under the HSZ and more..

July 21 (LG) Recent communications in the electronic and print media in relation to Chronic Renal Failure (CRF), and arsenic highlighted a number of issues which need the attention of the public and the relevant authorities. 1. CRF, also called Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown etiology (CKDUE) is widespread in the North Central Province, part of North Western and Uva provinces. This disease is characterized by a slow, progressive, asymptomatic development. more..

July 21 (LG) I have to postpone my discussion on Arsenic and related topics as it is felt that the thirteenth amendment to the constitution needs immediate attention. As usual India and west are engaged in arm twisting exercises over the thirteenth amendment especially over police and land distribution powers. In any problem it is desirable, not scientific for anybody�s sake, to go to the origin of the problem though we may be repeating ourselves for the umpteenth time. more..

July 21 (DM) In July 1983, I was working in a Middle Eastern country. When I heard about the anti-Tamil riots in Sri Lanka, I was aware of a catastrophe, even though I was too politically immature then to grasp the full nature of the tragedy and its implications for Sri Lanka in the years to come. My sympathies for the victims were heartfelt and deep. In 1983, though, I was a very na�ve, well-meaning Sinhala Buddhist young man who believed that more..

July 21 (LG) Professor Karthigesu Sivathamby, B.A. Cey., M.A. (Tamil) Cey., Ph.D. (Drama in Ancient Tamil Society) Birmingham, a giant of our times has passed away. In general people abroad are full of praise for him. The Hindu declared him "an outstanding Tamil scholar, specialising in the social and literary history of Tamils, culture and communication among Tamils, Tamil drama and literary criticism" and pointed to his authoring about 70 books and 200 research papers in more..

July 21 (GV) Since the nation�s much-celebrated war victory, countless references have been made of our potential to become the Wonder of Asia. Is this mere hyperbole? Do we really have what it takes to become a prosperous, modern nation on par with emerging Asian superpowers like Singapore and Malaysia? Seneviratne�s candid response to this question is: �We are on our way to Zimbabwe, not Singapore.� � Prof. H. L. Seneviratne, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at more..