Sept 2 (Island) The Government Medical Officers� Association (GMOA) has decided to withdraw its membership from the SLMC, if the latter grants the Malabe Private Medical School permission to register as legal entity in Sri Lanka. The GMOA yesterday accused the University Grants Commission of assisting the Malabe Private Medical College in getting legal recognition. The Malabe Private College medical degrees are not recognised by the SLMC. Some officials of the UGC were collaborating with more..

Sept 2 (DM) The Jaffna police headquarters said that they had apprehended six (6) persons on suspicion of attacking a bus filled with pilgrims from the south on Wednesday (31) in Jaffna Town. While these pilgrims were sleeping at a rest house in Jaffna in the night, a woman residing nearby had screamed that there was a grease devil among the pilgrims. This alerted the entire neighborhood, who surrounded the bus carrying poles and iron rods and began attacking the bus. more..

Sept 2 (DM) Laws will be introduced to make it a punishable offence to give corporal punishment at schools, children�s homes or at prisons. The laws would prevent prison authorities from treating prisoners in a manner that violated their rights. The November 2001 Education Ministry circular which requested teachers and principals not to use corporal punishment on errant students as a means of disciplining them had not brought the expected results. more..

Sept 2 (DM) President Mahinda Rajapaksa had held discussions with representatives of the construction sector, pottery and tile industry, importers of wood, and cement manufacturers at Temple Trees in order to seek their views in preparing the govt�s budgetary proposals for the coming year. These discussions were among a series of meetings that the President was to hold with the private sector in preparation of the 2012 Budget. Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa, more..

Sept 2 (DM) The Dambulla Economic Centre registered a drastic reduction in the quantity of vegetables and fruits that arrived yesterday because the traders feared they would be fined for not using plastic crates for packaging the food items. However Minister Johnston Fernando said traders would be given a three-month grace period and no fines would be imposed within that period. More than two million kilos of fruits and vegetables arrive daily at the Dambulla Economic Centre but yesterday it had gone down to 500,000 kilos. more..

Sept 2 (DM) A private jet hired by the CIA to transport terror suspects in rendition flights had touched down in Sri Lanka in 2003 during such a mission, an AFP news report from Washington said yesterday. The matter has come to light during a billing dispute in New York which has revealed details of secret CIA rendition flights that transported terror suspects around the world following the September 11 attacks. more..

Sept 2 (DM) Several UNP candidates who are contesting the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) expressed satisfaction over the manner in which candidates were chosen by the nomination board to contest the upcoming local govt elections. Sunil Vithanage who is in the fray said several people within the party who pushed for reforms had also been included in the list for the CMC. He said he was not subjected to discrimination at any point. Mr. Vithanage said if anyone within the more..

Sept 2 (DM) The Ministry of Education has requested the treasury to grant them an additional Rs 85 million for the importation of uniform material from China for distribution to students who had not been issued this year�s quota. The ministry had taken a decision to import the material from China for 2011 as it was found that procuring it locally was more costly. It was revealed that the non-provision of uniform material by local manufacturers despite their agreement had put more..

Sept 2 (SL) Yet another election of the Bar Association is looming ahead and the cutting edges are cutting away. And at the end of a load of rhetoric we shall yet again have the privilege of witnessing the pageantry of transfer of office and indeed being a part of it: and then we will all slump back into the now familiar gloom of despondency. The rumblings that the Bar has deteriorated in all aspects of its image are growing and growling. more..

Sept 2 (PTI) The daughter of Murugan, one of the three convicts on death row for their role in the killing of Rajiv Gandhi, on Thursday appealed to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to intervene and save her father. In a letter, Haritha, who is doing her second year in Biomedicine in Glasgow University, said, �I would like to specially thank Sonia Gandhi as she saved my mum before. I have lived without my parents for 20 years. more..

Sept 2 (LBO) Sri Lanka's securities regulator must curb widespread securities fraud in the Colombo Stock Exchange, where insider dealing, front-running and money laundering is "well known", an opposition lawmaker has said. His comments came after the regulator 'compounded', or agreed to a fine in place of prosecution as allowed by Sri Lanka's securities law, on a disclosure related offence against Environmental Resources Inc, more..

Sept 2 (DN) The entire programme line-up of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC), the national television has been changed. The new programme line-up Binara Peraliya (Change of September) begins from this month, SLRC chairman Mohan Samaranayake said. He said news will be presented in a new style. "The new programme line-up has been formulated to preserve Sri Lankan culture, especially the accurate use of language, to improve morals and ethics, to preserve social more..

Sept 2 (NN) In response to claims made by the Sri Lankan arm of Anonymous, the Computer Emergency and Readiness Team (CERT) said that no complaints have been made regarding the hacking of DNS servers of international websites. The Senior Information Engineer of CERT, Rohana Palliyaguru said that the hackers are merely trying to grab attention and that they have not had a serious effect on the websites listed nor on any local sites. more..

Sept 2 (DN) Religious activities will take pride of place at the 60th anniversary celebrations of the SLFP. The main ceremony to commemorate the party�s 60th anniversary will be held today at Temple Trees under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. An Anniversary Week was declared to celebrate the SLFP�s 60th anniversary from Aug 30 � Sept 5 and many programmes are to be launched during this period. more..

Sept 2 (Island) The Cabinet Sub Committee appointed to look into power shortages and natural resources will make sure of a smooth operation even during a crunch situation, the govt says. Senior Minister A.H.M. Fowzie, who heads this committee, said yesterday that its duty was to make sure that there would be an uninterrupted supply of power and natural resources at a time the country was heading into a crisis situation more..

Sept 2 (Island) The Sri Lanka Police Inspectors� Association is pushing for a new promotion scheme, which will give its members the option to retire after completing 22 years of service. A spokesperson said that the majority of its members didn�t want to stagnate in the service in the absence of a cohesive system to promote officers. Responding to a query, another official said that after a series of discussions the Inspectorate decided to more..

Sept 2 (DM) In the latest development over the continuing concern by India over the heavy Chinese involvement and presence in Sri Lanka, the Indian media quoting Indian govt sources alleged yesterday that a Chinese spy ship disguised as a fishing trawler which was tracked in the Indian Ocean recently by the Indian Navy had moved towards Sri Lanka and docked at the Colombo port. According to Indian media reports the ship was detected near the coast of Little Andaman. more..

Sept 2 (Xinhua) Increased demand from a booming construction industry in post war Sri Lanka has resulted in a severe cement shortage in the country. Projects are in danger of slowing down as private sector and the Sri Lankan government struggle to fill cement shortages in the country's 2.2 billion U.S. dollar industry. Last month the government ordered imports to offset the shortage but the cement is yet to be released into the market after more..

Sept 3 (KT) On May 26 and 27, 2009, the UNHRC held a special session on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka and passed a resolution in favour of the island nation. It was a week after the defeat of the LTTE by govt forces after three decades of bitter battle. The resolution passed with 29 votes in favour, 12 against, and 6 abstentions did not only applaud the Sri Lankan govt�s victory over terrorism, but focused to a great extent on the abuses committed by the deadly LTTE. more..

Sept 3 (AA) To most Sri Lankans, Anna Hazare�s name would be unfamiliar, his Jan Lokpal Bill even more so. But the veteran social activist�s marathon fast did have an (unintended) effect on Sri Lanka. India�s preoccupation with the Hazare crisis turned the much-hyped discussion of the Lankan issue in the Rajya Sabha into a damp squib. In the electric atmosphere of the fast, the problems of Lankan Tamils would have seemed rather distant and insignificant to most Indian parliamentarians. more..

Sept 3 (BBC) An opposition MP in Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka says many people there are in a state of panic and afraid to go out at night because of the security forces� behaviour. Reports say the police and army beat up 20 people when taking action against a crowd who had been chasing some strangers they accused of acting suspiciously. Many areas of the island are now gripped by fear of suspicious attackers and intruders, who are being more..

Sept 3 (Himal) 'On one wicked day, son. One wicked day! Merciless rain will ram the egoistic soil of this arrogant mountain and the rocks will break free! And the beastly boulder on the left will dash down the mountain�and crush six of these houses to one big and flat godhamba rotti.� The �mad� professor stood outside Bassa�s kitchen and spoke looking straight into Bassa�s eyes. Till the utterance of these words Bassa�s eyes had been as empty as a cheap novel, well defended by more..

Sept 3 (LBO) The state-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is to provide medical insurance for its employees with the cost borne by the authority which is hugely overstaffed and lost money last year. The SLPA has signed a deal with the National Insurance Trust Fund (NITF) to provide a "comprehensive Medical Insurance Scheme" for its permanent employees from September 01, 2011. "The annual premium for each permanent employee will be paid by the SLPA and more..

Sept 3 (CI) Ryan Harris bowled Australia to within sight of victory on the third day in Galle, but a fighting half-century from Mahela Jayawardene ensured the match would spill into the fourth day. Sri Lanka needed 379 to win, which would be their highest Test chase, but on a wearing pitch they had little chance of a miracle and by stumps they were teetering at 120 for 5 on another day that was dominated by the Australians. more..

Sept 3 (LBO) Sri Lanka's stock market remained stagnant Friday after two big deals sent indices and turnover up sharply Thursday, brokers said. The main All Share Price Index closed at 6,950.61, down 0.01 percent while the more liquid Milanka index fell 0.07 percent to close at 6,297.12, according to stock exchange figures. Turnover was three billion rupees. Hayleys, a conglomerate in which its deputy chairman Dhammika Perera Thursday increased his stake by more..

Sept 3 (DM) The Colombo city traffic police have initiated an awareness programme for the public to educate the public on the importance of using zebra crossings when crossing the road. In a an attempt to limit jay walking the police carried out the awareness program in Colombo today to ensure pedestrians cross the road only at zebra crossings and overhead bridges. Police said that the programme to create awareness among the public will continue for a considerable time period and more..

Sept 3 (AP) The first national survey on Sri Lanka's wild elephants shows that the Indian Ocean island has a population of more than 5,500. That is higher than previous official estimates. Wildlife Minister S.M. Chandrasena said that the three-day survey last month revealed there are 5,879 elephants in the country's forests. The figure includes 122 tuskers and 1,107 calves. Previous population estimate was 5,350. more..

Sept 3 (DM) An environmentalist, who had reported that a rare species of fish had been spotted along the Mahaweli River at Warathenna in Kandy where a private hydro power project had been constructed, said today that some unidentified elements were trying to cause trouble for him. The rare species of fish known as Labeo Fisheri and also called the �Gadaya� was believed to be extinct for several years up until recently when it was rediscovered during blasting at a hydro power project in more..

Sept 3 (PTI) Jubilant FoodWorks, which operates Domino's Pizza chain, today announced its entry into the Sri Lankan market with the opening of its first store in Colombo. "Expansion to Sri Lanka is an integral part of our regional growth plans. Sri Lanka presents a good growth opportunity for our brand," Jubilant FoodWorks CEO Ajay Kaul said. The company said in Sri Lanka it would focus on Pizza home delivery services besides offering all day dine-in option to consumers at the store. more..

Sept 3 (GDI) Four Sri Lankan companies are ranked among the top 200 Asia-Pacific corporations in Forbes Asia�s �Best Under a Billion� list for this year. While conducting the survey, Forbes had looked for companies in the Asia- Pacific that reflected both sales and earnings growth during the world economic turmoil. The companies across the whole region were screened for earnings growth, sales growth and return on equity in the past 12 months, and over 3 years. more..

Sept 3 (ES) Former Sri Lankan bowler, Chaminda Vaas, has signed a one-year contract to remain with Northamptonshire for the 2012 season. The 37-year-old, who has over 750 first-class wickets to his name, was thrilled to re-sign and now looks forward to playing a vital role in the county's bid for promotion. He said: "I'm very happy and I'm looking forward to another season with Northants. "I feel I've done really well and I can't wait for another brilliant season next year. more..

Sept 3 (TOI) If 'delay' in disposing a mercy petition is taken as the ground to commute the death penalty of those convicted of heinous crimes, it will have a bearing on the fate of 21 people on the death row, whose pleas have been pending for over five to 10 years. Asking for the Centre's reply, the Madras high court on Tuesday observed that there had been a delay of over 11 years in the disposal of the petitions filed by the three convicts in more..

Sept 3 (CI) Heavy overnight rain and lighter stuff on the third morning meant that play did not start until 12.10 pm. Before then the groundstaff were delayed by a handful of damp spots on the pitch, where water had seeped through the cover. They were evened out by the rather novel use of a hair-dryer, which was applied in small circular motions to the patches of moisture with the help of one of those industrial length power cords that allow the toss and pitch report to be televised. more..

Sept 3 (BBC) A crucial project to reunite family members separated in the last phase of Sri Lanka's civil war is being expanded, the United Nations Children's Fund, Unicef, says. The programme, run in co-operation with the government, began in late 2009 months after the end of the war. Although progress has been slow, it has succeeded in reuniting a number of children with their families. Hundreds are still missing and many adults are also unaccounted for. more..

Sept 3 (BBC) A court in Sri Lanka has ordered the police to further remand in custody a Christian priest accused of sexually abusing four underage girls. Colombo magistrate rejected an appeal by the lawyers representing Rev Rodney Oliver Pereira, a Paster and the caretaker of the Harvest Children�s Home in Ja-Ela. The National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) in a report to the court said the investigation began after a tip-off that the suspect has more..

Sept 3 (LT) The real intention of the attempt by the govt to bring 6 universities in Sri Lanka to international level was revealed yesterday (1). This was when the Minister S.B. Dissanayake had a discussion with several dons of relevant universities. The Minister had called the meeting stating it would be to discuss measures to elevate 6 Sri Lankan universities to international level. However, what was discussed was conducting courses of CIMA in the universities. more..

Sept 3 (CI) Ryan Harris gave nothing away in Sri Lanka's first innings. He has received plenty in return so far in the second. Harris scooped 3 for 24 on day three as Australia closed in on a deserved victory, and rightly viewed his success as the reward for consistently hostile and accurate bursts, with both the new ball and the old. Figures of 8-5-6-0 on the second day helped create much of the pressure that the spin debutant Nathan Lyon exploited, and more..

Sept 3 (NN) Lanka IOC, the Sri Lankan subsidiary of state-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), faces the same fate as private sector oil marketers Essar Oil and RIL so far as diesel sale is concerned. Lanka IOC, which competes with Sri Lankan govt-owned Ceypetco, has lost 80 per cent of its diesel sale owing to higher selling price. Between April and August, the company�s share in the Sri Lankan diesel market was down from 25 per cent to 5 per cent. more..

Sept 3 (GDI) �Wonder Sri Lanka� will be the first ever exclusive Sri Lanka Travel and Trade Show to be held in Toronto, Canada. The two-day Show will begin on the 16th of next month. The purpose is to promote Sri Lanka tourism and trade in North America. Travels and Holidays Network, the Toronto and London-based travel event management team is organizing the event at the world class �Living Art Centre� in Mississauga, Toronto. Assistance is being extended by more..