Jan 8 (Island) Living up to the letter as well as to the spirit of this notion, the country has been submerged in a series of problems and challenges: Bridging budget deficits, containing widening trade balances, arresting slowing down growth, reducing the debt burden, facing long-drawn droughts followed by heavy rains causing flood havoc in 18 out of 25 districts and exam debacles are only a few to be mentioned. And, moreover, this is more..

Jan 8 (Island) Terrorism and extremism have no place in Islam. But certain tribal and traditional customs and practices, which had nothing to do with Islam and in fact were contrary to its teachings sadly prevail in some regions of South Asia. Some of these tribal customs still persisted in parts of the Muslim world, former MP, M.M. Zuhair said. He was addressing the felicitation ceremony for students who had obtained 9 A's at the 2011 GCE (O/L) exam at the Muslim Ladies College, Bambalapitiya more..

Jan 8 (FT) Achieving the targeted 1.25 million tourists by the end of 2013 is an attainable target, given that the industry and the authorities give priority to proper marketing and promotion for the destination. Encouraged by surpassing yet another target in the yearly tourism expectations as recorded in the Five-Year Strategic Plan of Sri Lanka Tourism, the industry is confident of this year�s target and sees no reason why the country could fail to reach the number. In 2011, SL reached its target more..

Jan 8 (Island) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Dr. Nalaka Godahewa says around five investigations into market offences in the Colombo Stock Exchange have been concluded resulting in two warning letters being issued, somewhat slow progress if going by Dr. Thilak Karunaratne�s portrayal of affairs just before he resigned from the top. "Investigations are an ongoing process and so far around four more..

Jan 8 (DN) A former Speaker, late Anura Bandaranaike had given a historic judgement stating that it is the Parliament which is supreme and it does not need to obey the Supreme Court, Deputy Health Minister Lalith Dissanayake said. He said nobody can go beyond that judgement that says Parliament makes laws and it is supreme. Nobody talks about the charges leveled against the Chief Justice and everybody speaks about the Constitution, procedure and loopholes of the method implemented. more..

Jan 8 (CI) Rangana Herath: Continues to be Sri Lanka's best cricketer, and has been a pleasure to watch. Herath's figures do him little justice, as a number of straightforward chances went down off his bowling throughout the series, and he was the victim of some inconsistent umpiring as well. His over to dismiss Phil Hughes in the second innings in Sydney should be studied by aspiring spinners of all persuasions as a case study in outfoxing a batsman. He was often supported poorly by the other more..

Jan 8 (Island) There was currently no demand for some degree courses, according to a survey, Higher Education Ministry Secretary Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navaratne said. He said that the study showed that employment of graduates, who followed the Arts stream remained as low as 23%. "About 95% of engineering graduates are gainfully employed," he said. Medical graduates were the second highest with 90% employment more..

Jan 8 (CT) The lorry assistant who mowed down Ceylon Today journalist, Amila Jayasinghe, while driving without a valid driver�s license, was released on bail by Colombo Traffic Court Magistrate, A.T. Tolskey. Suspect, Nishantha Sulochchana, was released on two personal bails of Rs 200,000 each. The suspect was arrested on 25 December 2012 by the Cinnamon Gardens Police for allegedly driving the lorry that knocked down Amila near the Wijerama Road-Rosmead Place intersection more..

Jan 8 (CT) The Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) has decided to temporarily postpone the import of 3,000 buses, due to protests by the private bus owners, and the unavailability of funds. However, the All Island Private Bus Owners� Federation (AIPOBF) claimed the government is not allocating sufficient funds to the SLTB as it is a loss incurring institute. General Secretary of AIPBOF, Anjana Priyanjith, charged the SLTB incurs a heavy loss, due to its inefficiency, and alleged even more..

Jan 8 (DN) The impeachment motion against the Chief Justice has become the talking point in society. There are criticisms and analysis on the inquiring process in this regard. This endeavour is to explain what is happening in reality. We quote former Chief Justice Sarath N Silva, because he is one of the most suitable persons to speak on this matter. The first part of this interview was carried in the Daily News of yesterday. more..

Jan 8 (OU) International medias has published news items that the Channel 4 will telecast two videos containing new evidences stating war crimes were executed by Sri Lanka military against the Tamil people at the final phase of war in Sri Lanka. Channel 4 TV already telecasted the Sri Lanka war crime accusation videos and Sri Lanka faced massive setbacks international wide. In this state, the TV channel has notified that they would telecast two more videos. The new videos concerning more..

Jan 8 (OU) Sherine Angeline aged 3 years, a tiny girl from Vavuniya Thekkawatha, Aaladi locality died affected by dengue fever. Dengue disease is intensified in the Vavuniya district for the past days; hence the Health Department has given a danger indication. Due to dengue disease got intensified many deaths have begun to occur. Sherine Angeline aged 3 years, a girl from Vavuniya Thekkawatha Aaladi locality died affected by dengue two days back. She was admitted to the Vavuniya more..

Jan 8 (AN) President Mahinda Rajapaksa has made a personal appeal to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah seeking royal intervention to suspend the execution of housemaid Rizana Nafeek until a settlement for clemency is reached with the aggrieved parents of the deceased infant. The president�s media spokesman Mohan Samaranayake said that the appeal was handed to Saudi Ambassador in Colombo Abdulazi more..

Jan 8 (TOO) Sri Lankan nationals seeking jobs in Oman will now have to undergo electronic fingerprinting and biometric scanning prior to their departure. The move aims at cracking down on rampant fraud and other irregularities in the recruitment process, a senior official of the Sri Lankan Embassy, Muscat, said. The new system will help prevent fraudulent practices such as using forged passports. "SLFEB is using special software to store fingerprint data of the migrant more..

Jan 8 (PO) A press box or the dressing room area in R. Premdasa Stadium in Sri Lanka may be named after Tony Greig. This was revealed by Upali Dharmadasa, the chairman of the SLC board. �Tony Greig was a great supporter of the game in this country and the proposal is likely to be discussed among the board members�, he said. Interestingly, the suggestion has been sent by Mahendra Mapagunaratne, the Sri Lankan lawyer, based in Canada. �I discussed this with the SLC more..

Jan 8 (Island) Hundreds of law students accompanied by those who sat for the law entrance examination last year forcibly entered the law college demanding a discussion with Principal on new registrations yesterday. Secretary of the Law Entrance Students� Union Wasamba Madawala told The Island their members came in a protest march from Fort Railway Station to the Law College in Hulftsdorp demanding the postponement of more..

Jan 8 (LBO) Japan's K-Line, whose newly built car carrier called on Colombo port this week is expected to lead to further business in transshipment from the shipping line through the island, officials said. Panama flagged MV Delhi Highway had made its maiden call in Colombo on Jan 4. The 299 metre vessel has a gross tonnage of 58,997 and a dead weight of 18.891 tonnes. RO/RO vessels with bulk car shipments will call on Colombo and individual imports of cars and transshipment more..

Jan 8 (Island) The Education Ministry yesterday released the cut-off marks for students who sat the August 2012 Grade Five Scholarship Exam to gain admission to popular schools. The highest cut-off mark, 183 was for Royal College and Visakha Vidyalaya in Colombo. The second highest, 179 was for Ananda College, Colombo and Dharmaraja College, Kandy, while the marks for Nalanda College, Colombo and Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala was 177. The second highest more..

Jan 8 (Island) A constable attached to Moneragala police yesterday morning swallowed poison after killing his ex-girlfriend who was also a constable by slashing her throat with a manna knife on the overhead bridge between Transworks House and Lake House. The deceased was WPC Nadisha Samarasinghe (26), a member of the police women�s cricket team. The suspect was Nilantha Pushpakumara, now warded at the National more..

Jan 8 (E24|7) The father who allegedly killed his one-and-half-year old infant by brutally assaulting her has committed suicide by hanging himself from a beam inside his sister's house. His dead body was found in his sister�s house in Kahatuduwa, Polgasowita, a suburb of Colombo. Sunil Jayakody, 32, had allegedly brutally assaulted his baby girl, Nelki Salomi, injuring her face and burning the lower part of her body in front his wife, 19-year-old Rukshika Weerasinghe. more..

Jan 8 (FT) Good governance activist and former business leader Chandra Jayaratne has welcomed President Mahinda Rajapaksa�s decision to appoint an independent review panel on the PSC report on the Chief Justice but urged the private sector to give their inputs as well. In a letter to Secretary Generals of the leading Sri Lankan business chambers and the Bankers� Association and Employers� Federation, Jayaratne has appealed to the private sector to be engaged in effective more..

Jan 8 (WA) As a journalist for 43 years in the jockstrap departments of The Age and the Herald Sun, I was rarely in touch with the realities of the world beyond the dressing room and press box. About the only time in my sports writing career that I was ever spooked was at VFL Park, Waverley, when a naked Carl Ditterich, the then-balding, one-time blond bombshell of VFL football, chased me out of the Melbourne dressing room, shouting my more..

Jan 8 (DM) In this New Year the declared public holidays amount to 25, of which 21 are related to the religions practised in this country. Seven holidays fall either on a Saturday or a Sunday. Strangely, banks have declared an additional holiday for themselves. With a five-day working week, in effect we will be holidaying for nearly four more weeks, in addition to the Saturdays and Sundays. Can we, a developing nation afford such a large more..

Jan 8 (DM) Soon after three decades of protracted armed conflict between the government security forces of Sri Lanka and LTTE ended in May 2009, the Govt of Sri Lanka set up the LLRC to look into the root causes of the conflict and its report came out in November 2011. Chapter 4 of the LLRC report on Principles of International Humanitarian Law had mentioned that more recent important conventions had been added to the corpus of treaty law. One law is the 1997 Ottawa Convention more..

Jan 8 (SL) Minorities are easy targets in a Sinhalese polity believing that no one else belongs. As Tisaranee Gunasekara has noted, UPFA ministers have attacked the Chief Justice for having Tamil lawyers � although Neelakandan voted for the BASL resolution against the Ban Ki Moon Report, it did not help him. Thrishantha Nanayakkara has drawn our attention to an ITN programme where Minister Wimal Weerawansa makes much of more..

Jan 8 (CI) Angelo Mathews is confident Sri Lanka can bounce back after their disappointing Test series and challenge Australia in the one-day internationals, which begin at the MCG on Friday. Following their 3-0 defeat in the Tests, the Sri Lankans could be forgiven for wanting nothing more than to get on a plane and head home, but the limited-overs battles provide them with a very good opportunity to end the tour well. more..

Jan 8 (ST) The arrest of a senior Customs officer over allegations of bribe-taking has triggered a controversy. Chief Preventive Officer Ranjan Kanagasabey has been remanded till January 17 on allegations of accepting a bribe of Rs 1 million from Harsha Prabath de Silva, a vehicle body parts importer. However, Mr C.R. de Silva, P.C. appearing for the Customs Officer, told courts that the money reported to have given as a more..

Jan 8 (Island) The Opposition and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday that neither the courts nor the media could topple the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime and it could only be done through a people�s uprising. He said that though he was repeatedly torn to pieces by some journalists who preached media and judicial freedom during the day and wined and dined with ministers at night, the CJ episode had proved him more..

Jan 8 (Island) The govt would take immediate steps to commence a special programme to pay compensation and take over the constant flood and landslide prone areas to ensure the safety of the people, Minister Mahinda Aamaraweera said. He said that the Ministry had allocated over 211 million rupees for the welfare of the victims of recent disasters. The ministry had allocated Rs. 134.7 million in 2012 and more..

Jan 8 (CT) The IUSF alleged the last two Mahapola instalments of the first year university students are to be withdrawn by the govt, to allocate funds to pay off the military personnel involved in the Leadership Training Programme. IUSF Convener, Sanjeewa Bandara alleged, "The govt cannot bear the financial pressure they are under, thus have decided to withdraw from the students' Mahapola funds, to pay off the military more..

Jan 8 (DM) In the wake of the Court of Appeal quashing the report of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody said no external authority could remove a subject already placed on the parliamentary agenda. The Deputy Speaker, who spoke on behalf of the Legislature, said the impeachment motion had been placed on the agenda of parliamentary business scheduled more..

Jan 8 (Xinhua) Despite facing mixed economic fortunes in 2012 Sri Lanka is confident of returning to 7% growth in the new year but will face challenges from the financial crisis in the West and internal struggle to balance public expenditure. Sri Lanka recorded 8.3% growth in 2010 and 8 percent growth in 2011. This was the first time in history that it posted 8% growth in two consecutive years. When the three-decade conflict with the Tamil Tiger more..

Jan 8 (DM) Rejecting reports that an independent committee has been appointed to look into the PSC report and its findings, senior govt sources said only discussions were ongoing and no committee has been appointed yet. When contacted regarding the reports Presidential spokesman Mohan Samaranayake said that they did not have any information about the names of members who were expected to be in such a committee. more..

Jan 8 (DM) Five suspects were arrested in connection with the murder of the Kelaniya PS member Hasitha Madawala by the CID, police said. One suspect was arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) yesterday while trying to flee the country and the others were arrested on information given by him. They said the pistol, allegedly used for the crime was also found after interrogating the suspects. more..

Jan 8 (CT) While we start work this year with renewed zest and determination, it is necessary to mindfully reflect whether we are on track and are not living in a fool's paradise, while recognizing the important debates underway on judicial independence, media freedom, good governance, supremacy of the people and the legislation and so on. It is not possible to forget the importance of crafting and resourcing a robust educational system. The 'free education system' has served the more..

Jan 8 (CT) Problems connected with the attempted impeachment of the Chief Justice require solutions. I believe that impeaching the Chief Justice is no solution to anything, and will in fact lead us to forget the actual problems. In suggesting the following practical solutions to the problems, I realize I am probably wasting my time, since we have developed a culture of addressing problems with sledgehammers designed for other uses. We generally land it on our own toes as well as more..

Jan 8 (CT) When the Supreme Court declared P B Jayasundara guilty in February 2008, of having concealed facts concerning a high profile fraud and being party to a massive corruption, the Secretary to the President, Weeratunga, pleaded the Supreme Court with �the President�s desire to restore Jayasundara as the Finance Secretary�. This request was acceded with no questions raised by the then CJ Asoka de Silva with no single word in the judgement made against PB more..

Jan 8 (CT) Nearly 12,000 families in the Matale District who earn their living by engaging in the deposited mineral industry (quarry mining) are badly hit economically owing to bad weather conditions prevailing these days. These families are in a quandary as to whether they won't be able to continue the industry due to the sinking cracks on the ground, as a result of floods. Dolomite (lime rocks), granite, quartz, plumbago deposits are covered with mounds of earth at the moment. more..

Jan 8 (Island) The Court of Appeal yesterday issued a Writ of Certiorari quashing the findings of the PSC which probed impeachment charges against the Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake. The Court of Appeal, in its judgment, referred to the recent Supreme Court interpretation which said that a PSC to query the conduct of a judge, must be appointed under the law passed by Parliament and not by a Standing Order. more..