Apr 2 (Island) We Sri Lankans have the bad habit of running down our own champion sportsmen. Our cricket administrators ruined things for Ranjan Madugalle by withdrawing his name from the list of Match Referees in 2001. ICC not only no-balled our board�s decision but went on to confirm Madugalle as the Chief Match Referee ahead of Clive Lloyd, Mike Procter and Vishwanath, some of the legends of the game. more..

Apr 2 (Island) Nationalism as represented by the President Rajapaksa continues to dominate the politics of Sri Lanka, and it is the message given by the people at the PC elections in the western and southern provinces. The individual performances of some candidates have to be considered and interpreted in the above background and not in an absolute manner. While congratulating young Hirunika Premachandra for obtaining the highest number of preferential votes (manape) more..

Apr 2 (Island) Now that the Sri Lankan govt has lost the crucial vote in Geneva on the US-led resolution, it would have to face the consequences. Whatever the govt says, the resolution endorsed by 23 countries, including the US has paved the way for an international investigation, therefore President Rajapaksa�s administration is now in unknown territory. First of all, the govt should realize that those who had voted against the resolution as well as abstained due to different reasons more..

Apr 2 (FT) CEAT Kelani Holdings, the company that manufactures half of Sri Lanka�s tyre requirements, has announced a further commitment to the country in the form of an investment of Rs. 600 million on a new tyre plant to produce high-end radial tyres. The new plant is integrated with the sprawling CEAT Kelani manufacturing complex at Kelaniya, enabling it to seamlessly augment production of CEAT branded tyres for the more..

Apr 2 (AT) The High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Malaysia, Ibrahim Ansar, received a three-member National Youth Council delegation from Sri Lanka on 27th March at the High Commission. The delegation is currently visiting Malaysia during their 40-day tour of 18 countries to promote the World Conference on Youth 2014, scheduled to be held on 06th � 10th May 2014 at the BMICH in Colombo. Welcoming the delegation, High Commissioner Ansar elaborated on the positive spin-offs that more..

Apr 2 (Hindu) Buoyed by the success of its intimate apparels range, SL-based MAS Holdings said it is looking to bring elements of fast fashion into the women�s innerwear segment in India. Fast fashion is referred to designs that move from catwalk to stores at the shortest time period. Company, which retails the Amant� brand, said lingerie buying is no longer a �secret buying� activity and consumers are seeking the latest trends in innerwear as well. �There is a huge shift in the way consumers buy more..

Apr 2 (DM) Colombo Additional Magistrate Priyantha Liyanage reserved order for May 2 on whether to indict MP Duminda Silva and 12 others in the High Court on charges of killing of presidential advisor Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and three others on October 10, 2011. At the conclusion of his non summary inquiry into the killing, the Magistrate observed that it had been affirmed that Mr. Silva and 12 other more..

Apr 2 (HP) Members of the UNHRC voted in favor of a resolution on Thursday to establish an international investigation into alleged war crimes that occurred during the final stages of Sri Lanka's bloody civil war. The 26-year conflict between govt troops and the LTTE terrorist organization ended in 2009. Despite vehement opposition from Colombo, 23 members of the council supported the resolution, which was co-sponsored by a host of nations including the United States. more..

Apr 2 (Island) DP Leader Gen. Sarath Fonseka claims he can now contest elections because he was able to vote at last Saturday�s PC polls. The Elections Commissioner has not made his position clear on the issue. Some of the conditions on which Gen. Fonseka was granted a presidential pardon are shrouded in ambiguity and, therefore, his contention is open to question. Gen. Fonseka has vowed to fight for the full restoration of his civic rights. But, we think, he will not have to exert himself. more..

Apr 2 (CG) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has stressed on the importance of accountability in Sri Lanka after the UNHRC had last week passed a resolution calling for an international investigation in the country. Farhan Haq, the Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General said that the UN Chief has called on the govt to constructively engage and cooperate in the implementation of the resolution passed in Geneva. more..

Apr 2 (CI) If the destructive power brought to bear by Aaron Finch and David Warner allowed Australia to evade the ignominy of their worst-ever global tournament display, then it also underlined why the sometime favourites will fly home with an especially bitter memory of the 2014 World Twenty20. Finch and Warner alone possess enough pyrotechnics to dominate a match - as Bangladesh discovered in a chase that consigned the hosts to the ignominy of failing to win a single fixture in more..

Apr 2 (CI) Bangladesh Women first scored their highest Twenty20 total, then upended SL's Women's steadily progressing chase, to steal a three-run win - their first in the World T20. This was the two teams' last match of the tournament, and Bangladesh chose to bat. They tended to lose wickets in pairs all through the innings, but with Rumana Ahmed - who came in in the 7th over - holding up one end in a brisk, unbeaten innings of 41, they were able to make their way to their record total. more..

Apr 2 (Island) British Premier David Cameron was making an attempt to portray the UK�s response to the Bloody Sunday massacre in Northern Ireland as the perfect example of how accountability issues should be addressed, a senior Sri Lankan official said. The official was responding to a statement the Conservative leader made in Parliament on March 26 in response to an oral question asked by Ian Paisley (North Antrim). more..

Apr 2 (Island) Supreme Court on March 31, granted leave to proceed with the fundamental rights violation application filed by the Chairman of the Hingurakgoda Pradeshiya Sabha, who had challenged his purported dismissal from the office of the Chairman, consequent to the defeat of his council budget in 2013. Petitioner chairman Susantha Gunerathne had said that the budget got defeated at the first reading. He had been hospitalised shortly afterwards and therefore more..

Apr 2 (CI) West Indies scored 84 runs in their first 15 overs. They nearly doubled their total after that, smashing 82 off the last 30 balls of the innings. No Full Member team had ever conceded so many in the last five overs of a Twenty20 game. It remained to be seen which part of West Indies' innings, the first three-quarters or the final quarter, would make a bigger impact on the result as Pakistan began their chase, in a knockout game to determine who would take on Sri Lanka in the first semi-final more..

Apr 2 (Island) �There has been a 50% drop in the number of patients seeking medical treatment at private hospitals, mainly on account of sky-rocketing charges for numerous medical tests conducted at such hospitals, Minister Maithripala Sirisena said. He pointed out that some administrators at private hospitals had told him that their businesses had seen a sharp decline, amounting in some cases to 50%, more..

Apr 2 (LR) British Airways� 85 years of rich legacy in India witnessed the grand arrival of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Hyderabad today through its association with one of India�s most revered actors, Mr Amitabh Bachchan. British Airways celebrated the arrival of the new aircraft at the incredibly exquisite, Taj Falaknuma Palace, with The Opulent British Ball that witnessed presence of cr�me de la cr�me of prominent personalities such as, Mr Amitabh Bachchan, Mrs Jaya Bachchan and more..

Apr 2 (FT) Standard Chartered has acted as the sole structuring bank, joint mandated lead arranger, account bank, agency and security trustee and book-runner for a $ 150 million equivalent multi-currency senior secured Islamic structured term financing facility for SriLankan Airlines. Facility is partially secured by a Govt guarantee with preferential access to the airlines IATA receivables from a number of countries. �Standard Chartered is proud to have structured more..

Apr 2 (PTI) Sri Lanka on Tuesday said it is waiting for India's response on the resumption of talks between fishing delegations from the two countries to resolve the politically sensitive fishermen issue. "We await a request and waiting to respond on the prospect of future talks in order to come for a settlement," Fisheries Ministry spokesman said. On March 12, Sri Lanka had issued orders to release Indian fishermen, more..

Apr 2 (SLA) Sri Lanka Army in consistent with the government�s environmental policy on vehicle emission tests, commenced its conduct of �Green Tests� on the entire fleet of Army vehicles through LAUGFS Holdings Ltd during a brief ceremony on Tuesday at Bellantara, Attidiya Emission Test Centre. The programme, initiated by Directorate of Supply and Transport in the Army on the directions of the Commander of the Army Daya Ratnayake, saw the first Army vehicle, more..

Apr 2 (Island) Reviving the dispute with Mayor A.J.M. Muzammil, UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake, alleged that Saturday�s PC election had proved that the Mayor�s help had not helped the govt to win in Colombo. Karunanayake said that, on previous occasions, Tamil and Muslim parties had contested with the UNP, including Mano Ganeshan�s DPF, but at the recently-concluded election the UNP had gone it alone and retained five electorates in Colombo North, Colombo Central, more..

Apr 2 (DN) Central Environmental Authority (CEA) has taken measures to register NGOs working on environment related aspects considering the recent unacceptable conduct of certain groups identifying themselves as environmental organisations. CEA said certain groups who had flagged themselves as NGOs working on environmental aspects were deliberately overreacting to vague evidence of more..

Apr 2 (CG) Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake has ordered an investigation into a soldier arrested by the police for printing fake currency notes. The Kegalle police had arrested the suspect yesterday and the army media unit said that on hearing of the arrest Ratnayake directed senior officers to conduct inquiries and support the police to carry out investigations in order to find out whether any more of the suspect�s associates, were involved in the fraud. more..

Apr 2 (DN) President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Bai Chunli called on President Rajapaksa at Temple Trees last evening. Mr. Chunli is in Sri Lanka to explore opportunities for collaborations in the area of higher education that includes sending Sri Lankan academics for higher studies to China, conducting exchange programs and the possibility of establishing an institution in Sri Lanka. President Rajapaksa explained that Sri Lanka could use academic programs more..

Apr 2 (Island) Close on the heels of Monday�s heist at the Seeduwa branch of Commercial Bank, another daring daylight armed robbery was committed at a leasing company in Matugama yesterday morning. The robbers managed to hide their faces by wearing full-face helmets. They made off with Rs. 5 million from an officer of a leasing company at Agalawatta, Matugama, when he got down from a van, carryng money. more..

Apr 2 (FT) Central Bank yesterday made public its directive to finance companies with regard to the maximum deposit interest rates payable. The move was in furtherance of the policy announcement originally made at CB�s Road Map for 2014 in January this year. Finance companies have been issued with similar directives in the past but it was the first time it is going public. In its statement, the Central Bank informed the public that the maximum interest rates that could be more..

Apr 2 (GDN) A woman who is thought to have died in a double suicide has been identified as Rasika Shyamila, from Sri Lanka. Her body was found hanging from a ceiling fan on Saturday, while the dead body of her Indian lover Mohamed Anvar Batherdeen was discovered on the floor nearby. However, the circumstances surrounding their deaths in their Muharraq house remain shrouded in mystery. "We have no more details except her name, which was given to us by police," more..

Apr 2 (CG) Global Tamil Tamil Forum (GTF) says govt�s decision to proscribe 16 Tamil diaspora organisations and four prominent Tamil diaspora activists, including the GTF and its President Rev. Dr S.J. Emmanuel, as �foreign terrorist entities� and fronts for the defeated LTTE is shameful. GTF Policy Advisor and former MP for Enfield Nort, Joan Ryan said that move is the latest attempt by a govt hell-bent on intimidating more..

Apr 2 (DM) What happened recently in Galle during the South�s leading schools cricket big match was just another indication of an alarming erosion of basic human values, lack of sportsmanship, a failure to understand the principles and meaning of sports and also downright stupidity that has been becoming the hallmark among Sri Lankan sports fans since of late. Richmond who emerged Sri Lanka�s undisputed school cricket champions this season as well as last season had their traditional rivals more..

Apr 2 (DM) The election results for the two provincial councils, western and southern, clearly indicate the erosion of the chauvinist mass base of the Mahinda regime. This was expected by the opposition. On the other hand the govt leaders believed that by showing the bogey of international imperialist intervention, they could dupe the plebeian masses to cluster around the regime. They think that by wearing a white sarong and waving the fist in the right direction they could dupe the plebeian more..

Apr 2 (DM) Hot on the heels of a shifting of electoral fortunes in the PC polls that concluded last week, JVP leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, reiterated that what was required in this country was a change in the system of governance in itself, instead of a mere changing of govts. Q: Do you believe that your analysis of the JVP�s performance is justified given the fact that their fortunes in comparison to the elections held more..

Apr 2 (CI) As South Africa and Sri Lanka tread back to Dhaka for the final stages of the World T20, a lot of the focus will be on how quickly these two teams adjust to the surface at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. They have been presented with a perceptibly different set of conditions in Chittagong, which were challenging in their own right but didn't resemble those in Dhaka all that closely. more..

Apr 2 (SL) Most of the drains in the Ratmalana area are clogged causing severe health hazards to the resident of the area and dragging the entire area to yet another major dengue epidemic. While residents in the area complain that the employees of the Moratuwa Municipal Council (MMC) assigned to clean the drains do not perform their duty properly, the MMC is on the view that the residents are responsible for most of the clogged drains. more..

Apr 2 (ST) Facebook is not the enemy, said Manoj Jinadasa, senior lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication in the University of Kelaniya. Lack of computer literacy, communication and breakage in family relationships were the real causes for the current surge in new media-related tragedies. �New media is a tool in modern society and should be treated as such,� he said. Sri Lanka had not been ready for the accelerated more..

Apr 2 (DM) UNP National Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said today he would study the latest trends in politics and other related subjects while on a month�s lecturing assignment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. �The MIT invited me last year for a guest-lecturing assignment but I was not keen to visit any Western Country at the time because of the US-sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka. more..

Apr 2 (CBS) The Australian Tamil Congress is among 16 Tamil organisations, including the LTTE, blacklisted by the Sri Lankan govt. UN Security Council Resolution 13-73 allows the assets of people, groups and entities, to be frozen if they're believed on reasonable grounds to be committing, attempting to commit, facilitating or participating, in the commission of acts of terrorism. Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Australia more..

Apr 2 (CT) The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced that it plans to expand the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA). Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Dr. Ravindra Ruberu said the BIA in Katunayake was currently capable of catering to a maximum of six million passengers per calendar year. However, this had been insufficient as the average arrivals recorded in the country had risen to seven million, he said. more..

Apr 2 (CG) Govt has accused NPC member Ananthi Saseetharan of attempting to destabilize the peace and reconciliation process in Sri Lanka. Statement by the Govt said that the recent resolution adopted by the UNHRC, was in part as a result of statements and reports issued by Saseetharan. Saseetharan, wife of former LTTE Trincomalee political head S. Elilan, had made statements on behalf of 2 NGOs at UNHRC. more..

Apr 2 (DM) The Tangalle Nature Resort Manager said she saw Tangalle PS Chairman Sampath Vidanapathirana and some others, who accompanied him to the resort�s Christmas Party mercilessly assault Khuram Shaik near its camp fire area. Manager Tharanga Pieris in her evidence led by Senior State Counsel Thusith Mudalige told High Court Judge that the hotel had organised a Party on Christmas Eve more..

Apr 2 (DM) Betting and match-fixing have long been hot topics of discussion in cricketing circles and among fans, but for the first time a report of the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) has revealed how players are approached and trapped by these networks. The confidential report hints that some matches of the 2011 World Cup, which Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men won on home turf, more..