Apr 24 (Island) Amidst allegations levelled by the BBS and Minister Rishad Bathiudeen over illegal settlements within the Wilpattu National Park 60 journalists including foreign correspondents on a fact finding mission on Tuesday were shown the ground situation by the authorities in the area. The crux of the BBS complaint was that minister had helped Northern Muslim residents of Mariakkar Marichikatti, more..

Apr 24 (Island) Neither the DPF nor the TNA had totally rejected the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC), but what they were repeatedly telling the govt was to produce a document for the basis of discussion, DPF Leader Mano Ganeshan said. He said that the removal of liberal minded Minister of Scientific Affairs Professor Tissa Vitharane from the PSC showed the reality. Ganeshan said that all Prime Ministers and Presidents had signed agreements with Tamil political parties and more..

Apr 24 (CT) TNA Jaffna District MP, Mavai Senathirajah, said the Alliance would be celebrating May Day this year under the theme 'The right to self-determination of Tamils and other current issues like Cost of Living (CoL), unemployment, resettlement and land grabbing.' "We shall especially highlight these issues, as the CoL is high and people's purchasing power in the North and East has reduced. Northern Province's unemployment rate too is very high," he said. more..

Apr 24 (PTI) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) dropped plans to take disciplinary action against senior players Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. "We have sorted out the matter by talking to the two players," SLC Chairman Jayantha Dharmadasa said. The SLC was responding to public pressure as the decision to put the two seniors on the mat drew wide scale protests from fans. Gverning body last week referred more..

Apr 24 (FT) The Malaysian PM’s wife, Datin Mansor yesterday received courtesy calls from the first ladies of Sri Lanka and the Kyrgyz Republic and daughter of Bangladesh’s PM at the Seri Perdana Complex in Putrajaya. In the first meeting, Rosmah met the wife of Sri Lanka President, Shiranthi Rajapaksa for 45 minutes. Later she received the Kyrgyz Republic President’s wife, Dr. Raisa Atambaeva followed by a meeting with the daughter of Bangladesh PM, Saima Wazed Hossain. more..

Apr 24 (CG) A Sri Lankan-Filipina girl living in foster care in Dubai since her father’s arrest in January, will finally reunite with her dad and go home. Elina, who turned five in March, slept rough in parks and staircases with her unemployed dad, helping him at odd jobs after the Lankan lost his job in 2009. Her mother, a Filipina apparently facing a ‘life-time entry ban’, left the UAE three months after Elina’s birth. On January 16, XPRESS reported how the girl’s miseries compounded after more..

Apr 24 (Island) Prompt action of a brave and quick thinking security guard of a branch of Seylan Bank at Kirulapone thwarted a daylight bank robbery, when he fired at two robbers wearing full-face helmets who tried to enter the bank forcibly by breaking open its glass entrance door yesterday afternoon. Security guard, who closed the door when he saw the robbers armed with weapons trying to enter the bank around 1.50 p.m., more..

Apr 24 (SM) The UNP May Day organizing committee has decided to hold the party’s May Day celebrations in Ampara town as scheduled, after Hambantota district MP Sajith Premadasa had opposed a proposal to shift the event to Hambantota. MP Premadasa has explained that he has no enough time left to organize a May Day rally in Hambantota town, while MP Anoma Gamage has pointed out that all arrangements are in place to hold the event in Ampara town. more..

Apr 24 (C365) Ireland have named a no-surprises squad for the two one-dayers against Sri Lanka in Clontarf next month, with batsman Ed Joyce confident his side can do well against the World Twenty20 champions. All of the players in the Ireland 13-man squad were part of the WT20 in Bangladesh last month, and while it did not go well for them at the time, Joyce is sure they'll be able to pull off a good showing against the recent Asia Cup champs. The former England batsman said: more..

Apr 24 (FT) Undeterred by the recent incident in Hambantota, the Opposition will today stage a protest outside the proposed building site of gaming mogul James Packer’s $ 350 million casino, UNP MP Dr. Harsha de Silva said, as Parliament prepares to push through legislation delayed since last year. The three projects are a $ 350 million casino project by Australian casino mogul James Packer, a $ 300 million gaming more..

Apr 24 (CT) A commuter at the Fort Railway Station was allegedly attacked by the police who were trying to clear the coastal railway line which was blocked by protesting substitute railway workers. "It is not the general public who hit me, it was the police. I was hit by a baton. I also love this country. Why are the police treating the public in such a manner?" the commuter who was seen being dragged out by the police stated, when the police attempted to convince him that he was attacked by civilians. more..

Apr 24 (ST) Investors are to appeal to Sri Lankan authorities to issue an international arrest warrant on Touchwood’s former owners Roscoe and Swarna Maloney. They are preparing to file a complaint on these lines with the CID by the end of the month, co-ordinator of the Touchwood Stakeholders Association and lawyer Lakshan Dias told the Business Times. Depositors were also hoping to appeal to the Govt, Central Bank and the SEC to intervene to safeguard billions of rupees more..

Apr 24 (CI) Sri Lanka have been rendered "helpless" by Paul Farbrace's sudden exit, weeks from their biggest overseas tour of the year, chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya has said. Sri Lanka depart for assignments in Ireland and England in two weeks, and Jayasuriya suggested Marvan Atapattu would be interim head coach for those series, with SLC left with too little time to name a permanent replacement. more..

Apr 24 (Island) Members of the Police Library Service expressed dissatisfaction about the manner in which the post of Vice President was elected. They alleged that a police top brass who acted as the President of the association had used his influence to see that his favourite was elected uncontested. The members said that the office of the President of the association was usually held by the IGP by virtue of his office. Since the police Chief was overwhelmed with numerous duties more..

Apr 24 (CG) A police investigation has been launched into the assault on an innocent passenger by the police during a protest at the Fort railway station yesterday. The police said that the investigation is being led by a senior police officer and action will be taken if any policeman is found guilty. A passenger, who was caught in the middle when the police attempted to disperse railway workers during a protest at the Fort railway station yesterday, was assaulted by riot police. more..

Apr 24 (DM) People's Movement for Social Justice Chairman Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera said S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike’s Govt in 1956 closed the racecourse by banning horse racing in Colombo and replaced it with a university but this Govt was going to start casinos which are much worse. Ven. Sobitha Thera said it was against the Constitution to approve a Casino Bill in Parliament because the Govt more..

Apr 24 (Island) The Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute hosted delegates from the National Defence University of Pakistan on Tuesday the 22nd of April 2014. The twenty one member delegation was led by Maj. Gen. Israel Khokhar and deputy group leader Brig. Inam Haider Malik. Dr. Prathiba Mahanamahewa Dean, Faculty of Law, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University and Nihal Rodrigo Former Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary SG/SAARC, Ambassador to China more..

Apr 24 (FT) SriLankan Airlines has signed up for OnAir’s inflight mobile phone and Wi-Fi services. By autumn, people flying from Colombo to destinations all over the world will be able to email, tweet, send text messages, make calls, and surf the internet during the flight. SriLankan due to join the oneworld alliance on 1 May, is renewing its long-haul fleet. Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir will be installed as linefit on the airline’s six new A330-200 aircraft which are part of the renewal process. more..

Apr 24 (FT) The Govt together with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce strongly condemned the wrongful entry and search of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce premises yesterday by a group of Buddhist monks and individuals who alleged to be a part of Bodu Bala Sena organisation. Around 11:30 a.m. last morning, five Buddhist monks accompanied by some individuals made a forced and unlawful entry more..

Apr 24 (CI) Ireland's two ODIs against Sri Lanka will be streamed live via YouTube after an agreement was struck with Irish online TV provider Aertv. The broadcast, which will be supported by the ICC's Development Programme, will make use of four high-definition cameras as well as replays and commentary. The deal is similar to last year's arrangement with Quipu TV for the visit of Pakistan, which was viewed by almost 300,000 people. Sri Lanka will prepare for their tour of England more..

Apr 24 (FT) Professor Dave Ulrich, the foremost HR thought leader, will briefly visit Sri Lanka on 30 April en route to Japan, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. He has been the pioneer in revolutionising the HR profession globally and has helped many leaders and HR professionals build their leadership brand and also transformed organisations to align their culture with customer and investor expectations. He has helped generate award winning data bases that more..

Apr 24 (FT) Hambantota is Rajapaksa country. The rest of Sri Lanka may be in the vice grip of a raging personality cult, but the southern district is a ruling family fiefdom. Hambantota District is home to Medamulana in the Beliatta Polling Division, President Rajapaksa’s ancestral village and the seat of his power. Since the President assumed office, mega development projects have been channelled into the dry more..

Apr 24 (Island) It is heartening that the UPFA and TNA politicians have recently sunk their differences to take up the cudgels for the people of the North struggling to rebuild their lives after three decades of war. They have, at a Jaffna District Coordinating Committee (DCC) meeting, where they discussed ways and means of raising the educational standards in the North, unanimously resolved to ask the government to hand over the Palaly Teachers’ Training College currently more..

Apr 24 (Island) Five years have passed since the end of the disastrous and the most ruthless war between the LTTE and the governments of Sri Lanka which continued for nearly three decades. Have we really recovered the lost opportunities of economic development suffered during the war ? Some quarters of the general public and politicians claim that the country has achieved a remarkable development during the past five years. The development they talk about is more..

Apr 24 (CT) On 5 April 2014, the JVP held their annual April Heroes’ Day in Badulla to commemorate the fallen comrades of the 1971 revolt. While many JVP and breakaway Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) members held several public events, the ‘true’ participants of the 1971 rebellion gathered at the Kurunegala Town Hall, under the ’71 Solidarity Forum to remember their comrades, who lost their lives during the rebellion. more..

Apr 24 (Island) The Essen Travel Fair held in early part of the year is a annual event in the calendar of Nordheinwestfallen covering Dortmund,Cologne and Dusseldorf and it is one of the most important travel and tourism events in Germany. "The Traveller" interviewed one of the leading travel agents and tour operators based in Cologne, Kumara Rajapakshe whose company Kumara Reisen celebrated its participation at the Essen Fair for the 10th successive year. more..

Apr 24 (FT) Hot on the heels of its recent outstanding achievement of having been selected as the Offshoring Destination of the Year 2013 by the National Association for Outsourcing (NOA) in UK, Sri Lanka’s outsourcing industry has achieved another significant achievement by getting shortlisted for the Offshoring Destination of the Year Award by the European Outsourcing Association. The EOA Awards (EOAAs) now in its fifth year recognises and celebrates the efforts of more..

Apr 24 (NS) Article 6 of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Crime of Genocide defines genocide as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Undermentioned acts are; killing; causing bodily or mental harm; deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to bring about its physical destruction; preventing births within the group; forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. more..

Apr 24 (NS) Dear Stephen, It is not often that I write to my subjects, especially those who live a considerable distance from our fair shores. I make this exception today because I wish to express my undying gratitude to you. As you would probably surmise, this is about your decision to suspend Canada’s funding to the Commonwealth. I applaud your self-righteousness in this matter. It is good that Canada has placed this much importance on human rights issues. more..

Apr 24 (ST) Silent but intent are the men, women and children who raise their eyes in prayer and pleading, to the life-size statue of Jesus Christ hanging on the Cross, looking down on them benevolently. While some sit cross-legged or kneel with arms outstretched on the sandy-floor in this simple and spartan shrine, others drag themselves on bended knee along the narrow concrete pathway leading to it. They murmur their prayers, more..

Apr 24 (GV) Anxiety dominates the post-Geneva political climate in Sri Lanka, the result of a heady mixture of different reasons, which sees the ruling regime pursuing short-sighted solutions in order to neutralise. March turned out to be an eventful month for Sri Lanka domestically and internationally, with the passage of the UNHRC resolution, the arrest and detention of several key human rights defenders and elections in two PCs, all set against a backdrop of an alleged resurgence of LTTE more..

Apr 24 (CT) As Gotabaya Rajapaksa lectures on “counter-terrorism,” to the people listening, the truth behind this man won’t hurt them. But to numerous others ‘hurting’ by this man, his speech at the Defence Services Asia Conference in Malaysia this last week would be most revolting. Talk about illegal evictions, to ‘White Van’ abductions, to disappearances, to Matale ‘mass graves’, to BBS terrorism, to torture and sexual violence by the armed forces, to unwarranted militarisation, more..

Apr 24 (SO) The tourist industry is gaining momentum rapidly with 421,501 arrivals in the first quarter of this year indicative of a positive forecast of the Govt's targeted 2.5 Mn arrivals by 2016 generating a foreign exchange revenue of US $ 2.75 billion. The total number of international inbound tourists reached 146,000 tourists in January 2014 as against 110,543 in the corresponding month last year which is a 32.6% increase, more..

Apr 24 (CT) International political commentators have come up with a highly probable reason for Canada's withdrawal of Commonwealth funds rather abruptly. They contend that it was a palpable snub to both Mahinda Rajapaksa and Kamalesh Sharma who are current Chairperson and Secretary General respectively of the Commonwealth Heads of States Association. Rather more precisely, Canada has shown quite openly its displeasure with Sharma where his obvious favourable treatment of SL more..

Apr 24 (CT) Ministers G L Peiris and Mahinda Samarasinghe state that the govt of Sri Lanka has no faith in the inquiry into human rights abuses undertaken by the UNHRC. They claim that Sri Lanka has an independent, robust justice system to inquire into any such allegations and any international inquiry into human rights abuses in Sri Lanka lacks credibility. Given the total control of the Judiciary under the grip of the Executive President, it is quite natural that the same question arises more..