Sunday March 04th, 2007

Saved by a hair’s breadth – Italian Ambassador Pio Mariani (R) and UN Resident Co-ordinator Fredrick Lyons (L) who were both on the diplomatic delegation to Batticaloa on February 27, engaged in conversation following the Foreign Minister’s diplomatic briefing on the incident last Friday.

NEWS

Five bodies found in Kandana
Amidst the increasing number of abductions in the country and especially in Colombo and the suburbs, five bodies were found yesterday dumped in a marshy land near Kandana.

Rio Group opens summit in Guyana
GEORGE TOWN (AFP) Leaders of Latin American countries opened a trade summit in Guayana late Friday, with Guyana’s President, Bharrat Jagdeo, blasting developed countries for failing to eliminate barriers obstructing free trade.

ICJ urges India to scrap draconian military law
NEW DELHI (AFP) - A panel appointed by the UN’s top court has urged India to scrap a draconian law giving the military sweeping powers to curb insurgencies, a report said Saturday.

South Korean outrage over Abe ‘comfort women’ remarks
SEOUL, (AFP) : South Korean politicians yesterday urged Japan’s Prime Minister to withdraw and apologise for his “outrageous” remarks questioning the wartime enslavement of tens of thousands of Asian women.

Despite appeals kidnappings continue unabated, Ganeshan
Western People’s Front Leader Mano Ganeshan said yesterday the number of abductions and extra-judicial killings in Colombo and suburbs have increased over the past few weeks and now the total abductions stand at 78 with 50 still missing.

Take action against those found guilty in COPE report , Sripathi writes to MR
Former Minister Sripathi Sooriaratchi in a letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa had called on him to take immediate action against those who have been charged of bribery and corruption.

Seven –year –old int’l school girl molested at sports meet?
Shock and anger remains over the case of an alleged molestation of a seven- year -old girl from a leading international school in Colombo as school authorities continue to deny the occurrence of such an incident.

APRC meet on hold for want of proposals from SLFP, JHU
The failure of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) to submit their proposals to the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) has delayed the compilation of a final report by the committee.

POLITICS

With friends like these…
Amidst all the verbal sabre-rattling between the Government in Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Kilinochchi there appeared to be a relative lull in hostilities in the past few weeks, in the aftermath of the battles of Vakarai.

NEWS FEATURES

Suffer the IDPs while war rages
Sneha a little girl aged 8 has come to Kirimutty Camp with her parents who was caught to our eyes cooking lunch for her parents and herself, when we visited the Kirimutty Camp

Disaster management Minister taking heat for near disaster
Questions are now being raised in political circles as to who should take responsibility for the near mishap on Tuesday involving several foreign diplomats and Disaster Management...

Disaster management Minister taking heat for near disaster
Questions are now being raised in political circles as to who should take responsibility for the near mishap on...

INTERVIEWS

Bandula rejects allegations that he tried to create monopolies
Trade, Consumer Services and Co-operatives Minister Bandula Gunawardena says that he will gazette a list of essential food items by next month and tag them with a maximum price in order to bring down the cost of living.

SPORTS

Lanka’s golf celebrity Prabagaran
On Sunday February 19, 2007, three-time Sri Lankan amateur champion Simarjeet Singh (India) was beaten by K. Prabagaran (Sri Lanka) in the 36-hole final of the 106th Royal Challenge All India Amateur Golf Championship at the Coimbatore Golf Club.
These are the simple, clinical facts which do very little justice to a most remarkable sporting achievement.

Aussies regain supremacy
Of the eight World Cup cricket finals this was the most lopsided of all. Coincidentally it was the 200th World Cup match and proved to be the top of the flops as Pakistan, the most exciting team in the competition went to pieces when it mattered most to lose to Australia by eight wickets in front of a Lord’s crowd of nearly 28,000.

Trinity to tip the scales
Kandy is hotting up with the big matches around the corner and all arrangements have been made to hold the first one in the capital between Trinity and St. Anthony’s at the Asgiriya International Stadium on March 9 and 10. The two legendary schools will battle it out for the ‘John Halangoda Trophy’.

Form players will make the difference...
Australian coach Tom Moody expects several players to play key roles if Sri Lanka is to have a successful 2007 cricket World Cup in the Caribbean.

Point Blank
Stage set for Malinga and Bond
There is no greater spectacle in cricket than to see a fast bowler steaming at full throttle and releasing the cricket ball at speeds touching 100 mph at the batsman who has just a split second to decide whether to play it or not. It is said that between the time of release of the ball from a bowler’s hands and the time it takes to reach the bat, the batsman only has about 0.2 seconds to make up his mind.

Colombo