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CPC, Mihin lock horns
The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and Mihin Lanka have
locked horns over the non-payment of debts.
Casting a dampener on Mihin Lanka’s plans to resume flights in
July after acquiring aircraft on a lease basis, CPC Chairman...
(See Inside)
Enough time for GSP+, says GL
There would be no delay in the submission of the written
application to the European Union (EU) for the renewal of GSP+
tariff concessionary scheme, International Trade Minister...
(See
Inside)
WFP pleads for funds to help flood
victims
The World Food Programme (WFP) has pleaded for donor assistance
for it to continue with its aid work to assist flood victims in
the Kalutara, Ratnapura, Gampaha and...
(See
Inside)
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East erupts
A Tamil civilian being rushed
to the Batticaloa General Hospital with cut injuries, following
the outbreak of violence in Kattankudi on the day following the
inaugural session of the Eastern Provincial Council on June 5.
Ethnic riots broke out between the Tamils and Muslims after a
Muslim was allegedly cut by a TMVP cadre in the outskirts of
Kattankudi
(Pic by Ishara S. Kodikara) |
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UNP’s internal conflict
escalates
The internal conflict within the UNP took another twist when
plans to appoint S.B. Dissanayake as the deputy leader of the
party surfaced. The move has created much dissension among the
top ranks in the party.
(See Inside)
Stay away from SL, cautions Britain
Britain has issued a travel warning against
its citizens travelling to Sri Lanka following the bomb blast
that occurred in Moratuwa on Friday.
The warning note has indicated that British citizens should
avoid travelling to the north and east, Army camps, government
departments...
(See Inside)
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NEWS |
JVP seeking legal advice
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is seeking legal advice to
sue the government for trying to build a coal power plant in
Sampur before resettling the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
living in Sampur.
JVP MP Vijitha Herath told The Nation that the party was seeking
legal advice to go to courts against this issue shortly.
“It has been more than a year now, since the security forces
liberated Sampur from the LTTE. But the IDPs are still living in
camps. There are more than 4000 people living like that. And the
government is planning to build a coal power plant in the area
with the help of an Indian company, without helping those people
first,” Herath said.
(See Inside)
SLMC, UNP challenge Eastern polls
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the United National
Party (UNP) filed two Petitions before the Court of Appeal,
praying for an order declaring that the Eastern Provincial
Councils election held on 10.05.2008 for the administrative
Districts of Batticaloa and Ampara, as void.
Mohamed Thamby Hasen Ali, Division No. 13, Nintavur, Daya,
Dharmapala K. Gamage No. 1, Dudley Senanayake Mawatha, Ampara,
were the Petitioners of the Ampara District.
A.L.M. Marssok, Al Ameen Road, Kattankudy 06, M.H.S. Ismail,
Public Road, Valachchena, L.T.M. Furkan, M.P.L.S. Road,
Meeravodai, were the Petitioners from the Batticaloa District.
In both Petitions, Petitioners alleged incidents of general
intimidation, impersonation, ballot stuffing, threats by
supporters of UPFA candidates and forcibly taking away identity
cards and polling cards. They have also said that UNP...
(See Inside)
GMOA cracks down on quacks
An estimated 40,000 quacks will be taken to task by the
Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) shortly.
The GMOA has sought an early appointment with President Mahinda
Rajapaksa to discuss the issue.
GMOA Member Dr. Upul Gunasekara told The Nation that many
patients, including infants, had been affected due to such
unqualified doctors prescribing drugs.
“For an example, an 18-month-old baby was killed due to overdose
of Paracetamol prescribed by an unqualified doctor at the Lady
Ridgeway Hospital,” Dr. Gunasekara said.
He further pointed out that unqualified doctors were freely
working in the country since the Healthcare Ministry had not
taken strong steps to prevent the illegal practice.
(See Inside) Teachers to go sick
The Ceylon Teachers’ Union plans to launch an island-wide sick
note campaign to protest against their salary discrepancies on
June 11 and 12.
Union Convenor Joseph Stelyn said that even though the Education
Ministry introduced an interim wage proposal last year, it had
not been implemented so far.
“This is one of the main reasons why the teachers refrained from
participating in A/L paper marking. However, last year, when the
teachers decided to abstain from participating in the paper
marking sessions, a court order made it compulsory for them to
carry on the procedures,” Stelyn said.
He added that around 12,000 teachers were required to
mark answer papers and so far only 500...
(See Inside) Police to produce Katubedda blast
suspects to courts
Nearly 50 suspects,
arrested in connection with Friday’s claymore explosion
attacking a crowded bus in Katubedda, will be produced in courts
shortly.
Police Spokesman SSP Ranjith Gunasekara told The Nation that
further investigations were still being carried out regarding
the incident.
“After Friday’s claymore blast 58 people were arrested and later
eight were released. However, 49 suspects will be produced in
courts soon,” SSP Gunasekara added.
He also said that investigations were being carried out
on the three dead dogs that were found on Friday morning
just before the blast...
(See Inside) SLTourism, SriLankan to showcase SL to
Germans
Sri Lanka
Tourism together with SriLankan Airlines and ground handling
agents will host a mega Familiarisation Tour and Workshop for
100 German travel agents of Thomas Cook, REWE Touristik, Berger
& Meer and Sun Trips in Sri Lanka, from June 8 to 14.
These agents were chosen on their performance in generating
tourists to Sri Lanka.
Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism, Renton de Alwis, commenting on the
mega event said, “This indeed provides an opportunity
for us to showcase and push our products and services in
the German market, where, we have seen a setback in the
recent past. There is no better alternative than
experiencing what the destination...
(See Inside) |
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POLITICS |
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UNP’s strategies going
nowhere
 For many months now, the opposition United National Party (UNP) has
been trying to get its act together. It hoped for a revival of its
fortunes with the Eastern provincial elections but it was not to be,
allegations of vote rigging notwithstanding. And now, the country’s
major opposition party has launched a series of campaigns against the
government, hoping to capture the imagination of the masses.
Their most recent attempts were to travel in bullock carts to protest
the fuel price hike and then to stage a ‘toot the horn’ campaign to
clamour for the same reason. Previously, they have tried smashing pots
and pans to protest the rising cost of living, and there was also a
campaign by the UNP to visit ‘pola’s and engage with the public on the
same issue.
If the reaction of the general public is a yardstick to measure the
success of these campaigns, even the UNP’s own rank and file-if not the
leadership- will concede that these attempts have been a failure. If the
party expected a swathe of public anger against the government to turn
in its favour, the party has been terribly disappointed.
The UNP...
(See Inside)
Trials, tribulations of paradise gone
wrong
Hemmed in on all sides by popular rumblings about the cost of
living and almost daily explosions that are rocking the capital
and its suburbs, the government had one more thing to worry last
week.
Floody hell
Incessant monsoon rains caused severe floods in several
districts in the island, displacing some 400,000 people and
killing 20.
Kalutara, Galle, Ratnapura, Gampaha and areas of Colombo were
submerged, and some experts claimed that the construction of the
Colombo-Matara expressway was in some ways responsible for the
heavy flooding.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa found out about the flood situation
back home, while he was in Rome to address the FAO summit on
Food Security last week. He called up Prime Minister Rathnasiri
Wickramanayake...
(See Inside) |
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NEWS FEATURES |
Sun rises in east amidst turbulent
skies
June 4, 2008, was an important, historic day for the Eastern
Province. On this day, the Province saw for the first time, the
birth of a separate Provincial Government – the Eastern
Provincial Council (EPC).
The masses dwelling in the East, the ‘Easterners’ as they were
referred to, felt liberated and emancipated for the first time
after many years.
For them it was a victory that their dreams to function as a
separate entity, as Easterners, or Kilakku Thamilargal (Tamils
of the East), had been finally met.
Although it was a time to celebrate, there were no jubilations
or celebrations, due to security reasons. Nonetheless, for the
majority of the Easterners this day was considered as
significant.
Most of the Easterners felt that they had now been given an
opportunity to climb up the ladder, without anybody on top
waiting to push them down.
(See Inside)Smoking: A social scourge fuelling the
cost of living
“Old habits die hard”. This axiom is absolutely true for
smoking. Leave alone the addicts, even the new ‘recruits’ find
it very difficult to free themselves from its clutches that,
unfortunately, has become the leading cause of preventable death
in the world. It has also harmful impacts on people of all ages-
unborn babies, infants, children, adolescents, teenagers, youth,
adults and the elderly. Unlike other social evils, smoking, by
and large, is an accepted activity or habit within society.
However, a closer study of the latest research on smoking,
clearly shows that it is a harmful and causes misery via deadly
diseases and unnecessary expenditure to the smokers.
Shocking revelations
The BBC recently revealed that smoking mainly contributes to
genetic changes that cause cancer.
(See
Inside)
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Anderson’s six appeal
overpowers Kiwis
 James Anderson took a Test-best 6-42 as New Zealand
closed day two of the third and final Test 268 behind England on
96-6.
Anderson struck with his third ball and produced a superb spell
of swing.
Ross Taylor and Daniel Flynn fell in the same over to rock the
tourists’ hopes of levelling the series, before bad light ended
play at Trent Bridge.
Anderson’s dream day began with his highest Test score (28) in a
76 stand with Stuart Broad, who hit a first Test fifty as
England added 91 to reach 364.
Broad and Anderson would no doubt have arrived at the ground
thinking it was a good day to bowl, given largely overcast skies
and the notorious swinging conditions beside the River Trent.
But they were first intent on giving themselves plenty of runs
to bowl with as England, who lead the series 1-0, resumed on
273-7.
There was a fair amount of good fortune, and several
shots came off the edge through the slip and gully area,
but the left-handers dug in to produce an admirable...
(See Inside)point-blank
Is the IPL here to stay?
 The Indian Premier League or to put it more
bluntly the IPL is here to stay. For how long maybe it is
difficult to say. But probably until the money drains out or the
spectators become bored of all the razzmatazz that goes with it
and decide that traditional Test cricket is the best way to view
the sport. But for the present the cricket world is caught up in
a web of entertainment that will be difficult to dislodge for
some time following the complete success of the IPL tournament
in India.
It had it plusses and minuses. On the plus side India showed the
world the depth of cricket talent they had. Some of these
players who were unheard of in international cricket circles
shot into prominence overnight by the vast worldwide TV coverage
of the event. These average young cricketers who were nobodys
became somebody by playing with and against some of the best
cricketers of the world. It only helped to elevate their
cricketing skills and cricketers like Yusuf Pathan, Mohammed
Kaif, Swapnil Asnodkar, Manpreet Gony, Shikar Dhawan, Pakistan’s
Sohail Tanvir and Australia’s Shaun Marsh and Shane Watson who
shot into prominence and became household names thanks to the
IPL. Like Kerry Packer 30 years ago, the IPL helped enhance the
pay packets of cricketers beyond even their wildest dreams.
To prove what strong back up teams they had India, immediately
after the IPL, not only named a squad for the Asia Cup, but also
an Emerging side to Australia to take part in a
triangular which would also feature South Africa and New
Zealand and another team of youngsters...
(See Inside)
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NEWS FEATURES |
Third Parliamentary session erupts in
turmoil
 The first meeting of the third Parliamentary session convened
last Thursday (June 5) with the House erupting in turmoil. The
session, however, commenced with a celebratory mood as Leader of
the House and Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala
de Silva was commended for his appointment as Chairman of the
Executive Committee of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
There were several notable absentees and among them were the
leader of the newly formed National Freedom Front, Wimal
Weerawansa and SLFP(M) Leader Mangala Samaraweera. However, the
most conspicuous absence was that of President Mahinda Rajapaksa
who did not appear for the ceremonial opening. This absence
created an uproar among opposition members, who claimed that
their Parliament privileges were violated due to the absence.
The calm and order began to gradually deteriorate while
Opposition and United National Party (UNP) Leader Ranil
Wickremesinghe began to raise a privilege issue. He alleged that
his passage to Parliament was obstructed by a mass protest
organised by the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led
government. He added that the crowd, led allegedly by Duminda
Silva and Hector Bethmage deliberately barred his vehicle from
proceeding towards Parliament.
(See
Inside) |
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