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Co-chairs meet in NY
Amidst intensified battles in the north and growing concern for
the thousands of civilians trapped in the embattled Wanni
region, Sri Lanka’s Donor Co-Chairs will hold an emergency
meeting in New York...
(See Inside)
Census chaos
The mass registration drive aimed at registering people who have
lived less than five years in the Western Province is to take...
(See
Inside)
President confident war will finish
before year ends
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has informed his close confidantes
that the war will be finished before the end of the year...
(See
Inside)
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Police fanned several key
areas of the capital Colombo yesterday in three-wheelers to make
loudspeaker announcements regarding the mass registration drive
to be held today
(Pic by Rukshan Abeywansha) |
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Mangala’s ‘Grand Alliance’ a
non-starter?
With the main parties not being invited to join the ‘Grand
Alliance’ proposed by the SLFP(M), it is fast turning into a
‘Grand Farce.’
(See Inside)
Neville to Bangkok
Veteran journalist and The Sunday Times columnist Neville de
Silva is now tipped to be appointed as Minister Counsellor in
the Sri Lankan Embassy in Bangkok, authoritative...
(See
Inside)
SLAS launches struggle
to protect its posts
Sri Lanka Administrative Service Association (SLASA) has begun a
struggle to prevent the government from appointing...
(See
Inside)
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NEWS |
FIRING LINE
Never mind Poya, we are cops
Police spokesman recently publicly denied the generally
held belief that the Department had gone to the dogs. He
maintained that what had happened was, a few dogs had
got into the force.
But khaki coats themselves point out that, despite last
Sunday being a full moon Poya day, considered sacred by
Buddhists, the Department thought it fit to have its
annual sports meet and all the revelry...
(See Inside)President to decide on pardoning SB after
UN meeting
President Mahinda Rajapaksa is expected to consider the
pardoning of United National Party (UNP) National Organiser S.B.
Dissanayake, soon after his return from the Annual General
Meeting of the United Nations.
Presidential Advisor A.H.M. Azwer told The Nation that the
President will be giving considerable thought to pardoning
Dissanayake, in deference to the request made by Asgiriya
Chapter Mahanayake Ven. Udugama Sri Buddharakkitha Thera last
Tuesday (16).
“The final decision lies in the hands of the President,
therefore, we have to wait and see what steps the
President will be taking once...
(See Inside) Lanka Mahapola sustains massive damage
The cost of repairing the massive damage caused to Ceylon
Shipping Corporation (CSC) vessel Lanka Mahapola due to an
explosion last week, has been tentatively estimated at Rs. 40
million.
A 20-foot container aboard the vessel containing liquid gas
exploded while a consignment was being shipped from Dubai to
Doha.
According to a CSC official, the actual cost of the damage was
still to be determined by the Corporation. The vessel
was moved to Abu Dhabi for inspection and repairs. It
would take at least 10 days...
(See Inside) Elephants take two more lives
Wild elephants killed two people in the Damana Police area
yesterday. According to Damana Police, this is the second
instance where humans have been attacked by elephants in the
area recently.
“The elephants have attacked and killed two individuals in the
early hours, in a place called Rahman town and the bodies have
been sent to Akkaraipattu for magisterial inquiries,” a senior
Police officer there said adding that the attacks on humans by
elephants have risen in the area dramatically in recent months.
“This is the second incident this week. Another...
(See Inside)
Megawatts at mega interest rates
The controversial Kerawalapitiya power plant in the Gampaha
District is expected to commence operations in the first week of
October, the official in charge of the US$ 420 million project
M.J.M.N. Marikkar said.
Meanwhile, Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union (CEBEU)
President Jayawilal Meegoda claimed that the government depended
entirely on commercial loans, instead of concessionary loans, to
fund the project, adding a huge burden to the already indebted
economy.
(See Inside)
Galle teachers to fall ‘sick’
tomorrow
Teachers of all
schools within the Galle educational zone will conduct a sick
note campaign on Monday (tomorrow) to protest against what they
term state suppression of their profession.
A teacher attached to Hapugoda Maha Vidyalaya Galle, P. Widanage,
was taken into custody last Wednesday by the Police
accusing him of disrupting some evaluators in a paper
marking centre. “If he actually committed such an act,
the teachers would not protest regarding him being taken
into custody,” Principals’ and Teachers’ Trade Union
Alliance...
(See Inside) |
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POLITICS |
All eyes on
Kilinochchi as final battle looms
 In making headway against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
and aiming to regain control over the terrorists’ powerbase of
Kilinochchi, the Government and the military is treading through a
minefield, both literally and metaphorically.
While capturing and holding onto territory is a daunting task which the
combined Forces are doing with commendable courage, a different kind of
battle is emerging on the sidelines: the propaganda war. And this is the
battle which the Government must handle with extra care.
Already, Colombo has made its stand unequivocally clear: all
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the United Nations agencies
operating in the battleground...
(See Inside)UNP
rebels throw down the gauntlet
 UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is struggling to keep an
internal party crisis in check, is continuing with his campaign
to create a grand opposition alliance, with the first meeting of
the alliance partners allegedly scheduled for next week.
However, the ‘grand coalition’ is unlikely to make any headway,
since Wickremesinghe appears once again to have garnered only
the support of the minority parties for the move. The JVP last
week claimed it had no intention of forging any
electoral pacts with any other opposition party but
would consider supporting issues raised by such a
coalition on a case...
(See Inside)
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NEWS FEATURES |
Is ‘pay and pollute’ the answer to
polythene issue?
 Polythene bags which were introduced in the late 1970s became
quite popular with Sri Lankans, and completely ruined the
traditional shopping bag industry for a variety of reasons. Not
only were they easy to carry, they were versatile because even
liquids could be carried in them. The most important factor for
us Sri Lankans, was that they were inexpensive.
Considering the immense environment damages caused by the usage
of polythene, the Central Environment...
(See
Inside)
Arm twisting tactics of politicos under fire
Encroachment of state lands is a punishable offence. Yet despite
severe penalties being introduced by the state against
offenders, encroachment has continued in Sri Lanka unabated.
The majority of the land cases have ended up with the state
being forced to give into the demands of the encroachers.
Encroachment on large tracts of reserved lands for state
cultivation has been going on for several years in Sri Lanka.
Though the country has stipulated a specific set of rules and
regulations to govern state lands, often, lack of transparency...
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Inside)
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Sprint queen Susie to call
it quits
 Local sprint queen Susanthika Jayasinghe is finally calling it a
day. The Nation reliably learns that Jayasinghe, 33 is quitting
to start a family.
She is expected to make her plans for retirement public very
shortly ending a glorious 17-year athletics career the
highlights of which were her winning an Olympic medal and also a
medal in the IAAF World championships.
In 2000 at the Sydney Olympics, Jayasinghe became only the
second Sri Lankan athlete and the first female athlete to win an
Olympic medal. She also won two World Championship medals –
silver at Athens in 1997 and a bronze at Osaka ten years later.
All her medals were won at her pet event the women’s 200 metres
where her personal best timing is 22.28 secs. In the 100 metres
her personal best is 11.04 secs. She also won several gold
medals in the Asian...
(See Inside)
Point Blank
Lankan cricket at the crossroads
 The
already strained relations between Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and
the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took a further
turn for the worse when SLC decided to lift the ban on the five
Sri Lanka cricketers and an umpire who had taken part in the
rebel ICL tournament in India last year.
The decision taken by SLC at the request of the cricketers to
allow them to play in domestic cricket was like a slap in the
face to BCCI who run the ICC recognised official IPL tournament.
It seems that SLC has fallen into the trap of the ICL whose
Twenty20 tournament has not been recognised by the ICC and in a
bid to pressurise the world body the ICL has brought over 13 top
Bangladeshi cricketers and now got SLC to lift the ban on the
five players. Interestingly, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB)
has slapped a 10-year-ban...
(See Inside)
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INTERVIEWS |
Absence of consensus drags 17th
Amendment
 A conspicuous lacuna, in the search for
peace in the country has traditionally been the lack of
understanding, between the two major political parties in Sri
Lanka, namely the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United
National Party (UNP). For instance, these two parties have still
not reached a consensus to find a solution to the ethnic crisis.
D. E. W. Gunesekara, a seasoned politician, Chairman of the
Parliamentary Select Committee to look into the 17th Amendment
and Minister of Constitutional Affairs, explains how crisis
after crisis is faced due to the same reason - a lack of
understanding and commitment by various political parties.
Admitting that only both the major political parties could solve
all the problems that threaten the integrity of the country, he
says it is a pity that these parties have still not realised
this fact. He pointed out that even the much debated 17th
Amendment could not be implemented due to lack of understanding
among different political parties. “The President is awaiting
the report of the Select Committee, but I am not able to deliver
it.
(See Inside) |
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