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Sunday November 15th, 2009
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Two opposition horses in the race
A group of UNP front-liners have planned to pressurise
the newly formed United National Front (UNF) leadership
to field UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as the common
Presidential candidate after making arrangements for
General Sarath Fonseka also to contest on the ticket of
another party, UNP sources revealed.
Full Story |
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Crucial SLFP
convention today
Despite rising speculations that the President will
announce which election would come first at the 19th
SLFP convention today, a highly placed SLFP source told
The Nation that it is unlikely that the President
Mahinda Rajapaksa would make the much awaited
announcement by this evening.
Full Story |
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Premier honoured |
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Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
admiring the first ever ranaviru
felicitation conferred on him, to
recognise the service he rendered to the
country, by Dharmapala Vidyalaya,
Pannipitiya at a special ceremony
organised to honour the past pupils of
the school who fought valiantly at the
warfront to defeat the LTTE |
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(Pic
by Thushara Dasanayaka) |
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Workers and govt.
tug-o-war continues
The trade unions attached to Ceylon Petroleum
Corporation (CPC), Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Ports
Authority and Water Supply and Drainage Board threatened
to go on strike from Monday...
Full Story |
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Ongoing
investigation into Park deaths
The Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) of the National
Hospital stated yesterday that although the two
autopsies was done in relation to the two people who
died mysteriously while attending a healing session
which had been conducted...
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General Fonseka to bid farewell tomorrow
President Rajapaksa has accepted Chief of Defence Staff
General Sarath Fonseka’s resignation letter with
immediate effect. The President’s letter accepting his
resignation was sent to the CDS office just before
lunch, said...
Full Story |
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NEWS |
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New
sandakadapahana recovered
A new sandakadapahana or moonstone has been recovered
from the ancient Anuradhapura city.
Sandakadapahana is a unique stepping stone with
artistic carvings on it and it was widely used at the
entrances to shrines in the Anuradhapura era during the
10th Century AD.
However, the recovery had been made spontaneously
as a base pit was dug to build a shrine near the ancient
Sri Maha Bodhiya.
Full Story |
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Admiral Perera
passes away
Admiral A.W.H. Perera, VSV, ndc, psc, who was Commander
of the Sri Lanka Navy from 01.06.1979 to 31.05.1983,
passed away after a brief illness on November 14, 2009.
His remains lie at No. 83/1, Pagoda Road, Nugegoda.
The funeral will be held today (November 15, 2009) at
the General Cemetery in Borella at 10:30 a.m. with full
military honours.
Full Story |
Arson suspects still at large
Suspects wanted in connection with the arson attack on
the residence and the office of Puttalam District UNP
Parliamentarian Palitha Range Bandara, at Madampe on
October 4 are still evading arrest, Police said
yesterday. “The Puttalam Magistrates Court has issued
summons on the suspects to appear in courts, but they
are evading arrest,” said Police Spokesman Senior DIG
Nimal Mediwaka.
Full Story |
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University could
reopen if talks succeed
The Sri Jayawardanapura University Arts and Management
faculties which closed down after an altercation between
two student factions that grew out of proportions are
yet to reopen. "
The University authorities have decided to bring the two
factions for discussions on Monday. The fighting that
erupted had nothing whatsoever to do with the campus
authorities but was between the two factions over a
disagreement. As a result of the clashes 5 students had
to be hospitalised with injuries.
Full Story |
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Cabinet approves
H’tota investment zone land
The Cabinet approved a memorandum presented for the
allocation of a land for the establishment of a new
Investment Promotion Zone in the Hambantota District,
seen as much needed infrastructure for the area.
Cabinet Spokesman, Minister Anura Priyadharshana
Yapa, who is also the Minister of Investment Promotion
and Enterprise Development, said the Lands and Land
Development Ministry has been advised to make available
200 hectares of State lands for this project to be
built. Those aspiring investors will be leased these
lands on a 50-year basis.
Full Story |
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Pakistan to
invest in local cement factory
Pakistan’s second largest cement maker, D.G. Khan
Cement Ltd. is planning to invest 10 billion Pakistan
Rupees in starting a cement manufacturing plant in
collaboration with the Sri Lanka Government, the company
said.
Full Story |
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Some Lankan
asylum seekers may leave boat
(Bloomberg) – Some of the Sri Lankan asylum seekers on
an Australian customs vessel moored in Indonesian waters
are preparing to leave the boat, an Australian newspaper
reported.
As many as 20 of the group of 78 may leave the
Oceanic Viking as early as today for the Tanjung Pinang
Indonesian detention centre, the first sign of an end to
the four-week standoff, according to the Australian
newspaper.
Full
Story |
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A pavilion with
a difference
A Pavilion to reflect the cultural and religious
nature of Myanmar is to be established at the Sri Dalada
Maligawa Museum for which a Memorandum of Understanding
was signed between Shewedagon Chaitya administration in
Myanmar and the Sri Dalada Maligawa.
This is to strengthen religious and cultural ties. The
Memorandum was signed on behalf of the Shewedagon
Chaitya by the Ambassador in Sri Lanka for Myannmar U.
Ofu Thawin and on behalf of the Sri Dalada Maligawa by
Diyawadana Nilame, Pradeep Nilanga...
Full Story |
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POLITICS |
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For want
of a challenger
 Ending
weeks of frenzied speculation, the Chief of Defence
Staff General Sarath Fonseka tendered his
resignation to President Mahinda Rajapaksa last
Thursday, thus demarcating a new battle line in the
political landscape.
Theoretically of course, there is little more to
this event because General Fonseka remains Sri
Lanka’s highest ranking armed forces officer until
December 1, when he has requested that he be allowed
to retire. As the General himself repeatedly
emphasised on Thursday, at the Kelaniya Temple, he
would be deciding on his future course of action
only after that date. But, only the naive and the
ignorant will believe that General Fonseka will just
fade away.
Full Story |
UNP still undecided on
fielding Gen. Fonseka as COP
 Chief
of Defence Staff former Army Commander General Fonseka
who made page one headlines in newspapers almost daily
during the decisive war on LTTE terrorism, has again
become the leading news maker just six months after the
ending of the war. This is due to him being strongly
tipped as most likely Common Opposition Presidential
(COP) candidate.
General Fonseka, at the outset refrained from reacting
to initial unconfirmed reports that he was to be fielded
by the joint opposition as their Presidential candidate.
However, he later began making remarks that people
construed as hints, that there was a base for the
widespread speculation.
Full Story |
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NEWS FEATURES |
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‘Mr I-Can’t’ &
‘Mr I-Want’
 Ranil
Wickremesinghe is reported to have told the ‘Sudar Oli’
newspaper that in the event Sarath Fonseka contests and
wins the Presidential election, he wants to be the Prime
Minister. To me this is one of the most interesting
statements to come out of the whole Sarath Fonseka
drama. Worthy of comment, I thought, so here goes.
First of all, in entertaining
the idea of Sarath Fonseka (or anyone else) as a ‘Common
Candidate of the Opposition’ (CCO), Ranil Wickremesinghe
is saying, ‘I don’t have what it takes to take on
Mahinda Rajapaksa’. So he says, ‘Hey Sarath! Can you do
the honours this time?’ Then, perhaps wondering what
would happen to him in the unlikely event that Fonseka
actually contests and wins, he throws in a caveat:
‘Promise to abolish the Executive Presidency’.
Full Story |
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Lanka’s lessons
for the world“
 Will
Sri Lanka win the peace?” was a question posed by
Singapore’s Minister of Law, K Chanmugam, opening the
5th International Conference on South Asia organised by
the Institute for South Asian Studies (ISAS) of the
National University of Singapore last week.
The President of Singapore, SR Nathan closed the
proceedings, launching South Asia Link, a hub for
networking the 30 million strong worldwide South Asian
Diaspora. Paper presenters included Sartaj Aziz former
Finance Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Dr
Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, former Foreign Minister of
Bangladesh, and Mani Shanker Iyer former Minister of
Rural Local Self-Government of India.
Full Story |
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Liberalising
foreign exchange capital account
There has been a spate of changes in financial policy in
recent weeks. Some of these have been impelled by the
large reserves of foreign exchange as a result of a
continued stream of borrowing, investment funds, foreign
credits and remittances coming into the country.
The foreign exchange reserves that have risen to
unprecedented heights of over 5 billion US dollars have
prompted the Central Bank to relax foreign exchange
regulations to allow capital outflows for investment.
Full Story |
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We’ve got the balance to beat India - Sangakkara
Sri Lanka has perhaps the strongest bowling
combination
ever to tour India in the 27 years the
two nations have played each other at the highest
level. Whether that combination is good enough to
curtail the run-scoring abilities of the
free-scoring Indian batsmen will determine whether
Kumar Sangakkara’s team can create history by
recording
their maiden Test victory on Indian soil.
Full Story |
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PJ under pressure to perform
Not so long ago, almost eleven months to be exact
Prasanna Jayawardene or PJ to his team-mates was
being hailed as the best wicketkeeper in the world
by no less a person than his captain Kumar
Sangakkara. Jayawardene’s Test place looked assured
on the strength of his captain’s assessment of his
capabilities.
However on the current tour of India, although the
assessment may still hold well, Jayawardene finds
his Test place threatened by another young and
talented wicketkeeper Kaushal Silva who has been
knocking on the door for international recognition
with some exceptional batting performances for his
club SSC as well as for the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team.
Full Story |
A challenging task
 The
venues for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 were announced
last Monday with Sri Lanka hosting 12 of the total of 49
matches. To many who are unfamiliar with the workings of
the Sri Lanka cricket administration two venues
Hambantota in the South and Pallekelle in the Central
Province raised several eyebrows. Especially as such
renowned stadiums as Galle, Asgiriya, Dambulla, SSC and
P Sara Oval were overlooked for this mega event. The
third venue, as expected, was the R Premadasa Stadium in
Colombo.
Full Story |
A barren run
Kumar Sangakkara’s team is in India searching for
that elusive maiden Test win on Indian soil. They are
the seventh team from Sri Lanka to make a Test tour to
India in the past 27 years. Will seven prove to be a
lucky number for Sangakkara? The past six unsuccessful
tours to India are recorded below.
1982 [Drawn 1]
Sri Lanka’s inaugural tour of India in 1982 produced
an honourable draw for Test cricket’s newcomers. In the
one-off Test match played at the famous Chepauk Stadium
in Madras (now Chennai), doubts about Sri Lanka’s
ability to last five days had persisted...
Full
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INTERVIEWS |
H’tota airport to take Lanka to
new heights
 Continuing
with the hype and buzz, Sri Lanka is presently
attracting, along with some of the island’s best
infrastructure projects likely to come off during the
next few years, the Sri Lankan Government is to launch
another mega landmark project with the construction of
the island’s second international airport, commencing
November 27, 2009. Hambantota International Airport
(HIA), at an estimated cost of US$ 200 million, and
funded by the Chinese Government, is a basic
eco-friendly airport in Mattala, about 15 miles from the
new upcoming Hambantota Port.
Full Story |
Unions labour with Work-to-Rule
 As
the government tries to downplay the impact of the
three-day work-to-rule campaign, the joint trade unions
threaten to carry on with the campaign. The Nation spoke
to the Minister of Labour Relations and Manpower,
Athauda Seneviratne, to ascertain how the government
proposes to bridge this rift between the workers and the
administration
Q: The trade unions that planned to end the
work-to-rule campaign last Friday night have decided to
continue the strike. One of the reasons for that is
because a Ceylon Electricity
Board (CEB) was assaulted on the last day of the
work-to-rule campaign?
Full Story |
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