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PCs won’t have police powers Govt. has told India
The Defence Secretary said that both, President Mahinda Rajapaksa and he, had emphasised during deliberations with senior Indian officials that devolution of police powers would be inimical to the national interest as well as political stability. "We made our position clear during talks involving top level delegations from Sri Lanka and India", he told The Island. The three-member delegation comprised Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga, then Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa and the Defence Secretary. The troika functioned as an informal group on behalf of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to inform and interact with all those who matter, within and outside the country, in general and on events unfolding in Sri Lanka from time to time and visited New Delhi several times during the war(The Island)  නීති අංශ ප්රධානියට නීති සිසුවාගෙන් මන්නා පිහි පහර! නාවල පිහිටි විවෘත විශ්වවිද්යාල නීති අධ්යයන අංශයේ ප්රධානී යශෝදරා කදිරගාමතම්බි මහත්මිය එහි නීති ශිෂ්යයකු විසින් ඊයේ (19 වැනිදා) දහවල් එල්ල කරන ලද මන්නා පිහි පහර කිහිපයක් නිසා බරපතළ ලෙස තුවාල ලැබුවාය. ඥානසුන්දරම් සුරේJද්රජිත් නම් මෙම නීති ශිෂ්යයා යාපනයේ සේවය කරන වෛද්යවරයකු වන අතර අංශාධිපතිනියට පිහි පහර එල්ල කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව ඔහුද පෙති වර්ගයක් පානය කර ඇති අතර පසුව පොලිසිය විසින් ඔහු අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන කළුබෝවිල රෝහලට ඇතුළත් කර තිබේ.(දිචයින)  Sri Lanka rupee up on exporter dlr sales; depreciation pressure remains Sri Lanka's rupee edged up on Wednesday due to late dollar sales by exporters on thin volume, with the central bank not intervening in the currency market, but depreciation pressure on the rupee still remains a concern, said dealers. "The rupee ended firmer due to last-minute dollar sales by exporters and foreign banks," a currency dealer said on condition of anonymity (Gulf News) Sri Lankan giants’ words of advice The two stars the Sri Lanka cricket team looks up to for inspiration are Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. Sangakkara ensured the team a stunning victory over England through his sparkling century, while Jayawardene scored an unbeaten 84 against Australia to book his team a place in the semi-final. (Gulf News) Sri Lanka's new proposed media code threatens free A new media code proposed by the Sri Lankan government contains overbroad and vague language that could have a severe and chilling effect on free speech , Human Rights Watch has said. On June 17, 2013, the Ministry of Mass Media and Information officially proposed a Code of Media Ethics that would apply to print and electronic media, including the Internet. (Zee News) Sri Lanka calls for Tamil refugees to return home Sri Lanka's external affairs minister has pleaded with Tamil refugees in Australia who fled the nation's bloody civil war to come home – having quietly slipped into Canberra for talks on combating people smugglers. G.L. Peiris told Fairfax Media in an exclusive interview Sri Lanka is now perfectly stable, with an economic boom. (Sysney Morning Herald) Sri Lanka's plan to dilute 13th Amendment dismays PM Manmohan Singh A six-member delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) from Sri Lanka met PM Manmohan Singh on Tuesday amid reports that political parties in the island nation were moving to seek an annulment of the 13th Amendment. Singh is said to have conveyed to the TNA delegation that he was dismayed by reports suggesting that the government of Sri Lanka planned to dilute certain key provisions of the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution ahead of elections to the Northern Provincial Council. (Times of India) තමිල්නාඩුවේ උද්ඝෝෂණය කළ 400 ක් අත් අඩංගුවේ ශ්රී ලංකාවේ දෙමළ ජනතාවගේ වේදනාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් සංවේදී නොවන බවට ඉන්දීය මධ්යම ආණ්ඩුවට චෝදනා කරමින් නිල්ග්රිස් දිස්ත්රික්කයේ කුන්නූර් නගරයේ උද්ඝෝෂණයක යෙදී සිටි හාරසියයකට ආසන්න පිරිසක් තමිල්නාඩු පොලීසිය විසින් අත් අඩංගුවට ගෙන තිබේ. තමිල්නාඩුවේ වෙලිංටන් ආරක්ෂක ඇකඩමියේ පුහුණුව ලබමින් සිටින ශ්රී ලංකා හමුදා නිලධාරීන් දෙදෙනකු ආපසු යවන බවට දුන් පොරොන්දුව ඉටු නොකළ බවට උද්ඝෝෂකයෝ බලධාරීන්ට චෝදනා කළහ(බි බි සි සිංභල) SriLankan Airlines starts mobile check-in State-run SriLankan Airlines said it is offering mobile check-in and access to its loyalty program and other services for customers with smartphones. A mobile application developed with Virtusa Corporation, a software firm, allows passengers to select their seats and check up to two hours before departure. (Lanka Business Online) Total blackout possible There is a possibility of the country being plunged into a total blackout if the first coal fired power plant, in Norochcholai, trips off after the commissioning of the second stage this September. That could happen as the existing power lines are unable to cope with a doubling of the load, senior engineers of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) warned yesterday. Engineers told The Island that although they hoped to commission the second stage soon, there was some doubt as to whether the doubling of the power load, from the current 300 MW to 600 MW, could be handled by the existing high tension cables. "Going with the existing network, certainly there would be number of technical problems, especially when one considers the weather patterns and adverse climatic conditions." (The Island) Total blackout possible There is a possibility of the country being plunged into a total blackout if the first coal fired power plant, in Norochcholai, trips off after the commissioning of the second stage this September. That could happen as the existing power lines are unable to cope with a doubling of the load, senior engineers of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) warned yesterday. Engineers told The Island that although they hoped to commission the second stage soon, there was some doubt as to whether the doubling of the power load, from the current 300 MW to 600 MW, could be handled by the existing high tension cables. "Going with the existing network, certainly there would be number of technical problems, especially when one considers the weather patterns and adverse climatic conditions." (The Island) Hemas opens Rs1.3bn hospital Sri Lanka's Hemas group, which has interests in consumer goods, power, leisure and healthcare, opened a 1.3 billion rupee 60 bed hospital in a fast growing suburb of the capital Colombo. "We decided on Thalawatugoda as the location following a research conducted by the company,” Chamila Ariyananda, a doctor and general manager of the hospital said Tuesday after the hospital was declared open by Sri Lanka's President Mahidna Rajapaksa. (Lanka Business Online) Sri Lanka's May tourist arrivals up 21.8 pct Tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka jumped 21.8 percent year-on-year in May, government data showed on Monday.(REUTERS) India v Sri Lanka? Oh no, not again Sri Lanka's 20-run win over defending champions Australia on Monday has set up a date with the team they have played the most in ODIs in the last five years - India. Fans of the two teams can be forgiven for looking at Thursday's match-up in Cardiff with a sense of heightened deja vu. Since July 2008, India have played Sri Lanka 40 times in ODI cricket. Compare that number to the other head-to-heads in the same time frame: England (21 ODIs), West Indies (17), New Zealand and Australia (13), Pakistan and South Africa (10), Bangladesh (6) and Zimbabwe (2). (IBN Live) ගුරුතුමිය දණ ගැස්සවූ මන්ත්රී ඉල්ලා අස්විය යුතුයි : ජනපති කියයි නවගත්තේගම ඉසුරු විදුහලේ ගුරුවරියක දණගැස්සවූ වයඹ පළාත් සභා මන්ත්රීවරයා ඉල්ලා අස්විය යුතු යෑයි ජනාධිපති මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මහතා ඊයේ (17 දා) අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේ පැවති විශේෂ හමුවකදී පැවසීය. වයඹ හා මධ්යම පළාත් සභා මැති ඇමැතිවරු, පළාත් සභා දෙකේ රජයේ මැති ඇමැතිවරු හා ප්රධාන පෙළේ ඇමැතිවරු සමඟ පැවැති එම සාකච්ඡාවේදී ජනාධිපතිවරයා මෙම මන්ත්රීවරයාගේ ක්රියාකලාපය දැඩි දොaෂදර්ශනයට ලක්කරමින් මේ බව පැවසීය.(දිචයින) Provincial, Presidential polls UNP to form broad political alliance The UNP Working Committee yesterday decided to form the broadest possible alliance, with other political parties, in the run up to 2014, with strong speculation that President Mahinda Rajapaksa would call an early Presidential Election. The meeting held under the Chairmanship of UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, discussed strategies that needed to be adopted to face several polls expected this year and the next, with the Northern Provincial Council Election to be held first in September, ahead of the November Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo. (The Island) Sri Lankan awarded the highest award of Russia for foreign citizens Dr. Saman Weerasinghe, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mos-Lanka Holdings Group of Companies and an Advisor to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse was awarded the 'Order of Honor of the Russian Federation' on the 12th of June 2013 in Colombo at a ceremony held on the occasion of the National Day of the Russian Federation. Russian Ambassador in Sri Lanka, Alexander Karchava accompanied with Dr. & Mrs. Saman Weerasinghe called on the President on Thursday the 13th June to display the medal depicting the said Order of Honor so presented to Dr. Saman Weerasinghe and appraise the Sri Lankan President about the nature of the award. (Colombo Page) දුවගේ ගවුමේ වාටිය ටිකක් දික් කළැයි ගුරුවරිය දණ ගැස්සවූ මන්ත්රී රිමාන්ඩ් නවගත්තේගම ඉසුරු පාසලේ ශිෂ්ය නායකයන් භාර හා විනය භාර ගුරුවරියක එම විද්යාලයේම සිසු සිසුවියන් ඉදිරියේ දණගැස්සූ වයඹ පළාත් සභාවේ (එජනිස) මන්ත්රී ආනන්ද සරත් කුමාර නමැත්තා අද (17දා) දක්වා රක්ෂිත බන්ධනාගාරගත කර ඇත. පසුගිය සිකුරාදා (14 දා) මන්ත්රීගේ දියණිය පාසලට ඇඳගෙන ගිය සුදු ගවුම කොට වැඩි යෑයි කියා ඇයගේ ගවුමේ වාටිය ගලවා දිගු කිරීම සම්බන්ධව මේ මන්ත්රීවරයා උරණ වී එදිනම පාසලට කඩා වැදී ගුරුවරියට මැර තර්ජනය කොට ඇය දණගස්වා තිබේ.(දිචයින) Sinhalese getting India-funded houses, complain Tamil MPs Three Tamil MPs from the eastern Sri Lankan Tamil-speaking district of Batticaloa have complained that attempts are being made to include in the India-financed housing project about 350 Sinhalese families who are not war-displaced families, ignoring the claims of Tamil families which were really displaced by the war. Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs P Ariyanenthiran, C Yogeswaran and P Selvarasa told mediapersons in Batticaloa on Saturday that houses under the Indian scheme had been allotted to Sinhalese in Keviliyaamadu. (Indian Express) Sinhalese getting India-funded houses, complain Tamil MPs Three Tamil MPs from the eastern Sri Lankan Tamil-speaking district of Batticaloa have complained that attempts are being made to include in the India-financed housing project about 350 Sinhalese families who are not war-displaced families, ignoring the claims of Tamil families which were really displaced by the war. Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs P Ariyanenthiran, C Yogeswaran and P Selvarasa told mediapersons in Batticaloa on Saturday that houses under the Indian scheme had been allotted to Sinhalese in Keviliyaamadu, (Indian Express) Sri Lanka stocks close flat Sri Lanka's stocks closed flat Monday, due to index heavy stocks continuing to drop and profit taking by some investors, brokers said. The benchmark Colombo All Share Index closed 0.28 points lower at 6,219.11 and the S&P SL 20 Index closed 7.56 points lower at 3,496.79 lower at 0.22 percent. (Lanka Business Online) Lack of funds halts heart surgery at Sri J’pura Lack of funds has brought heart surgeries to a halt at the Sri Jayewardenepura hospital. This has been the case since April this year, according to hospital sources. The cardio thoracic unit of the hospital is said to have incurred a loss of Rs.100 million last year as the Health ministry provided only Rs. 500 million for the bypass operations performed there. The Ministry owed the hospital a further Rs. 500 million, sources said. (The Island) President promises to restore everything destroyed in the North during the war President Mahinda Rajapaksa today promised the people in the North to restore everything destroyed in the region during the three-decade long war "We are in the process of restoring everything that was destroyed during the past 30 years; You all need protect them," President Rajapaksa said, speaking in Tamil at an event in Kilinochchi Saturday. (Colombo Page) President promises to restore everything destroyed in the North during the war President Mahinda Rajapaksa today promised the people in the North to restore everything destroyed in the region during the three-decade long war "We are in the process of restoring everything that was destroyed during the past 30 years; You all need protect them," President Rajapaksa said, speaking in Tamil at an event in Kilinochchi Saturday. (Colombo Page) Sri Lankan bank team in Shravasti to study self-help group system A 35 member team of Srl Lankan bank has visited Gilaula block to study the system of the self-help groups as they want to start the same in their country as well. The team members gathered information from the women working with self help groups. The Regional Development bank of Sri Lanka is implementing the schemes of rural development in its country and has sent the bank officials to India for the study of the self-help group system. (Times if India) සංශෝධනවලට විපක්ෂය විරුද්ධයි පළාත් සභා කීපයක් එක්ව එක් පළාතක් පිහිටුවීමට ඇති හැකියාව ඉවත් කෙරෙන දහනව වැනි ව්යවස්ථා සංශෝධනයට විරුද්ධ වීමටත්, පළාත් සභා බලතල සංශෝධනය සඳහා පත් කෙරෙන පාර්ලිමේන්තු තේරීම් කාරක සභාව වර්ජනය කිරීමටත් විපක්ෂය තීරණය කර ඇ එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, ජ.වි.පෙ. ප්රමුඛ ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදී ජාතික සන්ධානය සහ ද්රවිඩ ජාතික සන්ධානය ගෙන ඇති මෙම තීරණය නිසා ආණ්ඩුවේ මන්ත්රීවරුන්ගේ කැමැත්තෙන් පමණක් ව්යවස්ථා සංශෝධනය සම්මත කිරීමට හා තේරීම් කාරක සභාව පවත්වාගෙන යැමට සිදුව ඇත. පළාත් (දිචයින) Maj.Gen Daya Ratnayake appointed Army Commander Major General Daya Rathnayake has been appointed Army Commander with effect from August 1, 2013 defense sources said. He has also been promoted to lieutenant General with effect from August 1st. (Daily Mirror) NPC: Polls Chief to get down foreign monitors Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya today assured he would strive hard to obtain the services of foreign monitors for the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Elections. He gave this assurance to representatives of several opposition political parties when they met him at the Elections Secretariat. (Daily Mirror) Gem merchant cleaned up by gang posing as police An armed gang that had gained entry into the residence of a wealthy gem businessman at Laggala, Matale on Thursday night, by claiming to be from the police, escaped with about Rs. 20 million in gems, jewellery and cash after handcuffing the inmates. The gang forced themselves into the residence of the gem businessman, popularly known as ‘Mutu Mudalali’ at Moratenne, Laggala around 9.00 pm claiming that they were from the Walana-based Police Anti-Vice Strike Force and they had information about there being firearms in the house. (Sunday Island) Sri Lanka rupee weakness a logical adjustment: CB Governor A weakness in Sri Lanka's rupee is a "logical adjustment" coming amid falling Asian currencies including the Indian rupee and Japanese Yen that will also ward off import pressure, Central Bank Governor Nivard Cabraal said. "There are different ways of looking at this," Cabraal said. "The Indian rupee has weakened significantly. (Lanka Business Online) Keep close watch on LTTE activities - SL to Germany Sri Lanka urged Germany to ‘keep a close watch on the several LTTE front organisations in Germany, breaching the European Union proscription’. External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, during his bilateral discussions in Berlin with Dr. Guido Westerwelle, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany also said several LTTE front organisations were operating in Germany under the guise of community organisations. (Daily Mirror) Govt. denies Weerawansa assaulted during Cabinet meeting Amidst rumours that Engineering Services Minister Wimal Weerawansa had been manhandled by Senior Minister for Human Resources D. E. W. Gunasekera, during yesterdays crucial Cabinet meeting to discuss proposed amendments to the 13th Amendment, the government denied such an incident had taken place. Media Minster Keheliya Rambukwella, when asked at yesterday’s Cabinet press briefing, in Colombo, if Weerawansa had been hit by Gunasekera, replied that it was a ‘very creative story’ and he did not see such a thing taking place. (The Island) සංගාගේ 'ආශ්චර්යාත්මක ශතකය' එංගලන්ත පිලේ ප්රසාදයට සංගක්කාර වැනි විශිෂ්ට පිතිකරුවකුගේ ආශ්චර්යාත්මක ශතකය හමුවේ ලද පරාජය පිලිබඳ සිත් තැවුලට හේතුවක් නොමැති බව එංගලන්ත පිළේ නායක ඇලිස්ටර් කුක් පවසයි. නොදැවී ලකුණු එකසිය තිස් හතරක් රැස් කළ කුමාර් සංගක්කාර ලන්ඩන් ඕවල් පිටියේදී ශ්රී ලංකා කණ්ඩායම වෙනුවෙන් කළ කාර්යභාරය පිළිබඳව තරඟයෙන් පසු මාධ්යවේදීන් ඇමතූ එංගලන්ත පිළේ නායක ඇලිස්ටර් කුක් කියා සිටියේ, "සමහර අවස්ථාවලදී මෙවැනි අති දක්ෂ ක්රීඩකයකු හමුවේ ලබන පරාජය ගැන එතරම් කම්පා වීමට තරම් හේතුවක් නැහැ" යනුවෙන්..(බි බි සි සිංභල) Sri Lanka fishermen will be safer with vessel monitoring system: minister Sri Lanka is expecting to have a vessel monitoring system operating within five months which will provide up to date weather information to fishermen and reduce loss of life, fisheries minister Rajitha Senaratne said. Last week 51 fishermen were lost at sea and eight are still missing, following severe monsoonal winds. There is a government inquiry on why they were not warned by the met office in time. (Lanka Business Online) Govt. to present urgent Bill to repeal PCs’ power to merge An urgent Bill is to be moved in Parliament next week to abolish the power of Provincial Councils to merge, as provided for in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Media Minister Kekeliya Rambukwella told a news conference in Colombo yesterday, that the proposed Bill had been endorsed by the Cabinet of Ministers. (The Island) Probe NGOs for conspiracie The Sri Lankan government has appointed a special committee to investigate charges and allegations being made against non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and their operations in the country. The government has also made it compulsory for all NGOs operating in the country to register themselves with the Office for the Registration of Non-Governmental Organisations, Xinhua reported. (Business Standard) Sri Lanka wants FDI to boost exports and import substitution Sri Lanka wants foreign direct investment tailored to boosting sluggish exports and to import substitution, according to a government document seen by Reuters on Thursday. Export revenue fell 8.1 percent in the first quarter of 2013 to $2.36 billion, which the central bank blames on economic slowdown in Sri Lanka's main export destinations such as the euro zone and the United States, the government's data showed. (REUTERS) Sri Lanka to ban foreign investments in to steel, cement, retail trade Sri Lanka plans to ban foreign investments into steel, cement, retail trade, small scale agriculture and beauty care products, to 'protect' domestic investors, according to decision by the cabinet of ministers. Cabinet spokesman Keheliya Rambukwelle said relevant regulations would be made known later. (Lanka Buusiness Online) This is a ‘MR – IMF’ government – Lal Kanthe The economic model begun by Mr. J.R. Jayawardene has come through Chandrika and Mahinda as an economy that gets its income only through taxes, fines and foreign debt and this neoliberalist economy has left only a discrepancy in development and distribution of income says the Member of the Political Bureau of the JVP and President of National Trade Union Center K.D. Lal Kanthe. This economy has created all social crises that plague the country at present added Mr. Lal Kanthe addressing a seminar under the theme ‘Beyond 21st May’ held at National Library auditorium yesterday (12th) evening. (LankaTruth) SLMC won’t support amending 13-A General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), Parliamentarian M. T. Hassen Ali, said that his party leader Rauff Hakeem had informed President Mahinda Rajapaksa by letter yesterday that in no way would the SLMC support the repealing of the 13th Amendment at the present juncture. Hassen Ali said that in a 13-page letter addressed to the President, SLMC Leader and Minister of Justice Hakeem had clearly explained the reasons for his party’s decision. (The Island) Against appointing Mohan Peiris as CJ.. The petition filed by the Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives Pakyasothy Sarawanamuththu against the appointment of Mr. Mohan Peiris as the Chief Justice was heard yesterday (11th) by a bench of five Judges comprising Saleem Marshuk, Chandra Ekanayake, Sathya Hettige, Eva Wanasundara and Rohini Marasinghe. Attorney M.A. Sumandiram representing the petitioner told Court that despite a request was made to appoint all the judges of the Supreme Court, only five judges have been appointed to hear the petition. However, he doesn’t have any displeasure regarding the appointed judges said Mr. Sumandiram. (LankaTruth) Sri Lanka power generation positive in March Sri Lanka's power generation rose 02 percent in March 2013 to 1,057 GigaWatt hours (millions of units) from a year earlier, recovering from a slump in February official data showed. In February 2013 power generation fell 1.4 percent to 913 GWh from a year earlier. (Lanka Business Online) SL ranks 110 of 162 in peace index In the South Asian region, Sri Lanka is one notch above India at rank four while Bhutan is the most peaceful country, followed by Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, in that order, The Hindu reported. India ranks low at 141in this year’s Global Peace Index (GPI) that measured peace in 162 countries, according to 22 qualitative and quantitative indicators of the absence and fear of violence, The Hindu said. (Daily Mirror) JHU welcomes UNP’s commitment to unitary state With the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) welcoming the UNP’s commitment to a unitary state, as contained in its new draft constitution, the two parties are scheduled to discuss the UNP’s new policy document today. UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake, MP, said that the meeting would be held in Colombo, on a request made by the JHU. (The Island) Ranil escapes mob attack Opposition and UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe had a narrow escape from a violent mob on the Galle Road at Balapitiya. His motorcade was stopped by a group of unruly protesters near the Ven. Megetuwatte Gunananda Thera’s statue and someone even tried to open the rear door of his vehicle, but the police dispersed the crowd, according to the UNP. Wickremesinghe accompanied by Party General Secretary, Tissa Attanayake, MP Wijedasa Rajapakshe and several others had visited funeral houses of fishermen killed by the cyclonic storm. While the UNP leader’s motorcade was returning around 5. 00 p.m. the road had been blocked by a group of thugs, the UNP said. (The Island) Sri Lankan players to mourn umpire’s death The news of K. T. Francis’ death to Sri Lankan team playing Champions Trophy in England had reached by the time the match against New Zealand had already commenced. “Angelo Mathews’ boys could not mourn the death of our famous umpire but I will make all necessary arrangements to propose to observe a two-minute silence and also players wear black arm bands in their next match against England (at the Oval on Thursday)”, Peter Manuel, the former Sri Lankan umpire and ICC’s Umpires’ Manager (Asia Zone) said from London. (Pakistan Observer) Sri Lanka tightens safety as monsoon kills 54 The death toll in Sri Lanka from strong monsoon winds and heavy rains rose to 54, as the government announced on Tuesday new safety requirements for small fishing boats. The Disaster Management Centre said 54 people, mostly fishermen caught in rough seas, have died since the monsoon hit on Saturday morning. (APF/Google) Dambulla to return as international venue International men's cricket will return to Dambulla International Stadium in November after a three-year hiatus, Sri Lanka Cricket has said. The stadium is built on lands owned by the nearby Buddhist temple and the hiatus partly resulted from a disagreement between SLC and the clergy, who believed the sale of alcohol and tobacco at the venue was a breach of the lease agreement. (ESPN) Collective formed to block13-A A new organisation calling itself the “Collective for the abolition of the Provincial Council System” was formed today. It comprises the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), the SihalaRavaya (SR), and civil activists including Attorney-At-Law S.L.Gunasekara, Professor Nalin De Silva and other individuals and organisations. The collective is calling for the abolition of the 13th Amendment from the Constitution. (Daily Mirror) Mahinda Amaraweera to resign if found guilty Minister of Disaster Management Mahinda Amaraweera says he will resign if his ministry is faund guilty by the committee probing the recent weather disaster. Speaking at a press conference today, the minister stated that unlike other officials he will not continue to remain in his post after it is proven that a mistake has been made on his part. (Ada Derana) President tells EPDP, JHU to speak their minds without fear President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday assured EPDP leader and Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Minister Douglas Devananda that the Government would not interfere in his ongoing protest campaigns against proposed changes to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. President Rajapaksa told Minister Devananda that he could freely voice his position as regards the issue in Parliament. (The Island) Sri Lanka's pioneer umpire K T Francis passes away Renowned Sri Lankan umpire K T Francis, who stood in islanders' inaugural Test match in 1982, has passed away after losing battle against acute diabetes, family sources said Monday. He was 73. Francis died in a hospital yesterday, they said. A Tamil, Francis along with Herbie Felsinger officiated in Sri Lanka's first-ever Test match against England here in February 1982. (IBN Live) Sri Lankan duo reprimanded Former Sri Lankan captains Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan have been reprimanded for appealing excessively during Sunday's tense Champions Trophy clash against New Zealand. The International Cricket Council said the two players had pleaded guilty to a level one breach of that part of the Code of Conduct which relates to "excessive appealing during an international match." (Sport24) කුණාටුවෙන් මියගිය පිරිස තවත් ඉහළට සිකුරාදා රාත්රියේ සහ සෙනසුරාදා බටහිර වෙරළේ හටගත් කුණාටුවෙන් මිය ගිය සංඛ්යාව හතළිහක් දක්වා ඉහළ ගොස් ඇති බව ශ්රී ලංකාවේ බලධාරීහු පවසති. ආපදා කළමනාකරණ මධ්යස්ථානය විසින් සඳුදා පස්වරුවේ නිකුත් කළ සංඛ්යාලේඛන අනුව විසිනව දෙනකු තුවාල ලබා තිබෙන අතර අතුරුදහන් පිරිස තිහකි.(බි බි සි සිංභල) Sri Lanka says it has made progress on reconciliation The Sri Lankan government on Monday said it has made progress in addressing human rights concerns and reconciliation which it says has been acknowledged by many in the international community. A government statement said it was surprised by claims made by Canada last week at the UN Human Rights Council currently meeting in Geneva that there are ongoing violations of human rights in Sri Lanka and that there is also a lack of reconciliation in the country. (XinhuaNet) Move to dilute 13-A: Friday Forum urges political parties to resist The Friday Forum has urged political parties and civil society groups to oppose government moves to dilute the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and to make every effort to ensure a free and fair northern provincial council election under the present constitution. (The Island) Protest in Sri Lanka over Hindi song played for cricketers at ICC Champions Trophy The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sent a letter of apology after protests sparked in Sri Lanka's capital on Monday against an incident at the ICC Champions Trophy in England. A group of Buddhist monks who are members of the Sinhalese hardline organization Power of Ravana handed over a letter to Sri Lanka Cricket demanding that the ICC apologize to Sri Lanka. (Yahoo) තමිල්නාඩුවේ වෙලින්ටන් හමුදා පීඨය අවට දැඩි රැකවල් ශ්රී ලංකාවේ සන්නද්ධ සේනා නිලධාරීන්ට තමිල්නාඩුවේදී පුහුණුව ලබා දීමට එරෙහිව මහ ඇමැතිනිය ඇතුළු දමිළ පක්ෂ විරෝධය පෑම සමගින් ඉන්දියාවේ මුල් පෙළේ ආරක්ෂක පීඨයක් අවට රැකවල් තරකොට තිබේ. නීලගිරි දිස්ත්රික්කයේ පිහිටි වෙලින්ටන් ආරක්ෂක විද්යා පීඨයේදී ශ්රී ලංකාවේ හමුදා නිලධාරීන් දෙදෙනකුට පුහුණුව ලබා දීමට එරෙහිව ඉරිදා කුන්මූර් හා වෙලින්ටන් හි මහජන විරෝධතා පැවැත්වුනු අතර පොලිසිය පවසන්නේ එකසිය පනහකට ආසන්න උද්ඝෝෂකයන් පිරිසක් අත් අඩංගුවට ගන්නා ලද බවයි.(බි බි සි සිංභල) Monsoon kills 19 Monsoon rains and strong winds in Sri Lanka have killed at least 19 people with dozens more missing, most of them fishermen caught in rough seas. The navy and airforce are searching for 36 fishermen missing at sea since the monsoon hit early on Saturday, Sarath Kumara Gunaratne, deputy minister of disaster management, told reporters. (Sky News) Jayalalithaa: Send back Sri Lanka defence officers training in Tamil Nadua Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has strongly urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to instruct officials to send back two Sri Lankan defence officers undergoing training in Tamil Nadu. She also urged him to take a policy decision that Lankan armed personnel will not be trained in India until there is a satisfactory resolution of human rights violations against the Tamils, and illegal attacks by the Sri Lankan Navy on Indian fishermen stop. (Gulf News) 'ගෝල්ඩන් කී' ඉපැයූ වත්කම් රාජසන්තකයි සෙලින්කෝ සමාගමේ හිටපු සභාපති ලලිත් කොතලාවල ඔහුගේ බිරිඳ සහ ගෝල්ඩන් කී සමාගමේ ප්රධාන අධ්යක්ෂවරුන් නවදෙනා සතු සියලු වත්කම් මාස තුනක් ඇතුළත පවරාගෙන එහි තැන්පතුකරුවන්ට සහන සලසා දීමට සෙලින්කෝ වත්කම් පවරා ගැනීමේ විශේෂ කාර්ය සාධක බලකාය තීරණය කර ඇත. ලලිත් කොතලාවල, සිසිලියා කොතලාවල සහ ගෝල්ඩන් කී අධ්යක්ෂවරුන් නවදෙනා සතු සියලු වත්කම් පිළිබඳව වාර්තාවක් මේ වනවිට සෙලින්කෝ වත්කම් පවරා ගැනීමේ විශේෂ කාර්යය බලකාය මගින් සකස් කරමින් සිටියි. එහෙත් කොතලාවල යුවල සහ අධ්යක්ෂවරුන් නිවැරැදි වත්කම් වාර්තා මේ වනතුරු ලබාදී නොමැති බව වත්කම් පවරා ගැනීමේ කාර්ය සාධක බලකාය පවසයි.(දිචයින) Tense situ at Dehiwala A tense situation prevailed in Dehiwela as a group of people block the railway line with fishing boats disrupting the train services this morning. They urged the authorities to bring back the fishermen who went fishing from the Beruwala and other areas and caught in the strong winds. (Daily Mirror) Executive Presidency must go says TNA The Executive Presidency should be abolished as the minorities no longer have any faith in it, the Tamil National Alliance(TNA) said yesterday. Asked, about the TNA’s position on the Executive Presidency in the light of the UNP releasing its new draft constitution which calls for its repeal, the TNA leader Rajavarothiam Sampanthan said "it has to go" adding that it was no longer a "shelter" for the minority communities that it was intended to be when the 1978 Constitution was introduced. (Sunday Island) Navy, Air Force deployed to rescue fishermen missing in stormy weather Sri Lanka Navy and Air Force have deployed rescue teams to search and rescue the fishermen affected by the stormy weather in rough seas off the southern and western coasts. At least six fishermen have died and their bodies washed ashore when their boats capsized in the south western coastal areas of Dehiwala and Beruwala due to stormy conditions brought about by strong winds and heavy rains. (Colombo Page) Sri Lanka in talks on $600mn Japan lo Sri Lanka is in discussion with Japan about a $600mn loan to fund the construction of a 600MW coal power plant, the power ministry secretary said yesterday, as the island nation aims to lower power generation costs. Sri Lanka raised its electricity tariff sharply in April in as part of efforts to reduce losses at the state-run power company. Extended droughts have cut hydro power generation and forced it to use more expensive oil. (Gulf Times) Sri Lanka expanding relations with Africa Sri Lanka has a long historical relationship with Africa beginning with the arrival of Arab traders in the early 11th century and the island nation hopes to enhance its existing economic and trade relations with the African nations further through business exchanges. Delivering a keynote address at an event to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Organization of African Unity (OAU)/African Union (AU) in Colombo recently, Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs Karunaratne Amunugama said Trade between Sri Lanka and Africa has a long distinguished history. (Colombo Page) Hindi introduction: SLC writes to ICC Sri Lanka Cricket today expressed its dismay over the playing of a Hindi song instead of a song which reflects the Sri Lankan identity when the Lankan team was introduced during the opening ceremony of the ICC Champions Trophy in London yesterday. Speaking to Daily Mirror Online Secretary of the SLC Nishantha Ranathunga confirmed that he had sent a letter to the ICC demanding an explanation from the ICC regarding the mix up. (Daily Mirror) Sri Lanka businesses warned on planned media curb Sri Lanka's businesses had been warned on the future effects on liberty in the island following attempts to impose fresh controls on the media through a 'code of ethics. Government officials have said it does not amount to a new law but critics say the island has a history of undermining liberties of the individual which has in turn hurt the economy and business. (Lanka Business Online) Sri Lanka businesses warned on planned media curb Sri Lanka's businesses had been warned on the future effects on liberty in the island following attempts to impose fresh controls on the media through a 'code of ethics. Government officials have said it does not amount to a new law but critics say the island has a history of undermining liberties of the individual which has in turn hurt the economy and business. (Lanka Business Online) JVP insists on scrapping Provincial Councils The JVP yesterday urged the government to scrap the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and do away with provincial councils without wasting time in making amendments to the existing Provincial Council Act. JVP Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath told The Island that the government’s draft amendment to the Provincial Council Act had been postponed for two weeks, when it was presented to the Cabinet yesterday. (The Island) President’s right to merge provinces to be repealed The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal to repeal the President’s right to merge Provinces, which has been provided for under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella addressing a news conference in Colombo yesterday, said that constituent members of the ruling UPFA had been given time to study the Bill to amend the Provincial Councils Act. (The Island) Sri Lanka to water down Tamil power-sharing plan Sri Lanka plans to reduce the power of local councils before the first-ever provincial elections in the island's former war zone, a leading politician said Thursday, in a bid to deny minority Tamils greater autonomy. The ruling coalition promised to share limited power with Tamils, pointing to elections to local councils, after the military crushed separatist Tamil rebels in May 2009 and ended 37 years of ethnic bloodshed. (AFP/Google) Sri Lanka wary of LTTE revival: US report Sri Lanka is still wary of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s international network and has voiced concern about the possible re-emergence of pro-LTTE sympathisers despite the military defeat of the Tamil rebels, United States State Department's report has said. According to the US State Department's 2012 counter terrorism country report, "The Sri Lankan government claimed that it continued to uncover abandoned weapons and explosives in areas of the country formerly controlled by the LTTE (Rediff News) JHU ready to discuss UNP’s draft constitution JHU General Secretary and Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said his party was ready to discuss the UNP’s draft constitution. “Under Ranil Wickremesinghe in1994, the UNP proposed to do away with the unitary state. It is good that it is talking about creating a unitary state once again. If the UNP is willing to do so, we are ready to discuss its new constitutional reforms though we are not clear about some of the proposals like the three options proposed in place of the executive presidency,” the minister said. (Daily Mirror) Bank of Ceylon to finance Rs 3.9 bn road Sri Lanka's state-run Bank of Ceylon will finance 48.2 kilometre road at a cost of 3,915 million rupees, the state information office said. The cabinet of ministers had given the nod for the proposal by the ministry of finance to enter into a loan agreement with the bank. (Lanka Business Online) TNA: Tamils don’t want a return to violence Amidst moves to amend the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said that neither it nor the Tamil people wanted a return to violence, but if the Rajapaksa government was not wise enough to resolve the ethnic issue through peaceful means, it could not predict what would happen in the future. TNA Leader R. Sampanthan, MP, addressing the Foreign Correspondents’ Association in Colombo, on Tuesday evening, said that the violence of the past had done no good to the country and its people and the TNA would do its damnedest to prevent history repeating itself, but if that’s what the Rajapaksa regime wanted they would have no choice in the matter. (The Island) Sri Lanka on US sanction exemption list for Iran oil Sri Lanka has been included in a list of exempt countries released by the United States on sanctions imposed on crude oil purchases from Iran, a media report said. The US had exempted China, India, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey and Taiwan, and some European nations following significant cuts in their purchases. (Lanka Business Online) |
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"India let us down in Geneva, very badly"