The Sri Lanka government yesterday expressed concern over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the US embassy in Colombo and the Trincomalee Urban Council to jointly establish a public information and activity centre known as the...

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation workshop was The police yesterday said that although the CID was investigating activities of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Sri Lanka as to whether they had exceeded their legal boundaries, there was no move to...

The Bribery Commission yesterday withdrew a case filed against Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake and three others and thereafter they were discharged by the Colombo Chief Magistrate.

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said he would never agree to the granting of police powers to provincial councils in accordance with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) and the Lanka Electricity Company (LECO) yesterday failed to provide a comprehensive explanation as to whyaconsumerwhohadused Calculated for a duration of 30 days for 61 units though the bill stated...

Kelaniya Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Prasanna Ranaweera was yesterday allegedly assaulted by a group of supporters of another UPFA PS member over an argument that the Chairman

The ongoing debate over the 13th Amendment, the police and land powers of provincial councils within the government, has taken a new turn as some Tamil members in the SLFP are planning to request President Mahinda Rajapaksa to go in for a referendum

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has clearly instructed the authorities not to increase electricity bills of consumers

Private Transport Service Minister C.B. Ratnayaka yesterday ruled out a private bus fare increase in the near future and added he was awaiting a collective proposal on the bus fare increase from private bus operators. "Legally, the National Transport...

The Kegalle High Court Judge Ms Menaka Wijesundera yesterday remanded a female Samurdhi development officer till the rising of court, for giving fsalse evidence in a case of robbery. The remanded Samurdhi development officer was identified as Kisa...

A new movement called 'Citizens' led by a group of lawyers yesterday urged the people to make collective economic and political decisions as a society and not individualistic decisions so as to form a virtuous and honourable society. 'Citizens' which...

reported in Kirillaoya, Kadawatha. The suspects had entered the shop from the rear by removing a window. Police were informed the next day after the loss was discovered. It was believed that the suspects were residents of the same area. An army...

hotel owner of Anuradhapura, his wife E. A. L. M. I. Wickramasinha and son W. A. B. I. Wickramasinha at an identification parade conducted earlier The suspect had allegedly deceived the complainant and defrauded him of Rs. 27.5 million, on the promise...

The former army lieutenant remanded earlier on charges of defrauding an individual of Rs. 27.5 million on a bogus land deal was further remanded till June 4 by the Anuradhapura Chief Magistrate and Additional District Judge Ruwandika Marapana. The...

who fell on the child and injured her during a domestic dispute. The tragic incident was reported in Lindula, Talawakele. The infant was admitted to the Lindula Hospital but had already succumbed to her injuries at the time of admission. Police took...

The government is becoming increasingly oppressive on a daily basis. This is not a good trend I wonder what Ranil W. would do if MPs are taken in- to custody If somebody speaks against the government they are taken away by the CID. The opposition...

This President never keeps his word. How many promises has he given like this and the stupid masses just wait for miracles to happen. So there is no relief for the low end consumers and President’s May Day promise is just a hoax? It is really naïve of...

Sri Lanka does not belong only to the Sinhalese the other communities should be given a chance to live with equal rights Politics should be left for the laymen and monks should attend to religious affairs This is a very good move. The 13th Amendment...

Thieves entered a communications store and allegedly took away mobile phones and accessories valued at Rs.200,000. The incident was

An infant of five months was killed when a man allegedly pushed his wife

India has helped us not only with the housing project, but in many other ways as well. As long as President Mahinda Rajapakse remains the President of this country, the Indo-Lanka friendship will not suffer any strain, Economic Development Minister...

The government will introduce a mechanism to increase the monitoring of activities involving 78 government sponsored private schools in the country, a Minister said yesterday.Education Minister Bandula Gunawardane told Parliament on Wednesday that...

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) yesterday warned the government that it would hold non stop street protests till the recently increased electricity tariff was reduced and thereby open the eyes of those who oppose and ridicule the opposition. JVP...

Terrorist Investigations Department has interrogated TNPF General Secretary Selvaraja Gajendran on Wednesday. The interrogation was held at the Jaffna office of the TID from 12.30 till 3.30 p.m. He told the reporters that he was requested to be...

The Supreme Court dismissed a fundamental rights petition filed by a student of the Royal College of Colombo challenging a decision taken by the school authorities to suspend him from playing squash, saying it was a violation of his fundamental...

The United National Party (UNP) charged in parliament on Wednesday that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) had not tabled audited accounts in parliament for the past four years making it impossible for members of parliament to discuss its financial...

The French Naval Ship “Jacques Cartier” arrived at the port of Colombo on 22 May. The ship carries a complement of 53 naval personnel on board and will be docked at the port of Colombo during the Vesak celebrations in Sri Lanka. The ship’s commanding...

Out of the planned 12,500 houses in the Northern Province about 10,000 had been completed, the out going Indian envoy Ashok K. Kantha said speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Indian Housing Project in the east said on Wednesday. He also said...

A paddy planting ceremony in the 76-acre model organic paddy field in Madiwela was held yesterday under the patronage of Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Indigenous Medicine Minister Salinda Disanayaka. This paddy land has been allocated among...

Eighteen people have been arrested in Britain and France on suspicion of helping to smuggle Sri Lankan illegal immigrants into the UK, the Home Office says. Immigration enforcement officers and the Kent police carried out simultaneous raids on...

Japan Coast Guard (JCG) personnel attached to the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) ships, ‘Suzunami’ and ‘Kirisame’ participated in a beachcleaning campaign at the Nilaweli beach recently. The combined effort resulted in collecting over 600kg...

A five-month-old female infant was killed while sleeping in a bed as her mother had fallen on her body, Lindula police said. It is suspected that this woman might have fallen on the sleeping baby as a result of being pushed by her husband during a...

A further 31 Sri Lankan irregular maritime arrivals are being deported to Colombo after failing to meet Australia’s international obligations, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Brendan O'Connor said yesterday. The group departed Christmas...

Suspect who had served the Police Department for 23 years had been distributing ganja in Kandy A police constable attached to the Ministerial Security Division was arrested in Kandy yesterday with 2 kilogrammes of ganja. According to initial...

Another part of some skeleton remains was recovered yesterday from the excavations at the Kuragala prehistoric site, Deputy Director General of the Archaeology Department Dr Nimal Perera said. The excavations at the Kuragala prehistoric site were...

A complaint has been lodged against Indian Union Minister V. Narayanasamy, for his recent statement on LTTE chief Prabhakaran and Naam Tamizhar Katchi. Advocate C. Ramesh of Madurai filed a complaint with the IGP of South Zone stating that the...

The ceremony to commemorate the advent of higher ordination of Buddhist monks from Thailand (Siam) 260 years ago was held at the Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy on Wednesday with the participation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The ceremony was presided...

Serving the masses irrespective of their caste, creed or ethnicity is Nimal Siripala De Silva’s political ideology, and as such he has never toed the line expounded by either of Marxism or Capitalism. This mindset has helped him become one of the most...

A Sri Lankan Tamil refugee has been released from Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre after having her adverse security assessment overturned by Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). Manokala Jenaddarsan, 41, and her six-year-old son,...

A youth residing at Marawila was produced in court on charges of having watched pornographic visuals on his mobile phone in public at Fort railway station. He was fined Rs.500 by Colombo Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage after he pleaded guilty to the...

A Colombo Court yesterday imposed a Rs.10,000 fine on a Chinese woman, who pleaded guilty to the charge of selling a bottle of beer to a policeman while she had no permit to do so. At the time of the arrest, the Kollupitiya police found 13 bottles of...

The hawkers in Vavuniya blamed yesterday that Vavuniya Urban Council was depriving them of their daily income by removing them in pretext of town development. The pavement hawkers in the Vavuniya town who have been evicted from their usual places of...

Contd. Page 1 “A statement was recorded from their representative in Sri Lanka, Sagarika Delgoda over its operations and activities in the country,” police said. The CID also noted that there is no attempt or a need to arrest parliamentarians...

Prime Minister D.M.Jayaratne, concerned about the decline in paddy cultivation said 1.8 million acres of paddy cultivated in the past has now declined to 600,000 acres. Pointing out that Sri Lanka’s economy depended entirely on agriculture he said that...

A recent survey carried out by the Nuwara Eliya District Secretariat to provide relief to families affected by the inclement weather has revealed that a number of estate children were not attending school in fear of road accidents and natural...

A person who drove a trishaw and caused an accident when his driving licence had been suspended by court for two months was fined Rs.42,500 and sentenced to one month rigorous imprisonment and his driving licence cancelled by Kaduwela Magistrate...

The National Building and Research Organisation has warned that hilly areas in six districts were exposed to earth slips due to the extreme wet weather experienced at present. A senior official of the organisation said Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Ratnapura,...

hose who abide by the Dhamma are protected by the Dhamma,' is a line that seems to be popular among Buddhists who own cars and are want to declare their faith with stickers. It is human to declare one's identity one way or another. This is a phenomenon...

Saving electricity consumption has become a national priority. Whilst it helps individual consumers trapped in an endless crisis of worsening cost of living, it would also help government coffers in a big way in addressing widening budget deficits. It...

Until recently I thought that Timbuktu was something utopian (but as per the Oxford English Dictionary it meant “the most distant place imaginable") whereas it was not so after listening to some newscast recently. Incidentally, this name is very often...

sion the Buddha made people concentrate on doing good deeds for the benefit of the rest of the community. The Buddha has the quality called – “Purisa Dhamma Sarathi” as he made use of his powers of performing – miracles and various other methods other...

is the greatest religious festival of Buddhists which celebrates the Birth, Enlightenment and Parinirvana of the Buddha. On this occasion we give importance to alms and material offerings and the observance of the principles of Buddhism to venerate the...

Day is a celebration for Buddhists worldwide and an opportunity for all members of the international community to benefit from their rich traditions. This year’s observance, falling at a time of widespread strife and misery, is an occasion to examine...

While residing at Jetavana Monastery in Savatthi, Lord Buddha voiced this verse with reference to a certain barren woman and another women who was capable of bearing a child Once there lived a householder who led a good life by developing his...

The doctrine taught by Gautama Buddha is popularly known as Buddhism. Some people regard and call it a religion. Some others regard it as a religious philosophy. Buddhism can correctly be regarded as a “way of life”. It is not to categorise Buddhism as...

KATHMANDU, May 23, 2013 (AFP) - An 80-year-old Japanese climber reached the summit of Mount Everest on Thursday, becoming the oldest person to scale the world's highest mountain, his website and a Nepalese official said. Yuichiro Miura and his party,...

Sweden is reeling after a third night of rioting in largely rundown immigrant areas of the capital Stockholm. In the last 48 hours violence has spread to at least ten suburbs with mobs of youths torching hundreds of cars and clashing with police. It...

The soldier killed in an attack on a London street has been named as Drummer Lee Rigby of the 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. Drummer Rigby, 25, from Manchester, leaves behind a twoyear-old son. Two men are under arrest in hospital...

A bomb planted in a rickshaw has killed at least 12 people in Quetta in south west Pakistan, officials say. At least 10 of the dead were said to be security personnel. A number of other people were wounded. "The target was a truck of Balochistan...

PARIS, May 23, 2013 (AFP) - Prosecutors will grill IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Thursday as they investigate whether she should be charged in connection with a state payout to a disgraced tycoon during her time as French finance minister. Lagarde...

BEIJING, May 23, 2013 (AFP) - Speculation mounted over a top North Korean military official's visit to China Thursday, after few details of his meetings were made available. Choe Ryong-Hae, a vice marshal and the director of the Korean People's Army's...

Ahead of a major speech by President Obama involving US counterterrorism operations, the White House has indicated that it will include a plan to renew prisoner transfers out of Guantanamo Bay, with the ultimate goal of shuttering the prison. Just as...

BANGKOK, May 23, 2013 (AFP) - Thai authorities have arrested an Italian wanted over alleged links to a human trafficking ring which swindled around $10 million from European taxpayers and banks, immigration officials said Thursday. Stefano Raccagni,...

SYDNEY, May 22, 2013 (AFP) - A controversial cull of up to 10,000 wild horses in Australia's harsh Outback reportedly began Wednesday in a bid to control the feral animals which officials say are destroying the land. The Central Land Council said...

Seven women and five men have been shot dead in a brothel in Baghdad, state and medical officials say. Unknown armed gunmen are said to have burst into the brothel in the well-todo eastern district of Zayouna on Wednesday afternoon and opened...

Anew revolutionary, proven and proprietary microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) technology developed by Titan Oil Recovery Inc. called the Titan Process, has proven after working for more than five years with oil companies in the field that it can...

Telecom operators capture trillions of bytes of unstructured information about their customers, suppliers and operations. Millions of networked sensors are also being embedded in the physical world in devices such as mobile phones and automobiles;...

When one of Hollywood’s iconic actresses makes her double mastectomy public, she is going beyond merely sharing something so private and life changing, with the world. When she shared her story with the media, Angelina Jolie achieved more for awareness...

that would be valuable to advertisers and partners. For example, based on these results, one may identify that a particular subscriber always drives a certain route to work each day. Therefore, one knows that he tends to pass by a specific café at...

Reflecting a belief that health education has the potential to make a huge difference in overall healthcare of a community, Hemas Hospital in Thalawathugoda has already commenced a series of free health education seminars at their facility. With an...

Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) announced NASCO 2013 - its premier event dedicated to recognize the efforts and performance of sales personnel. It is also the only national event to recognize and reward Sri Lanka’s sales force attached to...

The IIT Alumni Association, dedicated towards building a network of IIT alumnus in Sri Lanka to foster and promote the IIT brand equity, has achieved success in a variety of professions and has become entrepreneurs of repute. Kick starting their...

The Buddha statue on the Kurunegala rock or precisely the Athugala Samadhi Temple is a famous temple and could be easily noticed by everyone who goes across Kurunegala due to its strategic location. Two years ago, at a business function held in...

The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) collaborated with 3M Sri Lanka and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to host the ‘World Safety Day Conference’ recently at Taj Samudra Hotel. The theme of the conference was ‘Prevention of...

The Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT) has over the past years been instrumental in offering a unique scholarship scheme ‘inforschol’ for students who have obtained good Advanced Level results but who unfortunately have not been able to enter...

May 14, 2013 saw Elephant House Ginger Beer (EGB) change the futures of many in the ginger farming community of Poojapitiya, a village off Kandy, when the Poojapitiya Primary School’s e-library was declared open. These students probably never...

At the beginning of 2013 (January) P&S introduced its latest competition which encouraged Sri Lankans who have the knack for cooking, to use the ingredients photographed on the P&S 2013 Calendar and prepare a unique dish. The competition was introduced...

EU leaders tackle tax fraud said to cost a trillion euros a year at a summit on Wednesday in the hope that tightening up the rules will help restore faith in European integration and raise revenue. B u t Au s t r i a and Luxembourg are both reluctant...

Hong Kong this week launched a ten-year plan to reduce waste by 40 percent per person as part of efforts to catch up with other leading Asian cities and avert a looming environmental crisis. With a population of more than 7 million, the city currently...

In a surprising move, rent prices for apartments and villas in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) shot up by 30 percent, according to real estate experts. Experts say the rent hikes were due to rising costs of building and renovation, and the increase...

Kuwait’s vital oil sector has undergone a major reshuffle, with new executives appointed for the subsidiaries of Kuwait Petroleum Corp, after a new KPC chief was named, the national oil firm said Monday. The decisions were taken at a meeting late...

A consortium comprising French, South Korean and Chinese companies has won a contract for a liquefied natural gas project in Canada, the French partner Technip said on Wednesday. The other partners are Samsung of South Korea and Huanqiu of China. The...

A businesswoman in China has been sentenced to death for defrauding her clients of around $70 million in an investment scam, state media reported recently as authorities crack down on illegal banking. Lin Haiyan, 39, from the eastern city of Wenzhou,...

The Bank of Japan on Wednesday held off fresh easing measures, saying after a two-day policy meeting that a continuation of steps introduced last month would help Japan overcome deflation. The central bank said its widely expected decision to stand...