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A.A.M.Nizam in Colombo
Changes to Sri Lanka’s election system, introduced arbitrarily by the former President J.R.Jayawardene, without people’s consent, is a much sought out matter since under the present system true people’s representation cannot be established due to the hugeness of the electoral units which tend to many irregularities and favour the persons who can wield either huge expenses or thuggery.

The Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, as promised to the people through President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s policy statement “Mahinda Chintana” has made arrangements to change the current election system and introduce a new system which would be a hybrid of the old First Past the Post system and a percentage of members elected on preferential votes system Read the rest of this entry »

The Parliament yesterday put off the vote on two Bills, Local Authorities (Special Provisions) and Local Government (Elections). The voting was to be taken on Tuesday.
Chief Government Whip Water Supply and Drainage Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told Parliament that the amendments relating to those Bills would be produced at the Committee Stage on another day and the Bills passed thereafter Read the rest of this entry »

Census of Population and Housing in Sri Lanka was launched today (05) with Grama Niladaris affixing a Census label on each building throughout the Island. Accordingly Colombo Fort – Pettah Grama Niladari Chaminda Caldera listed President’s Official residence in Colombo, Fort as No 001.

The census enumeration of population and housing which commenced today, covering the whole island after a period of 30 years would give very valuable information on demographic and otehr related characteristics, useful to planners, policy makers, administrators, researchers and other data users Read the rest of this entry »

External Affairs Minister Prof G L Peiris said yesterday in Parliament that the air strikes on the Libyan people cannot be accepted as the strikes have increased together their suffering. He was responding to an adjournment motion moved by UPFA National list MP A H M Azwer.

Minister Peiris said ties between Libya and Sri Lanka was very strong. “We feel empathy for the people of Libya. The action today has been taken in accordance with a UN Security Council resolution Read the rest of this entry »

Minister Bathiudeen receives high level Chinese trade reps, plans exceptional participation:
China is planning to provide favourable policies for custom clearance and inland transportation for exports coming from Sri Lanka. It will also allocate a special area for Sri Lanka in the forthcoming Kunming international trade fair and will give 100 free booths for Sri Lanka at this fair, said Ms. Huang Shah, Vice Chairperson of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), addressing Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce.

Minister Bathiudeen promptly assured: ‘Sri Lanka will have exceptional participation at the forthcoming international fair.” Ms Shah revealed the above on Tuesday 22 on the occasion of the official handing over of the Chinese Ministerial level invitation to Minister Rishad Bathiudeen (Minister of Industry and Commerce) for the fourth South Asian Trade Fair to be held in June in Kunming, China Read the rest of this entry »

SriLankan Airlines will operate a special flight from Tokyo to Colombo tomorrow, to bring in Sri Lankans living in Japan. The special flight is aimed at helping Sri Lankans who wish to return home from Japan, due to the current situation prevailing in the aftermath of the Earthquake in Japan.

Accordingly, the national carrier announced the flight UL1423 will depart Tokyo at 1630 hrs on the 17th of March and arrive in Colombo at 0015 Hrs on the 18th of March- news360

Sri Lankan scientist and environmental expert Dr. Janaka Ratnasiri says a cluster of nuclear power plants India is constructing at Kudankulam close to Kanyakumai, poses a serious threat to Sri Lanka

In an article, India’s nuclear power programme and its threat to Sri Lanka, published in The Island today, Dr Ratnasiri says Kudankulam is only 240 km from Sri Lanka’s west coast, in line with Puttalam and ff any of the 8 nuclear power plants, being constructed or planned there develops a radiation leak due to some unforeseen reason, its impact would be felt directly by Sri Lanka Read the rest of this entry »

Immediate measures should be taken to address the concerns of the fishing community of Arugam Bay who play a significant role in contributing towards the development of tourism in this world-renowned surfing destination, said M. H. A. Raheem, Chairman of the Arugam Bay Tourism Association (ABTA).

Since the beginning, Arugam Bay has been known as a fishing village and the fisheries sector has grown to be regarded as one of the major income generating industries of the area. The main livelihood of the majority of the people of Arugam Bay, over 600 fishermen are currently involved in the sector, while 1,500 families directly benefit through its activities Read the rest of this entry »

Legal experts  expressed confidence that Sri Lanka’s achievement of economic development will overcome any human rights issues. While noting there are issues pertaining to human rights prevalent in the country however, Bar Association President Shibly Aziz PC said “we are trying to overcome this with economic development”.

He was speaking at a media briefing held to announce the two day 8th LAWASIA Business Law Conference 2011 organised by the Bar Association  of Sri Lanka  (BASL) Read the rest of this entry »

President Mahinda Rajapakse in a telephone conversation today with Libyan Leader Maummar Al Gaddafi has requested him to restore peace in Libya soon as tensions continue to worsen in all the cities throughout Libya. According to the President’s office, President Rajapakse had also requested the Libyan Leader to protect civilian lives.

Meanwhile Libya’s capital braced for violence as a heavy clampdown on the city by Col. Moammar Gadhafi has spread fear and paranoia among residents Read the rest of this entry »

Two Air Force Kafir jets crashed during a rehearsal at Yakkala today morning killing one of the pilots, an Air Force official said. Initial reports said that both pilots had ejected themselves and escaped, but later the air force confirmed one of them was killed. Flight Lt M. Perera had been killed while Sq Leader Vajira Jayakody had escaped.

Mr Jayampathi Gamage who visited the scene soon after the accident said at least 12 houses had been damaged by the crash and trees within an area of about 800 metre radius had been damaged Read the rest of this entry »

RIYADH: The Sri Lankan Embassy rescued on Wednesday an Asian maid who was kept as a virtual slave by her Saudi sponsor for 17 years. Kusuma Nandini, 56, came to Riyadh in 1994 from Sri Lanka and was kept a virtual prisoner at her sponsor’s home. She was not paid salary even once during 15 years of her imprisonment and forbidden from communicating with her relatives in Sri Lanka.

“This is a record breaking case in the history of housemaids in the Kingdom. This woman was kept as a slave at one home for 15 years and then transferred to the home of her sponsor’s brother. There she was given a salary for two years,” said Sunil Wijesinghe, labor welfare officer at the Sri Lankan Embassy Read the rest of this entry »

The Jana Sevana Housing Development Project aimed to construct one million houses will commence tomorrow under the Chairmanship of President Mahinda Rajapakse at Mihindupura Housing Project in Kirulapana. 60 thousand of these houses will be constructed during this year.

The Minister of Engineering, Housing Construction and Common Amenities Mr. Wimal Weerawansa disclosed this when a function was held in Colombo yesterday in connection with the launch of official logo and the song relating to the Jana Sevana Project Read the rest of this entry »

A three-week training program on leadership and a three-month training program in English and Information Technology will be given to university students from next year, said Higher Education Ministry Secretary Dr. Sunil Jayantha Nawaratna. The aim of this scheme is to facilitate them for the university eduction, he said.

Under the residential leadership program students qualified for university admission will be taught the importance of teamwork, descipline, motivation and soft skills. The program envisages to mould healthy and mature students who could pursue studies, he said Read the rest of this entry »

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UNP asserting their right to take independent decisions on any political issues in the run-up to the April 2010 parliamentary polls, said SLMC General Secretary M.T. Hassen Ali following the Colombo District Court injunction order refraining the UNP from taking any action against the SLMC for supporting the Government.

The SLMC decided to support the Government in the best interests of the Muslim community and this was unanimously endorsed by the party parliamentary group. Read the rest of this entry »

President’s Independence Day Message: All Sri Lankans now have the opportunity to celebrate the 63rd Anniversary of Independence with much glory. The unlimited sacrifices for the freedom and independence of Sri Lanka make today’s Independence Day celebrations one of great honour.

The aspiration of the nation is to make more meaningful the freedom won with much sacrifice.The first Prime Minister of Independent Sri Lanka, Rt. Hon. D. S. Senanayake taking over the nation said that freedom has been obtained to relieve the pain and increase contentment of the people regardless of ethnic, party or religious differences. This is the worthy aim of any nation that seeks freedom. It is of paramount importance to accelerate the work on nation building to fulfill this aim. The march towards making Sri Lanka the Wonder of Asia should speed up as each step taken for development is a step towards freedom Read the rest of this entry »

Sri Lanka esuspects a third party involvement in the shooting incident at Indian fishermen in the recent past. Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in New Delhi, Prasad Kariyawasam referring to the alleged incidents in the Northern waters has said “the Sri Lanka Navy will not fire at Indian fishermen even if they had crossed the maritime boundary and suspected the role of some third party behind the incidents”.

He said that proper investigation would bring out the truth. “Now that the LTTE is no more, we do not know who did it. We hope investigation (on both sides) throws light,” the High Commissioner told India’s Daily News Analysis Read the rest of this entry »

Ferry service between Tuticorin and Colombo is expected to commence by February-end, G. K. Vasan, Union Minister of Shipping, said on Monday. Initially, it would be operational thrice a week. Later, the frequency would be increased.

Inaugurating a passenger terminal and laying the foundation stone for North Cargo Berth II on the premises of Tuticorin Port, he said that TPT would soon be named after freedom fighter V.O. Chidambaram. While passenger amenities were established at a cost of Rs.2.25 crore, NCB II would be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs.332.16 crore in two years Read the rest of this entry »

UPFA MP Namal Rajapaksa toured Libya yesterday (Jan. 17) and met with president Col. Muammer Al Gaddafi in Tripoli. Mr. Rajapaksa was accompanied in the tour by MPs Sajin Vaas Gunawardena, Duminda Silva as well as Lohan Ratwatte, Tharanath Basnayake, Indika Karunajeewa and Tharanga Gamlath.Sri Lankan ambassador Sudantha Ganegamaarachchi also attended the Sri Lankan delegation’s meeting with the Libyan leader.

The Disaster Management Ministry said the initial estimated damage from the floods stand at US $ 500 million which is about Rs. 50 billion. Ministry Secretary Mrs. Marina Mohamed making a presentation on the emergency situation before Heads of Mission of the Member States of the Organization of the IslamicConference (OIC) based in Colombo, said the initial estimated damage from the floods stood at US $ 500 million, the External Affairs Ministry said.

“The government has spent US $ 10 million to provide cooked meals and dry rations for the people in all affected areas. The Ministry of Disaster Management has released US $ 1.5 million for relief during the three days ending January 12,” the Ministry Secretary said. Read the rest of this entry »

The death toll in floods and landslides increased to 18 as over 950,000 people were flood hit, officials at the Disaster Management Centre said. Nearly 200,000 people have been forced to vacate their homes. Over 400,000 acres of paddy cultivation has gone under water, according to the Minister of Agrarian Services, S.M.Chandrasena said.

A renowned Saudi Investor has expressed confidence that Sri Lanka will become an economic power soon and that he never felt so comfortable in a country immediately after arrival as he felt in Sri Lanka although he has visited so many countries in the world.

The investor Mr. Saad Abdul Ghani Al Shamrani who has made considerable investments in many countries is reported to be having many blueprints for investment in Sri Lanka has met President Mahinda Rajapaksa to discuss about his investment plans in the country Read the rest of this entry »

The Government has not imposed any restriction whatsoever on the ongoing development projects being carried out in the northern or eastern provinces. There are larger volumes of development projects with local and international funding carried out in the two provinces to uplift the livelihood of the people of the area.

Government vehemently denies the report published in a section of the media headlined Basil stops donor- funded new buildings in north east. The news item concerned was far from the truth and it contained several inaccuracies Read the rest of this entry »

Sri Lanka is witnessing a dramatic rise in visitors which in turn has enabled vast development of Sri Lanka’s existing tourism infrastructure with new hotels and better road networks currently underway island-wide to cope with the destination’s increasing popularity.

Tourist arrivals from the Middle East to Sri Lanka has increased by 58% in the first ten months of the year. Statistics compiled by Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority indicate that the growth from the Middle East is higher than the overall growth in arrivals to Sri Lanka which is pegged at 43.5% Read the rest of this entry »

Sri Lankan poultry firm Bairaha Farms aims to increase production by more than half in three years with a total estimated investment of almost 360 million rupees on a new farm, a statement said. The poultry producer, which owns and manages a large-scale chicken processing factory and it also operates breeder farms, will set up the new farm on 48 acres of land in the Anamaduwa area in the north-western Puttalam district.

It said in a stock exchange filing that farm will be set up by a new fully-owned subsidiary, Nature’s Best Industry, under the Board of Investment. The new firm will get a 10-year tax holiday from the first year of making profit or not later than two years from the day it starts commercial operations, whichever comes first. The size of each poultry house in the new farm will be much bigger than existing ones, the statement said Read the rest of this entry »