AIT and Asian University launch first of its kind 5-Year Unified

Leading the way in innovation for education, The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) has launched a Five-Year Unified International Bachelor’s-Master’s Degree Program with the Asian University (AU).
The new joint program is the first of its kind in Thailand and provides a fast-track opportunity to complete a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree recognized by both schools in less time and at lower cost than traditional programs.

According to the memorandum of agreement (MoA) signed on 27 September by the President of AIT, Prof. Said Irandoust, and the President of AU, Dr. Viphandh Roengpithya, at the celebration of AU’s 10th Anniversary, the strategic tie-up will cover the academic fields of information systems engineering and electrical and electronic engineering. The AIT-AU partnership agreement is expected to produce world-class research scientists and engineers in computer science and telecommunications.

“We are delighted that AIT and the Asian University have agreed to collaborate to offer this first of its kind Five-Year Unified International Bachelor’s-Master’s Degree Program in Thailand. This unique and innovative academic program in computer science and telecommunications brings together the synergies of our two fine
institutions and will benefit all our students immensely,” AIT President Irandoust said at the signing ceremony.

Spread over five years, the program will operate in two phases. Phase one will see participating students spend their first three-and-a-half years of bachelor’s level study at Asian University, located in Chonburi. The accelerated nature of the new curriculum will allow undergraduate students to earn up to 12 master’s level credits by taking advanced level courses, thus eliminating half a year of total course work. Students possessing an accumulative GPA of 3.00 will then enroll at AIT’s campus located in Pathumthani for their last one-and-a-half years of graduate level study leading to a master’s degree.

Officials of both academic institutions stressed the international character of this program. While at AIT, students will study with world-class faculty and scientists using only English, and join students from as many as fifty countries at one of Asia’s most multicultural graduate institutes. The curriculum will be developed and
finalized by both institutions.

Former Prime Minister of Thailand, H.E. Mr. Anand Panyarachun, KBE, who is the founding chair of Asian University, and the former Chairman of the AIT Board of Trustees from 2000-2006, also attended the MoA singing ceremony.

Fitch Affirms Citibank N.A. Colombo's 'AAA(lka)' National Long-Term Rating

Fitch Ratings has today affirmed the 'AAA(lka)' National Long-term rating assigned to Citibank N.A.- Colombo Branch (CitiSL). The Outlook remains Stable.
CitiSL is a branch and part of the same legal entity as Citibank N.A. ('AA-' (AA minus)/Rating Watch Negative), which is a fully-owned subsidiary of Citigroup Inc. As such, CitiSL's rating factors in the financial strength of Citibank N.A. which is currently rated higher than the sovereign long-term foreign currency issuer default rating of 'B+'/Stable.
The bank's performance has improved considerably over the last two years. Profits increased by 86.8% yoy in FY07 (6.2% in FY06) and ROA improved to 2.5% in FY07 (FY06: 1.6%), on the back of steady growth in net interest margins (NIM) and rapid increases in non-interest income. Non-interest income has been an important contributor to CitiSL's profits in recent periods with the bank's growing trade finance and investment banking business generating increased revenues in terms of fee and commission income. High fee and commission income earned on the structuring and sale of hedging derivatives also played a particularly important role in H108, causing annualised ROA to rise further to 5.8%.
NIMs have historically been lower than the sector due to CitiSL's large corporate and government loan exposure where margins are generally thinner. However, margins have moved inline with the private licensed commercial bank (LCB) sector since FYE07, and rose to 6.3% in H108 from 4.9% in FY07 (FY06: 4.3%). This is mainly on account of re-pricing within the bank's loan portfolio and increased investments in higher yielding assets.
Due to its stringent credit evaluation criteria and strategic focus, CitiSL's loan exposure has continuously remained at the top end of the credit spectrum. At H108, 85% of loans were to large corporates and 14.5% to the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and GoSL-owned entities. The bank's gross NPL ratio was 0.5% at H108 (0.5% at FY07) and NPLs are fully covered by specific provisions resulting in a zero net NPL/equity ratio.
While CitiSL's selective lending policies have enabled the bank to maintain a healthy loan portfolio - with a gross NPL ratio that is amongst the lowest in the local LCB sector, it has nevertheless resulted in some credit concentration within the lending portfolio. The bank's 20 largest group borrowers accounted for 82% of total loans at H108 (85% at FYE07). As a result, the loan book is susceptible to some fluctuations upon loan settlement. Loan growth was 69.8% yoy at FYE07 and followed a contraction of 21.2% yoy at FYE06.
The bank's asset book is funded primarily from deposits (43.3% at H108), with borrowings at 26.4% at H108 and equity at 20.7% at H108. Furthermore, deposit concentration is high, with the top 20 depositors accounting for 75% of deposits at H108 as deposits are predominantly from corporate and institutional sources.
CitiSL was established in 1979 and functions through a single branch in Colombo. The bank operates within a niche market comprised of multinationals, leading Sri Lankan corporates and the GoSL. It is the third largest foreign bank and accounted for 1.6% of Sri Lankan LCB assets at FYE07.

Navy Elites destroy two LTTE boats- Pooneryn

The elite Special Boat Squadron (SBS) sailors of Sri Lanka Navy attacked and destroyed two LTTE assault boats, appeared off Pooneryn Sea last night (Sept 29), Navy sources said.

According to the sources, SBS boats patrolling in area detected the two LTTE boats moving close to the coast from Pooneryn to Kalmunai point (K-point) around 11 PM. The SBS sailors launched a surprise attack at the terror boats and confirmed both boats were destroyed, the sources said.

The sources citing the SBS reports added that there were 8 LTTE cadres onboard and confirmed all were killed in the attack. A search operation has been launched in the area.

At least 50 terrorists killed, over 20 injured in yesterday's confrontations at Wanni

Terrorist casualties were observed on the rise according to Wanni battlefield reports as security forces were making their presence felt at the corridor of Kilinochchi, in the verge of mounting a full fledged assault at the Tiger heartland.

Pitched fighting is expected in the forthcoming weeks as troops have taken on positions to flush out the last LTTE presence in the bastion Kilinochchi township, after a decade, defence observers state. Tension prevails according to reliable information within LTTE ranks, after Army Chief Lt. General Sarath Fonseka declared to launch the first rounds at Kilinochchi, this week, addressing a gathering on Thursday (25).

According to finalized military reports received, at least 50 terrorists were killed and 22 others wounded in yesterday's (Sep 29) fighting, at the Kilinochchi and Mullaittivu battle fronts. The surge of LTTE battlefield losses recently, pronounce, of what is expected to come, the observers added.

"Overall, this is totally quite different from what the LTTE and its pay masters had anticipated, taking consideration into its campaign to portrait a 'humanitarian catastrophe' in Wanni. Both the Tamil and International community has shown great resilience keeping faith in the government's stance to liberate thousands stranded with LTTE", he further said.

10 soldiers have laid their lives and 32 others wounded during confrontations with LTTE on Monday.

At the combined Vavuniya - Mullaittivu battlefront, troops clashed with LTTE in several locations reportedly killing 22 terrorists and injuring 2 others. According to reports troops clashed with LTTE at Veddamakilam, Akkarayankulama North, Kokavil North and Palamoddai general areas.

11 terrorists were killed ambushed in general area North of Kokavil, at around 1.25p.m., according to reports. Meanwhile, troops have recovered a decomposed LTTE body along-with 2 T-56 assault riffles, a map and an I-com set during a search operation conducted in general area West of Akkarayankulama. Meanwhile, troops while consolidating defences North West of Mankulama, have come across a barren land stretch, bearing construction signs of a heli-landing pad. This site was earlier targeted by the Air force jets on several occasions, which was used as a training ground for LTTE suicide bombers, military said.

At Kilinochchi battlefront, at Manniyakulama troops repulsed an LTTE counter attack while consolidating defences in the area, at around 10.30a.m. 5 soldiers also laid their lives and 12 others were reported wounded in the fighting, military said.

Separately, troops have recovered an LTTE terrorist body subsequent to a confrontation in general area Kariyalaimodai, at 7a.m. Troops also uncovered a T-56 assault riffle and 3 hand grenades in the search operation.

Meanwhile, troops of the 59 Division operating in general area North of Andankulama confronted have confronted with LTTE in several occasion, reportedly killing 11, while injuring 20 others. According to reports, 5 soldiers have laid their lives and 18 wounded in the confrontations.

In general area Andankulama, troops forced into 8 LTTE bunkers and a 75m length trench line seizing total control, also capturing a haul of weapons from LTTE.At least 50 terrorists killed, over 20 injured in yesterday's confrontations at Wanni

Terrorist casualties were observed on the rise according to Wanni battlefield reports as security forces were making their presence felt at the corridor of Kilinochchi, in the verge of mounting a full fledged assault at the Tiger heartland.

Pitched fighting is expected in the forthcoming weeks as troops have taken on positions to flush out the last LTTE presence in the bastion Kilinochchi township, after a decade, defence observers state. Tension prevails according to reliable information within LTTE ranks, after Army Chief Lt. General Sarath Fonseka declared to launch the first rounds at Kilinochchi, this week, addressing a gathering on Thursday (25).

According to finalized military reports received, at least 50 terrorists were killed and 22 others wounded in yesterday's (Sep 29) fighting, at the Kilinochchi and Mullaittivu battle fronts. The surge of LTTE battlefield losses recently, pronounce, of what is expected to come, the observers added.

"Overall, this is totally quite different from what the LTTE and its pay masters had anticipated, taking consideration into its campaign to portrait a 'humanitarian catastrophe' in Wanni. Both the Tamil and International community has shown great resilience keeping faith in the government's stance to liberate thousands stranded with LTTE", he further said.

10 soldiers have laid their lives and 32 others wounded during confrontations with LTTE on Monday.

At the combined Vavuniya - Mullaittivu battlefront, troops clashed with LTTE in several locations reportedly killing 22 terrorists and injuring 2 others. According to reports troops clashed with LTTE at Veddamakilam, Akkarayankulama North, Kokavil North and Palamoddai general areas.

11 terrorists were killed ambushed in general area North of Kokavil, at around 1.25p.m., according to reports. Meanwhile, troops have recovered a decomposed LTTE body along-with 2 T-56 assault riffles, a map and an I-com set during a search operation conducted in general area West of Akkarayankulama. Meanwhile, troops while consolidating defences North West of Mankulama, have come across a barren land stretch, bearing construction signs of a heli-landing pad. This site was earlier targeted by the Air force jets on several occasions, which was used as a training ground for LTTE suicide bombers, military said.

At Kilinochchi battlefront, at Manniyakulama troops repulsed an LTTE counter attack while consolidating defences in the area, at around 10.30a.m. 5 soldiers also laid their lives and 12 others were reported wounded in the fighting, military said.

Separately, troops have recovered an LTTE terrorist body subsequent to a confrontation in general area Kariyalaimodai, at 7a.m. Troops also uncovered a T-56 assault riffle and 3 hand grenades in the search operation.

Meanwhile, troops of the 59 Division operating in general area North of Andankulama confronted have confronted with LTTE in several occasion, reportedly killing 11, while injuring 20 others. According to reports, 5 soldiers have laid their lives and 18 wounded in the confrontations.

In general area Andankulama, troops forced into 8 LTTE bunkers and a 75m length trench line seizing total control, also capturing a haul of weapons from LTTE.At least 50 terrorists killed, over 20 injured in yesterday's confrontations at Wanni

Terrorist casualties were observed on the rise according to Wanni battlefield reports as security forces were making their presence felt at the corridor of Kilinochchi, in the verge of mounting a full fledged assault at the Tiger heartland.

Pitched fighting is expected in the forthcoming weeks as troops have taken on positions to flush out the last LTTE presence in the bastion Kilinochchi township, after a decade, defence observers state. Tension prevails according to reliable information within LTTE ranks, after Army Chief Lt. General Sarath Fonseka declared to launch the first rounds at Kilinochchi, this week, addressing a gathering on Thursday (25).

According to finalized military reports received, at least 50 terrorists were killed and 22 others wounded in yesterday's (Sep 29) fighting, at the Kilinochchi and Mullaittivu battle fronts. The surge of LTTE battlefield losses recently, pronounce, of what is expected to come, the observers added.

"Overall, this is totally quite different from what the LTTE and its pay masters had anticipated, taking consideration into its campaign to portrait a 'humanitarian catastrophe' in Wanni. Both the Tamil and International community has shown great resilience keeping faith in the government's stance to liberate thousands stranded with LTTE", he further said.

10 soldiers have laid their lives and 32 others wounded during confrontations with LTTE on Monday.

At the combined Vavuniya - Mullaittivu battlefront, troops clashed with LTTE in several locations reportedly killing 22 terrorists and injuring 2 others. According to reports troops clashed with LTTE at Veddamakilam, Akkarayankulama North, Kokavil North and Palamoddai general areas.

11 terrorists were killed ambushed in general area North of Kokavil, at around 1.25p.m., according to reports. Meanwhile, troops have recovered a decomposed LTTE body along-with 2 T-56 assault riffles, a map and an I-com set during a search operation conducted in general area West of Akkarayankulama. Meanwhile, troops while consolidating defences North West of Mankulama, have come across a barren land stretch, bearing construction signs of a heli-landing pad. This site was earlier targeted by the Air force jets on several occasions, which was used as a training ground for LTTE suicide bombers, military said.

At Kilinochchi battlefront, at Manniyakulama troops repulsed an LTTE counter attack while consolidating defences in the area, at around 10.30a.m. 5 soldiers also laid their lives and 12 others were reported wounded in the fighting, military said.

Separately, troops have recovered an LTTE terrorist body subsequent to a confrontation in general area Kariyalaimodai, at 7a.m. Troops also uncovered a T-56 assault riffle and 3 hand grenades in the search operation.

Meanwhile, troops of the 59 Division operating in general area North of Andankulama confronted have confronted with LTTE in several occasion, reportedly killing 11, while injuring 20 others. According to reports, 5 soldiers have laid their lives and 18 wounded in the confrontations.

In general area Andankulama, troops forced into 8 LTTE bunkers and a 75m length trench line seizing total control, also capturing a haul of weapons from LTTE.

Troops March Forward Sacrificing Their Lives

WANNI: AS the fourth “Eelam” war was entering a decisive phase with KILINOCHCHI almost in sight, pitched confrontations in the WELIOYA sector under 59 Division, Task Force I and Task Force II troops in KILINOCHCHI and north of VAVUNIYA continued for another day on Monday (29) bringing further losses to the enemy.

During these clashes, troops smashed six bunkers and a few bunker lines in PALAMODDAI, AKKARAYANKULAM, ANDANKULAM and KARIYALAMODDAI areas. Troops also after those clashes found one dead Tiger terrorist, two T-56 weapon, ten hand grenades, 1700 T-56 ammunition rounds, 100 Multi Purpose Machine Gun (MPMG) rounds, two claymore mines, two MPMG links, twelve field dressings, two terrorist uniforms and several food items.

At least thirty-nine Tiger terrorists lost their lives, unable to face the fire-power of the troops during those clashes. Fifty-two more Tigers suffered injuries in the fighting that occurred in above areas.

Five soldiers including one officer made the supreme sacrifice during clashes at VANNARIKULAM and ANDANKULAM on Monday (29). Nineteen brave soldiers injured in the fighting were evacuated to hospitals.

Meanwhile, troops serving PALAUTTU in the eastern port city of TRINCOMALEE found one T-56 weapon from the St. Lurdu church graveyard on Monday (29).

Troops Locate Terrorists’ Clandestine Airstrip; A Major Breakthrough

MULLAITTIVU: 57 DIVISION troops, now dominating north of VANNIVILANKULAM located an LTTE airstrip this afternoon (30) from the general area of PANIKKANKULAM, about 7 km north-west of MANKULAM and about 500 m to the west of A-9 road when the troops brought the area under their control.

The location of this 500 m long airstrip, believed to have been perhaps used by terrorists for landing of their light aircraft in any emergency, struck a major blow to their escalation of terrorist acts. It is also believed the airstrip could have also been used as an open parking space or a hangar, in a way.

Murikandy Terrorists Felled

WANNI: TROOPS operating in the general area west of KOKAVIL observed a terrorist movement, closer to captured MURIKANDY Railway Station this morning (30) and fired at them using small arms. The troops confirmed that three terrorists were killed.

Murikandy Terrorists Felled

WANNI: TROOPS operating in the general area west of KOKAVIL observed a terrorist movement, closer to captured MURIKANDY Railway Station this morning (30) and fired at them using small arms. The troops confirmed that three terrorists were killed.

Lorry in Food Convoy Offers C-4 Explosives

OMANTHAI: A METICULOUSLY planned clandestine operation of losing Tiger terrorists was once again exposed this evening (30) at about 3.30 p.m. at the OMANTHAI cross-loading point when one of the lorries, hired by VAVUNIYA District Secretary for transport of essentials to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), had 2.5 kg of C-4 explosives in its driver’s possession.

Initial investigations revealed that the lorry driver, an apparent suspected proxy to the terrorists had kept those explosives, meticulously concealed amidst food stocks that were to make for un-cleared areas as part of a convoy of thirty lorries, hired by the VAVUNIYA District Secretariat.

A total convoy of sixty lorries with essentials are expected to cross the OMANTHAI gateway by Thursday (2) evening, following an understanding that has been made between the Government and World Food Programme (WFP). Thirty lorries of the total fleet have been hired by the WFP.

The lorry driver in question during interrogations after detection has admitted to concealing the explosives, but the Security Forces subjected the lorry for a thorough inspection and finally found a makeshift false compartment that has been fixed after welding it thoroughly.

At the time this story was pasted, the lorry has been taken away for further investigations along with the driver.

Sri Lanka Central Bank to Give Guidance to Market, Cabraal Says

By Anusha Ondaatjie

Sri Lanka's central bank plans today to give ``some guidance'' to the market amid a global stocks rout prompted by the rejection of a $700 billion bank rescue plan by U.S. lawmakers, Governor Nivard Cabraal said.

``We are monitoring the global situation and after looking at our inflation numbers today, there are some responses we will be making,'' Cabraal said in a telephone interview from Colombo.

The U.S. House of Representatives rejected the legislation yesterday in a 228 to 205 vote, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling 778 points for its biggest point drop ever and extending the worst global sell-off in 21 years. Senators say they have no choice but to revive the measure, which is designed to restore confidence in the U.S. banking system.

``The bailout package will have to come as the risk is far too great for the U.S. to go without it,'' Cabraal said. ``The markets shouldn't act in such a panic.''

The Sri Lankan central bank plans to make an announcement later today after the statistics department reports September's inflation rate, Cabraal said.

``Overall we have seen the market reaction to our monetary policy with inflation easing,'' the governor said. ``We will also want to let them know the expectations going forward.''

Consumer prices in the capital Colombo rose 24 percent in September from a year earlier, after increasing 24.9 percent in August, according to the median estimate of nine analysts in a Bloomberg News survey. The statistics department will announce the figure at 3:00 p.m. local time today.

Sri Lanka policy makers have kept monetary policy tight by reducing the amount of funds in the banking system.

The central bank this month said rising food production and easing global commodity markets, along with ``demand-management measures,'' will help further ease price pressures after inflation slowed for a second month in August.

Lawyers take to the streets

Lawyers in the Supreme Court showed solidarity with colleague J.C. Weliamuna and staged a protest this afternoon (Sept. 30th) to condemn the hand grenade attack on his home two days ago.

They marched from Hulftsdorp Courts Complex to Keselwatte Junction.

Speaking here, Bar Association President Upul Jayasuriya said the anti-corruption and human rights crusade by Mr. Weliamuna would not be halted by harming his life.

Not just 100 or 500, more than 5,000 individuals of the calibre of Mr. Weliamuna will take that campaign forward, he said.

The BASL chief said the IGP should not take this attack lightly and must bring the culprits to book and ensure there would be no repetition of such incidents.

Mr. Weliamuna, who is also executive director of Transparency International Sri Lanka, spoke here and thanked his colleagues for their support.

He said he has continued threats to his life, the latest being an unknown visitor to his office just this afternoon inquiring after him, regarding which a complaint has been lodged with Keselwatte Police.

UNP Pradeshiya Sabha member assaulted

UNP Pradeshiya Sabha member Sumangala Samaraweera was allegedly assaulted by the Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Prasanna Ranaweera today. Lankadeepa correspondent who was also at the scene had received injuries.

Two Pakistanis arrested for heroin possession

Two Pakistani nationals were arrested by the Colombo Narcotics Bureau near the Wattala Supermarket for the possession of 425g of Heroin.

Sri Lankan born Singapore opposition leader dies

Veteran Singapore politician JB Jeyaretnam has died of heart failure in a Singapore hospital, aged 82.

He was the first to break a government monopoly on power in Singapore when he won a seat in parliament in 1981.

He had been forced into bankruptcy over defamation cases won by the government but was planning a new run for office.

Dubbed the Grand Old Man of opposition politics, analysts said Mr Jeyaretnam was a thorn in the side of Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan-yew.
Born in 1926 in Jaffna, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Mr Jeyaretnam trained as a lawyer in Britain before making his home in Singapore.

Lankan found guilty of smuggling people

A Sri Lankan man living in upstate New York has been sentenced to time served, about seven months, for smuggling people from Canada into the United States by boat.
Mohanraj Selvarajah will likely face deportation following Monday's sentencing in federal court in Buffalo.

According to court papers, the 48-year-old Lockport resident told investigators he was given $5,000 to buy a boat in September 2007 and was told he would be paid more to smuggle three people into the United States.

He was arrested after a witness spotted him dropping people off at a Buffalo boat launch and called authorities.

Selvarajah's lawyer says he will likely be returned to Sri Lanka alone, while his wife and three children remain in Canada, where they moved after his arrest.

Warrants on Emerald Finance directors

In a case filed by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in the Kandy Primary Court against Emerald Private Finance Company of Gampola, Kandy Primary Judge Nandana Weerasinghe ordered the new directorate of the finance company to submit to the Central Bank withi a month, the details of the accounts of all depositors of the finance company.

Following a motion by the state counsel, the judge issued warrants on the Directors of the finance company who were not present in court.

The Central Bank was represented by the State Counsel, Attorney-at-law Ananda Kumara Herath appeared for the defendants who were required to be present in court on December 11.

Fonterra re-assures its milk is safe

Fonterra Brands Lanka yesterday re-assured consumers in Sri Lanka that its ANCHOR, ANLENE, RATTHI, SHAPE UP and ANMUM Milk powder products are made from milk sourced solely from New Zealand and are 100% safe to consume.
The company further stated that all liquid milk and yoghurts marketed under the NEWDALE, RATTHI, ANLENE and ANCHOR brands are made with local milk sourced from farmers in Sri Lanka and tested to meet the highest International and local standards including ISO 22000 and HACCP.Fonterra Brands Lanka Managing Director Achyut Reddy said all their products are subjected to rigorous quality controls in every aspect of production from sourcing of raw milk through the manufacturing and distribution process.

“Further reassurance comes from the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) which has categorically stated that they have confidence in the integrated food safety regulatory and industry controls that are in place in New Zealand from where Fonterra Brands Lanka sources its milk powder,” Fonterra Brands said in a statement.

Mr. Reddy emphasized that the milk contamination issue in China involving 22 dairy companies was confined to products manufactured with China-sourced raw milk and had absolutely no bearing on products marketed by Fonterra in Sri Lanka.

“We view consumer safety and health issues with great seriousness at Fonterra” said Mr. Reddy “and will continue to ensure that our products meet the highest safety and quality standards.”

He thanked the consumers for the great trust and loyalty they have placed in the Fonterra brands over the years and said that Fonterra will continue to always live up to the consumer’s trust and expectations.

Sakvithi scam: Police after lady lawyer and IP

The police investigating into the major financial scam involving English tutor Sakvithi Ranasinghe are now after a lady lawyer and a Police Inspector who have reportedly fled their homes, whilst the staggering amount topped Rs. 700 million by yesterday.

Police Spokesman Ranjith Gunasekara said the Mirihana police completed a recording of 1327 complaints yesterday of individuals who were deceived by the great impostor.

The legal officer of the bogus financial institute, a lady lawyer who was in charge of all monetary agreements between the company and the depositors is currently absconding, the police said.

An inspector attached to the Police Communication Division in Mirihana was found linked to the scam after he had personally removed several computers that were at the office of the financial institute in Nawala soon after the exposure.

He had not reported to work since then and did not obey orders of SSP Nugegoda Division Deshabandu Tennakoon to appear before Mirihana police yesterday.

Colombo stocks sink, more negative contributors

The Colombo bourse sank on Tuesday with many blue chips recording sharp falls and in addition the bulk of the transactions were on the negative (minus) list, brokers said.

The All Share Index slumped by 43.27 points or 1.98 % to 2,142.26 while the Milanka dropped sharply by 55.43 points or 2.26 % to 2,397.19. Turnover was Rs 121 million.

Brokers said of the 173 companies traded, 117 companies saw prices fall while only 14 saw gains. The balance was unchanged.

GMOA to protest about doctors killing

The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) is to launch an islandwide protest over the shooting of a female doctor in Bandagiriya, Hambantota, GMOA spokesman Dr Upul Gunasekara said.

He said that the GMOA will be meeting today to decide on the protest campaign.

Dr. W.D.Lakshmi, 38 of the Central Dispensary at Bandagiriya was shot dead on Monday night as she was examining a patient.

A soldier attached to the Udawalawe camp is reported to have shot her. The soldier is reported to have an affair with the doctor earlier, hospital sources said.

Ganeshan regrets Canada's opinion on Bahu

MP Mano Ganeshan says all peace loving people are shocked to learn Canadian High Commission's refusal of visa to New Left Front Leader Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne, saying his actions constitute LTTE membership.

"Fanatic forces in this country use Tiger label arbitrarily. This label is put on many human rights defenders, NGOs, antiwar activists, media personnel. Even members of the international community have not been spared of Tiger label. Canadian action goes well in line with the fundamentalist forces here," said the Civil Monitoring Committee Convener and Western People's Front Leader in a statement.

The statement also said, "Vickramabahu is a committed human rights activist. He fought against the human rights abuses then in 1989 when thousands of Sinhala young men and women belonging to JVP faced state and paramilitary death squads. He is fighting now against abductions and extra legal killings when Tamils face death squads."

"Many of his comrades of 1989 have changed sides now and some have even become the very perpetrators. Bahu has not changed. He is one of the very few Sinhala politicians who adamantly propose justice and peace for the oppressed Tamil and Muslim communities. His party’s stand on the national question is ahead of many ethnic parties. He stands for the right of self-determination. It cannot be Bahu’s fault if LTTE or any Lankan Diaspora campaigners around the world demand the same set of rights. Nobody labeled him with JVP when Bahu fought on behalf the human rights of JVP youth in 1989. But when he supports human rights and political aspirations of Tamils, he is branded a Tiger."

"Bahu was to attend a conference in Toronto titled ‘Ending the war and bringing justice and peace to Sri Lanka 25 years after July 1983’ organized by Toronto based Canadian Forum for Justice and Peace in Sri Lanka. It is sad that Canada is sending wrong signals to all Sri Lankans at a time when Tamils feel that our international friends have failed to stop the human rights violations and influence the government towards a reasonable political solution."

PB issued notice

Dr. P.B. Jayasundara should personally clarify to the Supreme Court whether he is still holding an executive or supervisory position in a state institution, Chief Justice, Sarath N. Silva said today (Sept. 29th).

The CJ was taking up a petition filed by Presidential Advisor, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, which cited that his fundamental rights have been violated by the transfer of an eight-acre land belonging to Sri Lanka Ports Authority to John Keels Holdings during the tenure of Dr. Jayasundara as Chairman of Public Enterprise Reform Commission.

Issuing notice, the bench headed by the CJ directed Dr. Jayasundara to appear before courts on October 08th.

Earlier, the SC found the former PERC Chairman guilty of having misused public property.

Citing that the CID has failed to take action despite the court ruling, a motion has been filed in court.

In accordance with a court directive issued when the case was took up last, IGP Jayantha Wickremaratne and DIG of the CID, Sisira Mendis appeared before court today.

Appearing on behalf of the petitioners, Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Nihal Sri Amerasekere, counsel Sumanthiran said that his clients had refused to give a statement to the CID.

At this point, the CJ questioned whether the CID has obtained a statement from a single person over the matter even after Dr. Jayasundara was found guilty by the highest court of the country.

Questioning the need to obtain statements from the petitioners, the CJ said that the petition has been filed on behalf of the public and the police should have studied the documents pertaining to the court ruling.

Noting that misusing public property is an offence under criminal law, the CJ added that legal measures can be sought against any offender.

Reprimanding the police for failing to take any action, he further said that the DIG of the CID, who is being paid by the public’s money, should resign.

He further questioned what steps the Bribery Commission has taken against this person who was proven guilty of having misused public property.

Additional Solicitor General, U.A. Wijetillake said that the Bribery Commission is to submit a report to Parliament after conducting an investigation.

“The SC is the highest legal institution in the land. Retired judges in the Bribery Commission think that this is the English Privy Council. It seems to us that they have done nothing on the matter. It is regretful. Are you appearing for Dr. Jayasundara?,” he asked.

The CJ also noted that the police having failed to act in accordance with a court ruling would have to be taken as a mark of contempt of court.

Upon being questioning whether Dr. P.B. Jayasundara is currently holding any position in the state, counsel Sumanthiran said that he is Chairman of SriLankan Airlines, Director General of Securities and Exchange Commission and has recently been appointed a presidential advisor.

The CJ observed that Dr. Jayasundara, who had violated the oath of office that they would uphold the Constitution, should not hold public office.

Dr. Jayasundara should not only have been suspended but also charged under criminal law, he added.

Chief Justice blames Atorney General, IGP and CID chief

The Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva reprimanded the Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police, the Director of Criminal Investigation Department and the Bribery or Corruption Investigation Commission for not ignoring the Supreme Court directive on former Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundara.
The Supreme Court made this reprimand when a fundamental rights petition filed by Presidential Adviser Vasudewa Nanayakkara and Licensed Accountant Nihal Sri Amarasekara was considered. The petition was on not implementing law against Dr. Jayasundara who was ordered to pay Rs. 500,000 for causing a financial damage to the state.

The Chief Justice stated that the CID Director has to resign from the post since he failed to act in accordance with the Supreme Court directive. He further said that Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police, the Director of Criminal Investigation Department and the Bribery or Corruption Investigation Commission have committed a serious crime by not implementing Supreme Court order.

The petition was considered by a panel of judges comprised of Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva, justices Ms. Shirani Thilakawardhana and Nimal Gamini Amarathunga. The Solicitor General appearing for the Attorney General stated that he would not appear for Dr. Jayasundara in this case.

38 vehicles rented by Sakvithi disappeared

(Lanka-e-News, ) An officer of special crime division of Mirihana police station says that complaints have been received regarding the loss of 38 vehicles rented by Sakvithi Ranasinghe on monthly basis.

They include six vans, 26 motorcycles, one lorry, four cars and one Land Cruiser.

Sakvithi is believed left the country after swindling around Rs. nine billion from depositors.

Vans were rented on a Rs. 25,000 per month basis.

43 Tamils arrested in Wellawatte, Wattala, Katunayake

Forty three Tamils including were arrested in Wellawatte, Wattala, and Katunayake in several cordon and search operations conducted by the Sri Lanka Police, assisted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA), and home guards, from Sunday evening till Monday morning, sources in Colombo said.
Most of those arrested were residents of north and east. Some of the arrested had been staying in lodges and with relatives to go abroad for employment and others had been working in business establishments.

A Tamil woman was arrested in Wellawatte along with four Tamil men, sources said.

All are being detained in police stations in the Colombo city and being interrogated.

LTTE: SL military post raided in Trincomalee, 4 killed

Four Sri Lankan military personnel, including Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and homeguards, who were manning a military post in Kantha'laay (Kantale) in Trincomalee district were killed Monday morning when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) carried out a raid on the military post in the high security area, LTTE's Trincomalee command has claimed in a note issued to media on Tuesday. Two firearms were seized in the raid, the Tigers said.
One T-56 assault rifle, 30 rounds and a shotgun were seized and the cadres safely returned to their base, according to the LTTE.

The raid took place at Seranawa around 9:00 a.m. on Monday.

Exports likely to reach US $10 billion by 2010 – Experts

Recently 16th annual NCE awards were held at Hilton Colombo where Sri Lankan exporters were awarded for their excellent business skills.

Speaking at the occasion Mr Ajith Cabraal, Governor Central Bank said that looking at the present scenario it can be assumed that by 2010 the exports of the country will reach US $10 billion mark.

According to the experts, the desired target is not difficult to achieve as Sri Lankan exports have come a long way. The total value of exports reached an all time high of $863 million in December 2007. The country is also maintaining an economic growth of around 7 percent in the last three years.

Industry insiders opine that proper infrastructure needs to be developed and correct planning can boost the ailing sectors that were previously booking loses.

The NCE awards have become one of the most prominent ceremonies that appreciate the exporters’ contribution to the overseas earnings of the nation. This year more than 143 entries had come, which shows the popularity it has gained from the time NCE was initiated.

15,000 newly displaced from Ki'linochchi swell Vanni IDPs to 230,000

Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), a humanitarian organization helping the displaced population in Northeast, in a report released Tuesday said, with the food stock in private stores and co-operative stores reaching dangerously low levels, the humanitarian conditions of the more than 230,000 Internally displaced are rapidly deteriorating. Since the departure of foreign NGOs on 16th September under Colombo's directives, 15,217 new IDPs from Ki'linochchi and Poonakari has joined the refugee population, the report added.
"In Ki'linochchi Town and its suburbs there are 3-4 attacks by Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) K-fir bombers and artillery shelling by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA). As a result, the schools, government departments and the local administrative services are not functioning at full capacity," the report said.

Pointing out that that Sri Lanka's "Ministry of Defence (MoD) has not allowed any food convoys to cross the Omanthai checkpoint into the Vanni since 5 September denying humanitarian assistance to the displaced and non-displaced population," the TRO report further said that, "The departure, on 16 September, of the United Nations (UN) & international NGOs (29 UN expatriate staff and 13 international NGO staff) from the Vanni effectively suspended all international assistance to the IDPs and the protection that such international witnesses provide."

The report added that the restriction on the number of lorries crossing the Omanthai checkpoint created severe shortages of essential food items (rice, flour, lentils, sugar, and milk powder). The meagre stocks that the GA and private traders had have now been depleted and the population are facing a severe crisis.

TRO appealed to the Government of Sri Lanka, the International Community, the UN and international NGOs to ensure that adequate amounts of food, medicine and other essential humanitarian relief are allowed to pass through the Omanthai Checkpoint. TRO report added that, "at least one month's stock of food must be kept in the Kilinochchi & Mullaitivu Districts to ensure the needs of the civilian population can be fulfilled should the A9 route become unsafe or not secure or the IDPs are forced to move once again."

AHRC calls for probe on Weliamuna attack

The Asian Human Rights Commission has called on the Sri Lankan government to thoroughly investigate the grenade attach on the home of human rights lawyer J.C. Weliamuna.

AHRC said in a statement that last night (Sept. 28th) at 11:40 pm in Colombo, Sri Lanka a grenade was thrown inside the house of the leading lawyer J.C. Weliamuna, who is the Executive Director of Transparency International in Sri Lanka, and a well- known human rights lawyer.

Severe damage was caused to a part of the upper floor of the house, and the sound of the explosion was heard several miles away.

After calling the police and examining the premises another unexploded grenade was found.

Mr. Weliamuna said that he has all his life had no personal enemies and therefore this attack has to be connected to his work.

Mr. Weliamuna has appeared in many sensitive cases relating to corruption and abuses of human rights.

Several cases are pending in which some powerful politicians are the defendants.

Last week, Transparency International published a report, in which Sri Lanka was listed as 92 on the corruption list.

Mr. Weliamuna has constantly appeared in many well known human rights cases on behalf of victims of torture, extra-judicial killings and disappearances.

Last Friday the Supreme Court issued special orders for investigation of a case that Mr. Weliamuna appeared in which a young man from Kandana complained of attempted assassination by some police officers.

Yesterday morning Mr. Weliamuna moved a motion at the Bar Association of Sri Lanka regarding a lawyer who has received death threats due to appearance in an extra-judicial killing case where the victim had been the complainant in two cases regarding police officers, for bribery and torture.

The Bar Association unanimously resolved to pursue the complaint of the lawyer and condemned the interference into the work of lawyers and resolved to pursue the matter with the Inspector General of Police and other authorities.

"This attack is chilling but not surprising. Threats and attacks are targeted at everyone who tries to highlight the abuses of politicians and state officers," said Basil Fernando, the director of the Asian Human Rights Commission.

"Now senior lawyers themselves are being targeted for nothing other than being engaged in their professional duties to their clients."

Fernando further said, "even at the worst times in the late 1980s no senior lawyer was targeted. What is taking place is a most comprehensive form of repression with the view to silence everyone who is making any attempt to seek protection of law. This is one of the most terrible times in the country."

The Asian Human Rights Commission calls on the Sri Lankan government to thoroughly investigate this matter with a Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the Criminal Investigation Division (CID).

There is all the likelihood of the investigation being mishandled unless special attempt is made for inquiries to be conducted by a competent and independent SIU.

It is also the duty of all the lawyers and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka to come strongly in support of one of its members who has taken a very keen interest in the rights of others.

The Supreme Court and the judiciary also need to take up the issue of the protection of the lawyers.

AHRC also calls upon the lawyers outside Sri Lanka to intervene with the Sri Lankan government to condemn this attack and also to ensure an independent inquiry by a competent body.

The UN agencies and the international anti-corruption and human rights organisations should intervene for the defence of one of the best known human rights defenders in Sri Lanka.

Worthless leaders will not be allowed to hijack UNP, says Wajira

Galle district United national Party (UNP) MP Wajira Abewardhana says that he will not allow ineffective leaders who cannot be an alternative to the present leader to capture the party leadership.

Mr. Abewardhana emphasized that he would not allow anyone to destroy the party leadership and to let the government to manipulate the UNP.

He made these observations at a function held in Sarana Reception Hall to hand over life insurance policies to the UNP local government representatives of Gampaha district.

Mr. Abewardhana charged that the persons who try to change the party leadership are becoming the pets of the government. He said that he would not allow them to destroy the party with the proposals brought from Temple Trees. Party enemies and the government have launched a massive campaign against the UNP manipulating all media and a group from UNP who are ignorant of this are shouting for a leadership change, added Mr. Abewardhana.

Air defence exercises over Sigiriya, low flying aircraft likely to be reported - SLAF

The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) will hold air defence exercises between 7 and 8.30 this evening, in the Kantale and Sigiriya regions, SLAF Spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said.

Low flying aircraft maybe reported during the exercises, he added.

SC orders to remove barricades on the Galle road

The Supreme Courts today ordered the Police Chief to remove all barricades on the Galle road from Kollupitiya to Galle Face before January next year.

United States condemns attack on residence of Sri Lankan human rights activist

The Embassy of the United States in Sri Lanka today condemned the recent attack on the residence of the Executive Director of Transparency International Sri Lanka and well-known human rights attorney, J.C. Weliamuna.

The US Embassy in Colombo, issuing a media communiqué, commended Weliamuna’s work as a defender of those who seek to fight corruption, protect the victims of abuse, and advance the cause of human rights in Sri Lanka.

“We look to the authorities to launch an immediate investigation into this act of violence and bring the perpetrators of this crime swiftly to justice,” stated the US Embassy.

UNP condemns ARMY chief's remarks

The UNP has condemned the statement made to a Canadian newspaper by Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka regarding minority communities.

The UNP organized a media briefing at the Opposition Leader's Office in Colombo this morning (Sept. 29th), where MPs from Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities spoke.

One of them, Kabir Hashim, said his Muslim community was having very close ties, even blood relationships, with the majority Sinhalese.

At a time when war in the north is entering a decisive stage, statements like the one made by the army chief were totally uncalled for, he said.

Muslims' acceptance of Lt. Gen. Fonseka for having liberated the east would be affected by his statement, said Mr. Hashim.

Also condemning the statement, MP Vajira Abeywardena said he did not propagate war as a Buddhist.

There are only peaceful achievements, he said, pointing to Karuna and Pillayan having entered the democratic mainstream as examples.

MP Ravindran, a Tamil, said he was grieved to hear such a statement coming from a responsible public official.

He called for an end to war and for a negotiated political solution, and said statement that divided the communities should be condemned.

In an interview with 'National Post' of Canada, Lt. Gen. Fonseka has said, "…..they (minorities) must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue things."

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem has also condemned the army commander's remarks.

SLAF attacks terror bunker lines

Sri Lanka Air Force MI 24 attack helicopters lunched strikes at a terror bunker line located 3 Km North of Vannerikulama around 12.15 this afternoon (Sept 29), the Air Force sources said.

Air Force spokesperson Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara speaking defence.lk said that the air strikes were launched in support of Task Force 1 troops operating in the western half of the Kilinochchi front.

Wanni liberation continues

Finalized reports on yesterday's (Sept 28) incidents settled terrorist deaths at 23 and casualties at 9. Also, 15 LTTE cadres were marked as either killed or wounded. Four soldiers laid down their lives at the battlefield while 26 others suffered injuries.

On the Kilinochchi battlefront, troops of 57 division continued their offensives in the Akkarayankulam and Kokavil areas during the day. During the clashes reported from Akkarayankulam area, one soldier was killed and 6 others suffered injuries. Meanwhile, during operations conducted in the north of Kokavil area troops found two T-56 weapons, 3 LTTE dresses and 3 cyanide capsules.

In a separate confrontation occurred in the Mankulama area on Saturday (Sept 27) evening troops found one terror dead body and 2 T-56 riffles.

On the western half of the Kilinochchi front, troops of Task force 1, confronted with a group of terrorist in the Manniyankulam area around 9.30, last morning. Intercepted terror radio transmissions confirmed 12 terrorists were killed and 7 others were injured in this incident. Also, 2 soldiers laid down their lives and 11 others sustained injuries.

In separate incidents reported from Vannerikulam and Panaikandamadu areas during the day one soldier was killed and 4 others suffered injuries.

Meanwhile , Task Force 2 troops operating in the Vavuniya front had two separate confrontations with the terrorists in the Palamodai area last afternoon and claimed 3 terrorists were killed. Troops also found one T-56 weapon and 2 hand grenades. In a separate incident reported from the Kummakulam area, a soldier suffered injuries due to an AP (anti personnel) mine explosion during morning hours.

Troops of 56 division maintaining the active defence on either sides of the A-9 road on the Vavuniya forward defence, attacked a terror bunker located in the Koliyakulam area around 6.35 AM. Ground sources confirmed one terrorist was killed in this incident.

Also in the Navatkulama area, troops opened fire at a group of terrorists around 10 AM and claimed one terrorist was killed.

Meanwhile on the Mullaittivu front, troops of 59 division had day long clashes in the Andankulam area and claimed 5 terrorists were killed , 4 others wounded and 15 more were either killed or wounded. Also, a soldier suffered injuries due to terror mortar fire during one of the incidents. Troops also removed 226 AP mines and 12 IEDs during days mine sweeping operations in the area.

In the Jaffna theatre of operations , a sniper deployed in the Muhamalai area confirmed shooting down of one LTTE cadre last evening.

Counter terror operations are being continued.

Air Force fighter jets pound LTTE gathering - Kilinochchi

Sri Lanka Ari Force fighter jets pounded an LTTE gathering point detected 2.5 Km North of Vannerikulama , on the Kilinochchi battlefront at 4.10 PM , Air Force spokesperson Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said.

He added that the air strike was successful.

Hand Grenade explosion injures 8 civilians - Kaattankudi

A hand grenade explosion has been reported from the Kaattankudi town in Batticaloa around 7 PM this evening (Sept 29).

According to the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS), an unknown person has exploded the hand grenade at the public bus stand. Eight civilians have suffered injuries and one motorbike received injuries in the explosion, the sources added.

Police conducts further investigations.

Civic Activists face dangerous trend

On Saturday night an unidentified gang lobbed two hand grenades at the residence of Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) Director and Attorney at-Law J.C Weliamuna. Mr. Weliamuna’s residence is located in close proximity to a police station (Kohuwela), and an army camp (Kohuwela-Pepiliyana road. The attack demonstrates the blatant disregard criminals now have for regular structures of law and order.

The National Peace Council of Sri Lanka condemns the grenade attack on the residence of J C Weliamuna. The NPC views this attack as part of a broader assault on human rights, good governance, accountability and integrity in public life and thus demands stern action be taken against those responsible. We are particularly saddened by this attack as it had taken place at night, when his family and two young children were present. Mr Weliamuna has been a colleague and partner in work we are doing. We appreciate his courage and commitment to the rule of law and to integrity in public life.

Mr. J.C. Weliamuna is presently involved in a number of cases which deal with infringements upon fundamental rights and public interest litigation. Of particular interest are pending cases which involve government officials and member of the police force. Furthermore, last week Mr. Weliamuna made submissions to the Supreme Court, stating that a fellow lawyer had been subjected to death threats for fulfilling his professional duties.

The attack on Mr. Weliamuna is thus suggestive of a dangerous trend of intimidation and interference in the country’s legal processes. The NPC views this attack as an attempt to harm and intimidate a lawyer and civil society activist and to possibly send a warning to all advocates of human rights, good governance, accountability and integrity in public life. This act of violent intimidation can be interpreted as a thinly veiled attempt to silence critical and dissenting voices in the country.

We join the Free Media Movement (FMM), civil society activists and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka’s (BASL) in condemning this attack as an act which threatens not only us all but the very democratic values upon which our respective professions and institutions are founded.

Commonwealth on global food and energy crisis

The Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit (CPSU) is hosting a workshop on 1st October to discuss issues facing Commonwealth Finance Ministers. Guests including experts in the field and Commonwealth High Commissioners will examine potential policy solutions to rising fuel and energy prices ahead of the Commonwealth Finance Ministers’ Meeting in Saint Lucia next month.

Taking place at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies in London , the meeting will hear from a range of speakers including policy experts and representatives from international development charities, Inter-Governmental Organisations and Commonwealth governments.

The workshop comes at a time when across the Commonwealth, but particularly in many poorer countries, individuals and communities are suffering due to increasing costs of food and fuel - fundamental to people’s well being and livelihoods.

The CPSU’s Director, Dr. Victoria teVelde said,

“Rising costs of fuel and food are causing immediate suffering and economic concern across the Commonwealth. CPSU welcomes the chance to organise this important discussion before Commonwealth Finance Ministers’ meet in St Lucia next month. This workshop and CPSU’s briefing document will inform the debate to help ministers find sustainable, practical solutions to the global fuel and food crisis.”

CPSU members will attend the Commonwealth Finance Minister’s Meeting from 6 – 8th October in St Lucia . Copies of CPSU’s policy briefings will be circulated to all Finance Ministers in advance of the meeting.

EU condemns the grenade attack on JC's residence

The European Union condemns the grenade attack of 27th September that targeted the residence of the Executive Director of Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL), Mr. J.C. Weliamuna who is a prominent and respected lawyer.
Although there is no indication on the reasons or on the perpetrators of this attack, it is assumed that the attack may have been against the important Human Rights and Anti corruption work Mr.Weliamuna was involved in.
The EU notes with concern the trend in attacks and threats on journalists, civil society organizations and now a lawyer. We believe it is important that the essential work of civil society organisations such as that of Transparency International Sri Lanka should be supported and that its Representative and staff are safeguarded.
The European Union urges the Government of Sri Lanka to do everything possible to investigate fully this incident and to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.

John Keells Holdings’ Consumer Foods Sector again bagged two Silver

John Keells Holdings’ Consumer Foods Sector yet again bagged two Silver
Awards at last week’s 16th annual “NCE Export Awards 2007” for the second consecutive year.
The two Silver Awards in the ‘Extra Large Business Group Category’ went to Keells Food Products PLC and Ceylon Cold Stores PLC for reaching significant milestones in their respective business activities in the international arena Organized by the National Chamber of Exporters of Sri Lanka for the 16th consecutive year, the NCE
Awards are Sri Lanka’s most prestigious awards which recognise and reward the outstanding export performance of companies which provide goods and services from Sri Lanka.

The JKH Consumer Foods Sector is home to some of Sri Lanka’s strongest and most popular food and beverage brands, all of them being market leaders in their respective categories. The Keells Foods brand of processed meats is considered a
“Preferred Brand” by thousands of discerning consumers, and, by almost all star class hotels and catering institutions in Sri Lanka.

Manager Exports for JKH Consumer Goods Christy Fernando said, “Keells Foods further consolidated its strong market presence in India, Dubai and Maldives and went on to record a 26% growth in export sales during the Financial Year 2007/2008”.

Elephant Soft Drinks with its value added portfolio of sub brands, together with Elephant House Ice Creams, have reached many international markets through the taste preferences of numerous Sri Lankans domiciled in various parts of the globe.

“Elephant Soft Drinks now commands a significant presence in the international arena. Elephant Ginger Beer made from locally grown natural ayurvedic ginger continues to make inroads to many international markets. The distinct flavour and medicinal properties of this product have captured the attention of the rapidly growing
natural and organic foods market. Notwithstanding tough competition in the beverage sphere, Elephant Ginger Beer (EGB) successfully entered five new markets in 2007/2008 across over 25 countries while Elephant House Ice Cream’s market leader position in the Maldives makes it grow from strength to strength amid tough competition
from various international flavours and brands”, Fernando added.

Xerox introduces Digital Press to Sri Lanka

Lumen Technologies announced the launch of the long awaited Digital Press Solutions from Xerox to the Sri Lankan market in order to meet the short run requirements of the local graphics industry (commercial printers, publishers, pre-presses, etc.)

The Digital Press is ideal for producing high-end collateral, direct marketing and photo specialty products, jobs that typically generate the most profits for print providers. It is an addition to Xerox's industry-leading production digital portfolio, following the revolutionary Xerox IGen 3, which led the industry into a new into a new age of digital color printing.

Chief Operating Officer of Lumen Technologies, authorised distributor for Xerox in Sri Lanka, Rukshan Sheriff, said, "Our aim is to offer our customers the best solutions to their business needs. Every high-quality color print that comes off the Digital Press will help set our customers apart from their competition with full color and monochrome high speed digital presses offering benchmark productivity, print quality and economy".

Since color consistency and predictability are critical to customers, repeat jobs will always look the same with the Xerox Digital Press. It also creates offset and photo-quality images with consistent color from the first print to the last. Breakthrough technology with more than 400 new parts and subsystems, as well as new patented technologies, combine to enable the press to generate its high-definition image quality.

Sheriff said that the increase of productivity from 25% to 35% on a Digital Press will be through the automation of operator tasks, such as not needing to stop the machine to replace the developer with the new carrier dispensing system. “By automating operator tasks on a press, the need to stop the press for adjustments is greatly reduced. As a result, overall operating costs decrease and the break-even point improves between digital and traditional offset printing. In fact, it is faster and more economical to print short run jobs on a Digital Press”, he added.

Two trains collided -one killed

Two trains were collided in Ganemulla a short while ago.One person was killed and at least 15 persons have been injured due to the train accident in Ganemulla, railway officials said.

Two trains had collided. One of them was the Inter city train heading to Kandy and the other was the slow train travelling from Fort to Polgahawela.

Two trains collided -one killed

Two trains were collided in Ganemulla a short while ago.One person was killed and a number of persons were injured.

LMSL case: Supreme Court says CID director should be removed

The three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva on Monday chastised the Criminal Investigation Division (CID), the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption and the Attorney General for failing to take any action pursuant to the Lanka Marine Services Ltd (LMSL) 21 July 2008 judgment.

When the case came up for hearing on a motion by the petititioner Vasudeva Nanayakkara asking why no action has been taken following the judgment, the Chief Justice made mention of the fact that no action had been taken despite months since the judgment was handed down and said the Director of the CID should be removed.

The Court also issued notice on former Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera to appear on October8 and explain to the Court his new duties as Advisor (to the President) to ascertain if he is indeed holding public office after the Court clearly stated previously that he was not fit to do so. The Inspector-General of Police and the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were present in court while Dr Jayasundera and Directors of John Keells Holdings were not present, as they hadn’t been noticed to appear.

LTTE terrorists in Army uniforms commit violence in Jaffna

Troops patrolling in the Makiyapiddi area in the Jaffna peninsula observed three LTTE cadres clad in Army uniforms around 11 this morning (Jaffna).

When troops asked the suspects who were loitering near a Hindu temple to identify themselves, the suspects lobbed two hand grenades at troops and escaped. During the search operations troops found 2 hand grenades, 3 sets of Army combat uniforms, and a grenade launcher with one round.

A senior defence official in the area speaking to defence.lk said that the motive of the terrorists is to tarnish the good image of the security forces by committing violence against civilians in guise of security forces' personnel.

Annual General Meeting of the Chamber of Construction Industry

5th Annual General Meeting of the incorporated Chamber of Construction Industry Sri Lanka will be held on 30th Sept. 2008 at the Ballroom of Hotel Galadari, Colombo.

The AGM will commence at 5.45 p.m. and will be followed by a Forum, Fellowship and cocktail reception. Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, Minister of Construction and Engineering Services will be the Chief Guest. Hon. Prof. G.L. Peiris, M.P. Minister of Export Development and International Trade will deliver the keynote address at 7.15 p.m.


Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, a corporate member of the Chamber will make a presentation on “Investment Opportunities in Sri Lanka”.


Representatives of Founder member associations such as Sri Lanka Institute of Architects, Institute of Town Planners of Sri Lanka, The Surveyors Institute of Sri Lanka, Institute of Valuers of Sri Lanka, Institute of Quantity Surveyors Sri Lanka, Insurance Association of Sri Lanka, The Association of Consulting Engineers, Sri Lanka and National Construction Association of Sri Lanka, with statutory agency members, corporate members and individual members are expected to attend the AGM at which the office bearers and members to the council will be elected.

Archt./Plnr. Deshabandu Surath Wickramasinghe and Vice Presidents Eng. D.D. Wijemanna, Valuer S.N. Wijepala and Archt. Rukshan Widyalankara who have been holding office from the very inception of the Chamber which was established in the year 2001 are expected to be re-elected without a contest.

Depositors demand money back from ‘Danduwam Mudalali’

Over 3000 people had surrounded the house of Piyadasa Ratnayake (Danduwam Mudalali) in Gurupokuna, Hungama on Friday after the Central Bank announced that he was among those operating an unregistered finance institution.
Those who surrounded his house had demanded that their deposits be returned with the promised interest. Since there had been a large crowd, Ratnayake had used loudspeakers to calm the crowd and had told them that he had assets to pay back the deposits with interest.

The Central Bank had given one month’s notice to Piyadasa Ratnayake to apply to be registered as a finance company and the necessary prerequisite was to deposit Rs. 200 million with the Central Bank.

Addressing the agitated depositors Ratnayake said he would carry forward his business activities and would not leave the country. He promised he would make his institution a legitimate finance company and had showed a document to this effect to the crowd.

He also played an audio recording asking him to come to Colombo to register his company. Once he assured that he would register his company the depositors had calmed down.

However security had been provided to Ratnayake’s house by the Hungama police following the incident.

Medirigiriya tensed following police shooting

A tensed situation developed in Medirigiriya, Polonaruwa after police shot dead a man who failed to stop at a check point. Two policemen and two civilians were injured in an ensuing clash.

Police Commandos thwart terror infiltration bid - Ampara

Police Special Task Force (STF) commandos thwarted an LTTE infiltration bid at Kalawanchikudi in Ampara district this morning (Sept 29).

According to the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) an STF patrol has detected a suspicious boat moving in the Kodamadhu lagoon around 5 AM. When the STF personnel challenged the persons on the boat, they have opened fire at troops. STF troops effectively overpowered the terrorists and destroyed the boat.

During the subsequent search, STF troops found two bodies of slain LTTE cadres, along with one T-56 riffle, two hand grenades, one claymore mine, one radio antenna, ammo, LTTE uniforms, explosives and other military gear.

Police conduct further investigations.

Adequate food supplies for Wanni

Dismissing certain reports about a shortage of food and other essential items in the Wanni, Essential Services Commissioner S.B.Divarathna said yesterday that there was enough stocks for six months stored in Vavuniya, and these would be delivered continuously to Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi.

According to Divarathna 75 to 80 lorries are already being loaded with stocks amounting to 1,000 tons expected to reach uncleared areas before next Saturday.

This is to be followed by another consignment of 4,000 tons of essential items in the coming weeks. According to Divarathna, UN representatives have been allowed to accompany the convoys to witness the distribution.

Divarathna added that this was the first time that such a large convoy would reach these areas as the normal practice was to send around 20 lorries at a time.

He added that 250 field trucks had been reserved to transport essential items without delay although Government Agents in the areas possessed enough stocks for the time being.

Authorities said moves are underway to make Vavuniya a humanitarian assistance hub to help an exodus of IDPs due to the military operations in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.

Strict orders have been relayed to both Security Forces and authorities to make a safe passage for civilians fleeing from uncleared areas and make all arrangements for their safety and wellbeing, authorities said.

Tiger Points in Ponnar Challenged

JAFFNA: ARMY troops continued attacks on Tiger points in the general area of PONNAR on Sunday (28) evening around 5.00 p.m.. As a result, one terrorist was confirmed killed by the troops.

JAFFNA troops launched an attack on a few terrorist bunkers Saturday (17) early morning destroying four of them.

Navattikulam Terrorist Hideouts Attacked

VAVUNIYA: A FEW more Tiger hideouts in the general areas of NAVATTIKULAM and north of PALAMODDAI came under Army small arms and RPG (Rocket Propeller Gun) fire Sunday (28). Four terrorists were confirmed killed during confrontations. Troops recovered one T-56 weapon and two hand grenades belonging to terrorists in the area.

Two soldiers were also injured in the encounter and admitted to hospital.

Another soldier who was injured in the explosion of an anti personnel mine was also referred for medical treatment.

Soldier Injured in Suicide Blast Succumbs to Injuries

ANURADHAPURA: ONE out of three soldiers who were admitted to ANURADHAPURA General Hospital following the LTTE suicide explosion in VAVUNIYA town Sunday (28) succumbed to his injuries whilst being treated in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit).

Lance Corporal R.M.J. HERATH (28) of Sri Lanka Army Service Corps was on duty at the roadblock near the place of the incident and was initially admitted to VAVUNIYA hospital with severe injuries sustained due to the explosion. He was a resident of POLPITHIGAMA, KURUNEGALA.

Later, he was transferred to ANURADHAPURA along with eight other injured persons for further treatment.

LTTE Loses 4 km of AKKARAYANKULAM – MURIKKANDY Road

KILINOCHCHI: TROOPS of the 57 Division, crushing Tigers’ military power further towards the A-9 road, captured a 4 km area along the AKKARAYANKULAM – MURIKKANDY road by Sunday (28) afternoon around 3.00 p.m. after intensive fighting.

Clashes commenced around 8.00 a.m. in the morning and continued until the terrorists holding positions along the captured block of the AKKARAYANKULAM – MURIKKANDY road were defeated killing seven LTTE fighting cadres.

One soldier laid his life and three others sustained injuries.

Clearing operations are continuing.

Tigers Bringing Suicide Jacket, Arms & Ammunition Bumped Off

AMPARA: SPECIAL TASK FORCE (STF) troops on ambush near the KODAMADU lagoon in KALAVANCHIKUDY, AMPARA observed an LTTE boat in the lagoon around 5.00 a.m. Monday (29) morning.

STF ordered the suspects who got out of the boat to stop, but those men they suddenly opened fire at the troops, prompting the troops to respond with small arms.

STF counter fire caused damages to one LTTE boat simultaneously and it exploded emitting a huge pall of smoke.

Troops immediately cordoned the area and conducted a search to find two LTTE dead bodies, one T-56 weapon, four magazines, 110 ammunition rounds, one suicide jacket, ninety-five M-16 ammunition rounds, seven micro pistol rounds, one claymore mine fixed to a coconut shell, 300g of explosives, one Icom antenna, two hand grenades, two detonator codes, one LTTE uniform and uniform accessories, one cyanide capsule and one mobile phone.

It is suspected those Tigers arriving from MULLAITTIVU sea areas have abortively tried to infiltrate the east with a view to committing violence in the area.

Police and Army investigations are on.

Blast damages motor cars -No casualties

A blast has occured inside a vehicle at Malwatta road in Colombo Fort a short while ago.Police say there is no casualties.However a nuber of vehicles have been damaged due to the blast.

Illicit liquor death toll rises to 19

The death toll of people who had consumed illicit liquor in Weliveriya rose to 19 today. Over 40 people are still receiving treatment in hospitals. Police have arrested six persons including a woman in connection with the illegal brewery.

Bomb blast at Fort

A blast was reported near the Khan Clock Tower, Fort area- Colombo a short while ago.Wait for details.

Chathurika sues film director

The Colombo District Court has issued an enjoining order preventing a film director from selling and releasing a collection of film songs following a civil suit filed by a budding actress Chathurika Peiris.

The Colombo District judge Sisira Ratnayake issued this order following a plaint filed by the young actress Peiris against N. S. Niranjan, a film director from India.

In her plaint, Chathurika Peiris stated that she signed an agreement with the defendant film director in June 2005 and having completed a major part of the film, production was stopped and the director left for India. Nearly two years later in April 2008, he had returned and wanted her to complete the production. She claimed that she was promised the lead female role but was not awarded it as pledged. The young actress said that having restarted the film after two years her appearance and the suitability to the role had changed and she wanted to know how she was going to be paid to complete the production.

In the meantime, the director has released a CD with the visual of the cast including hers and she complained that she is a popular actress and due to the alleged incident,a damage of ,Rs. 10 million had been caused to her popularity.

The court issued an enjoining order preventing the sale of the CD till October 9 and issued notice on the defendant.

ZOA says its programme manager did not join LTTE

Referring to an article in the newspapers which states that ZOA’s Kilinochchi Programme Manager has joined the LTTE as a fighter, ZOA yesterday said that the news was incorrect and groundless.
A ZOA statement said: “The government has given instructions to all UN Agencies and NGOs working in the wanni to relocate their humanitarian and development operations to Vavuniya before Monday, September 29.”

“In compliance with the government’s instructions, ZOA has relocated the concerned programme Manager, its only international staff member in the region, to Vavuniya and report to work at ZOA’s Vavuniya on Friday 26 September.

‘The Programme Manager and other ZOA employees in the wanni were solely involved in humanitarian aid like distribution of food and shelter materials to many displaced civilians.”

Shipping company starts a joint venture in Sri lanka

September 24, 2008 was a red letter day for the shipping industry when Wallem Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd - joint venture between Wallem and Co., Hong Kong and Dev Engineering (Pvt) Ltd., Sri Lanka, was launched at the Mt. Lavinia Hotel.

The new ‘ship’ of Wallem Lanka (Pvt) Ltd is set to sail on a voyage of setting professional standards in its quest for assisting Wallem’s pursuit to have the most professional seafarers in the industry serving in Wallem ships.

This is an ideal opportunity for Sri Lankans aspiring for a professional training qualification and career at sea with the provision of invaluable international exposure, dealing with international commerce and transport and technical expertise. Wallem Lanka expects this joint venture to be mutually beneficial for Wallems and Dev Engineering by training and harnessing the best of seafarers in Sri Lanka, whilst the joint venture company affords a great opportunity for Sri Lankans to be gainfully trained and employed thereby bringing in the much needed foreign exchange to the country.

Wallem & Co., the oldest ship management company in the world and one of the largest, started a joint venture in Sri Lanka in association with Dev Engineering (Pvt) Ltd to train and harness the manpower potential in Sri Lanka for seafaring. The new joint venture company called ‘Wallem Lanka (Pvt) Ltd’ was launched at a glittering ceremony an event of the type that had never been seen before by the maritime fraternity in Sri Lanka.

Wallem & Co is the world’s oldest Ship Management Company, having been started in 1903 by Haakon ‘Typhoon’ Wallem in Shanghai. In 1947, Wallem moved to its headquarters in Hong Kong and has been in Hong Kong since then.

Wallem at times has been ship owners, but have always been shipping agents, ship brokers and, since 1971, third party ship managers. Wallem & Co is also one of the largest ship management companies in the world today, managing in excess of 350 ships. Wallem has spread all over the world and has over 6,000 people working in Wallem managed ships and another 600 people work in about 50 Wallem offices in 18 countries.

Customers under Wallem management have full on-line access to the procurement, accounting and personnel records for their ships.

Wallem is still shipping agents all over Asia, air cargo agents in Malaysia, Thailand and Manila, shipbrokers in Qingdao, Hong Kong, Taipei and Hamburg.

Wallem develops maritime software in-house in the Philippines.

The largest three tankers ever built were in full technical management with Wallem Ship Management until they were taken out of operation due to impending MARPOL (Marine Pollution Prevention) regulations.

Wallem leads in successful shipping joint ventures in China: the Pen-Wallem Agency network in all major Chinese ports, Cosco Wallem Ship Management and Wallem Maritime Training Center in Qingdao.

A Green award winning company, paying highest market rates in way of salaries to staff emphasizes the importance of looking after the welfare of officers and their families. As a result most of the afloat and ashore staff, have long service records with the company and are very proud of their association with the company.

Five Media condemns attack on Weliamuna

Five Media, the five organizations for media freedom, has vehemently condemned the grenade attack on the home J.C. Weliamuna, prominent attorney-at-law, and Executive Director of Transparency International Sri Lanka.

According to reports, the attack took place around 11:45 pm on September 27th, in which two grenades were thrown at the premises, one of which did not explode.

Five Media said in a press release, "We understand that while there is damage to the house, there were no physical injuries sustained by Mr. Weliamuna or his wife and two infant children who were in the house at the time."

In what has become a familiar, horrifying pattern in respect of similar attacks, Mr. Weliamuna’s home is located close to a police station (Kohuwela), an army camp (Pepiliyana), a regular army mobile checkpoint at night and a major checkpoint and roadblock (at Saranankara Road bridge).

Mr. Weliamuna, who is a well-known human rights lawyer, appears in a number of important fundamental rights cases, some of which involve high officials of the present regime.

In particular, we note that Mr. Weliamuna was counsel in a fundamental rights application involving serious police malpractice that came up for hearing last week, in which the Supreme Court ordered a special investigation regarding the police on questions relating to criminal intimidation and filing of false charges against the petitioner by the police.

In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Weliamuna is engaged in the public campaign against bribery and corruption in his work with TISL, as well as civil society advocacy in regard to the non-implementation of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution.

In the recent past, we note that TISL has published a Corruption Perception Index and that Mr. Weliamuna has been an active voice against insidious attempts to whittle down the scope of the 17th Amendment.

Five Media says it considers this attack as a matter of grave significance.

It is an attempt to harm and intimidate a lawyer and civil society activist, and through such attacks to send a broader message to those who represent the cause of human rights, good governance, accountability and integrity in public life.

This reprehensible act of violent intimidation therefore is an attempt to silence critical and dissenting voices, including civil society and the media.

It also represents a clear challenge to the independence and integrity of the legal profession, and contempt for the rule of law and legal processes.

Five Media urges media and legal professions, civil society, and the judiciary to regard this attack as an act of aggression against all of us and the democratic values upon which our respective professions and institutions are founded.

It calls upon authorities to immediately conduct a full, independent, and impartial investigation into this attack with a view to apprehending and prosecuting the perpetrators, and to make such findings public as a matter of urgency.

We hope that such an investigation will not go the way of such investigations in a countless number of cases before, whereby nothing tangible has ever resulted by way of bringing the culprits to justice.

The five media organisations would like to express their concern for and solidarity with Mr. Weliamuna and his young family at this time of acute distress.

Gati opens office in Dubai Airport Free Zone

Gati, a leader in the express distribution and supply chain solutions in India, has made its foray into the Middle East market setting up operations in Dubai Airport Free Zone.
Gati has offices in China, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. In India, Gati has over 4000 vehicles on road covering 594 out of 608 districts, with mechantronic warehousing facilities of 1.5 million sq. ft. across all major cities in the country.

Malaysians passports abused by Lankans - envoy

Malaysian passports were often abused by nationals from China, Sri Lanka and India to gain illegal entry into Britain, Malaysian High Commissioner to Britain Abdul Aziz Mohamad said.

“And Malaysians are frequently reported as acting as facilitators to arrange for other nationals to enter Britain,” he said when briefing the Malaysian community in London on the proposed visa ruling for Malaysians travelling to Britain.

Malaysia is in the top five countries whose citizens are consistently being denied entry into Britain. Malaysians are also among the top 10 nationalities who overstay and in the top 20 for overall immigration abuses. He said Malaysians had been in Britain’s bad books over visa abuses, with about 1,500 of them refused entry last year.

Aziz said the Home Office’s third and last stage of its visa-waiver test for Malaysia and 10 other countries was expected to run until January or February next year.

CPA STATEMENT ON THE RECENT COMMENTS BY GENERAL SARATH FONSEKA IN CANADA'S NATIONAL POST

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) is deeply concerned by and strongly disapproves of statements made by the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, General Sarath Fonseka, in an interview with Stewart Bell of the National Post newspaper of Canada, published on 23rd September 2008.

In this interview, General Fonseka has made some disquieting observations of a highly political nature. Among other things, General Fonseka has stated that,

"I strongly believe that this country belongs to the Sinhalese but there are minority communities and we treat them like our people...We being the majority of the country, 75%, we will never give in and we have the right to protect this country...We are also a strong nation ... They can live in this country with us. But they must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue things."

These sentiments, which General Fonseka has made public on several other occasions in interactions with local and international media, are cause for alarm in at least two respects. Firstly, the fact that the Commander of the Army feels free to represent his personal opinions and enter into public discussion about policy matters that are constitutionally the proper domain of the political executive, and indeed is allowed to do so repeatedly without any restraint by the political executive. Secondly, the highly contentious and insensitive nature of what is apparently an ideological perspective that is held by General Fonseka about the nature of the Sri Lankan polity, the political anatomy of the conflict in Sri Lanka, and the means of its resolution.

In regard to the first concern, it should be noted that while constitutional practice in Sri Lanka leaves much to be desired from the perspective of both democratic values and postulates of constitutional government, one cardinal principle of democratic government that has at least hitherto been adhered to is that of civilian control over the military. Thus policy-making and the political direction of any governmental programme involving the military are matters for elected officials of the executive, who are, moreover, responsible and accountable to Parliament and the people for both such policy and the conduct of the military within the framework of government policy, the law, and the Constitution. A necessary implication of this principle is that members of the armed forces desist from engaging in political debate through public expression of private opinions. The military is enjoined by legal duty and constitutional obligation to the direction and control of the civilian political executive; it is not their task either to make policy or to express preferences.

We recall that on the one occasion in this country in which the military attempted to overstep its role in 1962, that attempt was brought swiftly, firmly, and decisively under control by a democratically elected and legally constituted government led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which is also the principal party of the current governing coalition. For General Fonseka to be given the unbridled leeway to volunteer political opinions about the ethnic conflict is therefore not merely a clear violation of a fundamental principle of democratic government; it also suggests that the present government does not apprehend the chilling dangers of allowing military men to venture into the arena of political debate. It is because of the fact that Sri Lanka has succeeded in upholding the principle of civilian control over the military that we have escaped the unfortunate experiences of neighbouring countries such as Pakistan.

Quite apart from this departure from established principles about the proper boundaries of civil-military relations in a democracy are the contumelious political opinions of an ethnic-ideological nature that are evidently held, and abrasively articulated, by General Fonseka. By making politically uninformed statements about which community 'owns' Sri Lanka, General Fonseka demonstrates the discredited majoritarian mindset that views the Tamil and other minority communities with a lack of respect and dignity. It also displays his ignorance and utter insensitivity to the political aspirations of a people the government is claiming to liberate, aspirations based on equality and dignity. They also lend credence to the fundamental argument that military men necessarily do not have the competence to engage in public policy debates, especially about a matter as complex and fundamental in Sri Lankan politics as the resolution of the internal ethnic conflict in the context of ethnic and religious diversity.

General Fonseka's opinions seem also to be inconsistent even with the avowed policy of the present government, expressed most recently this week by the President at the U.N. General Assembly, that the war is against terrorism and the LTTE, and not the Tamil people; that the restoration of democracy and development in the North and East is a priority; and that a political solution must be evolved through the APRC which involves devolution, power-sharing, and a recognition that Sri Lanka belongs to all communities.

For these reasons, we deplore and condemn in the strongest possible terms the abhorrent and unacceptable statements made by General Fonseka; call upon the President to take immediate action to prevent statements of this nature being made in the future; and to ensure that public confidence in the government's commitment to and respect for the proper constitutional boundaries between the civil and military realms is restored.

REMOVAL OF INTERNATIONAL NGOS WORSENS CIVILIAN PLIGHT

--Jehan Perera

Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Prof. Walter Kalin, who visited Sri Lanka recently laid down the appropriate guidelines to be followed in dealing with the victims of Sri Lanka’s earlier phase of war, tsunami and displacement. He said that displaced persons have the right to go back to their homes in the conflict zones or relocate to any other part of the country. He said that the UN and humanitarian organisations have a vital role to play in securing the lives of the people. He also said that lasting peace was only achievable if they were assured safety and security from war and bombs, compensated for lost property, provided with reconstructed houses and safeguarded against discrimination.

But with government troops nearing the LTTE’s administrative capital of Kilinochchi statements by government spokespersons exude confidence that Sri Lanka has had enough with foreign advice, and will do things its own way. Those in charge of the war effort in particular have reason to be upbeat in their mood. The government’s progress on the battlefield has gone better than anticipated. The town of Kilinochchi is within range of the government’s firepower. There is a human trait when things go well to believe in the correctness of one’s own assessment of the current position. But when this is coupled with the narrowing of vision that accompanies ethnic nationalism, the possibility of mistakes becomes higher.

One of the areas in which the government has taken strong but questionable action has been with respect to international humanitarian organizations. Earlier this month the government requested the international humanitarian organizations working in the north to vacate the battle ground areas. The government’s justification for this order was that it could not guarantee the safety of international humanitarian workers and did not wish to see a repeat of the tragedy that occurred in the east. Two years ago 17 national aid workers belonging to an international humanitarian organization were summarily executed in a battle zone.

But there has also been a perception within the government, and one that is shared by the wider population, that many international organizations have been sympathetic if not downright supportive of the LTTE. There have been many public speeches by government members that NGOs are pro-LTTE and cannot be trusted, and this charge has received wide publicity in the government-controlled media and also in sections of the nationalist media. After the government forces started to recapture territory held for a long period by the LTTE they began to find equipment and other donations of international NGOs within captured LTTE bases. This gave rise to the suspicion that the NGOs had been deliberately supplying the LTTE.

Sections of the media, especially those of the government-controlled media, gave wide publicity to these findings that were adverse to the NGOs claim to be impartial and neutral humanitarian actors. However, speaking to the UN General Assembly last week, President Mahinda Rajapaksa himself admitted that the LTTE had been taking a portion of the relief supplies that the government itself was sending to the people in the LTTE-controlled areas. The President did so to highlight the more important point that Sri Lanka was unique amongst war-affected countries, in that it did not discriminate against people living in rebel-held areas, but supplied them irrespective of where they lived.


NATIONAL INTEREST

Despite President Rajapaksa’s statesmanlike speech in New York, the government’s insistence that international NGOs should leave the northern battle zones continues to prevail. Government spokespersons have said they have evidence that some international NGOs have tried to cover up the extent of LTTE take-over of their supplies, while some of them may have permitted their supplies to fall into LTTE hands. Powerful sections of the government believe that the international NGOs are on the side of the LTTE. Accordingly, the government’s decision to completely handle the distribution of food and other relief items is seen as being in the national interest.

As its alternative to the presence of international humanitarian organizations within the LTTE-controlled areas, the government has requested them to deliver their assistance through the government’s administrative system that continues to operate within the LTTE-controlled areas. The government has reason to be satisfied that its administrative system continues to function in LTTE-held areas. The government has also offered the international NGOs an opportunity to travel with the food and relief convoys into the LTTE-controlled areas and to ensure that the relief supplies are handed over to the care of the Government Agent of the area.

However, the problem is that the government officials working in the LTTE-controlled areas have to be very mindful of what the LTTE also wants. Their salaries are being paid by the government and they are responsible to the government. But it is also likely that the government officials in the north are more fearful and possibly supportive of the LTTE, and are less independent of them, than the international NGOs. In the past the LTTE has assassinated several government officials, including Government Agents who headed the district administration, presumably for non-compliance with their directives. On the other hand, the LTTE has not dared to punish any international member of an NGO in a similar manner.

What this means is that the government’s decision to evacuate the international NGOs from the north is likely to lead to greater LTTE dominance over the issuance of food and other relief items. It is not reasonable to expect the government officials working in the LTTE-controlled areas to be independent of the LTTE and to check them in case of any abuse of those relief supplies. Ironically, with the departure of the international NGOs at the government’s behest, there will be no one who can independently monitor the distribution of relief supplies and report back without fear of being punished by the LTTE.


HUMAN SHIELDS

Fortunately, there is still time for the government leadership to reconsider their stances in favour of the civilian population. At the present time, it is reported that Kilinochchi has become a ghost town with most of its inhabitants having fled to the eastern part of the Wanni. Therefore the problem of civilian casualties and human shields is reduced. The problem will arise after the battle for Kilinochchi, if the government forces decide to carry on the battle to the last LTTE-hold town of Mullaitivu in the Wanni. At that point there will be nowhere left for the civilian population to flee.

The government needs to consider if it is doing what is right by the civilian population by ordering the evacuation of the international humanitarian organizations. The government’s most recent decision to permit the international NGOs to accompany the humanitarian convoys into the LTTE-controlled areas is a positive development, but it is unlikely to prove sufficient. If limited to having the international community verify safe receipt of the supplies, it will not help in the distribution process after the convoys leave. After the international NGOs leave the area having ensured that the supplies are delivered to the Government Agent, there will be no one who can independently monitor what happens to those supplies.

One of the fears expressed about the plight of the civilians is that they will be utilized as human shields. If the international humanitarian organizations do accompany the relief convoys sent in by the government, without safeguards for longer term monitoring, there is the distinct possibility that they will be giving legitimacy to a process that is open to abuse. There is a possibility of the LTTE ordering the government officials to send the supplies to areas they consider strategic in order to compel the people to also move there. The government officials working in the LTTE-controlled areas may not be in a position to give advance notice of such decisions, let alone challenge the LTTE on them.

The UN spokesperson is reported to have said that relief workers would be part of the convoys going into the LTTE controlled areas in keeping with international obligations during conflict situations. The hope has also been expressed that this measure would be reassuring to the people of those areas that they have not been abandoned to the mercies of the two armed combatant parties, and that the international community continues to watch over their welfare. However, it is important that the international humanitarian organizations led by the UN should also insist that they be permitted to stay on to monitor the distribution of the relief supplies, as that too is part of their international obligation.

Tuk-tuk drivers turn life-savers

Knotting bandages, carefully lifting an injured person and applying pressure to a bleeding wound are not usually all in a day’s work for tuk-tuk drivers.

But a pre-hospital care training programme will make thousands of scooter taxi drivers throughout Sri Lanka proficient in first-aid procedures that could help save lives and prevent disabilities, according to health professionals.

Usually blamed for causing road accidents, the three-wheeler drivers are being taught the basics of first aid, including managing bleeding, burns and fractures, checking airways for obstructions and deciding when to use the wheelbarrow lift or the fireman’s lift.

“Three-wheeler drivers are usually the first to arrive at the scene of a road accident,” said Adrian Mutupulle of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS), pointing out that tuk-tuks are a popular and quick way to get about. “We are training them to be first responders when they get there.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) and an NGO, Medical Teams International, are funding the project, which is seen as a significant step towards improving the first response system on the island where only the capital, Colombo, can boast a fully-fledged ambulance service. The training, targeting some 4,500 three-wheeler drivers, 1,300 traffic police officers and about 1,000 civilians, was planned around World First Aid Day on 13 September and is the first step in a continuing programme.



“Road accidents are one of the leading causes of death here,” said Lanka Dissanayake, WHO’s national consultant in charge of non-communicable diseases. “We want to assist the Ministry of Health to train the first responders to meet an emergency situation without causing any more trauma for the victims.”

Many accident victims are transported to hospital in scooter taxis, often increasing the risk of aggravating injuries. “Cervical and spinal injuries are the main cause of permanent disability and can be made worse during transportation,” said Dissanayake. “With proper lifting techniques, this can easily be avoided. Lives can also be saved by keeping the airways of the injured person open. Even removing helmets has to be done carefully.”

At a training session organised by the SLRCS, first-aid instructor Thilak Kumara asked drivers from Negombo in the western Gampaha District how a broken leg could be stabilised before the patient was carried.

Participants eagerly offered suggestions such as using a plank or a broomstick. But Kumara showed them instead how to use the patient’s uninjured leg as a splint and demonstrated the correct way of binding the two limbs together with bandages.

“I have taken patients in my vehicle before, but this is the first time I saw how it should be done correctly,” said Gerard Priyantha, one of the participants.

Nishantha Silva, another driver, recounted how he had recently helped a person who was knocked down by a motorcycle and taken him to hospital. “His leg was bleeding profusely and I held it tightly hoping it would stop.” At the training session he learnt that he could have more effectively staunched the bleeding by applying pressure farther up the thigh.

Dissanayake said tuk-tuk drivers could not be discouraged from ferrying injured people to hospitals “because very often there is no other alternative”.

“This training should be given to more people, not only to three-wheeler drivers,” said W. Jayatilleke, who pointed out that when he rushed an accident victim to hospital, he lost out on other hires and it meant the loss of a day’s work if he had to give evidence about the accident later on.

He has felt the brunt of relatives’ ire who sometimes blamed the taxi drivers for making the patient’s condition worse after a ride in the cramped three-wheeler. “At least now we can confidently tell them that we know something of how to care for accident victims.”

The trainees were given certificates, a first aid kit, first-aid brochures to distribute and a sticker saying, “I have been trained in First Aid” to display on their vehicles.

The SLRCS hopes to have a refresher course to evaluate the trainees’ performance after six months, while the WHO is considering linking up with other UN agencies to extend the programme to cover a larger target group.

SLAF raids LTTE positions

Sri Lanka Air Force carried out two separate air strikes targeting LTTE positions in Mullaittivu and Welioya fronts this afternoon, 28 September.

The first attack was launched around 3.00 p.m targeting the observed LTTE reinforcement teams in general area 5Km northeast of Akkarayankulam to assist the ground troops of 57 Division, Air Force spokesperson Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said.

Meanwhile, MI-24 helicopters raided LTTE bunker positions in general area Thandimurippukulam, east of Oddusudan, in Welioya front around 3.45 p.m, spokesperson added.

Wanni liberation operation in progress; 21 terrorists killed, over 20 injured

According to the finalized military report received from the battlefront said that 21 LTTE terrorists were killed and 11 others suffered injuries in confrontations took place in Mullaittivu, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Welioya and Jaffna fronts yesterday, 28 September. 11 more terrorists were reportedly either killed or wounded.

Troops of 57 Division operating in Mullaittivu district had confronted with LTTE terrorists in Akkarayankulam and Kokkavil areas killing 2 terrorists and injuries another. 3 soldiers laid their lives for defending the motherland while another 3 sustained injuries during these clashes.

In Kilinochchi front, six LTTE terrorists were killed in confrontations ensued between LTTE terrorists and troops of Task Force 1 in Vannerikulam area. Two soldiers made their utmost sacrifice for defending the motherland while another 12 received injuries. By intercepting LTTE communication it is learnt that 6 more LTTE terrorists had been killed and 2 suffered injuries in a clash occurred in general area Manniyakulam on 26 September.

In Vavuniya front, troops of Task Force 2 confronted with LTTE terrorists in general area Palamoddai. 4 LTTE terrorists were killed and 8 others suffered injuries in these clashes. In the same front, troops of 56 Division, gunned down 2 more LTTE terrorists in general area Vedamakilam.

In Welioya front, 2 LTTE terrorists were killed while another 11 suffered injuries due to the clashes reported in Andankulam area. 11 more terrorists reportedly either killed or wounded.

In Jaffna front, army snipers deployed in general area Muahmalai gunned down an LTTE terrorists during the daytime yesterday. Meanwhile, 2 LTTE terrorists suffered injuries while another 3 reportedly either killed or wounded in clashes reported in Ponnar and Muhamalai respectively. 8 soldiers sustained injuries in LTTE attacks in general area Ponnar, Nagarkovil and Muhamalai areas.

LTTE Fires Artillery & Mortars towards Advancing Troops

KILINOCHCHI: TROOPS on advance in the KILINOCHCHI front met Tiger resistance in AKKARAYANKULAM area Saturday (27). Terrorist fire power was overpowered by the troops killing two terrorists and injuring one. Two soldiers caught up in explosions of terrorist IED (Improvised Explosive Device) and anti personnel mines sustained injuries and were admitted to hospital for treatment. At the same time, a few rounds of artillery fired by terrorists fell near the troops killing three soldiers operating in AKKARAYANKULAM area.

Meanwhile, seven terrorists lost their lives in confrontation with the troops inching forward in VANNERIKKULAM and north of KARAMADDAKULAM areas Saturday (27). Shower of LTTE mortar fire directed from their gun positions in VANNERIKKULAM between 6.00 p.m. and 9.00 p.m. injured nine soldiers while seven more soldiers sustained injuries in separate confrontations and anti personnel mine explosions in the same area.

Two more soldiers who bravely fought the Tiger terrorists sacrificed their lives in the general area of VANNERIKKULAM, the same day.

Suicide attack in Vavuniya

One civilian was killed and nine others were injured in a LTTE suicide bombing in Vavuniya a short while ago, Military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.

A suicide bomber on a bicycle had rammed into a threewheeler carrying three police constables and one woman police constable. The four constables and the driver of the threewheeler were injured in the attack, but the threewheeler driver succumbed to his injuries later.

Two army soldiers and one female soldier at an army checkpoint in the vicinity and two more civilians were also injured in the blast, Brig. Nanayakkara said.

The attack took place at 3.30 this evening at Second Lane in the Vavuniya Town near the main bus stand.

Weliweriya moonshine death toll rises to 12

The death toll of the Weliweriya alcohol poisoning case has gone up to 12, Gampaha Hospital sources said.

All victims showed clear symptoms of methyl alcohol poisoning, an ingredient used in the manufacture of kasippu, Gampaha Hospital Director Dr. Dhammika Mayadunne said.

It is suspected that this particular brew had a high concentration of methyl alcohol.

Several Indian fisherman attacked in Lankan waters

One Indian fisherman was killed and 100 injured in a firing incident when they were fishing near Katchatheevu in Sri Lankan territorial waters late last night, the Times of India reported.

Sri Lanka's war entering tragic phase- Canadian MP

Canadian MP and Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic Bob Rae says Sri Lanka's war is entering a tragic new phase as violence between the government and the LTTE spirals out of control.

France says govt has obligation to protect civilians

The Presidency of the Council of the European Union, France, has said in a statement the Sri Lankan government is obliged to ensure the protection of civilians in the north and to meet their needs.

Protests in Tamil Nadu gain momentum, Jayalalithaa extends support

In a significant move amid the building momentum in Tamil Nadu where Tamil leaders are voicing their support to the Eezham Tamils as the Sri Lankan forces intensified their attacks on Vanni, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and the Leader of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, J. Jayalalithaa, Saturday extended her support to a fasting campaign being organised by the Communist Party of India (CPI). In a letter to D. Pandyan, the general secretary of the CPI in Tamil Nadu, Ms. Jayalalithaa said her party extended wholehearted support to the success of the campaign, which highlights the problems and urges to safeguard the lives, properties and the rights of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

The CPI organised fasting campaign is to take place in all the district capitals of Tamil Nadu state on 02 October that falls on the date of Mahatma Gandhi's birthday.

The CPI has urged the Centre in India to pressurise the Sri Lankan government to immediately halt the killings and to return to the path of negotiations, stating that the war being waged by the Sri Lankan government is against Tamil speaking population in general and that it was not viewed as a war against a militant movement.

The leftist parties in Tamil Nadu, which aim to form a third front in the coming elections, have extended their support to Eelam Tamilas Tamil Writers Association also voiced for the rights of Eezham Tamils.

In the meantime, Dr. S. Ramadoss, the founder-leader of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) in Tamil Nadu has also announced a protest on 30 September.

The president of the movement Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) K. Veeramani and Thol. Thirumavalavan, the leader of the political party Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Kadchchi (VCK), courted arrest last Tuesday along with five hundred of their cadres while attempting a rail blockade in Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, to protest against Indian aid to the Sri Lankan state.

The reports of the engagement of Indian military radar operators in the wake of an attack by the Tigers on Sri Lankan Forces Vanni Headquarters (SF-HQ) in Vavuniyaa, in which at least two Indian personnel were wounded, have fuelled the protests in Tamil Nadu against Indian military aid to Colombo against Tamils.

LTTE Administration collapses

Kilinochchi is now a 'ghost town' with the LTTE withdrawing all its offices, business establishments, hotels and media centres following the rapid advancement of the security forces towards the region from various directions in the Wanni, informed sources said. The LTTE had even abandoned its 'Peace Secretariat' and the adjoining buildings where most of the meetings with key figures of the international community had taken place with the LTTE's late political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan and its late theoretician Anton Balasingham, sources said.

The 'Peace Secretariat' of the outfit built with several millions of rupees was equipped with the latest communication facilities. The Secretariat was also furnished to international standards and Pulithevan, one of the lieutenants of Thamilselvan was the head of the Secretariat. The buildings put up by the LTTE in Kilinochchi for its political activities were built soon after the Norway mediated Ceasefire Agreement was signed in February 2002, the sources said.

According to sources the Norwegians had also helped the outfit financially to construct its new buildings in Kilinochchi for political activities. As the civilians began to move out from Kilinochchi, police stations, court houses and other administrative centres that had been set up by the LTTE collapsed with the outfit's henchmen running helter skelter in the region, the sources said.

Meanwhile, innocent civilians in the region are between the 'devil and the deep blue sea' struggling to escape from the clutches of the LTTE who have made them scapegoats for their final show down with the security forces.

Civilians have now moved towards the eastern direction from Kilinochchi to areas such as Akkarayan, Viswamadu and Puthukudiyiruppu which are located east of the A-9 highway. With the LTTE forcibly preventing civilians moving into Government controlled cleared areas, they would face severe hardships in getting essential supplies when the battle enters its final phase, the sources said.

Sri Lanka high commission in London strongly condemns acts of vandalism against Buddhist temple

London's Sri Lanka High Commission in a statement issued to the press, "strongly" condemned the "cowardly acts" of vandalism targeted against the Saddhatissa International Buddhist Center, in Kingsbury in London.

The statement said, "The High Commission firmly believes those who took part in this act of destruction do not believe in religious pluralism and tolerance which are basic tenants of liberal democracy today."

The Buddhist monks in the temple said they suspect the crime had been committed by elements connected to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) sympathizers in the area.

The following is the full statement issued by the High Commission: " The Sri Lanka High Commission in London strongly condemns the cowardly acts of vandals who damaged the Sri Saddhatissa International Buddhist Centre in Kingsbury, London, which had taken place during the early hours of September 26, 2008.

"The Sri Saddhatissa International Buddhist Centre which was established in 1990 has been one of the Buddhist Centres of excellence in the United Kingdom not only propagating Buddhism but also actively engaged in various social, economic and spiritual services to the neighbourhood.

"The High Commission firmly believes those who took part in this act of destruction do not believe in religious pluralism and tolerance which are basic tenants of liberal democracy today."

The Brent Press office of the metropolitan Police issuing another press release said that they were appealing to the public to help the police identify the criminals

The following is the full text of the release: "Police are appealing for witnesses after receiving reports of criminal damage to the Sri Sadahatissa International Buddhist temple, Kingsbury, NW9.

"On 26.9.08 approx 1.30 am. two males were seen near the temple, they smashed the front windows of the property and then two vehicles, which were parked on the driveway. Both offenders then made off in an unknown direction.

"Both suspects were wearing dark clothing.

"Any witnesses are asked to call Brent CID on 020 8733 3159 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."

LTTE Fires Artillery & Mortars towards Advancing Troops

KILINOCHCHI: TROOPS on advance in the KILINOCHCHI front met Tiger resistance in AKKARAYANKULAM area Saturday (27). Terrorist fire power was overpowered by the troops killing two terrorists and injuring one. Two soldiers caught up in explosions of terrorist IED (Improvised Explosive Device) and anti personnel mines sustained injuries and were admitted to hospital for treatment. At the same time, a few rounds of artillery fired by terrorists fell near the troops killing three soldiers operating in AKKARAYANKULAM area.

Meanwhile, seven terrorists lost their lives in confrontation with the troops inching forward in VANNERIKKULAM and north of KARAMADDAKULAM areas Saturday (27). Shower of LTTE mortar fire directed from their gun positions in VANNERIKKULAM between 6.00 p.m. and 9.00 p.m. injured nine soldiers while seven more soldiers sustained injuries in separate confrontations and anti personnel mine explosions in the same area.

Two more soldiers who bravely fought the Tiger terrorists sacrificed their lives in the general area of VANNERIKKULAM, the same day.

Troops Recover Abandoned LTTE Items

BATTICOLOA: TROOPS during search and clear operations in ILUKKAVEDDI area, BATTICALOA recovered one T-56 weapon, three hundred and twenty-nine (329) rounds of ammunition and twenty-five T-56 magazines Saturday (27) around 5.25 p.m.

LTTE Excavator Found; Trench & Bunker Captured

WELIOYA: FIGHTING in ANDANKKULAM area that continued Saturday (27) caused death to two terrorists and injured twenty three. Troops on search operations found one excavator used by the LTTE to dig trenches and construct sand bunds. One such ditch excavated to a length of 50 m with an earth bund on one side of it was captured by the troops in the same area around mid noon. One Tiger bunker built in ANDANKULAM area also fell into the hands of soldiers while another bunker was completely destroyed in RPG (Rocket Propeller Gun) fire by the soldiers. Troops later recovered two Multi Purpose Machine Gun (MPMG) links, 5 m of detonator code, seven hundred and fifty (750) rounds of ammunition, two knives, one groundsheet, thirty-five anti personnel mines and fourteen Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) from the area.

Similar clashes in RANABAPURA area injured one more terrorist. A soldier with injury sustained in the clashes at RANABAPURA was referred for medical treatment.

Another soldier on clearing operations in the general area of KOKKUTHUDUVAI was injured in a booby trap explosion on Saturday (27) morning around 10.45 a.m..

LTTE-Occupied Building Captured

VAVUNIYA: A BUILDING earlier occupied by the terrorists was found in the PALAMODDAI area Saturday (17) around 10.40 a.m.. The house had been abandoned by the terrorists who fled in fear of advance of the troops. The same area saw three more confrontations between the troops and terrorists who lost eight fighting cadres. Same fighting injured four soldiers. Troops on subsequent search recovered two hand grenades from the area.

An evening attack by the troops on LTTE bunkers in VEDAMAKULKAM area destroyed one LTTE bunker and killed two terrorists.

Eleven Tiger Bunkers Destroyed

JAFFNA: ARMY TROOPS in PONNAR launched an attack on a few terrorist bunkers Saturday (17) early morning destroying four of them. Confrontations Troops confirmed that two terrorists suffered injury in the clashes ensued between the troops and terrorists. Terrorist fire during the incident injured two soldiers.

Fresh confrontation in the general area of NAGARKOVIL caused injury to one more soldier.

In two separate clashes at MUHAMALE around 2.20 p.m. and 3.15 p.m., troops destroyed seven Tiger bunkers killing one terrorist and injuring three.

Terrorist at Bunker Shot Dead

VAVUNIYA: ARMY TROOPS in the general area of KOLIYAKULAM observed a movement of a Tiger terrorist closer to his bunker Sunday (28) morning around 6.35 a.m.. Troops fired small arms and RPGs (Rocket Propeller Guns) on the terrorist point and confirmed the death of one terrorist.

TMVP camp in Batti attacked

A TMVP camp in Batticloa has come under attack last night, TMVP sources said.

It is reported that the LTTE was behind the attack.

One TMVP cadre was killed and eight were injured in the attack.

Senior lawyer J. C. Weliamuna's house come under attack

Senior lawyer and Executive Director of Transparency International Sri Lanka J. C. Weliamuna's residence came under a hand grenade attack last night.

A family member told TimesOnline that a grenade was thrown at one of the balconies of their house located in a private lane off Dutugamunu Street in Kohuwala.

The attack was carried out at approximately 11.40 pm and police arrived on the scene to investigate. A door and some windows have been damaged in the attack.

According to Mr. Weliamuna's family, he had no personal disputes with anybody. They attributed the attack to one of the many sensitive court ca

Report soon on milk powder testing

A report on samples of milk powder sold in Sri Lanka, which was sent to be tested in Singapore in the wake of the crisis that erupted in China due to consumption of melamine-contaminated infant milk, is expected within two weeks, Consumer Affairs Authority Chairman Rumy Marzook said.

As the Government awaited the report, Customs authorities stepped up their surveillance on milk powder being imported to Sri Lanka, especially taking steps to monitor the original country of importation.


Milk powder packets on the shelves in a supermarket
According to Sri Lanka Customs, Sri Lanka has imported 248,000 kg of milk powder and dairy products from China till August this year, with 17,000 kg being imported last month. However, Customs Director General S. A. C. S. W. Jayatilake said that infant milk powder was not imported from China.

Officials ruled out contamination of milk powder imported to Sri Lanka as imported items including milk powder are tested well as prescribed under local food laws before they are brought into the country.

“Food items being brought into Sri Lanka are subjected to several tests. We would continue to monitor these food items, including milk powder. We need to pay attention to the third country. For instance items come in from countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai. These countries import from China, so in such cases we would monitor these items, to know where exactly they are imported and would perform thorough tests”, Mr. Jayatilake said.

Milk powder samples imported to Sri Lanka are tested by the Food Control Administration Unit of the Health Ministry and the Sri Lanka Standards Institute (SLSI). Tests are also carried out by the Atomic Energy Authority for radiation in milk powder. Only then will it be released by the Customs.

Following the death of three babies after consuming milk tainted with the toxic chemical melamine in China, the Government ordered that samples of milk powder be sent to an internationally accredited laboratory in Singapore to ensure that milk products available in local markets were safe. Over 54,000 children have sought medical treatment in China while almost 12,900 are currently hospitalized.
“These tests are being carried out through an abundance of caution,” Mr. Marzook said.

Samples from several companies producing milk related products, including Fonterra Lanka, Nestle, Maliban and Kotmale were sent to Singapore last week, he said, adding that ad hoc samples will also be collected from other companies and individuals importing milk powder to Sri Lanka to be sent for testing.

Several samples were also sent to the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) for testing. Trade Ministry Secretary Dr. R. M. K. Ratnayake assured the public that there was no reason to worry.

“The tests are being carried out as a precautionary measure to dispel fears. There is no cause for alarm”, he said. However, he said children below six months should not be given powdered milk.

Wildlife society wins top UNDP award

The Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society is among 25 recipients of this year’s Equator Prize, awarded by the UNDP Equator Initiative. The Equator Prize is an international award that gives recognition to outstanding efforts to reduce poverty and help communities through conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity. Under the UNDP Equator Initiative, governments, businesses and communities work together to raise income levels and protect the environment in tropical countries, which contain the world’s greatest concentrations of biological wealth.

In its citation, the Technical Advisory Committee of the UNDP Equator Initiative said:

“The level of competition for the prize was extremely high and the depth of nominations received was truly impressive. Among this year's remarkable entries, you provided us with a strong demonstration of the inventiveness of community-based work currently being undertaken in the tropics.”

Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society founder president Ravi Corea will receive the award on behalf of the society at a ceremony to be held in Barcelona, Spain.

Bandula - the Budget shop bungler?

Minister of consumer affairs, Bandula who is always in the news allegedly for taking wrong decisions and introducing insidious price hikes against consumers has once again hit headline news for suddenly closing the Rajagiriya budget shop complex in view of the SAARC conference held in July. It is alleged that this was done in total disregard of the interests of the shop owners and the public.


The shop owners in the complex who were seriously affected by this decision are to sue the Minster on the ground that they have incurred immense losses as a large quantity of their food items were destroyed during the closure because expiry dates have passed on many of them. This was the consequence of the haphazard actions of this Minister who did not care even to give prior notice, they allege.

Earlier, the District Court had give an order against the CWE (of the Ministry) not to remove any item in the complex, not even padlocks.

British PM meets Rajapaksa, conveys acute concern

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Secretary of State for Department for International Development Douglas Alexander met with President Mahinda Rajapakse of Sri Lanka in New York Friday to discuss the situation in Sri Lanka. "The recent increased hostilities in the north of Sri Lanka are of acute concern to the UK Government," said a joint statement from the British International Development Minister Shahid Malik and Lord Malloch Brown, calling on both the parties, the GoSL and the LTTE, to respect their obligations under International Humanitarian Law to enable free access for humanitarian agencies. The statement also urged LTTE to take urgent action to allow free movement of civilians.
Full text of the statement follows:


The following is a joint statement from DFID Minister Shahid Malik and Lord Malloch Brown in response to the emerging situation in Sri Lanka:

"The recent increased hostilities in the north of Sri Lanka are of acute concern to the UK Government. We welcome the Government of Sri Lanka recognising its responsibility to provide humanitarian assistance to civilians affected by the conflict and its continued co-ordination with humanitarian agencies.

"Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Secretary of State for Department for International Development Douglas Alexander met with President Mahinda Rajapakse of Sri Lanka in New York today to discuss this situation.

"We urge the Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to take urgent action to allow free movement of civilians. We call on both parties to respect their obligations under International Humanitarian Law to enable free access for humanitarian agencies and the protection of civilians affected by the conflict."

Wild in Sri Lanka

By Christine Pemberton

We arrived at the gates of the delightfully named Wasgomuwa Strict Natural Reserve, in central Sri Lanka, in a flurry of dust and cars. Three vehicles, three drivers, our family of four, my dear Sri Lankan friend whom I’ve known for practically forever and his five bodyguards, his 86-year-old great aunt Ena, and her 75-year-old butler who studiously carried her handbag.

The park reception was a little overwhelmed by us all. The bodyguards were there because my friend has a job that puts him at risk. They were armed, as any self-respecting bodyguard should be. But the park doesn’t allow firearms. The four of us were not Sri Lankans so had to pay a different rate. Did a SAARC national and three SAARC residents get a cheaper rate? All these negotiations took time, but in the end were amicably resolved. The guns were allowed, we had to pay foreign rates, and were then told with big smiles that we were probably the first foreigners to camp in the park.

I soon understood why auntie Ena had travelled with so much luggage. The circuit bungalow doesn’t provide food or towels, just bedding and two cooks, so auntie Ena and the long-suffering butler had packed food and drink for the 15 of us for two days, a massive undertaking. Auntie Ena had also brought table-cloths, towels, sheets, extra pillows and spare mosquito nets, as well as other travelling essentials such as lemon-flavoured gin and cashewnuts for snacks. Oh, and a coffee percolator. And binoculars. And bird books, amid much cursing that she had forgotten the tree identification book. Auntie Ena’s endless bags and cooler boxes were a nostalgic statement on the way people used to travel in the good old days.

Once we had offloaded all the supplies, and decided that we would all sleep out on the verandah rather than in the rooms, which meant moving a lot of furniture, we were ready for our first game dive.

The system in Sri Lankan parks is that you can drive your own vehicle, but must take along a park official. The parks open at dawn and you can drive until sunset — driving with headlights is not allowed. Wasgomuwa is famous for its elephants, which we would see in abundance over the next two days. We saw breeding herds of elephants with tiny one-month-old babies, and we were recipients of a couple of serious charges by the anxious matriarchs.

One afternoon, we watched a large herd eating by the shores of a hyacinth covered lake. I tried not to feel jealous of the far superior camera lens poking out from the other vehicle there. Possibly they made too much noise, but suddenly one of the matriarchs charged and as the other vehicle fled off down the deeply rutted track, two more elephants joined in, and they all trumpeted at the departing Landrover.

Our turn came a little later, and we were forced to reverse quickly back down the track and then shoot off, as one of the larger elephants came after us. They are fiercely protective of their babies.

Sunset came quickly and we headed back to the bungalow, for drinks on the verandah and delicious food courtesy of auntie Ena. We were introduced to "lampreis", rice and a mixture of curries, which had been cooked at home, wrapped in banana leaves, and tied up with string to form a neat parcel. The circuit bungalow staff steamed them, cut open the string with a flourish, and dinner was served.

We all got up before dawn, had tea and coffee in the cool pre-dawn darkness, and set off on our morning game drive just as the sky was getting light. Sightings were good: wild buffalo, spotted deer, a huge water monitor, jackals, and more birds than you could shake a stick at, including the marvelously extravagant Malabar Pied Hornbill, which sports a striking horned bill complete with a casque on top.

Back to the circuit bungalow for breakfast of freshly made rotis and curry and sambols galore. By 9.30 am we dozed the morning away until lunch, which was then followed by another siesta, to give us energy after all that food. Then it was time for afternoon tea and yet more food and we just about rolled into the vehicle for the evening game drive. Off we went, to see elephant and buffalo and cheetal, which were all marvellous, but then, just as the light was fading into sunset, we saw leopard. A magnificent, dark coloured young leopard strolled out of the jungle, glanced at us, and continued haughtily on his way. The ranger told us he hadn’t seen a leopard in over seven months, and the driver confessed it was only his fourth leopard in over 40 game drives. Much pleased with ourselves we headed back in fading light to the bungalow, for yet more food and drink and talk about the day’s sightings.

Pickpocket – Sakvithi’s” Partners Safe

Police has arrested 06 people who worked for the racketeer Chandana Weerakumara alias Sakvithi Ranasinghe. They have now deployed a special police team to arrest 15 more employees of “Pickpocket – Sakvithi” including K. B. Kesara a Director of Sakvithi’s bogus financial institution and the lady lawyer who was involved in the company’s legal activities.

Meanwhile the victims of the financial fraud raise their concerns over the manner the police try to relieve “Kala Keerthi” Edwin Ariyadasa instead of making him equally responsible for this crime. “Kala Keerthi” Edwin Ariyadasa’s photograph was appeared on almost all the news paper advertisements which requested people to invest money in their so called “Investment Plan”.

Sri Lanka is a country where even an obituary notice can not be published without producing the death certificate of the deceased. We believe that the government should take immediate action to stop newspaper companies from publishing any advertisement which request public to “invest” money, without obtaining copies of proper legal documents issued by the Central Bank.

Pickpocket – Sakvithi’s” Partners Safe

Police has arrested 06 people who worked for the racketeer Chandana Weerakumara alias Sakvithi Ranasinghe. They have now deployed a special police team to arrest 15 more employees of “Pickpocket – Sakvithi” including K. B. Kesara a Director of Sakvithi’s bogus financial institution and the lady lawyer who was involved in the company’s legal activities.

Meanwhile the victims of the financial fraud raise their concerns over the manner the police try to relieve “Kala Keerthi” Edwin Ariyadasa instead of making him equally responsible for this crime. “Kala Keerthi” Edwin Ariyadasa’s photograph was appeared on almost all the news paper advertisements which requested people to invest money in their so called “Investment Plan”.

Sri Lanka is a country where even an obituary notice can not be published without producing the death certificate of the deceased. We believe that the government should take immediate action to stop newspaper companies from publishing any advertisement which request public to “invest” money, without obtaining copies of proper legal documents issued by the Central Bank.

"Believe me, I’m not a thief,’’ says Edwin Ariyadasa

The police investigating a massive financial fraud committed by a person who called himself Deshamanya Sakvithi Ranasinghe Sir are in a dilemma over the action to be taken against Edwin Ariyadasa, a prominent media personality who had functioned as the joint director of S. R. Property Sharing Investment (Private) Limited, set up by the suspected conman.

There has been no final computation yet on the total extent of desposits taken by the company although over 4,000 depositors had put their money into the venture and complaints continue to flow.

Police have arrested several persons, including a retired army officer employed by the suspect who is not in the country. The statement of Ariyadasa, who had been the highest paid employee at the unauthorized company, has been recorded.

The Sunday Island learns that many persons who had lodged complaints with Mirihana Police regarding their losses had claimed that they received assurances from Ariyadasa with regard to stability of the operation in which he participated.

Police said that although the suspect was known as Sakvithi Ranasinghe, the company had been registered by a person identified as Abaya Ranasinghe Mudiyanselage Chandana Weerakumara and Jamburuthugoda Gamage Kumari Anuradhini of 175/4, Madiwela Road, Embuldeniya, Nugegoda.

With the help of Ariyadasa, one of Sakvithi’s employees had visited `Temple Trees’ where he had the opportunity being photographed with the President, the sources said.

Responding to our queries, the sources said that Sakvithi had taken advantage of this meeting, the sources said, emphasizing that a visit to `Temple Trees’ wouldn’t have been a reality without Ariyadasa’s help.

Ariyadasa has received a monthly payment of Rs. 100,000 for promoting the business interests of the suspect. The sources said that under an agreement the suspect had with Rupavahini, he conducted English classes on the national channel (Sunday afternoon at 3.30 p.m.). The agreement with Rupavahini followed his agreement with TNL to air English classes, the sources said

Responding to our queries, the sources said that the day before a large group of people surrounded Ranasinghe’s office in the Mirihana police area last Monday (22), he had advertised his business. According to an advertisement, with photographs of the suspect and Ariyadasa who was identified as the project director, depositors were offered a monthly interest of Rs. 4,000 to Rs. 6,000 for each Rs. 100,000 deposited with him.

He also offered a monthly interest of Rs. 6,000 for deposits of Rs. 200,000 or more. The advertisement published by Sakvithi House Constructions (Pvt) Limited gave mobile telephone numbers of four of Sakvithi’s employees responsible for bringing in new deposits. Among them was the employee who had visited Temple Trees with Ariyadasa.

The sources pointed out that the advertisement referred to the programme conducted by Sakvithi on Rupavahini Sunday afternoon. It was evidence that this particular programme too, had been used to entice more investors, the sources said. Ariyadasa also appeared on this programme along with Sakvithi.

Police said that over 4,000 people had been deceived by the racketeer. Some of them, in their statements to Mirihana Police, had said that they felt comfortable with Ariyadasa’s guarantee.

The sources said that the suspect had given two luxury cars to two young girls employed at his office. They played a critical role in deceiving the victims, the sources said, adding that some of the employees may have taken money secretly despite the majority of them being the recipients of handsome commissions for bringing in fresh investments.

Ariyadasa said that he too was deceived by Sakvithi Sir. Responding to our queries, he said that he received a monthly payment of Rs. 100,000 inclusive of a range of allowances.

"But I was never part his financial dealings," he said, acknowledging that his name had been exploited to entice depositors.

Ariyadasa had joined Sakvithi in April last year on the invitation of Lanka Jayawardene who had been with the Agriculture Department for a long period. "We met on April 18, 2007," Ariyadasa said, adding that he had received appointment as the Programme Director of IT Management Solution which was primarily responsible for promoting Sakvithi’s English training package.

"Believe me, I am not thief," the respected media personality said when The Sunday Island asked him whether he was fully aware of the exploitation of his name to dupe thousands of people.

According to him, Sakvithi through his contacts in the Army and the Health Ministry had the opportunity to market his English training course at training facilities for nurses and army bases at Weli Oya, Maduru Oya, Galkulama, Galkiriyagama, Nelunkulama, Minneriya and Polonnaruwa and many other areas.

"Both officers and men brought course material priced at Rs. 3,000," Ariyadasa said, adding that Sakvithi had at least 100 employees based at his head office. "It was a big operation and people I am sure were tempted by unprecedented interests offered," he said.

Asked about his visit to Temple Trees with K. B. Kesara, an executive with Sakvithi’s group, Ariyadasa said that the President had invited him on December 3 last year to felicitate him on his birthday.

"Kesara offered to take me to Temple Trees and he accompanied me to the meeting with the President." Ariyadasa failed to explain how the Sakvithi executive who offered to drop him at Temple Trees had managed to gain entry without being invited.

Ariyadasa said that Sakvithi was a monster who deceived him and destroyed his image.

Police headquarters yesterday said that over 800 complaints had been received by Saturday. Police said they weren’t in a position to estimate the total amount of money collected by the fraudster as complaints were being received even now.

The total number of depositors could be over 4,100, police said on the basis of the documents recovered from Sakvithi’s office.

Drunk men confront Navy patrol

One man was killed and four, including two sailors, injured following a confrontation when a group of drunk men attempted to grab the gun of a Navy of patrol in Palliawatte, Watta

Millions worth of iron removed from Colombo Harbour

A consignment of iron worth millions of rupees had been removed from a dismantled two-storey storage complex at Colombo Harbour and taken for use at construction activities at Hambantota Harbour, 'Ravaya' reports.
A first attempt to remove the consignment was prevented by Customs officials, who found that the required documents were no submitted.

Later, the Customs had been told that the cast iron was being taken to Hambantota Harbour.

When the newspaper contacted Sri Lanka Port's Authority's chief engineer Janaka Kurukulasuriya, he has said the iron would be used for certain changes to be effected to iron gates at Hambantota Harbour.

He also said the entire consignment has now reached the destination.

However, sources at Hambantota Harbour say they are yet to receive any iron consignment.

According to the sources, the work presently underway involves only the filling of marshy land and the building of roads.

Govt. wants independent commissions curtailed

Transparency International alleges 29 ruling party MPs have moved to curtail powers of the independent public, police and judicial services commissions enacted through the 17th Amendment to the constitution.
Executive Director of TI J.C. Weliamuna says that these MPs have sent a written request to Constitutional Affairs Minister Dew Gunasekara regarding their objective.

Mr. Weliamuna said this would take the country's constitution back to the 1972 period.

According to a government minister who wished to remain anonymous, these MPs have said unlimited powers being enjoyed by independent commissions comes in their way in taking decisions on public petitions.

The MPs have asked that constitutional amendments be brought in to allow parliamentary committees to mediate in orders of independent commissions.

Several opposition MPs who have come to an understanding with the government are supporting this proposal.

Mr. Weliamuna said that such amendments would once against deny these commissions their independence and allow politicians to rule the country according to their wishes.

Since 4 to 5 middlemen are involved in the trade:

Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Felix Perera, presenting Regulations under the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act, said there was a demand from countries like Japan but they insisted on international standards free from an accepted content of mercury and cadmium. Increasingly such standards are being insisted by the countries that import fish and we had to adhere to such standards.

He said the prawn farms that had once recorded a considerable growth but after 2005 prawn culture was affected due reasons like white spot disease and the export quantum fell to 1,500 tons but it rose 3,500 metric tons in 2007. With the new regulations to be introduced prawn culture could be expanded to 4500 hectares.

There were 40,000 direct employment opportunities and 20,000 indirect employment opportunities from prawn culture industry and the national economy too benefited by this industry.

Joseph Michael Perera (UNP) Though the government says it spends a large sum of money to protect mangroves in Negombo area a 2-acre mangrove had been destroyed by a some politicians and were the conservation officials not aware anything about it but the District secretary had all the details. The fishery industry depended on the mangroves and it should be protected.

Minister of Plantation Industry Milroy Perera said the consumer had to pay high prices for fish since there were 4 to 5 middlemen who were involved in the trade before fish came to the market. In the 1960s a pound of Seer fish was only three rupees but now a kilogram of Seer fish was 700 rupees.

Chandrasena Wijesingha( JVP) said fishermen had to keep their boats without putting them to sea because of the high prices of fuel. The government should give some relief to the fishermen when the fuel prices go down in the world market.

Samansiri Herath (FNN) Puttalam District government should try to avoid the monopoly of the prawn industry by a section of people and should put up prawn purchasing centres so that the monopoly could be challenged. There was insufficient freezing facilities at the Negombo and Kalpitiya fishery harbours.

Deputy Minister of Fisheries Neomal Perera said he was happy to have joined the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse who had helped to develop the fishery industry. The imports of canned fish will be reduced in 2009 by 50 percent and instead start exporting fresh water fish.

UNP asks its MPs to pick their shadow cabinet portfolios

The UNP has asked its parliamentarians to name the three shadow cabinet portfolios, each of them would like to handle.

Media spokesman of the party Gayantha Karunatillake told The Island, that according to a decision arrived at this week’s parliamentary group meeting, each MP was expected to project himself a shadow cabinet minister, in charge of three portfolios.

"The MP’s were asked to state their preferences to Chief Opposition Whip Joseph Michael Perera, who in consultation with the party leadership would determine the allocation of subjects, based on their abilities."

Asked if a shadow cabinet minister would be entitled to at least one of the subjects under his or her purview, in a future UNP government,

UNP Karunatillake said that no such guarantee had been given. "But their performance would certainly stand them in good stead, in the future."

He, said that due to the large number of ministries that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has created, with scant regard to the drain on the treasury, they have no option but to ask each of their MP’s, to monitor at least three ministries.

Once the shadow cabinet ministers are appointed, we will be able to further highlight the rampant corruption and inefficiency in government, he added.

We are born to be cheated; the story of the victims of Sakvithi racket

Mirihana police is overwhelmed with the flow of complaints regarding the massive racket conducted by Sakvithi Ranasinghe who fled the country after swindling around 9 billion rupees from unsuspecting investors.

An English education programme of this person is broadcast every Sunday 3.30 PM by Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation.

He ran a house and land sales business and an international school in the address No: 08, Nawala Road, Nugegoda.

He lured clients who expected high interests to invest in his business through a broad advertising campaign in which veteran media person Edwin Ariyadasa also appeared. Ariyadasa who has Rohana Pradeepa and Kalakeerthi titles in his name appeared in the advertisements as a Project Director of this business.

A large photograph of President Mahinda Rajapakse posing with the Sakvithi Group director board was displayed in the office of this business to assure the trust of the clients. The President has won the title of Sri Rohana Janaranjana.

Today these Rohana Pradeepas and Sri Rohana Janaranjanas are silent as around 6000 persons who were lured to this business due to the power of their images and due to their own folly remain desperate.

Many victims said in angry tone that Edwin Ariyadasa prompted the clients arriving in to Sakvithi Constructions Company to invest there saying that he himself would do so if he had money.

Many invested their EPF, entire savings of the life and money obtained through selling property in this racket seeking high yields despite repeated media advertisements of the Central Bank advising people not to deposit money in the unauthorized institutes.

Many have invested money without the knowledge of their spouses and therefore ask not to post their photos in media. Some wanted to cover the ways they earned money. Sakvithi has manipulated their fears very cunningly for his business.

Many raise doubts why the suspects have not been arrested whilst 4000 complaints have been recorded by Mirihana police.

A person with underworld links called K.B. Kesara who was the Managing Director of the company intimidated and even molested women who came to the office to withdraw their money. The victimized women asked with tearful eyes if Mirihana police was unaware of this kind of persons.

Managing Director K.B Kesara published newspaper advertisements and collected around five million rupees until September 21 although he knew that Sakvithi Ranasinghe fled the country on September 09.

K.A.C. Rajapakse of Minuwangoda said, “I saw an advertisement stating that Rs. 6000 would be paid for the first three months and then Rs. 4000 monthly interest would be paid for each Rs. 100,000. I invested a million rupees. Now almost 17 months have passed. Interest was paid in the first few months. Later I asked to withdraw Rs. 300,000. They asked me to make a written request and I obliged to it. They asked me to come on November 26. We invested there since we saw photos of the President with the Directors of this company and due to the images of the likes of Edwin Ariyadasa.”

Adikaram Mudalige Dorothy Samarathunga says, “I deposited Rs. 1.7 million since I wanted a house. Mr. Sakvithi hand shook with me and promised I would definitely be rewarded. I did not withdraw monthly interest since I needed a house. With interest the total is now around Rs. 2.1 million. I have lost both money and house. Later I purchased a house. I asked for Rs. 300,000 to build a house there. Nalaka Thushara Karunarathna who worked in Sakvithi’s staff intimidated me before my husband in a room in a lower floor of the office.”

Chaminda Gunarathna of Gampola says, “I invested Rs. 500,000 of my savings earned through 14 years service in operation areas as a soldier. I withdrew 10 months interest. They don’t allow us to talk to other people when we come to the office to withdraw interest. I felt suspicious and asked the money to be returned. They asked for six months. When I came to collect money I came to know that the office was closed. Out of Rs. 500,000 I invested here, Rs. 150,000 was acquired by mortgaging a land. I am penniless now and I cannot face my family. I am still in the service.”

H. A. Dayananda of Gampola says, “I deposited Rs. 3.5 million in February 2008. Withdrew Rs. 300,000 interest. With interest, they should pay me Rs. 4.5 million. When we began to suspect and asked for the money to be returned, they asked for a letter and told us to come on September 23. We trusted this company since Mr. Edwin Ariyadasa was a reputed person. We deposited money acquired by selling a house belonged to us. On the day we sold the house Mr. Sakvithi Ranasinghe came to our house with Mr. Ariyadasa. Both of them went with me when I deposited money in Sakvithi’s account. I admitted both of my children to international schools and now I have no money to pay their school fees. We have lost property and livelihood.”

This is not the first time this kind of racketeers swindled Sri Lankans. Sri Lanka’s rule of law suits to this kind of persons very well. It is no secret that the Sri Lanka’s biggest fraud, Rs. 350 billion VAT scam had unofficial state assistance. Such a country is a paradise to the cheaters as well as to the cheated.

No food, no water, no medicine and no treatment to pregnant mothers; Vanni people roam here and there in fear of death

The parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance R. Sampanthan says that Vanni civilians live in fear risking their lives amidst discriminate air and land attacks.

He made these observations in a discussion with a weekend Sinhala newspaper.

MP Sampanthan said that people have lost free life due to attacks of the state security forces and move from place to place away from homes for safety amidst shortages of basic needs such as food, water and medicine and losing their children's education.

He further says that the government has neither plan nor need to address the woes of Tamils and only thing they do is damaging Tamil people in a move suspected to amount to genocide.
"There are elements that go against solutions in the government. They need no solutions even after the conflict. The government is unaware that sovereignty of the country should be safeguarded on the basis of the fundamental rights of people. The two phenomenons are interconnected. But the government does not respect the fundamental rights of the Tamils.

"The allegation that the LTTE is manipulating people as a human shield cannot be assumed. They sacrifice lives to safeguard the homeland of the Tamils. The government fabricates charges like the LTTE has made Tamils scapegoat to cover up the allegation that the government is disregarding one minority community of the country.

"Vanni civilians suffer amidst maximum difficulties. They have nothing to eat and drink. There is no treatment to the pregnant mothers. No medication in hospitals. They live in fear of their lives. We always appear for them. We make aware the international community on the injustices caused by the government. We complain to human rights organizations."

Number of sports stars and police officials among those hoodwinked by Sakvithi Ranasinghe

Mirihana police Fraud Investigation Bureau says that there are around 50 police officers among the thousands of people hoodwinked by fraudulent financial company owned by Sakvithi Ranasinghe. The Inspector General of Police has sought a list of the names of those police officers and the amount they have deposited.

An official of the Mirihana police Fraud Investigation Bureau said that there are Senior Superintendents of Police, Assistant Superintendents of Police and Chief Inspectors among the police officers.

Mirihana police further says that there a senior officer of the Army, intelligence wing officer, several cricketers and a woman sports star among the victims.

Among the victims we met, there was an intelligence officer of the Sri Lanka Air Force too.

Double murder in Batti and Ampara

A villager from Settipalayam in Kalavanchikudi, Batticaloa was shot dead last night, police said.

Police Spokesman SSP Ranjith Gunasekara said the victim has been identified as 53-year-old D. Gopalan Pillai.

Kalavanchikudi police is investigating the incident.

Meanwhile the bound and gagged body of an unidentified male has washed ashore at Nindavul 4, a coastal vilage in Samanthurai, Amparai.

SSP Gunasekara said the body was discovered yesterday evening and Samanthurai police is carrying out investigations.

Suspended sentence for Lankan woman

A Sri Lankan mother-of-three who ran a brothel from a terraced house in Britain was given a nine-month suspended sentence and ordered to pay £15,000 as fine.
Court was told that 34-year-old Yasmin De Silva who ran a house of ill repute in Norwich Avenue, Bournemouth had made at least £500 a day from immoral earnings.

Judge John Harrow warned De Silva that if she did not pay up within four months she would face being jailed for 12 months.

Earlier Bournemouth Crown Court heard how De Silva had been arrested after police stumbled across the brothel while executing a drugs warrant.

Officers discovered huge quantities of condoms, business cards offering escort and massage services, sex toys and accounts books.

As well as De Silva, there was "a maid" responsible for meeting and greeting clients, answering the phone and cleaning, two English women and a Lithuanian girl. No drugs were found during the raid.

The court was told that Sri-Lanka-born Desilva was paying £250 rent and spending around £400 on advertising each week. She was estimated to have made a profit of around £500 a day.

De Silva, of Windham Road, Springbourne, pleaded guilty to managing a brothel between July 4, 2004 and June 9, 2007.

In her defence the court heard that her takings were nearer £1,000 a week and that if she was jailed her family would be split up.

Judge Harrow told her: "You ran an illegal business as you must have known from the outset. It was clearly profitable but it has to be said there is no suggestion that you coerced or compelled any of these women to participate.

"These working girls were there of their own free will, sharing the profits with you."

De Silva was also ordered to complete 100 hours unpaid community work.

Some TNA MPs welcome referendum to extend govt’s term: Neomal Perera

The Deputy Minister of Fisheries Neomal Perera told Parliament yesterday that some of the TNA MPs had told him that they would welcome a referendum to extend the government’s term until 2017.

“Some TNA MPs have told me personally that they wouldn’t mind if the President extends the government’s term until 2017 by holding a referendum,” he said speaking during the debate on the National Aquaculture Development Authority Act in the House yesterday..

He said these TNA Mps had said so because they know they would not be elected to Parliament again.

Mr. Perera invited the TNA to join the government stating that they would also be able to go abroad and participate in the government’s development, if they did it. “You will be able to go abroad like the Eastern Province Chief Minister Chandrakanthan and participate in the country’s development work,” he pointed out.

He slammed the opposition stating that they talk to the gallery and go home without looking at the reality when the government is trying to bring peace to the country and engaged in vast amount of development work.

Lankan born terror suspect found guilty in Canada

A Sri Lankan born Toronto man became the first Canadian found guilty, on Thursday, of participating in the activities of a terrorist group, one with bold but not well-formed plans to attack targets in Toronto and Ottawa, the Canadian media reported.
The man, who was the test case for anti-terrorism laws Canada introduced in 2001, cannot be named because he was a juvenile when he was charged. He was among 18 people arrested following a series of police raids in June 2006.

Police and prosecutors said the people arrested planned to bomb government buildings including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation., and raid Parliament to decapitate Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that a terrorist group existed," Justice John R. Sproat of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice said during the reading of his judgment, which lasted about one hour. "Planning and working towards ultimate goals that appear unattainable or even unrealistic does not militate against a finding that this was a terrorist group."

Despite the guilty verdict, the man, now 20 years old, has not yet been formally convicted. That process is frozen until the court reviews an application from his lawyer arguing that many of the group's activities were made possible by a paid police informant who committed illegal acts himself.

While the testimony from that informant, Mubain Shaikh, clearly influenced the judge's decision, the informant said outside the courthouse here that he disagreed with yesterday's ruling.

"I don't believe he was a terrorist," Shaikh said of the defendant.

"I don't believe he should have been put through what he was put through. But that's our system."

Wiretaps, videotapes made by Shaikh, his testimony and other evidence painted a picture of a group whose specific objectives were unclear, whose activities were often apparently benign and whose abilities to carry out a plot were, at best, limited.

In this trial, most of the evidence focused on the suspect's participation at two camps staged by the group, which has come to be known as the Toronto 18.

But in his ruling, the judge said that even commonplace activities can take on a different meaning within the context of a camp where leaders made inflammatory remarks about destroying "Rome" and marching in Washington. "As a matter of common sense, engaging in activities such as physical exercise and rafting is by no means inconsistent with the existence of a terrorist group," Sproat ruled.

The judge allowed that the suspect, who was born in Sri Lanka and who was a recent convert to Islam at the time of his arrest, may not have realized what he was getting into up until the time of the first camp, where a somewhat disorganized attempt at target practice was made by participants.

But a long and often rambling speech by the group's leader, who cannot be identified because he still faces trial, made the group's aims clear at the end of that first camp, the judge ruled.

Sakvithi probe: police Record 177 fresh complaints

Amazement continues in the major financial scam linked to the infamous English tutor Sakvithi Ranasinghe, where the police had recorded 177 fresh complaints throughout yesterday revealing a loss of a sum of Rs. 108 million.

Mirihana police conducting the probe recorded 177 fresh complaints yesterday and found the largest single deposit made was Rs. 3.5 million by a visually handicapped person among yesterday’s lot.

Police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekara told the Daily Mirror the person had received a land in Wadduwa from a foreigner sometime ago. He had then sold the land and bought a land from Ratmalana where he again sold it for Rs. 4.2 million. Out of that he had deposited Rs. 3.5 million with the Sakvithi Finance.

The total number of complaints had reached up to 742 so far and money lost in the scam was roughly estimated at Rs. 478 million.

Meanwhile, a special police team was probing the prime suspect Abeyratne Mudiyanselage Chandana Weerakumara Ranasinghe alias Sakvithi Ranasinghe (38) who was reported to have fled the country to India.

Local police seek Interpol assistance to trace the absconding suspect whilst six suspects who worked under him were now being questioned in police custody.

Sakvithi Finance co., employee surrenders

An employee of the Sakvithi Finance Co., surrendered before the Gangodawila Magistrate and made a confidential statement about the dealings of Sakvithi Sir’s financial scam.

The employee Dharshani Maduwanthi surrendered before the Gangodawila Magistrate Wasantha Jinadasa through the Attorney-at-Law Vidura P. Manchanayake and made the statement.

Mr. Manchanayake informed the Magistrate that his client was only an employee under Sakvithi Ranasinghe. She wanted to make a confidential statement voluntarily in respect of the dealings and the financial scam committed by her employer.

The Magistrate remanded the suspect Dharshani Maduwanthi till October 6, after recording the two and a half hours confidential statement by the suspect in the magistrate’s chamber.

Attorney-at-Law Vidura P. Manchanayake with Ruwan Alwis, Janaka Weliwatta, Bharatha Amaratunga P. Patabendige and Ms. Shama Chandrasena appeared for the suspect.

According to the District Fraud Bureau Mirihana, this once popular English teacher had defrauded over Rs. One hundred and six million in this financial scam.

No plans to distribute Dahaiyagala sanctuary land to people - Champika

Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Champika Ranawaka yesterday scoffed at rumours that there is a move to distribute part of Dahaiyagala sanctuary - that connects Udawalawe National Park and Bogahapattiya Forest reserve - among people.
Addressing the National Seminar of the Biodiversity Baseline Survey held at Sausiripaya yesterday the minister said under the Flora Fauna Act it would be illegal to distribute sanctuary land and the rumours of the land distribution are spread by groups with vested interests.

The Minister also declared that plans are underway to upgrade Bogahapattiya forest reserve to the status of conservation forest in the best interest of elephants in the area. He dismissed rumours that there is a plan to close the Bogahapattiya elephant corridor as malicious allegations.

Commenting on the biodiversity baseline surveys, Minister Ranawaka said the origins of them in Sri Lanka can be traced to 1980s, during the early days of the implementation of Accelerated Conservation Review.

“This survey was limited to 30 lowland rain forests and was later followed by the National Conservation Review (NCR) from 1991 – 1996. All natural forests of 200 hectares or more were included in the NCR. Among these surveys the current one undertaken by the Department of Wildlife Conservation is the most comprehensive project which provides valuable information required for management” said the minister.

The baseline surveys, according to him, are useful to figure out what we have conserved so far where they have been conserved and it also provides a baseline against which we can monitor changes in distribution and abundance of biodiversity over time.“Armed with such information, we can manage our protected areas in ways that maintain and even enhance their wealth of plants and animals. Such information also enables us to strengthen our national system of protected areas by filling in gaps in representation of biodiversity and develop sound polities that safeguard this natural heritage and the ecosystems that sustain our society over the long-term” he added.

The current Biodiversity Baseline Survey carried out in seven pilot sites - Horton Plains, Peak Wilderness, Ritigala, Wasgomuwa, Bundala, Udawalawe and Minneriya - provides information on six major living organism groups namely mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes and vascular plants.

CITY HOTELS’ SECURITY UNDER ASSESSMENT: GOVT.

The Government is currently assessing the security situation in all metropolitan hotels as this matter had come under discussion between Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Tourism Minister Milinda Moragoda on the establishment of the City Hotels Security Advisory Committee headed by Bernard Goonetilleke that took place on Wednesday at the Defence Secretary’s office in Colombo.

Goonetilleke told the Daily Financial Times yesterday that the establishment of the committee was carried out in a bid to assess the current status of the security in the city hotels. Rajapaksa had focused on the fact that major hotels and business establishments are close to each other and therefore there is an additional reason for both sides to take additional precautions and noted that among many things the desirability of carrying out baggage and parcel checks when they are delivered to hotels so that attempts are not made to compromise security.

“In the coming weeks we will meet with the senior managers and owners of the city hotels individually, and discuss the arrangements in place at present and if necessary the requirement for additional arrangements,” he explained. This will be carried out in a bid to “not allow for any threats to the city hotels to take place,” Goonetilleke said.

The City Hotels Association has been having a continued interaction with the defence authorities in the past six months, according to Goonetilleke on the security situation in city hotels and he noted that this would provide additional confidence among travellers at the hotels that they will be staying in.

In response to the query as to whether there was a likelihood of any concerns by travelers in this respect, he pointed out that, “I don’t see why they should be concerned when their security is taken care of.”

The chairman explained that while the hotels have their own security arrangements these will be assessed and depending on the facilities available will be analysed as to whether any additional measures are required.

He further stated that the meeting was based on issues concerning the “current context in the world where developments are taking place on security.”

UK tells LTTE to let civilians leave

The British Foreign Office has urged the LTTE to act urgently to allow free movement of civilians from the Wanni. "The recent increased hostilities in the north of Sri Lanka are of acute concern to the UK government," said junior Foreign Office minister Mark Malloch-Brown and aid minister Shahid Malik in a joint statement.

"We welcome the government of Sri Lanka recognising its responsibility to provide humanitarian assistance to civilians affected by the conflict and its continued co-ordination with humanitarian agencies," they added.

But they said: "We urge the LTTE to take urgent action to allow free movement of civilians.

"We call on both parties to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law to enable free access for humanitarian agencies and the protection of civilians affected by the conflict," they added

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown discussed the situation with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse in New York on Friday, in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, the Foreign Office added.

UN to resume food distribution to Wanni

The first convoy of food supplies since 16 September will travel under the UN flag to areas held by the LTTE in the north in the next few days, Neil Buhne, the UN Resident Representative in Sri Lanka has said.

Jaffna Prison overcrowded with humanitarian protection seekers

Prison in Jaffna, temporarily housed in a private building that can accommodate only one hundred, has become crammed with more than three hundred inmates, who have sought humanitarian protection from the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission in Jaffna. Many of them have been languishing in the prison for more than two years. Meanwhile, two youths sought protection custody on Thursday as persons appearing for interrogation at SLA camps in Thenmaraadchi and other areas in Jaffna peninsula had been killed by unidentified gunmen while returning home after interrogation in the recent past.

A 25-year-old driver from Chanthirapuram, Madduvil North in Thenmaraadchi and a 24-year-old youth from Kadduvan, Chu'n'naakam South in Valikaamam sought protection Thursday with Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna office due to death threats by Sri Lanka Army (SLA), sources in Jaffna said. SLA soldiers had been continually forcing both the youths to appear at their local SLA camp for interrogation, the youths said in their statements to the HRC.

The youth from Kadduvan is a father of one child.

HRC officials took steps to place the two youths in the protective custody of Jaffna Prison.

Kaarainakar, Trincomalee Tamils abducted in Colombo

Two Tamils, one a native of Kaarainakar in Jaffna district, and the other from Lingkanakar in Trincomalee district, had been abducted in two separate incidents in Colombo, according to complaints lodged with the Dehiwala Police and Fort Police by their relative
The first abduction took place at Sea Street on September 17. The victim had been identified as Thiyagarajah Jegan, 29, of Lingkanakar in Trincomalee and had been working in a jewelry shop located along Sea Street for the last two years. On the day of incident he left home around 8:00 p.m. but failed to return home, according to a complaint by his mother to the Fort Police. The victim was arrested in 2007 and was later released. His mother had told the police she suspected her son had been abducted.

In the second incident Subramanian Sritharan ,39, of Kaarainakar who had been working in a hotel for the last three years had been abducted by a gang of six armed men on September 19 in a white van. He had been married, and his wife and child have been living in Canada. The victim had already made travel arrangement to join his family in Canada, according to complaints with the Dehiwala Police by his relatives.

Upcountry Tamil reported missing in Colombo

A thirty-eight-year old Up Country Tamil was reported missing in Colombo since September 21 Sunday evening, according to complaints lodged with the Grandpass Police and with Civil Monitoring Committee by his relatives.
Sinnasamy Thiruchelvam, residing Navagampura in Grandpass in Colombo-14, left home around 4:00 p.m. to his work place located along Messenger Street in Colombo-12, and has failed to return home.

The victim is a native of Mecca Estate in Maskeliya division in Nuwara Eliya district in central province.

Mr. Sinnasamy had been living in Colombo for several years.

Burmese student monks' demonstration in Sri Lanka

Burmese student monks and Sri Lanka monks demonstrated outside the Burmese Embassy on September 26th. September 26th is the first anniversary of the bloody Saffron Revolution led by the Buddhist monks in 2007 that was crushed by the country's military government. They peacefully demonstrated by chanting the "Metta Sutta" (the Buddha's words on loving-kindness) in front of the Burmese Embassy in Sri Lanka.

Two new SDC regions in China and Bangladesh

Two new regions of the Society of Dyers and Colourists have joined its global community for colour, the SDC Jiangnan Region in China and the SDC Bangladesh Region. They are the latest recruits to an increasingly global professional body and educational charity that now boasts regions in seven countries including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong.

Comments Clare Moore, SDC membership and qualifications officer, ‘We are delighted to welcome these fledgling regions to the SDC at a time when the contribution of the Society to colour education, skills enhancement and best practice is attracting attention and gaining support worldwide.’

The SDC Jiangnan Region, which means south of the Yangtze River and includes Shanghai, Zhejiang Province and Jiangsu Province, held its inaugural lecture during a recent visit by SDC president, Susan Williams, and chief executive, Kenneth McGhee. Honorary officers include Prof. Fang (chairman), Ms Xia Zhang (secretary) and Ms Anli Tian (treasurer) – all from Jiangnan University.

Championed by Mr Hitendra Barmma of Brinntex Inc – now honorary chairman – the new SDC Bangladesh Region adds to the Society’s fast growing presence in Asia. Mr Hafizur Rahman has been appointed secretary and Mr Muhammad Shah Jalal, treasurer.

All the Society’s regions around the world will soon be invited to select finalists for the 2009 SDC Global Design Competition, the final of which will be held in Goa, India in conjunction with the Society’s international colour conference ‘Sustainability in Coloration: Vision 2020’ which takes place on 25–26 June 2009 and is hosted by SDC India EC.

The Society has individual, professional members in 49 countries, with patron supporters in 12 of these, and is the world’s only qualifying body for practitioners in colour.

18 Sri Lankan refugees reach Dhanuskodi

Eighteen refugees from Sri Lanka landed on Arichalmunai, Dhanuskodi, bringing the total number of refugees who have reached Rameswaram this month to 133, according to aid agencies.


The refugees, who had travelled in a small fishing boat from Mannar, reached Arichalmunai on Wednesday night in a group that included at least seven children. One of them was a oneyear old, brought to India by his widowed mother wrapped in a large polythene bag. “The sea was terribly rough and being a small boat, we were completely drenched throughout the journey,” the woman’s 18-year-old brother said.

The child however, was coping with his ordeal better than the other children, most of whom were still upset over the dangers of the journey and were pining to return home.

Some of the children had not had food in at least 24 hours and the night was spent on the open beach of Dhanuskodi. Each adult had paid Rs 13,000 to the illegal Sri Lankan ferry to make the journey, while the children were charged at half rate. However, the baby’s passage was free of cost.

IDP Voices - Balu Selvanayagam

We were living in Andankulam in Mannar. We displaced to Madhu but later we were told to go back to Andankulam by the LTTE. Sometime later, from Ankankulam we displaced to Periyamadu and from there we displaced to Iluppakkadavai. From there because of shelling we displaced Paliyaru. From there we again displaced to Kanesapuram. From Kanesapuram we displaced to Anaivilunthan. From there we displaced yet again to Murippu in Kilinochchi. From Murippu we have come here to Vaddakachchi.
In Ankankulam I worked in a bakery. I have three children; my youngest is nine months old. Since we started this repeated displacement a year ago, we have no income. I cannot find work. We keep selling our small possessions to buy food. The last thing we sold was the tiny gold earring of this child. She is now wearing an imitation earring.

We have not received much assistance in the form of relief. This hut is no protection from rain. If it rains we have to seek protection in a temple; that is all we can do.

IDP Voices - Kumar Vijayaranee

Sri Lanka squad for Canada T20 title

Sri Lanka Saturday named a 15-member squad Saturday for the inaugural four-nation Twenty20 tournament to be played in Toronto next month.
The squad does not include a specialist wicket-keeper, with Tillakaratne Dilshan standing in for regular keeper Kumar Sangakkara, who recently underwent finger surgery in Australia and will miss the Canadian outing.

The tournament, scheduled to run from October 10-13, pits Sri Lanka against Pakistan, Zimbabwe and hosts Canada.

Sri Lanka squad:

Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Udawatte, Chamara Kapugedera, Jehan Mubarak, Thilina Kandamby, Farveez Maharoof, Thilina Thushara Mirando, Nuwan Kulasekera, Ajantha Mendis, Dilhara Fernando, Jeevantha Kulatunga, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Kaushalya Weeraratne.

81 LTTE rebels killed: Lankan Army

At least 81 LTTE cadres were killed as Sri Lankan armed forces using fighters and artilleries pounded Tigers' stronghold, with troops reported to be on the outskirts of the key Kilinochchi town.

The fighter jets targeted female 'Black Tigers' training facility at Rathnapuram, Kilinochchi, as well as LTTE logistic centres and vehicles storage areas in a major escalation of the country's ongoing civil strife.

The Defence Ministry said that at least 81 Tamil Tigers were killed as jets pounded Black Tiger' training facility in the embattled northern Lanka.

The rise in the heat of the battle comes amidst reports that Sri Lankan forces are within sights of the town, considered to be administrative and military headquarters of the LTTE.

"Sri Lankan Air Force fighter jets have launched a precision air strike at the LTTE's main female 'Black Tiger' training facility located at Rathnapuram, Kilinochchi this afternoon," an official said.

"The target was located 1.5 km East of the A-9 trunk road and North of the Iranamadu Tank," Air Force spokesperson Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said, adding the target was acquired on real-time ground information.

According to available information, serious damages were caused to the facility as intense activity was reportedly taking place during the time of the attack.

"The site is known to be the main female 'Black Tiger' training and coordinating facility and a most frequented location by LTTE's intelligence wing chief, Pottu Amman, the Defence Ministry quoted military sources as saying.

Air Strikes at female 'black tiger' training facility- Kilinochchi

Sri Lankan Air Force fighter jets have launched a precision air strike at the LTTE's main, female 'black tiger' training facility located at Rathnapuram, in Kilinochchi, Saturday (Sep 27), at around 12.15p.m.

"The target was located 1.5km East of the A-9 trunk road and North of the Iranamadu Tank", Air Force Spokesperson Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said speaking to defence.lk.

According to the Air Force Spokesperson, the target was acquired on real-time ground information received.

The site is known to be the main female black tiger training and coordinating facility and a most frequented location by LTTE's intelligence wing chief, Pottu Amman, military sources said.

Over the years, the facility has been used to engineer LTTE's most barbaric suicide attacks in the South, particularly in Colombo, military sources said. According to available information, serious damages were caused to the facility, as INTEL reports confirmed intense terrorist activity during the time of attack.

Armoured LTTE vehicles fitted with anti-air guns were observed rushing to the target location immediately after the attack, while reliable sources in Wanni said that people were ordered to stay away from the main roads in Kilinochchi by the outfit.

"Some serious damages have been caused and it is likely they (LTTE) will take time to reveal or remain tight lipped as usual over the incident", defence observes said citing intercepted LTTE communication.

Troops foray terror defences; 4 terrorists killed - Kilinochchi

Troops of Army Task Force 1 operating on the western half of the Kilinochchi battlefront, attacked terror defences in the Manniyakulam area, 12 km northeast of Nachchikudha at 12.30, last afternoon (Sept 26) , battlefield reports said.

According to the reports, troops had observed 4 bodies of slain LTTE cadres lying in the forward area following the clash. One of the bodies had been collected and taken to the rear areas , the reports added.

Later, intercepted terror radio transmissions revealed that 14 terrorists had been killed and 15 others wounded during the incident. Troops suffered no casualties.

INGO kingpin with Italian passport joins LTTE as fighter

The Kilinochchi Project Manager of an INGO known as Zoa has joined the LTTE to fight the Sri Lanka Army. He, an Italian passport holder, has informed the Colombo-based head of Zoa, in writing, of his decision to fight for the cornered Tigers.

The Ministry of Defence told The Island yesterday that Zoa had informed it of the situation and forwarded a copy of the letter from its Project Manager, the latest LTTE recruit. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, asked for comment, said he was aware that a Zoa official had joined the LTTE.

According to sources, Zoa had tried repeatedly to persuade its Project Manager to leave Kilinochchi but in vain.

Zoa is a key member of the UN-led Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA), which has been active in the Eastern Province and in the Jaffna Peninsula.

Government sources said it was evident that the Zoa manager had been working for the LTTE throughout his deployment in Kilinochchi during the past several years.

Sources said that the government would have to review the process of allowing international humanitarian workers to enter the country as there was believed that at least some of them were working for the LTTE.

The UN Colombo is expected to explain its position on the Zoa Project Manager shortly, as Zoa is a prominent CHA member.

Zoa is the second INGO found to be directly involved with the LTTE. The first one was the Norwegian People's Aid, which has recently moved out of Kilinochchi leaving behind about 40 vehicles, including earth moving machines.

Tiger Movement Fired Upon

HAMBANTOTA: EXCHANGE of gunfire occurred between the troops and Tiger infiltrators in BLOCK 3, YALA Saturday (27) around 3.45 p.m., after soldiers on duty in the area opened fire at a suspicious terrorist movement in the jungle area.

Terrorists, while firing at the troops, withdrew and disappeared in the jungle.

One soldier who was injured due to Tiger fire later succumbed to injuries.

Army commenced a search operation in the area.

LTTE Loses More Bunkers & Trenches in Welioya

WELIOYA: TROOPS in WELIOYA, after they attacked a Tiger bunker line in ANDANKULAM captured one bunker and one trench line Friday (26). Six more bunkers in the same area were destroyed by the troops. Five of them were targeted by armoured tanks.

Similarly, a line of five bunkers in KUMULAMUNAI came under forceful attack of the troops Friday (26).

Friday’s clashes in ANDANKULAM, KUMULAMUNAI and RANABAPURA areas killed at least eight terrorists and injured over thirty.

One soldier serving in the WELIOYA front laid his life during fighting.

At the same time, during clearing operations, troops recovered three anti personnel mines and eighteen IEDs.

Intensified Fighting Kill More Terrorists; Troops Recover Four Terrorist Dead Bodies

VAVUNIYA & KILINOCHCHI: CONTINUING confrontations at NAVATHKULAM and north of PALAMODDAI in VAVUNIYA killed six LTTE terrorists Friday (26). One LTTE bunker and three trench lines north of PALAMODDAI also fell into hands of troops at the end of fighting. Troops recovered four hand grenades, two pouches, one hundred rounds (100) of ammunition and one terrorist cap from the area.

In the meantime, troops launched an attack on an LTTE bunker line at AKKARAYANKULAM in KILINOCHCHI Friday (26) afternoon and destroyed one bunker. The incident killed seven terrorists and injured three more. One soldier sustained injury in explosion of a terrorist IED.

Similarly, troops in KALAYAPARU area in KILINOCHCHI killed four more terrorists during fighting. Subsequently, troops recovered one LTTE dead body, one T-56 weapon, ninety rounds of ammunition, three magazines and one belt order from the area. Two soldiers were injured in terrorist fire and explosion of anti personnel mine.

The same day, heavy clashes erupted in the general area of VANNERIKKULAM killing seventeen terrorists and causing severe injuries to one more.

Meanwhile, an LTTE attack on the Security Forces FDL (Forward Defence Line) in MANNIYANKULAM was repulsed by the troops who killed eighteen terrorists in the area. Two LTTE dead bodies were recovered by the troops during subsequent search. One LTTE dead body was recovered by the troops. Eight soldiers were injured in fighting.

Fisherman Injured in LTTE Fire

JAFFNA: LTTE terrorists opened fire at a flotilla of fishing boats that went to sea from the GURUNAGAR jetty Friday (26) around 10.00 a.m.. Fishermen were engaged in their daily catching some kilometers away from the jetty when terrorists fired at them from POONARYN area, according to one fisherman who escaped unharmed.

One fisherman in one of the boats sustained severe injuries in his neck due to LTTE fire. However, others managed to return to the jetty with the injured person.

The injured fisherman, A. SATHYAPILLE of No 43, 3rd CROSS STREET, GURUNAGAR was admitted to JAFFNA hospital for treatment.

The same day, terrorists fired mortars towards the troops at ARIYALAI and MUHAMALE. Two soldiers serving in those areas laid their lives. Three others were admitted to PALALY Army hospital for treatment.

One more soldier was injured due to explosion of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at MUHAMALE Friday (26).

Loads of bombs and weapons found - Negombo

Police have found over 100 kg of C-4 high explosives, one T-56 riffle, one suicide jacket, claymore mines, night visions, remote control devices and limpet bombs from an unoccupied land in Kudapaduwa, Negombo this evening (Sept 26).

Police suspects that LTTE terrorists had kept these weapons to be used in intended attacks against civilian and security forces targets in the South.

More information will follow.

Protests in Sri Lanka Ponzi capital

Protests erupted against authorities in a sleepy Sri Lankan fishing village which can almost lay claim to be the Ponzi capital of the world, after a financier in the area was blacklisted as running an illegal business, police and residents said.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka named Piyadasa Ratnayake, a financier in Hungama in Southern Sri Lanka popularly known by the alias Danduwam Mudalali or the 'punishment businessman.'
Residents say he had acquired the name in his school-going days when the naughty young Ratnayake was repeatedly punished by his teachers.

'Danduwam Mudalali' had originally started lending money to small fish retailers at high interest rates, charging daily interest rates to become prosperous.

Later on, he had started getting money from others and re-lending, paying 7 percent a month 'interest' for his 'depositors'. By this time nobody knew where his money was being 'invested' to pay such a high return.

But people were coming from all parts of the island and giving him money to get 7 percent interest which is annualized at around 90 percent.

Along with Ratnayake, the Central Bank also named five other businesses as carrying on illegal finance businesses. One of them - ' Sakwithi House Constructions' - had already collapsed, leaving thousands penniless.

Such operations are known as Ponzi scams, named after Charles Ponzi, an Italian who lived in the US city of Boston in the early part of the century.

Ponzi claimed to run a business arbitraging on the price differential of international postal reply coupons between the US and Italy.
But a typical Ponzi scam operates by paying off earlier depositors with the money coming from later ones, until the business collapses.
In Hinguma, on Friday, about 300 people had come to Danduwam Mudalali's house demanding their money back. Police said a mobile patrol was sent to the place and officers had observed the financier starting to re-pay depositors.

Residents say announcements were made by loudspeaker as each depositor was re-paid, in a bid to instill confidence.

When he ran out of cash, post-dated cheques were given, police said.

Residents say a group of people had then protested against the central bank saying they wanted to protect Danduwam Mudalali.

Danduwam Mudalali had, by this time, spawned several copycat 'financiers' who were attracted to the business by the apparently easy manner in which the 'financier' was getting 'deposits'.

A former associate of Danduwam Mudalali had set himself up as Dhadi Danduwam meaning 'greater punishment.' He gave an interest rate of 100 basis points above the benchmark 'Danduwam' rate.

Dedi Danduwam alias 'Saman' was now locked up on a drugs charge, police said.

Residents say some law enforcement officers who deposited money with Danduwam Mudalali was also given the Dedi Danduwam rate of return.

In Sri Lanka authorities kept interest rates far below inflation for almost four years, printing money to finance budget deficits.

State banks in particular kept savings rates around 5.0 percent while inflation raged above 20 percent.

Negative real rates, or even low nominal rates amid low inflation, can make ordinary people easy prey to scammers.

Meanwhile, just off Hungama yet another person had set himself up as 'Maraneeya Danduwam or deadly punishment. The 'deadly' rate of return was 200 basis points above the Danduwam benchmark.

Yet another group had started collecting money paying a lower rate of return. They were known as Lihil Danduwam or light punishment firms. They offered rates about 300 or 400 basis points below the benchmark Danduwam rate.

The 'lihil' rate artists were reputed to be 'depositing' their money with the Danduwam and Dedi Danduwam operators after keeping a large profit.

They were acting in much the same way as the likes of Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs happily parked high yield 'sub-prime' securities in each other to boost returns, as the Fed cut rates as low as one percent, while fiscal deficits widened.

'Agents' who brought money to the larger Danduwam operators were also paid a 100 basis point commission - much like an arrangers fee in Wall Street.

The musical chairs in financial capitals, powered by unceasing money printing by the Fed in particular and reserve currency central banks in general, collapsed in August 2007.

In Hungama it is just starting. But there is no Ben Bernanke to create paper money out of thin air and bail them out.

And there is also no ex-Danduwam chief executive officer as finance minister to engineer a bailout package, or give a banking license to Danduwam Mudalali overnight to make him eligible for central bank liquidity.

Groundviews shortlisted for 2008 Manthan Award

Groundviews was selected for the 2008 Manthan Award.

The Manthan Award is a first of its kind initiative in India to recognize the best practices in e-Content and Creativity. The Digital Empowerment Foundation in partnership with World Summit Award and American India Foundation launched the award in 2004.

This year, the Grand Jury for the Manthan Awards reviewed a total of 284 applications received from 8 countries in South Asia and 28 States and Union Territories in India, across 13 categories. At the end of the Jury process, only one-fourth of the total nominations were shortlisted for an award.

Sri Lanka has come out on top with 18 nominations. Groundviews is shortlisted under the e-news category.

The final awards will be presented in Delhi on 18th October.

Groundviews takes this opportunity to congratulate all the other nominees from Sri Lanka.

Groundviews is Sri Lanka's first and award winning citizens journalism website features an unparalleled range of ideas, opinions and analyses on humanitarian issues, media freedom, human rights, peace, democratic governance and constitutional reform.

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative - Statement of Concern on Sri Lanka’s Non-Inclusion on CMAG’s September 2008 Agenda

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) expresses its concern that Sri Lanka has yet to feature upon the agenda of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG).

Sri Lanka lost its seat in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) during the earlier part of this year (May 2008), on the basis of scrutiny of its human rights record. Its current military offensive in the north of the country raises further concerns around the Government’s adherence to its “Voluntary Commitments” (human rights commitments) made at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) during from the Universal
Periodic Review. When also examined alongside the Sri Lankan National Human Rights Commission’s history of variance and non-compliance with the Paris Principles, it would appear critical that Sri Lanka be included on CMAG’s agenda this year.

CMAG, the guardian of the Commonwealth’s fundamental values, which is intended to address and take action in response to breaches by Commonwealth countries, has seen Sri Lanka seated in its group across two consecutive terms. CMAG is due to meet in New York on 27 September 2008, in the capacity of its role to deal with serious or persistent violations of the Commonwealth's fundamental political values. However, the only country currently on its agenda is the Fiji Islands.

There is potential for an escalating situation of impunity in the northern region of Sri Lanka – where, last week, the Sri Lankan Government, ahead of its major military offensive on Northern part of the country, ordered aid workers to depart the area, saying it could not guarantee their safety. This is particularly the case where, in a repeat unlawful action that occurred during June 2007, Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary advised thousands of Tamils living in Colombo, on Saturday, 20 September 2008, to return to their villages in the north of the country ahead of the offensive, referring to their presence in the capital as a national security threat; those Tamils remaining resident in Colombo having been required to register with the Police. Given the intensity of the attacks on the region, which already had a large internally displaced population, along with the fact that independent media have been banned from entering the region and recent unconfirmed reports that have suggested unprecedented and at times indiscriminate attacks on civilian populated areas, there are fears of a developing humanitarian crisis. The resumption of armed conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been reportedly accompanied by widespread human rights abuses by both sides.

While the LTTE has continued its deliberately provocative attacks on the military and Sinhalese civilians as well as its violent repression of Tamil dissenters and forced recruitment of both adults and children, the government is using extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances as part of a brutal counter-insurgency campaign. The likely result will be the further cycle of war, terrorism and repression of human rights. Without ignoring or minimising the serious violations of the LTTE, the international community should bring more pressure to bear on the government, whether it be via United Nations mechanisms, a reappraisal of aid policies and/or intensified political engagement.

Given that CMAG’s fundamental task is that of a “watchdog within the Commonwealth”, in order to assess the nature of any infringement and recommend measures for collective action from member countries, CHRI urges it to include Sri Lanka upon its agenda for its meeting this month. In doing so, CMAG will continue to help protect and promote the Commonwealth’s key values across its member states in the twenty-first century.

Japan Funds Agro Well Project in Anuradhapura District

The Government of Japan through its “Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human
Security Projects (GGP)” has provided US$ 48,511 (approximately Rs.
5,166,384) to construct 15 Agro Wells in the Maddyama Nuwaragampalatha DS
division in Anuradhapura, which will be implemented by the “Women’s
Development Society.”

The farmers in the Maddyama Nuwaragampalatha currently depend on rain water
and can only cultivate for three months in a year due to scarcity of water.
These agro wells will enable the farmers to cultivate throughout the year
and will improve their livelihood. In addition, these Agro wells will
improve the health and hygiene conditions of the area by providing clean
water, which is expected to benefit 75 families directly and 200 families
indirectly.
The GGP is a scheme that funds NGOs and local authorities to implement
projects which directly benefit grassroots communities. During the current
year, current year, the GGP has funded projects for the livelihood
development of the East, infrastructure development in rural Badulla
District, and de-mining projects in the North and East.

The signing of the Grant Contract took place on 26th September, 2008
between Mr. Kaoru Shimazaki, Chargé ď Affaires of The Embassy of Japan, and
Ms.Wijitha Basnayake, Chairperson of the “Women’s Development Society,”
in the presence of other officials at the Embassy of Japan in Colombo.

Jaguar and Porsche assembly plants insist on promised concessions

Universal Autoassembly Private Limited and three other petitioners had complained to the Supreme Court that the Minister of Industrial Development had failed to recommend the petitioner companies for the exemptions from excise duty, for the local assembleyof Jaguar cars, Porsche vehicles and Bejing Automobiles.

The petitioners said President Rajapaksa under Section 3C of the Excise (Special Provisions) Act No. 13 of 1989, (as amended) had ordered that the petitioners be given this tax concession. The order had been gazetted on June 5, 2008.

The petitioners added that they had learnt of a recent Cabinet decision to amend the applicability of this Excise Duty Exemption.

The petitioners had said that had it not been for the duty exemption for locally assembled vehicles, they would not have proceeded to set up an assembly plant, with the approval of the Board of Investment.

They alleged unreasonable treatment by the first respondent, Minister of Industrial Development Kumara Welgama and other Ministers of the Cabinet and requested Court to grant them interim relief by directing the respondents to abide by the order made by the President. The petitioners requested Court to declare the violation of their fundamental rights by the respondent Cabinet of Ministers.

The petition was called before the Supreme Court yesterday and was listed for support on October 8, 2008.

Sanjeewa Jayewardene, appeared with Rajiv Amarasuriya, instructed by Sugath Perera Associates for the petitioners.

The Bench comprised, Justice Raja Fernando, Justice J. Balapatabandi and Justice P. A. Ratnayake.

More job opportunities for skilled workers in Europe

Following the successful completion of his tour of Europe, the Minister of Foreign Employment and Welfare, Keheliya Rambukwella said that there is good potential in Europe for Sri Lankans to work as migrants.

According to the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) Chairman, Kingsley Ranawaka, as a result of the negotiations held with the authorities of several European nations, Sri Lanka will be entering into MoUs with Poland and Romania before the end of the year and with France in January.

Ranawaka also added that opportunities in industrial, construction and hospitality sectors for skilled labour would be on offer for Sri Lankans who possess skills and qualifications in accordance with international standards.

The SLBFE recently initiated a number of steps to discourage the common practice of sending unskilled domestic workers and encourage skilled migrant labour for higher wages.

In a bid to strengthen matters pertaining to migrant labour the Government recently took steps to sign MOUs with several countries regarding worker rights, welfare and employment opportunities.

Authorities have also signed MOUs with the UAE, Jordan, Libya, Bahrain, Korea and Kuwait seeking better protocol on issues related to Sri Lankan migrant workers.

According to Ranawaka, Sri Lanka plans to enter into similar MOUs with Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Japan in the future.

LTTE associates attack a London temple after President visited it

Lanka-e-News' London reporter says that a mob has attacked Kingsbury temple in London yesterday (26) damaging door and widow panes and two vehicles parked in the premises after President Mahinda Rajapakse visited the temple on his way to New York to participate in the UN General Assembly.

Our reporter says that the monks residing in the temple have identified two persons as they fled after breaking several glasses by attacking with an iron rod and the monks say they are LTTE sympathizers.

The President visited this temple on September 20 and the chief prelate of UK Glayaye Piyadassi Thero invoked blessings to him.

The attack has taken place around 1.35 AM. The damage caused to vehicles is estimated around 25,000 pounds. No monk residing in the temple has been harmed. A complaint has been lodged in Metropolitan police and an investigation is underway.

Our London reporter says that three previous times as well the LTTE associates pulled down the lion’s flag hoisted in the temple.

Govt’s call to vacate Kilinochchi ignored

The Government’s call for the residents of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu to move out to safer locations has so far not had the expected response.


According to authoritative sources from the Vavuniya Kachcheri, despite the Government’s request for the public to move out of these areas and proceed to Vavuniya, so far there has not been any report of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) entering Vavuniya.


The Government appealed to the residents in the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts to leave the area without risking their lives. The Air Force, dropping leaflets from the air, requested the civilians to flee to safer locations in view of the much anticipated military onslaught against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).


However, despite repeated appeals by the Government, The Bottom Line reliably learns so far no civilian has arrived in Vavuniya.


Vavuniya Kachcheri sources said while the Government in collaboration with the World Food Programme and the UNHCR are fully geared to provide shelter and food to the nearly 200,000 IDPs who are expected to visit Vavuniya, so far nobody has entered Vavuniya.


“We are ready with six transit camps to house the IDPs temporarily. They will be here for two to three weeks in these transit camps. We are also ready to provide them with long term camping facilities following their stay at the transit camps. For this, we have identified three locations. But sadly, so far nobody has come,” Kachcheri sources said.


Meanwhile the source said as there was no sign of IDPs entering Vavuniya, the Government has already dispatched lorry loads of food to Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.


In the absence of the non governmental organisations and other aid workers, the food convoys will be channelled through the respective Grama Sevekas.


“We know that majority of the civilians are prevented from entering Vavuniya by the LTTE. The Tigers are using the innocent civilians as human shield. But what can we do? If the people want a quick solution to the problem of terrorism, then they must enter Vavuniya some how,” the officials said.

Police given time to answer in Rosy, Chandrani FR case

The Supreme Court has given the respondents, Bambalapitiya OIC Upul Seneviratna, IGP Victor Perera and the Attorney General, time to file answers in Fundamental Right (FR) Applications filed by UNP Parliamentarian Chandrani Bandara and Colombo West Organiser Rosy Senanayake.


Senior State Counsel Riyaz Hamza moved for time to file answers on behalf of respondents when the cases came before the Supreme Court. The Bench comprising Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva, and Justices Raja Fernando and P.A. Ratnayaka gave them time till January 21, 2009.


Sujeewa Senasingha, instructed by Integrated Associates, appearing for petitioners told the Court that he is not objecting to give time or respondents to file answers.


Serasinghe further submitted to Court that the UNP, together with certain other opposition political parties, organised a lawful peaceful protest against the rising cost of living and the escalating fuel prices on June 3, 2008 and some Police stations made applications to Colombo Chief Magistrate to stop the said protest. The Chief Magistrate rejected those applications.


When the petitioners were participating in the said protest, the first respondent had insulted them and abused them in filth, the counsel said.

Appointing PB as ‘advisor’ in contempt of court charges UNP

The UNP yesterday charged that the impending appointment of former Treasury Secretary Dr. P.B. Jayasundera as a ‘presidential advisor’ by the Mahinda Rajapakse administration is in contempt of court.

UNP Parliamentarian Lakshman Kiriella at a media briefing held in Colombo yesterday said that the government’s decision to appoint the former Treasury Secretary as a presidential advisor was against the Supreme Court judgment and said that the Attorney General (AG) and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) have failed to abide by the court ruling.

"The last paragraph in the judgment has clearly ordered the IGP and the AG to take ‘necessary action’ against the Treasury Secretary for violating government rules and regulations. But instead of doing so the Rajapakse administration is planning to appoint a person found guilty by court as a presidential advisor which is against the Supreme Court ruling," claimed Kiriella.

According to Kiriella a ministry secretary can be held responsible while having limited powers but a presidential advisor has no responsibility but has unlimited powers.

"At a time when Jayasundera was answerable to the President, cabinet, parliament and also the Public Service Commission (PSC) he still could commit offences, but what would happen once he is appointed as an advisor which has unlimited powers and is not answerable to any person?" questioned Kiriella.

That would be disastrous and will create a serious situation than ever before," Kiriella added.

Speaking further Kiriella noted as to why the Rajapakse administration is reluctant to take action against Jayasundera and said it was due to his involvement in all government illegal dealings.

"It is a public secret as to how Jayasundera as a government servant had a hand to the Mihin Air and Mig deals and also as to how he was involved in the LTTE deal the Rajapaksa’s had before the Presidential election. As a result the Rajapaksas do not want to remove Jayasundera believing that he would spill the beans," said Kiriella.

Silencer Gun & Dead Tiger Found after Clashes

WELIOYA: INTENSITY and ferociousness of the ongoing battles in WANNI was reaching new heights as triumphant troops were inching forward to reach their goals amidst rains of enemy fire in the WELIOYA sector as of Thursday (25).

The strategic ANDANKULAM and KOMALAMUNAI areas witnessed close fights bringing death to at least six terrorists and injury to fourteen more. At the end of the fighting, troops collected one dead LTTE cadre, one silencer gun with a telescopic lens, five magazines, twenty ammunition rounds, one I-com set, one night vision device, one belt order, nearly one hundred ration packets, a stock of medicine, maps and one hundred and seventeen anti personnel mines. Those fights, including one attack against an LTTE bunker continued until late in the evening.

3 air raids targeting LTTE strong points

Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets raided identified three separate LTTE locations in Kilinochchi, Mullaittivu and Vavuniya districts throughout the day, 26 September.

Air Force spokesperson, Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara, speaking to media said that the first air raid was launched around 9.45 a.m. targeting LTTE gathering place in 2 Km north of Akkarayankulam in Kilinochchi district.

Meanwhile, fighter jets simultaneously engaged in two more LTTE bases around 1.45 p.m. today. One of the two targets was an LTTE storage facility located in 2 Km south of Piramantalkulam in Mullaittivu district while the other was an LTTE supply base located 1 Km southeast of Puliyankulam in Vavuniya district, the spokesperson added.

Air Force confirmed that three targets were engaged accurately.

Security forces on the doorstep of Kokkavil - Mullaittivu front

Security forces personnel engaged in Wanni liberating operation in Mullaittivu front are on the eve of another significant victory against LTTE terrorists as the troops of 57 Division advancing into the Kokkavil general area this afternoon, 26 September.

According to the latest information received from the forefront, the troops of 57 Division are in close vicinity to the Kokkavil railway station complex.

More information will follow ..

New bid to identify the mysterious 'Mr Patel'

A RENEWED appeal has been launched by a national charity to identify a mysterious man from Sri Lanka found dead in bed at Torquay's Grand Hotel nearly 11 years ago to the day.
Mr Patel, the name he used to check in, was thought to have links with the Tamil Tigers terrorist group — but his true identity was never established.
He was found dead — possibly from cyanide poisoning —at the seafront Grand on September 24, 1997.
Missing People, the UK's leading charity for missing and unidentified people, today made a fresh appeal for information in the hope of finally solving the case.
Mr Patel, reckoned to have been in his 30s, had checked into the hotel on September 23.
He was about 5ft 8ins tall, of medium build with neatly trimmed black hair and a pock-marked complexion.
He had distinctive scars on both of his shoulders which suggested he had links with the Tamils. He was wearing a T-shirt, jeans and a leather necklace.
Missing People has checked their missing person's records for clues as to a possible identity, but as yet no conclusive match has been made.
Teri Blythe, Head of Missing People's Identification department, said: "In most cases an unidentified person is also a missing person, so it is likely that this man will have family and friends out there who do not know his fate.
"We therefore hope that this appeal will bring some vital clues that will lead us to identify this body and put an end to someone's distress."

PayMate Forays Into International Market

PayMate has forayed into the international market by partnering with Bank of Ceylon (BOC) from Srilanka, Everest Bank from Nepal and the one of the largest card issuers and acquirers from the Middle East, to offer services like remittances and retail payments via mobile. With these alliances, PayMate is looking to extend its mobile payment platform to neighbouring countries.
The customers will be able to register for these services via their bank network. Once registered, they will receive a four-digit PIN, which they can then use to authenticate their transactions on their mobile, whether it is retail payments or remittances.
PayMate sees exciting opportunities in neighbouring countries which have similar demographics to India and can be treated as microcosms. Our experiences and learnings in India can be applied with greater effect and therefore results,” said Ajay Adiseshann, MD and founder, PayMate.

According to R.K. Ummat, Everest Bank, “The banking scenario in the country is definitely undergoing a revolution with our customers getting highly tech-savvy. The mobile subscriber base in Nepal is also rapidly increasing. Partnering with PayMate will enable the subscribers of Nepal Telecom and 2,00,000 strong Everest Bank customer base to avail of the user-friendly mobile payment services. Moreover, the mobile services scenario in the country is developing rapidly, and we are extremely excited about our association with PayMate and Nepal Telecom.


Commenting on the association, Dr Gamini Wikaramasinghe, chairman, BOC, shared, With the mobile phone increasingly becoming the one-stop-shop for consumers, a simple and secure service like PayMate now offers unparalleled convenience for our customers. BOC has been in forefront of offering newer services to its customers by associating with PayMate. We aim to offer the best of m-commerce solutions to the Sri Lankan market through knowledge sharing and technology expertise.

Partial transcript of the National Post’s interview with President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka

Q. You campaigned on a platform of negotiating with the Tamil Tigers. What happened?

A. I was elected somewhere around the 18th of November [2005]. So we said we were ready to talk to them and [Tamil Tigers leader Velupillai] Prabhakaran himself said that this man is a practical man. His first statement was that, so I said that we need to start negotiating. Then they said, ‘Yes just wait for a few weeks' and started attacking us. They started killing. 5th of December, they killed about 13 unarmed soldiers; they were taking food to the camp, then they killed them. That was the first incident. Then I said, ‘Don't do this, we will negotiate.' But in a few days they killed at least five, six, then they killed civilians, children, mothers, pregnant mothers. So they were doing this for about seven months. I didn't even react because I was planning to negotiate with them. I was trying to talk to them. People thought that I am very weak. And some ambassadors came and told me, from the West, ‘What are you doing?' I said, ‘I am trying to talk to them. That's why I don't want to do anything.' They were sympathizing with me, the way that this man [Prabhakaran] was going on. Army commander was in Colombo, they tried to kill him [in April 2006]. Then only one day, that evening, I ordered the Air Force to go and attack one or two camps. That was the first reaction. Then again that evening I said, ‘No, enough.' But I was again trying to persuade them. We went to Geneva, the Norwegians got involved and in Geneva in the middle of the discussions suddenly these people [the Tigers' delegation] got up and went. Then they agreed to come back for a second time. Twice in Geneva and once in Oslo. Oslo meeting, they refused to meet the delegation that we sent. When they came back, again they attacked my brother, defence secretary.... Then they closed down the ... water that was flowing towards the eastern province. Farmers were without water for their paddy fields. Actually that was drinking water also. Then we tried to negotiate to open it. For five days we were trying to negotiate. No. They thought we are weak. That was the time I said, ‘No. Because of the farmers and the people it's a humanitarian problem.' I said, ‘Now it is enough' and gave the orders to go and open the [sluice gate]. When we opened that, the next day itself these people came and attacked the Trincomalee harbour and the Muttu, they took over Muttu. So from that time I ordered them to clear the place, so we cleared it. And we went on, we not only liberated [eastern Sri Lanka] from the Tigers but immediately we had local government elections.


Q. Is this war almost over?

A. Yes, I think so.


Q. Why do you say that?

A. It will take a little more time. I would say, terrorism you can't just finish it overnight. Because the time within the last 20 years and the ceasefire, within that two years of ceasefire they managed to arm themselves. I mean, they have brought sophisticated weapons, guns, ammunition, and they were training so all that, that is because of the ceasefire. So our government didn't check their baggage. It was all open to them and everybody knew that they were taking weapons, buying weapons and the ships came and unloaded. All this happened in that period. So really what they do is, when they are weak, they want a ceasefire. They will go behind the international community and say, ‘Now pressurize the government, we are ready to talk to them.' That is the time that they recruit people, train them and equip with weapons.


Q. How is this going to end?

A. We have told them now, if they are surrendering tomorrow, we can stop all this and start negotiating again. They are not surrendering themselves. So militarily, we have to defeat the terrorists and then with the civil society we have to give them a political solution. ... I have already appointed another all-party committee to give me a proposal for the entire country.


Q. If the military defeats the Tigers, then what? How will you resolve the grievances of Tamils?

A. Then we will negotiate with them. First let us defeat the terrorists. Then as soon as we defeat them, we will let the civilians take over the administration there. We must have the administration first. And start developing the area. We will have elections. This is a democratic country.


Q. What are you doing about international human rights abuses concerns, especially abductions and disappearances?

A. Now I will give you one good example. Recently near the Hilton [hotel in Colombo], there was a bomb blast. A suicide cadre. Now the identity card says that he is a Muslim. But we managed to get the SIM of the mobile [phone]. So we traced from that that he had given calls to various places. The last call was from [the rebel capital] Kilinochchi. That is the order to go and blast the place. So he had given a call to some place in Batticaloa or Trincomalee. So we went there to find. That was his house. He was a Tamil. And parents, as soon as he left to Colombo, they have gone to the police station and made a statement that army came and checked them and thereafter a white van came and abducted this man. Can you imagine? Now this is a good example. And some of these people who are claiming that they were abducted are in Paris or in Germany or in London or in Canada.... Certainly we take them into custody. Why should we abduct them? It is much better to take them and keep them. All these suspects, we take them into custody. And they have given us a lot of information. We have found a lot of things. Ammunition, explosives. But if there is a complaint, certainly we look into it. And I must tell you that even in the army, the forces, we have human rights units. There is a major general, a Tamil lady, who is in charge of human rights. So every day they will go and teach them and give lectures.


Q. What would you say to Canadians who support the Tamil Tigers?

A. They must stop this. They should not encourage the terrorists. They are not helping the Tamils. The Tamil people have been killed more than Sinhalese leaders, they have killed Tamil leaders, democratic leaders who had been in political parties, leaders of political parties who were against this man [Prabhakaran]. They have killed more Tamils. Anyone who spoke against them [the LTTE] is killed, so they should not encourage this, they must stop this, they will never succeed. Prabhakaran will never succeed. They must not encourage it. Tamil people must understand that we can live together, and there are no barriers.

Family man reported missing in Jaffna

A young family man from Chaddanaathar Veethi area within the Jaffna Municipality limits has been reported missing since 4 July, according to a complaint lodged by his wife with Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Jaffna. The disappearance has taken place a day after the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers took away photos of her husband from their house, she said in the complaint.
The SLA soldiers who came to victim's house had threatened him several times.

The victim, Arumaithurai Kishorkumar, 23, a driver is the father of a two-month-old child at the time of his disappearance.

Two brothers of Kishorkumar have gone into hiding due to continuous deaths threats, the wife further said in her complaint to the HRC.

Nishantha Ranatunga approved as manager

The Sports Minister has approved the nomination of Nishantha Ranatunga as manager of Sri Lanka team for the upcoming Twenty20 tour of Canada. He has been nominated by the Interim Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket.

Mr. Ranatunga has represented Sri Lanka at two ODIs and has played 92 Division One matches.

The tour of Canada begins next month.

6 unauthorized financial institutions banned

The Central Bank yesterday (Sept. 25th) banned six unauthorized financial institutions, including Sakvithi House Constructions (at 08, Nawala Road, Nugegoda), whose owner had defrauded more than Rs. 09 billion from the public.

This is the first instance that the CB had publicized the names of illegal financial institutions.

The other five are Okanda Finance (at 22/1 A, Vaidya Road, Dehiwela), Nadini Finance (at L-02/17, Reality Plaza, Ja-ela), D.K. Udayasiri (at 412/2, Gala Junction, Kiribathgoda and 187/B, Wedisinghe Trade Complex, Kurunegala), Piyadasa Ratnayake alias 'Danduwam Mudalali' (at Gurupokuna in Hungama) and Sriyavi Homes, Lands and Investments (at 283, Dandugama, Ja-ela).

According to CB, these institutions have been ordered not to carry on finance business by accepting money from the public as deposits or in any other form and the lending of money on interest and/or the investment of money in any manner.

Opposition objects to minister as PSC head

Opposition MPs have raised in Parliament the appointment of a government minister to head a parliamentary select committee tasked with investigating allegations of a secret pact with the LTTE.

Subsequent to a claim by the opposition of such a pact, Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara today (Sept. 26th) told the House that a PSC headed by Nimal Siripala de Silva and also comprising 21 members would inquire into it.

Chief Opposition Whip Joseph Michael Perera objected to the minister's nomination, since the allegation was leveled against the government.

His opposite number Dinesh Gunawardena noted however, the nominee by the speaker could not be challenged.

Two other PSCs were appointed to probe the controversial purchase of MiG-24 aircraft for the Air Force and alleged discrepancies at the Department of Inland Revenue.

2 JVP MPs complain against Basil Rajapaksa

JVP MPs Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Sunil Handunnetti have complained to Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara about an incident of breach of their parliamentary privileges involving MP Basil Rajapaksa.
In separate complaints, they pointed to the September 24th meeting of Committee on Public Enterprise, where the ruling party member had verbally abused them over an appointment to the Water Board.

The two JVP MPs request the speaker to take action against the Mr. Rajapaksa and to ensure the dignity of all COPE members.

Protest rally at UN against SL genocide - Tamilnet

In an attempt to draw the attention of the United Nations, over 1,000 American and Canadian Tamils and friends of Tamils protested in front of the UN Headquarters in New York on September 24th, reports ‘Tamilnet’.

Denouncing the visit to the UN by Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the protestors demanded sanctions against Sri Lanka, and advocated invoking the principle of Responsibility to Protect as a means to halt what the protesters alleged ‘genocide of Tamils’, it adds.

The protesters chanted "Rajapaksa, don't come to the UN, go to The Hague."

A petition signed by the rally attendees addressed to Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was handed over to the UN.

The appeal says the Sri Lankan government has abdicated its responsibility to the Tamil inhabitants of the island and the international community embodied in the UN must begin to enact its ideals for the unilateral protection of the vulnerable Tamil people.

The petition proposed possible action by the UN such as sending an independent monitor from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, setting up internationally supervised safe havens for civilians in active conflict zones, a total ban on military aid to Sri Lanka, prosecution of the individuals in the Sri Lankan government and its armed forces for ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and genocide on the island, and arranging for a special session on Sri Lanka.

Ratnasiri pays a floral tribute

Prime Minister Mr. Ratnasiri Wickramanayake pays a floral tribute at the Bandaranayake Memorial at Horagolla Friday to mark the 49th death anniversary of the late Prime Minister S.W.R.D.Bandaranayake.

Death toll in moonshine case increases to six

The death toll in the illicit moonshine tragedy in Weliweriya, Gampaha rose to six yesterday with more than 52 others hospitalized, some of them in life threatening condition, police and hospital officials said.

Police said that they were searching for the kingpin of the moonshine business from where the victims had consumed the brew.

Colombo stocks ease

Colombo stocks saw index-strong JKH, Dialog and Commercial Bank losing at Friday’s closing to slip the market, but with relatively high turnover.

JKH which opened flat in the morning was down by 25 cents to close at Rs 86.25, Commercial Bank lost 25 cents to close at Rs 70.75 while Distilleries was down 50 cents down to Rs 72.

“A transfer of 5.2 million shares in CT Land likely to be within the CT Group at Rs 17 a share boosted the turnover in the market,” a stock analyst said.

The All Share Index lost 3.52 points to 2,209.05 while the Milanka dipped by 5.01 points to 2,484.25. The turnover was Rs 175 million.

Ayurvedic Research Institute to treat Cancer patients

The Navinna Ayurvedic Research Institute has begun to treat cancer patients following the success in a research conducted on the indigenous medicine to treat the desease, the Government Information Department said in a statement.
“It has been confirmed that spreading of cancer could be controlled by immunizing the Cancer patient with indigenous medicine,” Directress of the Ayurvedic Research Institute and Consultant Dr. (Mrs) Dayangani Senasekara said.

The Information Department quoted her as saying that the life expectancy of Cancer patients could be extended enabling them to lead a normal life by restoring their previous appearance.

According to statistics, there were 13,364 cancer patients in 2005, of whom 7306 were females and 6058 males. Dr. Jayatilake said that most of the patients had been able to lead a normal life and their health condition returned to normal.

The Ayurvedic Research Institute and Institute of Indigenous Medicine jointly with the Kelaniya University, Kalubowila hospital, University of Colombo and the Sri Jayawardenapura University are currently conducting research on liver cancer.

The results are being anticipated by the Research Institute in a few months time.

Constable sentenced to jail

Mount Lavinia Magistrate sentenced a police constable who had assaulted attorney-at-law Mr. W. Dayaratne, at present President of Sri Lanka Bar Association (BASL) in July 2003 and causing him injuries to one year rigorous imprisonment.

Additional Magistrate Dharshika Wimalasiri convicted Hemalgamage Sarath, a police constable attached to Colombo Emergency Service who had assaulted Mr. Dayaratne on July 17, 2003. During the trial it was revealed that a neighbour of Mr. Dayaratne living at Muragan Place, Colombo had knocked against a vehicle of a police officer attached to Wellawatte police station.
Subsequently the accused police constable who was attached to Wellawatte police had come with a group of policemen and had attempted to attack Mr. Dayaratne’s neighbour. When Mr. Dayaratne intervened and questioned the group of policemen, the constable had assaulted him. Subsequently the attorney had lodged a complaint at Wellawatte police station and had gone to Colombo South hospital but had been unable to get medication as there was a strike by the health workers. He had then got admitted to a private hospital.
On the instruction of then Inspector General of Police, Criminal Investigation Department had conducted an investigation and had arrested the constable. He had been identified by Mr. Dayaratne at the identification parade.

PAFFREL to launch mobile service

People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) is to launch a mobile service to provide national identity cards for voters.

PAFFREL Deputy Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi said that this would be a part of a large CEDA project under which a mobile job market, and human rights workshops would be conducted.

The first mobile NIC clinic as it is called would be held in Thalalla in Matara on October 18 and 19.

Mr. Hettiarachchi said it will be possible to provide an identity card in half an hour as officers of the Department of Registration of Persons, Grama Niladharis will be present and there will be facilities to take photographs.

“We have decided to launch this project as a follow up to our action of getting the national identity cards compulsory,” he said.

PAFFREL has also decided to start a job market project under which a three year programme would be launched together with business chamber representatives and the Ministry of Skills Development.

In addition a human rights activity programme has also been planned under which a two day workshop would be held bringing eminent human rights activists and the stakeholders together.

The main objective of this is to bring the government and the human rights activists who have different attitudes on human rights together and bridge them to build up an understanding.

Challenges can be faced: Wimal

National Freedom front Leader Wimal Weerawansa said that Sri Lanka is strong enough to face the challenges of the world market even without the GSP+ tax concession of the European Union.
“If we give in to the demand of the EU and obtain the GSP+ tax concession it could compromise the sovereignty of the country” he said. Addressing a press conference yesterday at the National Freedom Front office MP Weerawansa said that the intention of foreign powers is to create political instability and bring in to power those whom they can control.
Moreover, he appealed to the European Union not to make the GSP+ concession a tool to control the country.“They are using the GSP+ concession issue to punish the government for not listening to the calls by the European union to go back to peace negotiations with the LTTE”, he said.

He called on garment factory workers and the public to urge the European Union to extend the GSP+ concession without exerting undue pressure on the Sri Lankan government.EU’s GSP+ tariff concession enjoyed by Sri Lanka accounts for 9% to 14% tax waiver for exports from Sri Lanka to the European Union countries.

Heated exchange of words between govt & opposition

A heated exchange of words took place between government and opposition MPs in Parliament today over the conduct of MPs Anura Kumar Dissanayake and Basil Rajapaksa at the COPE meeting on Wednesday.

Basil’s behaviour is ‘exemplary’ - Speaker

When the JVP raised a privilege issue today over the behaviour of Nation Building Minister Basil Rajapaksa at Wednesday’s COPE meeting, Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara said that during today’s meeting Mr. Rajapaksa’s behaviour has been exemplary.

Look after civilians, Ferrero-Waldner urges Sri Lanka

All sides in Sri Lanka's long-running conflict should do more to protect civilians and uphold human rights, European Union foreign affairs commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said Thursday.

'The rights and needs of civilians and those who are internally displaced by the ongoing conflict in the north (of Sri Lanka should be) fully respected, in line with international humanitarian law. Their safety and freedom of movement must be paramount,' Ferrero- Waldner said in a statement.

After a meeting in New York on the fringes of the UN General Assembly, Ferrero-Waldner called on both the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to allow full access to relief supplies for refugees.

'I am preoccupied by the continuing disrespect for human rights by all sides and am very concerned by reports of forced recruitment and summary executions by the LTTE. These violations must cease and the perpetrators brought to justice,' she said.

Ferrero-Waldner is the top foreign-policy official at the European Commission, the EU's executive.

Sri Lanka Aims to Meet Asia's Demand for Technology Graduates

Sri Lanka hopes to take advantage of the growing regional demand for information technology graduates. A new training institute opens next year to provide skilled graduates to meet increasing demand. Ron Corben recently visited Colombo and has this report for VOA.

On the outskirts of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, construction is fast progressing on a new $5.7 million information technology and management institute.

The institute, at Malabe, sits in a new industrial park for information technology businesses. The institute is the dream of veteran Sri Lankan businessman, Neville Fernando

Fernando, who personally financed the institute, says language courses are key to the institute's program, so that graduates will be able to work for multinational companies.

"So what we teaching will be IT-related subjects, even the English language course. All this will be IT-based so that they work in any IT factory anywhere in the world. Even Korean, Japanese, Chinese will be taught because in the Asian region there is a lot of demand for IT technicians," he said.

Mr. Fernando hopes the institute will allow more young Sri Lankans to stay at home to study, instead of going abroad. The campus will have space for 1,000 students, and will offer classes in business administration, communications technology, and management in areas such as tourism.

Vickum Senanayake is the Sri Lanka country chief for the U.S. technology company Oracle. He says the number of technology graduates each year falls short of demand.

"Our need is around 20,000 graduates coming out of the university and various other tertiary education institutes. But we produce maybe about a maximum 3,000, 5,000 in the IT sector," he said.

Senanayake says there also is a gap between the skills needed and the training offered at existing schools. He says the IT industry has been grappling with these problems for more than five years.

An even bigger problem is persuading graduates to stay in Sri Lanka, instead of seeking jobs in other countries.

"It is a huge concern not just for Oracle but the industry as a whole. People who get skilled up are quite valuable to the industry and we keep losing these people to the region or the West mostly and lots of skilled migration," he said.

The dean of the new institute's information technology faculty, Chandima de Silvais, thinks the school will go a long way toward meeting demand in Sri Lanka. But, he says, India will remain a draw for many graduates.

"In terms of India as a destination for employment I do not think Sri Lanka or any other Asian country can match. There are thousands of jobs demands in India. Our institute can cater to that in time to come. But in terms of education alone Sri Lankan parents might still opt to send their children to a good institution in Sri Lanka. So I think it would be a landmark in Sri Lankan education," he said.

Businesswoman Geetha Karandawala says the institute comes at an opportune time in Sri Lanka's IT development.

"People are beginning to see particularly the IT-related career pathways and Sri Lanka because of its language skills and I think it is a very good area for future employment and career development. If the timing is right then the project works and I think the timing is right now for this kind of project," she said.

Sri Lanka is gaining attention from international companies looking to invest in its IT sector. One international bank already plans to set up a support office in Sri Lanka to take advantage of the country's English-speaking workers and trained technical staff.

37 Tamil civilians seek protection with security forces- Pulmoddai

37 Tamil civilians belonging to 9 families Thursday (Sep 25) have sought protection with security forces at Pulmoddai, South of Mullaittivu.

The civilians including 15 children, 8 females and 14 males have braved their way along the choppy Eastern waters on two boats into the liberated territory, who are reportedly locals from Mullaittivu, military sources said.

"We had no option other than to make our move despite presence of sea tigers along the Mullaittivu coast. Now we know our lives are in safe hands and our children spared from been dragged into the battlefront", a mother was quoted as saying with our correspondent.

Their eyes were glittering with hopes of a new life, and why not after decades of unprecedented hardships at the hands of LTTE, our correspondent said adding that these people will be sent into the civilian welfare centers in Vavuniya and Mannar.

37 Tamil civilians seek protection with security forces- Pulmoddai

37 Tamil civilians belonging to 9 families Thursday (Sep 25) have sought protection with security forces at Pulmoddai, South of Mullaittivu.

The civilians including 15 children, 8 females and 14 males have braved their way along the choppy Eastern waters on two boats into the liberated territory, who are reportedly locals from Mullaittivu, military sources said.

"We had no option other than to make our move despite presence of sea tigers along the Mullaittivu coast. Now we know our lives are in safe hands and our children spared from been dragged into the battlefront", a mother was quoted as saying with our correspondent.

Their eyes were glittering with hopes of a new life, and why not after decades of unprecedented hardships at the hands of LTTE, our correspondent said adding that these people will be sent into the civilian welfare centers in Vavuniya and Mannar.

Villager shot dead in Wellawali, Ampara

A villager identified as V. Thambirasah (42) from Mandoor 1 in Wellawali, Ampara was shot dead last night, police said.

Police Spokesman SSP Ranjith Gunasekara said Mr. Thambirasah was in his backyard at around 9pm when an unknown gunman had fired at him, killing him on the spot.

Committees on MIG deal, alleged pact with LTTE and Inland Revenue

Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara today appointed three committees to look into the charges against the controversial MIG deal, government’s alleged secret pact with the LTTE and the charges against the Inland Revenue Department.

CB names unauthorized finance institutions

Central Bank has named Okanda Finance, Sakwithi, Piyadasa Ratnayake, Nadini Finance, D.K Udayasiri and Sriyawi Homes as unauthorized finance institutions.

Next Commonwealth leaders meeting to be held in Sri Lanka

The next Commonwealth leaders' meeting is scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka in 2009.

Presidential media unit said the commonwealth leaders who met yesterday in New York have decided to hold the next meeting in Sri Lanka.

The leaders of the 53-nation commonwealth meet biennially to discuss a wide variety of issues including democracy, good governance and global trade. According to the sources next year’s meeting will focus on global terrorism.

The commonwealth leaders met yesterday in New York on the sidelines of the General Assembly had preparatory discussions on the Millennium Development Goals. Global and local impact of rising food prices was also on the agenda today for discussions to explore ways to address the challenges of and opportunities for increasing food production.

Sri Lanka Tourism gets global spotlight on World Tourism Day

Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism, Renton de Alwis, has been invited by the Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) to speak at a special Think Tank event to be held in Lima, Peru, on September 27, 2008, the Word Tourism Day.

The conference theme is “Tourism: Responding to the Challenge of Climate Change”. This interactive thinktank is hosted by HE Dr. Alan Garcia Perez, President of the Republic of Peru and HE Dr. Mercedes Araoz Fernandez, Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism of Peru in conjunction with UNWTO.

The forum will cover state-of-the-art of global thinking on Tourism and Climate Change with a strong focus on solutions. Discussions will include the UN roadmap, to adapt, mitigate, use new technology and provide financing for developing countries.

It will also cover the UNWTO/UNEP Davos Process on how to implement it around the world.

In October last year, Sri Lanka Tourism launched a pioneering initiative “Tourism Earth Lung Towards Carbon Clean Sri Lanka,” at UNWTO/UNEP/World Economic forums, conference held in Davos, Switzerland, details of which are available on the website www.earthlung.travel.

Organisations such as, UNWTO and PATA have recognised this initiative as one with potential to grow to be a global initiative for tourism destinations.

This year in Sri Lanka, World Tourism Day celebrations will focus around making Yapahuwa an eco-destination where general measures will be adopted to ensure the greening of its environment.

“Tourism Earth Lung: Towards a Carbon Clean Sri Lanka”, initiative aims to mitigate carbon related climate change issues though catalytic actions of the tourism industry working closely with the Ministry of Environment Natural Resources and all other stakeholders in the service, production and other industries.

The Peru event is to be broadcast globally through all media and will feature Sri Lanka Tourism Earth Lung initiative recognising its pioneering status. The initiative focuses on the areas of stopping deforestation, reforestation, use of conserving energy initiatives and mitigating pollution at the source. It aims to make Sri Lanka a carbon neutral to assist destination by 2018, with all stakeholders and the people of Sri Lanka mobilised towards the effort.

Catholic Bishops ask LTTE to release civilians

Catholic Bishops Assembly of Sri Lanka yesterday asked the LTTE to allow the civilians to reach the more secured areas from Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.
Issuing a special statement Catholic Bishops pointed out that the civilians should not be used as human shields in the ongoing war in Northern region.
The Bishops said they are seriously concerned over the hapless situation faced by the displaced people who are still living in uncleared areas.
Catholic Bishops said despite the arrangements made by the government to deliver all the necessities to the displaced people in the rebel held areas, some food stocks are not reaching the people due to the disturbances by the LTTE.

Lanka refutes unfair allegations by HR Advocates

In a right of Reply exercised by Sri Lanka following the panel discussion and interactive dialogue on missing persons, under item 3 on Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development at the 9th Session of the Human Rights Council, on 22 September 2008, Mr. Yasantha Kodagoda, Deputy Solicitor-General, Attorney-General's Department stated the following.
"Mr. Moderator, let me at the very outset express to the Government of Pakistan and its people my Government's condolences regarding the most gruesome terrorist attack that took place in Pakistan last weekend.
Mr. Moderator, it is indeed very unfortunate that two organizations which addressed this august assembly abused this debate by engaging in a naming and blaming exercise distorting the truth. It was alleged Mr. Moderator, that an ethnic profiling exercise is afoot in Sri Lanka. We deny this allegation.
In Sri Lanka, we have a well functioning and vibrant Supreme Court which engages judiciously in the promotion and protection of human rights. It is unfortunate, Mr. Moderator, that the advocates of human rights who make these unfounded allegations against Sri Lanka, do not use this effective, domestic, legal remedy to obtain appropriate redress to the victims they allege to represent.
Mr. Moderator, we are indeed conscious that disappearances are a phenomenon that plagues human civilizations. We are committed to upholding the rule of law and working with UN mechanisms to resolve this issue even at a time when the very unitary character and the existence of my country are being threatened by ruthless terrorists.
Mr. Moderator, we fully endorse the continuation of this debate on disappearances during the future sessions of this council. In our view, this process should be aimed at supplementing the mandate of the UN working group on enforced disappearances and the very useful work being done in the field by the ICRC.

Air Force Fighter jets pound terror positions - Kilinochchi

Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets pounded LTTE reinforcements detected in the Akkarayankulam area this afternoon (Sept 25). Air Force spokesperson , Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara speaking defence.lk said that the air strike was taken at 2.20 PM targeting an LTTE gathering 1 Km North of Akkarayankulam Tank bund.

Troops four kilometres away from Kilinochchi town: Army Commander

(AFP) - Forces have advanced to the outskirts of Kilinochchi, the army chief announced Thursday.

"Our forces are around four kilometres (2.5 miles) from Kilinochchi town. In fact we can see some of the buildings," Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka said. He also said the leader of the LTTE, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was "now a caged animal."

"Our military campaign won't stop until we liberate our motherland from the LTTE," Fonseka added.

Fonseka, who was speaking at a book launch in the capital Colombo, did not say when he expected the town to fall. But he suggested a fresh offensive would begin in the coming days.

"We will fire the first shots towards Kilinochchi town next week," he said.

Earlier the Defence Ministry said troops operating in the Kilinochchi and North of Vavuniya fronts were further pushing their defence towards Jaffna-Kandy (A-9) road from west of Wanni.

According to the defence sources in the front troops of 57 division were getting closer to Kokavil and troops of Task Force 2 are heading towards Mankulam.

Troops of Army 57 division attacked 2 terror bunkers situated in the west of Akkarayankulam last afternoon and confirmed both bunkers were destroyed. However, terror casualties in these incidents were not known.

Palestinian president Abbas to visit Sri Lanka

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will visit Sri Lanka on October 9, diplomatic sources said today.

A highlight of his visit will be the official opening of the Palestinian-funded Yasser Arafat mosque at Beruwela, the sources said.

Mr. Abbas will also meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa who is a patron of the Palestinian Solidarity Movement of Sri Lanka and hold bilateral talks.

Early this year Sri Lanka opened a diplomatic missions in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Enraged homeguard kills soldier and airman

An enraged Home Guard shot dead a soldier and an airman in Mahaoya, Ampara following a heated argument, Police said.

A Civilian seriously injured in the shooting has been admitted to hospital.

It was not immediately clear the reason for the argument.

Eight million the Single Highest Deposit racketed by Sakvithi Sir

A staggering sum of Rs.8 million has so far been reported as the single highest deposit made in the controversial financial instituting run by English tutor Sakvithi Ranasinghe who is currently absconding, police said.

Govt. hides report faulting ex-military chiefs

The government has swept under the carpet a report by a presidential commission that inquired into alleged irregularities in military procurements in the period 2000-2005, internal military sources said.
Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed this commission in 2006 soon after his election as President, on the basis of media reports that claimed a wrongdoing in the purchase of 30 mm firearms for the Navy.
Headed by Supreme Court judge Shirani Thilakawardena and SC judges Nimal Dissanayake and Nissanka Udalagama as members, the commission had its closed-door sittings at the BMICH, Colombo.
After concluding its deliberations, the commission handed over a report of recommendations to President Rajapaksa a few months ago, the sources said.
The report has implicated several former commanders of the armed forces in dealings that had lost more than Rs. 01 billion to the state and recommended punishment including the suspension of their civic rights.
They include Navy's Admiral Daya Sandagiri, Army's General Lionel Balagalla, Air Marshal Jayalath Weerakkody of the Air Force and former Navy Chiefs of Staff Rear Admirals Mohan Wijewickrama and Sarath Weerasekara.
However, most of these ex-military officers hold important positions in state institutions at present, according to the sources.
Gen. Balagalla is presently Chief Executive Officer of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, while Rear Admiral Wijesekara is Director General of the Civil Defence Department.
Air Marshal Weerakkody is due to take up functions as Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in Pakistan.
Admiral Sandagiri was posted to the Defence Ministry as a Deputy Secretary, but lost the position later over a legal issue.

Over 20,000 fled to India since 2006 - JVP

JVP Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath says an estimated 20,446 Sri Lankan Tamils had sought refuge in India in the two-year period since January 2006. Refugee camps in Tamil Nadu, South India are presently sheltering 95,219 Sri Lankans, including 28,000 who have citizenship of neither country, he told the media in Colombo today (Sept. 25th).


Mr. Herath said respective governments had failed to address the issue of these refugees, which had been used by the international community to interfere in Sri Lanka's internal affairs.

Amendments to the Citizenship Act presently before Parliament after approval by the Cabinet will negate the charge of step-motherly treatment of Sri Lankans with Indian origin, he said.

However, the JVP Propaganda Secretary admitted a difficulty in obtaining exact figures of Tamils fleeing to India, as most of them migrate illegally.

He added that Tamils with Indian origin began to be settled by Norwegian NGO Redbana and Gandhian in Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi Vavuniya and Mannar districts after 1978.

Construction Chamber promotes use of IT in Project Management

The competitive position of relevant Stakeholders of the Construction Industry depends on their ability to provide a Quality Service On Time at Competitive Price Levels which would require efficiency at all levels of Project Management. With ever increasing opportunities existing in overseas markets, especially in the Gulf, and the need for the industry to aggressively embrace an Export Culture over the next decade, increased efficiency and competitiveness of firms is the key to survival and growth in today’s global market environment.

The use of Information Technology Applications in the Construction Industry is not a new phenomenon but should be widely adopted by all industry stakeholders who are keen on competing for business opportunities, not only in Overseas markets but domestically as well. All avenues that could provide a particular business entity with a competitive edge should be explored and the use of Information Technology Applications is a tried and proven means to this end.

It is in view of the above that the Chamber of Construction Industry Sri Lanka is hosting an Interactive Workshop on “Information Technology for Effective Project Management” on 30th September 2008 at Hotel Galadari, Colombo. The workshop will be conducted in a simulated environment where participants will be given hands on exposure on the use of Application Software to manage various elements of Construction Projects.

This workshop comes at a critical time when the demand for construction is volatile which further emphasizes the need to utilize all available tools and mechanisms to be efficient and competitive to secure business opportunities, not to mention the increased sophistication of stakeholder needs, short lead times, rising cost of construction, shortage of labour, increased regulations and environmental concerns among others, faced by the Industry.

Prof. Chitra Weddikkara, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Moratuwa will deliver the keynote address followed by a lecture on "Effective Project Management - Use of IT" by Dr. R. Rameezdeen, Head of the Department of Building Economics, University of Moratuwa and a presentation by Mr. Jayachandran, Chief Engineer, Department of Buildings, on how to control project costs. IT Specialists will be on hand to demonstrate the use of selected IT Applications in relation to project management coupled with simulation exercises to give participants a better understanding.

It is the firm belief of the Chamber that if industry stakeholders expose their personnel to valuable programmes and initiatives of this nature, they would be able to identify IT related areas in their respective businesses which need capacity development leading to increased efficiency of operation and greater competitiveness enabling them to meet industry challenges that are already at their doorstep.

Fighting continues: troops getting closer to A-9 road from West

Battlefield reports received yesterday (Sept 24) indicate that troops operating in the Kilinochchi and North of Vavuniya fronts were further pushing their defence towards Jaffna-Kandy (A-9) road from west of Wanni. According to the defence sources in the front troops of 57 division were getting closer to Kokavil and troops of Task Force 2 are heading towards Mankulam.

Troops of Army 57 division attacked 2 terror bunkers situated in the west of Akkarayankulam last afternoon and confirmed both bunkers were destroyed. However, terror casualties in these incidents were not known.

Meanwhile, troops of Army Task Force 1, operating in the western half of the Kilinochchi front confronted with a group of terrorists in the Nachchikudha area last evening. 3 soldiers suffered injuries during this incident. Terror casualties were not known. On the same day afternoon, snipers deployed in the Nachchikudha forward area confirmed shooting down of one LTTE cadre.

In the Vannerikkulam area, troops confronted with a group of terrorists around 8 AM and claimed 4 terrorists were killed and at least 6 others were wounded. Later in the same day afternoon, troops attacked and captured an LTTE bunker located elsewhere. Intercepted terror radio transmission revealed 3 terrorists killed in the incident. Troops found a T-56 riffle along with 300 ammo and a radio communication set. Meanwhile, snipers deployed in the Vannerikkulam forward area confirmed shooting down of one LTTE cadre during morning hours.

Troops of Task Force 2 operating in the Vavuniya front had three separate confrontations with the terrorists in the Palamoddai area during the day and claimed 6 terrorists were killed. Also, troops found one T-56 weapon with 65 rounds, 3 RPG bombs, 3 hand grenades, and one pouch following one of the confrontations.

Meanwhile, troops of 56 division maintaining the active defence in the either side of the A-9 road in Omanthai attacked a terror bunker located in the Navatkulam area around 11 AM. Troops confirmed one terrorist was killed and the bunker was partially destroyed.

Troops of 59 division operating in the Mullaittivu front had daylong fighting in Andankulama forests reserve and claimed 5 terrorists were killed, 8 others wounded and 17 more were either killed or wounded. Also, 4 soldiers suffered injuries during these incidents.

Meanwhile on the Jaffna theatre of operation, troops maintaining active defence in the Muhamalai area attacked a groups of terrorists detected in the forward area around 10 last night. Troops found a body of an LTTE cadre during subsequent search. Later, intercepted terror radio transmissions revealed 2 terrorists were killed in the incident. One soldier was killed and another suffered injuries due to IED and AP mine explosions occurred elsewhere.

Police Commandos uncovers explosives- Wattala

Police Special Task Force (STF) personnel uncovered one T-56 riffle along with 116 rounds and half a kilogram of C-4 high explosives from Wattala area during a search operation yesterday (Sept 24).

According to the STF sources the items were found last afternoon from an unoccupied land situated close to an International School in the Hekitta area. The STF suspects the items might have hidden by the LTTE in order to use them for an intended attack.

Further investigations are in progress.

7 LTTE terrorists killed, 7 wounded at the Kilinochchi battlefront

7 LTTE terrorists were killed and similar numbers reported wounded, Wednesday (Sep 24), at the Western Wanni battlefront in the Kilinochchi district.

According to military reports received, 5 terrorists were killed and 7 injured when troops forced into an LTTE bunker defence in general area Vannerikkulama, at around 8a.m. Meanwhile, terrorist was killed sniped in the same area at 9.20a.m, military said citing ground troops.

Similarly, a terrorist was reported killed sniped in general area Nachchikudha, at 12.30p.m, according to military reports.

Thirty-Seven More Civilians Disobey Tiger Diktats & Reach Army Troops with Infants

WELIOYA: THIRTY-SEVEN besieged men, women and children in ALAMPIL, south of MULLAITTIVU center braved the LTTE obstacles and restrictions to reach the Army troops in ARISIMALE, PULMODDAI on two boats Thursday (25) morning at about 10.30.

The group consisted of three breast feeding infants and all their belongings including jewellery and money. They had secretly left their homes around 5.00 a.m. on Thursday (25) unnoticed by the terrorists.

Army troops received those fleeing thirty-seven Tamil civilians, including five small boys, ten little girls, eight women and fourteen men and entertained them to refreshments and meals before arrangements were made to re-locate them. Those civilians, in spite of warnings issued by the LTTE, had risked their lives in the seas after starting off their journey from MULLAITTIVU early in the morning.

Following initial investigations, those civilians are to be re-located elsewhere until normalcy is returned to the WANNI.

Simultaneous Infiltration Attempts Foiled; Muhamale South LTTE Leader Felled

NORTH: TROOPS serving NAGARKOVIL Forward Defence area and KILALY Defence Line areas in JAFFNA overpowered two infiltration attempts of the terrorists late night on Wednesday (24) at about 10.00 p.m. after opening fire on them.

Simultaneous attempts at NAGARKOVIL and KILALY claimed the lives of eight Tiger terrorists, including the LTTE’s MUHAMALE South leader, ‘VARDAN’ as a result of the strong fire-power of the alert troops.

A search conducted later on by the troops collected one of the dead terrorists. It is believed two separate groups of terrorists while simultaneously trying to enter through troop defences, expected to trick the troops into a trap.

Troops Overrun Two More Terrorist Bunkers

WANNI & NORTH: TROOPS of the 57 Division and Task Force 1 operating in KILINOCHCHI district stormed and captured two more Tiger terrorist bunkers on Wednesday (24) from VANNARIKULAM and ANDANKULAM areas and recovered one T-56 weapon, one radio set and 300 rounds of T-56 ammunition.

Similarly clashes in AKKARAYANKULAM, NACHCHIKUDA, VANNARIKULAM, ANDANKULAM and adjoining areas got rid of nine terrorists and injured at least thirty-one more, according to monitored and confirmed technical sources.

Eight valiant soldiers sustained injuries in those clashes during Wednesday (24).

Meanwhile, clashes that erupted in NAVATKULAM, PALAMODDAI and surrounding areas in the north of VAVUNIYA claimed the lives of seven Tiger terrorists who tried to resist the advance of the troops into those areas. The clashes went on till about 4.30 in the evening.

In the meantime, one soldier laid his life following explosion of a booby trap in MUHAMALAI, JAFFNA on Wednesday (24) around 2.00 p.m. Another anti personnel mine explosion triggered by terrorists in the same area at about 4.15 p.m. injured one more soldier serving the area.

Fitch: Increased Liquidity Pressure on Sri Lankan Finance Cos

Fitch Ratings has today commented that challenges to liquidity in the Sri Lankan Registered Finance Company (RFC) sector could arise if the weak macroeconomic environment continues.

The sector Outlook is Stable to Negative, reflecting the agency's view that the ratings of well capitalised RFCs with an established franchise should remain unchanged in the short to medium term - i.e. they should be better able to weather the current weak macroeconomic conditions. However, some negative rating actions could be expected on the smaller RFCs with weak deposit franchises and low support elements if the high inflationary, high interest rate environment were to persist, with liquidity increasingly becoming a challenge.

Fitch notes that whilst RFCs are currently meeting the statutory minimum liquid ratio of 15% as imposed by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), maintaining liquidity could become a challenge in a scenario where deposit growth slows or contracts, and asset quality weakens substantially over a short time horizon. Rising interest rates since the latter part of 2006 coupled with inflationary pressures has impacted credit quality in the sector, with its client base coming mostly from the relatively riskier market segment lying beyond the risk appetite of commercial banks. This is depicted by rising delinquencies over the period with the gross NPL ratio rising to 13.8% at end- June 2008 (Q109) from 11.5% at end-March 2007 (FYE07). The RFCs' loan book primarily consists of leases and hire purchase for the financing of relatively lower-value commercial vehicles. Fitch observes that deteriorating asset quality is exacerbated by the challenge of fully recovering dues on the sale of foreclosed assets, owing to a declining demand for vehicles in tandem with falling profitability throughout the economy.

In addition to credit risk, RFCs are subject to significant market risk, as fixed rate vehicle leases and hire purchase agreements with average tenures of five-years are primarily funded by customer deposits which mature in one-year or less. Deposits, which accounted for 63% of the RFC funding base at Q109, are benchmarked against deposit rates of private licensed commercial banks (LCBs). RFC rates on one-year fixed deposits are restricted to the CBSL cap which was imposed in 2005 at 3% above the preceding quarter's weighted average 364 day Treasury Bill (T-Bill) rate.

Fitch observes that the gap between the CBSL cap, the average RFC one-year fixed deposit rate and the average private LCB one-year fixed deposit rate has progressively narrowed during the latter part of 2006 and early part of 2007 as commercial banks scrambled for growth and liquidity. However, since then the gap between RFC rates and private LCB rates has significantly widened, and RFC rates have moved close to the CBSL cap as they continued to grow in a period of high inflation and high interest rates, while LCBs have correspondingly eased off on growth. The increasing premium on RFC rates over commercial bank rates is indicative of increased liquidity requirements within the sector as a result of their continuing growth and rising credit costs.

Effective from 1 April 2008, the CBSL reduced the ceiling on a one-year fixed deposit to 2% above the 364 day T-Bill rate. Fitch observes that the probable intention of the reduction was to mitigate aggressive growth in the current environment, and thereby minimise rising systemic risk in the RFC sector. However, whilst some RFCs are recognising this and are curtailing growth, Fitch observes significant growth in a number of RFCs. This could be detrimental as the credit profile of these companies could deteriorate if the current economic climate were to persist. In such a scenario, improving liquidity by way of deposit mobilisation could become a challenge. Furthermore, Fitch notes that whilst the larger established RFCs are able to minimise re-financing risk as they continue to have access to institutional funding, most commercial banks have made policy decisions to curtail growth to the large majority of this sector; therefore short-term liquidity relief and refinancing of borrowings would be an increasing challenge to a number of the smaller companies.

Four dead, 20 ill after consuming illicit liquor

At least four people have died and 20 fallen seriously ill after consuming illicit liquor in the Weliveriya area last night, police said. While samples of the liquor were sent to the Government Analyst, police are hunting for the illicit liquor den owner who is believed to be absconding.

Nation bids farewell to a statesman

The nation bid farewell to former President D.B. Wijetunga today. His remains were taken to parliament this morning for parliamentarians to pay their last respects before being airlifted to Kandy for the funeral

Former UNP Provincial Councilor's house set on fire

Former UNP North Central Provincial Councilor Hemantha Hettiyarachchi's house was set on fire last night.

He claimed the fire cost him Rs. 3.5 million in damages. The house has been completely ruined, he said.

Mr. Hettiyarachchi has complained to the Polonnaruwa police.

No one had been at home when the incident took place.

More civilians come to govt. controlled areas

A group of 37 civilians arrived by boat to government controlled areas this morning, the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said.

They arrived at the Pulmudai army camp at 10.30 this morning from Allampil in Mulativu.

There had been nine families in the boat consisting of 14 men, 8 women, 10 girls and five boys.

The group will be transferred to the Thirukkovil army camp, the MCNS said.

Athugala suspends ‘Alakamandawa’

Questions have been raised over the sudden halt of popular ‘Alakamandawa’ programme of state-run Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation following a directive by Chairman Ariyarathna Athugala.

Speaking to ‘Lankadissent’ a senior SLRC media man said on condition of anonymity that the programme had been stopped without prior notice, after it featured Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, a film and teledrama producer disliked by the chairman.

Many who watched the first episode of the program featuring Mr. Bandaranayake were puzzled when the remaining part was not telecast the following week.

In addition, the producer of that ‘Alakamandawa’ program has been cast out from the program, the source added.

In recent times, several program producers and directors have been dismayed by the chairman's unruly actions and certain programmes, including tele dramas have been similarly suspended, the media man said.

The above source was contacted after attempts to reach the SLRC Chairman failed.

Meanwhile, reports allege the SLRC Chairman has informed the management not to use for any further programmes a presenter who had invited Mr. Bandaranayake to a ‘Nuga Sevana’ programme.

Co-chairs discuss latest fighting

Co-chairs to the peace process – the US, the European Union, Japan and Norway met in New York yesterday (Sept. 24th ) to discuss the latest fighting in Sri Lanka, including the need for both sides to protect civilians, a US diplomat said.

"The fighting has been expanding, heading toward the north," Richard Boucher, the assistant secretary for south Asian affairs, said after attending the meeting at the US mission of the United Nations in New York, AFP reported.

"We're placing a lot of emphasis right now on the protection of human rights for civilians who are caught in the fighting and the democratic government's responsibility for respecting and extending human rights protections to the people in the areas they take over," Mr. Boucher said.

The participants in the meeting also discussed the need for both sides to make sure they are ensuring humanitarian deliveries to the people displaced by the fighting.

These points are being made to Sri Lankan officials both at the UN General Assembly in New York as well as in Colombo he said.

Keheliya returns the British ruling party slap on the face asking who the Western corrupt politicians are in LTTE payroll

(Lanka-e-News,) Our London sources say that the Sri Lankan media spokesman on national security Minister keheliya Rambukwella's statement at a London press conference that certain corrupt politicians of Western world are in the payrolls of the LTTE, has made shockwaves among the Labor Party politicians.

At this press conference held on September 22 parallel to the British Labor Party annual convention, Minister Rambukwella made an extra attempt to prove that LTTE had links with Al-Quida.

The Minister pointed out that there are large numbers of Tamils in some constituencies of Western countries. Some corrupt politicians in the Western world are in LTTE's payrolls and they support LTTE terrorism, he said.

It is understood that the Minister summoned the press conference urgently to answer the lobbying of some pro-LTTE sections against Sri Lanka government at the Labor Party congress.
Sen Kandaiah representing British Tamils said before 10,000 party members that Sri Lanka state is violating human rights of Tamils. He asked from the party to consider the violence and human rights violations against Tamils in Sri Lanka to be considered as an alarming sign.

The Labor Party congress was broadcast by BBC with potential of creating a great impact on people.

UK Foreign Minister David Miliband and other orators stressed the ethical duty of UK regarding the other countries of the world and Sen Kandaiah’s speech on Sri Lankan Tamils was also in that line of thinking. He made this speech as a number of Ministers, EU MPs and representatives of international organizations were on the stage.
Minister Rambukwella's press conference has been understood as a reply to Kandiah's speech. The Minister pointed out that Al-Qaida obtained technology for massive bombs like Islamabad Marriott hotel explosion from LTTE resembling it to 1996 Colombo Central bank bomb. He further guessed that the suicide kit was also introduced to Al-Qaida by LTTE.

Sri Lankan launches Beijing web check-in

Sri Lankan Airlines has launched an online check-in facility in Beijing Capital International airport that saves passengers from having to queue up to check-in. The service is available on Sri Lankan’s website.

Passengers from Beijing can choose their own seat on the aircraft through the system with a corresponding reduction in the time spent in the check-in area.

Online check-in opens 24 hours before a flight and continues until two hours before the scheduled departure. One person can even check-in groups of passengers, if the required information and reference numbers are available.

Passengers proceed direct to the baggage drop counter, where their bags will be weighed. Any excess baggage matters will be handled at that time. Those passengers who require special care, such as infants and wheelchair passengers, will not be able to check-in online, but will continue to be handled by Sri Lankan staff.

Sri Lankan operates three flights from Beijing to Bangkok and Colombo, connecting passengers to its global network of 41 destinations in 22 countries.

Fitch Affirms Peoples Leasing Co. Trust 32

Fitch Ratings Lanka has today affirmed the National rating on the lease backed trust certificates ( LBTCs) issued by Peoples Leasing Co. Ltd. Trust 32 (PLC32), as follows:

LKR188.4m, LBTC affirmed at 'A-(lka)' (A minus(lka)); Outlook Stable

The affirmation is based on the uninterrupted payouts made to LBTC investors during the period under review (December 2007 to August 2008) and the debt service cover being maintained above the trigger of 1.15. The affirmation also takes into account the high level of credit enhancement to investors in the form of excess collateralisation. The rating of the LBTCs is credit linked to that of the originator, as the trust enjoys full recourse to the originator in the event that cash flows from the underlying assets fall short of meeting investor payouts. However, such recourse has not been utilised to date.

Fitch notes that despite credit enhancement being sufficient to support a higher rating, structural constraints in the form of unhedged interest rate risk on the floating rate notes and the absence of a higher rated pre-defined alternative servicer restricts the rating of PLC32 to that of the originator. The absence of minimum quality criteria when replacing assets, lack of a minimum excess collateralisation trigger to trap excess cash and the untested nature of bankruptcy proceedings for the mortgaged leases (as a liquidity facility is not incorporated into the transaction) are further constraining factors of the rating.

While the transaction documents require the replacement of assets every quarter, only two such replacements have occurred to date. Nevertheless, the agency does not view this as a serious concern given the high level of credit enhancement in the form of excess collateralisation.

Around 54% of the outstanding principal on the notes had been paid off as at August 2008, reducing the balance of the LBTC principal to LKR188m. Excess collateralisation averaged 93% for the review period compared to 32% in the previous review period, mainly due to asset replacements in January 2008, which carried a higher principal outstanding than the assets removed. The increase in pool principal also resulted in the average debt service cover ratio of the transaction increasing to 1.45 compared to 1.23 for the previous review period.

Monthly collections of current dues and overdues averaged 57% and 60%, respectively, for the period reviewed compared to 53% and 52%, respectively for the previous period reviewed. Around 92% of total dues since inception have been collected as at August 2008. Pre-terminations of leases averaged 0.66% of the monthly opening pool principal during the same period compared to 0.45% for the previous review period, while a total of 8.4% of the initial pool principal was pre-terminated as at August 2008.

The rating addresses the timely payment of interest and capital on the LBTCs, which are backed by a pool of leases that were originated by People's Leasing Company Limited ('A-(lka)' (A minus(lka))/Stable).

Rating Outlooks have been published for all newly issued Asia Pacific Structured Finance tranches since June 2008, and concurrently with rating actions for tranches issued prior to June 2008. Unlike a Rating Watch which notifies investors that there is a reasonable probability of a rating change in the short term as a result of a specific event, rating outlooks indicate the likely direction of any rating change over a one- to two-year period.

A performance report will be available shortly on the agency's websites www.fitchratings.com and www.fitchratings.lk.

Lanka not signing defence pact with Pakistan