newslanka.org

Aug 01, Colombo: Canadian authorities are preparing to handle any situation that may be arising from the arrival of a migrant ship carrying Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Vancouver island some time in the second week of August.

July 31, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo will soon have a separate night-life spot on the weekends to entertain fun-seeking tourists to the city as well as residents.

July 31, Colombo: The World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has decided to add a mountain range in Sri Lanka’s hill country to the World Heritage List.

July 31, Colombo: Sri Lanka police Saturday denied local media reports that the driver of the LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran has surrendered to the Trincomalee police.

July 31, Puttalam: A forest fire has broken out today (31) in Puttalam in Sri Lanka’s North Western Province where the feast of the well known St. Anne’s Church is to take place tomorrow (August 01).

July 31, Colombo: The United States today condemned the attack on the studios of Siyatha Television and its affiliated radio stations by an unknown armed group.

July 31, Colombo: A clerical service official covers duties of the Sri Lanka High Commissioner of Canada, a Sinhala daily The Divaina reported.

July 31, Colombo: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa is scheduled to meet Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe for extensive talks. The discussion will be held in the President’s official residence Temple Trees on Tuesday, August 03.

July 31, Colombo: Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) has planned to purchase 100 buses for the SLTB depots under a leasing scheme.

July 31, Colombo: Sri Lanka Ministry of Education says that a new programme costing Rs. 60 billion will be launched from next year to develop 1,000 secondary schools.

July 31, Colombo: A Sri Lankan court has ordered a probe into the report from the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) that internal organs of a midwife who died under mysterious circumstances in North have gone missing.

July 31, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Power and Energy Ministry has organized a national energy exhibition, an energy week and the National Energy Efficiency Award ceremony from August 3-8 at the BMICH in Colombo. President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to inaugurate the event on August 3.

July 30, Colombo: Sri Lanka Cabinet of Ministers has granted permission to the Central Bank to provide a guarantee of Rs. one billion to People’s Bank to open letters of credit worth for importing coal to Sri Lanka.

July 30, Colombo: The Japanese government is prepared to consider the idea of a Free Trade Agreement between Sri Lanka and Japan, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Masayuki Naoshima has told the visiting Sri Lankan ministers in Tokyo.

July 30, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Petroleum Ministry today said that an Indian company would commence drilling for oil in the sea off the northwestern coast early next year.

July 30, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party (UNP) has condemned the attack on the private TV station Siyatha in Colombo today.

July 30, Colombo: A work stoppage by prime mover drivers of the South Asia Gateway Terminals (Pvt) Ltd., (SAGT) in Sri Lanka’s Colombo Port has crippled the container traffic in the port.

July 30, Colombo: The British government has removed the travel restriction that had been imposed on its citizens against traveling to the Sri Lanka’s Northern Province.

July 30, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party (UNP) has decided to suspend its Kandy District parliamentarian Abdul Cader from the party’s working committee for supporting the government in parliament.

July 30, Colombo: Sri Lankan government today ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to initiate special investigation on the reported fire attack on a private radio and TV station in capital Colombo.

July 30, Colombo: Sri Lanka Cabinet of Ministers has granted permission to the Central Bank to provide a guarantee of Rs. one billion to People’s Bank to open letters of credit worth for importing coal to Sri Lanka.

July 30, Colombo: A recent survey has found that the loss to Sri Lanka economy due to traffic congestions in Colombo city is Rs. 32 billion per year.

July 30, Kandy: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa today presided over the progress review meeting on development in Central Province, the first such meeting at provincial level, held at the President’s House in Kandy.

July 30, Colombo: Sri Lanka Rehabilitation Commissioner Brigadier Sudantha Ranasinghe says that 3,000 surrendered cadres of the defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been released so far.

July 30, Colombo: Colombo Municipal Council has found out that 380 of the inspected places where cooked food is sold in the city are below standard.

July 30, Colombo: Sri Lanka police say that 101 complaints regarding abductions have been received within the seven months from January to July in 2010.

July 30, Colombo: India finally ended its run fest at 707 on Day 5 of the second Test against Sri Lanka at the SSC grounds in Colombo today.

July 30, Colombo: An armed mob of about 15 have attacked a private TV and radio station in Sri Lankan capital Colombo.

July 29, Kandy: A Japanese delegation including the Mayor of Ginan city of Japan Hideyasu Matsubara met Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the President’s House in Kandy Thursday.

July 29, Colombo: The high-level committee appointed by the Sri Lankan Cabinet to look into the purchase of a 51 percent stake in Sri Lanka’s major liquefied petroleum distributor Shell Lanka Gas Company is to complete the negotiations within the next two days, the Government Information Department said today.

July 29, Colombo: A major part of the Tamil Diaspora is happy with the government’s measures to improve the living standards of the Tamil people in the Northern and Eastern Provinces after the war and willing to support the government, the government spokesman said today.

July 29, Colombo: Sri Lankan government today said the Higher Security Zones extended during the war cannot be removed completely overnight although some High Security Zones have already been narrowed as the government has to ensure safety of all citizens in the country.

July 29, Colombo: The government is to launch a project to upgrade the basic infrastructure facilities in selected 100 urban low-income settlements on lands owned by the National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) and Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) covering the city of Colombo and the Western Province.

July 29, Colombo: The first phase of construction of the Norochcholai Power Plant at Puttalam in northwestern Sri Lanka is nearing completion and expects to be operational in November.

July 29, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government has strengthened the macro economic fundamentals to face any eventualities positively and has taken several measures to deal with the loss of European Union’s tariff concession, Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) plus facility from next month.

July 29, Ratnapura: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa today declared open a new maternal and infant unit at the Ratnapura General Hospital.

July 29, Colombo: With Sachin Tendulkar’s double century and Suresh Raina’s maiden century in a Test match, India took the lead today on Day 4 of the second Test match in the three-match series with Sri Lanka in Colombo.

July 29, Colombo: Sri Lanka Supreme Court today dismissed a fundamental rights petition filed by Bharati Airtel Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. challenging the price floor imposed on mobile phone tariffs.

July 29, Colombo: A Sri Lankan court has released the former head of the Presidential Security Division (PSD), DIG Nihal Karunaratne on bail.

July 29, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) affiliated Inter University Student Federation (IUSF) today (29) filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) on the death of a third year student of the Ruhuna University and the arrest of eight other students this week.

July 29, Tuticorin: Indian Coast Guard has arrested 15 Sri Lankan fishermen in three boats for fishing illegally in Indian waters, the Indian daily The Hindu reported.

July 29, Colombo: A Sri Lankan court issued notices to 20 witnesses to provide evidence to the “white flag” case involving the former Army Commander and current Democratic National Alliance (DNA) parliamentarian retired General Sarath Fonseka.

July 29, Jaffna: The body of a midwife who died under mysterious circumstances in the North earlier this month was exhumed yesterday for a fresh forensic examination.

July 29, Fort Wayne, IN: This year Annual Vas Pinkama organized by the Indiana Buddhist Temple will begin on 31 July 2010 with the observance of Rainy Season by the resident monks of the temple.

July 28, Colombo: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa today visited Prime Minister D.M Jayaratne, who has been warded at the Nawaloka Hospital for a brief illness.

July 28, Colombo: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa today honored late Sirimavo Bandaranaike at ‘Swarnabhimana Awarjana’, a function held at the Temple Tress to commemorate the 50th anniversary of her inception as world’s first woman Prime Minister.

July 28, Colombo: Five senior Brigadiers in the Army including the military spokesman have been promoted to the rank of Major General, the Military Secretariat announced Tuesday.

July 28, Colombo: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa today at the Temple Trees presented air tickets to 19 students to participate in the 2010 International Youth Friendship Camp in Shanghai in China.

July 28, Colombo: A Sri Lankan court today sentenced two people to ii years of rigorous imprisonment for supplying information to the Liberations Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to assassinate the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (Mahajana Wing) leader Mangala Samaraweera.

July 28, Colombo: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa paid his last respects to Erin Senanayake, the wife of former Minister late R.G Senanayake at her Colombo residence on Tuesday.

July 28, Colombo: Colombo Additional Magistrate Lal Bandara Ranasinghe criticized Sri Lanka police today for failing to conduct investigations regarding alleged police attacks on 13 houses in Mattakkuliya area in Colombo city.

July 28, Colombo: The Secretary of the Ministry of Ports and Aviation Ranjith Silva says that the construction work of the first phase of the Hambanthota harbor project is almost complete.

July 28, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s main opposition United National Party (UNP) has commenced discussions on several proposed constitutional amendments with the government.

July 28, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) affiliated National Trade Union Center (NTUC) today, calling them intimidating, condemned the government’s actions against the university lecturers, who launched a token strike yesterday (27) demanding a revision in their salaries.

July 28, Colombo: A protest march and a sathyagraha organized by today (28) Sri Lanka’s Marxist party affiliated Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) against what they called police brutality against university students resulted in the temporary closure of Olcott Mawatha in the Fort area of capital Colombo.

July 28, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s state owned power monopoly Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) says that Rs. 11.9 million fines were levied from the unscrupulous electricity users within the month of July so far.

July 28, Colombo: Sri Lankan bowlers have slowed India’s strong start today on Day 3 of the second Test at the SSC grounds in Colombo.

July 28, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) affiliated Inter University Students Federation (IUSF) is to hold a protest march to the Police Headquarters today.

July 28, Colombo: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa made offerings to Adi Vel (Trident Chariot) at the main gate of Temple Trees on Galle road Tuesday. The Adi Vel has proceeded to the Sea Street Kathireshan Kovil from Bambalapitiya. This was the 136th annual Adi Vel ceremony of Sea Street Kathireshan Kovil.

July 27, Colombo: The International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) is in urgent need of funds to enable Sri Lanka Red Cross (SLRC) to provide assistance to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Sri Lanka as only 40 percent of an emergency appeal made in April was covered with contributions received to date, including pledges [...]