Holy Brawl

Two Buddhist monk legislators were admitted to hospital Tuesday following an unprecedented brawl in Sri Lankas parliament initiated by ruling party lawmakers, a parliamentary official said.rnNew legislator Akmeemana Dayaratne and fellow monk MP Kolonnawe Sri Sumangala, both from the opposition Jathika Hela Urumaya Party, were admitted to the nearby Jayewardenepura hospital after being punched by […]

Sinking Ship

Cabinet spokesperson Jeyraj Fernadopulle said Tuesday, that there might be lquote no other alternative but another election, if Parliament continues to be volatile.ldblquote We are prepared to go back before the people once again if necessary. We are ready to go for an election if this is the situation dblquote , Fernandopulle told journalists.rn rnldblquote […]

Image Wise

South Asia is home to a quarter of the worlds population and a quarter of the worlds reserves of major minerals but the rest of the world knows little about the regions collective face of SAARC.rn rnldblquote When you say EU people immediately recognise the grouping. Not so with SAARC. SAARC needs to have an […]

Parliament Jokes

Sri Lankas Buddhist monk Parliamentarians staged a demonstration in Colombo on Wednesday for a better-behaved legislature for the island.rnThe JHU (Jathika Hela Urumaya) staged a sathyagraha (meditation demonstration) at Colombos Viharamaha Devi Park for peace and sanity among parliamentarians.rn rnldblquote This is our way of condemning the behaviour in Parliament yesterday and we are meditating […]

Tigers Tail

The key to unlocking the US$ 4.5 bn Tokyo aid is to restart peace talks endash but the governments main ally the JVP wants the LTTE to first lift its pre-conditions on the interim administration.The co-chairs of the Tokyo conference met in Brussels this week and called on both parties to resume peace talks as […]

Friendly Chat

The meeting came a day after the Tamil insurgents warned of “calamityrnand destruction” unless the killings stop. They accused the military ofrnbeing behind some of the violence.rn rn More than 15 people – including a military intelligence operative andrnrebels – have been killed in recent weeks in eastern Sri Lanka. Both thernsecurity forces and the […]

Bonding Together

The EU-Sri Lanka Partenariat 2004 kicked off, paving the way for joint ventures, partnerships, marketing cooperation and the transfer of technologies between local and EU companies. rn rnSpeaking at the opening ceremony of the Partenariat, the Ambassador, Embassy of Ireland, New Delhi, Philip McDonagh, said the EU was solidly behind the governments peace efforts.rn rnMeanwhile […]

Flash Floods

Sri Lankas government has received 52,000 jobrnapplications after a decision to hire unemployed university graduates intornthe public service, a Finance Ministry official said Thursday.rnAfter winning general elections in April, President ChandrikarnKumaratungas government said it would increase recruitment into the publicrnsector to reduce unemployment.rn rn “We are still going through the applications. They are being handled […]

Finding Hope

Mineral sands, ceramics and rubber are in the study list, with the BOI keen to find a handful of key sectors for investment promotion. rn rnA select list of foreign industrial giants will be targeted to invest in the identified areas, BOI Chief Lalith de Mel told LBO.rn rnDe Mel says unless there is a […]

Money Makers

The government plans to streamline its revenue collecting units and give legislative powers to new taxes that were proposed in the previous budget, the Treasury Secretary said Tuesday.The previous government initiated a Sri Lanka Revenue Collection Authority, which combined the Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise Departments, in an attempt to reform and strengthen public finances.rn […]

Mute Voice

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans fronti’e8res) on Tuesday condemned at the murder of Tamil journalist Aiyathurai Nadesan in Batticaloa (220 km east of Colombo) and voiced concern that dissension within the Tamil separatist movement could lead to an escalation of violation against the news media. “We call on the authorities to keep us informed of […]

Clear Voice

Sri Lanka stressed on the need for greater government ownership of aid utilization and for capacity building, at an international aid harmonization conference between Colombo and Tokyo, on Tuesday.Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Dr.P.B. Jayasundera, presented Sri Lankas country perspective on the ongoing harmonization work, said press release from the Japan-World Bank Distance Learning Partnership Project.rn […]

Page 632 of 672