There is a mixed international reaction over Sri Lankan government’s decision to appoint a committee to study and report on the US Department of State’s report to Congress on incidents during the recent conflict in Sri Lanka.
While UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is mum about the new committee, however, the United States government has welcomed Sri Lanka’s decision to appoint a committee on ‘Lessons Learned and Reconciliation’, to examine key aspects of the recently ended conflict in Sri Lanka. More >>

The current weather conditions will prevail until later this month said Deputy Director of the Meteorology Department S.R. Jayasekara. He added that this pre monsoon weather pattern will change as the South-West monsoon hits Sri Lanka, around May 20th.
“We are going through the pre monsoon period. There are thunder showers in the South West region of Sri Lanka during mornings and in other parts of the country in the evening. But as the monsoon season starts rains will be limited to the Central, More >>

Why is the government opening itself to a myriad of accusations particularly by the JVP and some arch detractors, when some of them could have been avoidable?
The case in point is the budget. The so called mini-budget and the avoidance of a budget proper has now provided ammunition for the JVP to say that the government is basically not managing its finances, while launching many fancy development projects which are dubious because they help ‘government MPs and ministers get rich.” More >>

Intense pressure from lobby groups is stymieing the government’s best efforts to stave off an international war crimes probe by proposing a local commission. Two of these influential groups will convene in London on Monday to “demand justice for survivors” one year after the end of the conflict.
Even as Sri Lanka prepares to pull out all the stops for an elaborate ceremony to mark Victory Day on Thursday, the International Crisis Group (ICG), Amnesty International and M.C.M. Iqbal, More >>

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — Australia captain Michael Clarke wasted little time in upping the pressure on England’s Kevin Pietersen ahead of the World Twenty20 final between cricket’s oldest rivals here today (at 9pm SL time).
Pietersen has led the way for England with 201 runs at an average of 67, including match-winning fifties in the Super Eights against both defending champions Pakistan, who lost to Australia in a thrilling semi-final, and his native South Africa. More >>

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) employees are fuming as the SLC top brass waste the hard-earned money of cricketers on overseas tours while asking them to suggest ways and means of cutting down expenses.
Sri Lanka Cricket, running on an overdraft running on to several millions is under pressure to reduce it expenditure as its financial situation is fast deteriorating and through an internal memo has requested its employees to submit proposals to cut down cost. More >>

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was playing at a cinema and I had settled comfortably into my seat in the empty row at the very back. It wasn’t crowded in the least, the air conditioning was on full blast and the school was about to be invaded by the Death Eaters when... a cell phone rings, loud. It’s a man in the front row who, instead of switching it off goes on to answer it. And guess what, it’s not a happy conversation. Rather he reminds the person at the other end of his mother via various epithets, in Sinhala, and very loudly. More >>

Sudarshana Bandara who, now promoting his 11th art exhibition Shadows, took up painting after his mother had to do his homework when he failed to do so in 2nd grade. “It was a painting called Samupakaraya, a very simple painting I had to do as homework when I was in grade 2. I was adamant that I cannot draw and my mother had to paint it for me. But after watching her draw it, I thought I should learn how.” Sudarshana’s attempt at learning art yielded quick results as he started winning a series of local and international art competitions before he even completed his O/Ls. More >>

Anti-government protesters in Bangkok pushed back against police and army efforts to pin them down in the center of Thailand’s capital Friday, setting fire to a police bus and beefing up the improvised fortifications around their camp as violent clashes continued from the night before.
Troops responded by firing bullets and tear gas at protesters attempting to turn the area into a war zone. It wasn’t immediately clear if the soldiers were using live ammunition, but they had previously been authorized to do so by army commanders who say “terrorists” are operating within the demonstrators’ ranks. More >>

Thailand’s rogue army general Khattiya Sawasdipol, better known as Commander Red, has always had talent for self-promotion.
His personal web page is a catalogue of links to his bestselling books about his military exploits as an officer in Thailand’s feared paramilitary Rangers and his claimed der-ring-do behind enemy lines throughout Southeast Asia for the Central Intelligence Agency.
The outspoken and brash Khattiya is also a favourite participant for Thai television talk show producers, and there’s a string of links to his video clips..... More >>

The new BoI Chairman Jayampathi Bandaranaike said during the next five years, his economic agency will focus mainly on six areas, which are manufacturing of non- traditional and high value-added sector, manufacture of apparel fabrics and accessories, tourism and leisure, information technology and IT enabled services, agriculture, agri- processing, deep sea fishing, dairy and livestock and the infrastructure. Although the BoI is focused on major development activities, it is said that Minister of Economy Development Basil Rajapaksa has nearly 40 institutions under his purview. More >>

Shell Gas is said to be reviewing its portfolio of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) business at present. A Shell Gas Lanka Ltd spokesman on May 6 announced that the company is going through a “review of ownership options”.
Under this review, the company would allow third parties to be involved in the LPG business. According to Bloomberg, more than six private equity firms are bidding for Shell PLC’s LPG assets. Companies such as Advent International PLC and PAI Partners are also among those interested in bidding. More >>

Origins
In the country’s early years as a British colony in the 1800s, the hillsides were thickly forested, and carving out any section for cultivation required not only monumental determination and manpower, but often the help of elephants to haul away the felled trees. Little by little, the jungle yielded and the estates that today spread over so much of Sri Lanka’s hill country began to take shape.
The rugged British planters who tended the estates first looked to coffee, but when a killer blight swept through the country in the late 1860s, it was tea that proved their saving. More >>

Theodore Roosevelt was one of the most popular American presidents as well as one of the most important. With his zest for life and his love of controversy, he captured the public’s imagination as no president since Andrew Jackson had done. His willingness to shoulder the burdens of world power and to struggle with the problems caused by the growth of industry made his administration one of the most significant in U.S. history. Roosevelt was a strong nationalist and a dynamic leader, who greatly expanded the power of the presidency at the expense of Congress, the states, More >>