Foreign Minister Prof G.L Peiris is expected to discuss UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon’s decision to appoint a special panel on Sri Lanka and UN under Secretary General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe’s scheduled visit, when he meets the Secretary General, tomorrow (24) morning at UN headquarters in New York.. More >>

Police last week decided to strictly enforce the law with regard to certain traffic offences by producing motorists in courts, not allowing them to pay spot fines. Accordingly, speeding motorists will be charged under reckless or dangerous driving laws, and produced in courts, DIG Traffic Lucky Peiris told the media last week.More >>

The United National Party is now facing turmoil within the party as new Christian sects are dominating, and party sources say that these Christian sects have even funded the party in style and have given many lucrative benefits to the party stalwarts. This story was exposed after the UNP leader decided on his own, disregarding party seniors advisors, to appoint a prominent member of the Assembly of God (AoG) church, Eran Wickramaratne from the UNP national list to parliament. . More >>

The International Crisis Group’s report on war crimes in Sri Lanka seems like the work of the LTTE front organization, the Tamils Against Genocide ---- either the ICG outsourced the TAG to write the report or vice versa.
The timing of the launch of the report, its flimsy evidence and the skewed logic of allegations smack of a work driven by singular malice against the Sri Lankan state and its armed forces.More >>

The development of infra-structure is what many are interested in. Neither because the development will have a lasting effect on the country as a whole, nor because it will raise one’s profile if a solid work is done. But, simply because it involves huge amount of kick-backs that come your way as commission. Though this is immoral, it’s the practice that exists in this part of the world and, quite evident to our own eyes. But the problem is, by dedicating their whole life on earning an extra buck for which they legally can’t claim ownership, the authorities forget the most salient points, which need to be addressed.More >>

Carl Lewis is credited with being the greatest track and field athlete of all time. Carl, now an actor, won 10 Olympic medals including 9 gold and 10 World Championship medals of which 8 were gold. Compatriot, Jesse Owens is credited with the greatest athletic performance of the 20th Century. His feat was that he angered Adolph Hitler, the architect of World War II so much, by beating German long jumper Lutz Long, Hitler left the 1936 Berlin, Olympic stadium.More >>

When otherwise reasonable people not only watch but freely admit to watching and even following such programming as Maha Gedara and Pabaa, you can say for sure that there’s nothing to watch on local TV, or rather that there is nothing worth watching. Despite many a new channel entering the market with massive publicity campaigns and what not, soppy, repetitive teledramas, mega teledramas and soaps are still the order of the day....More >>

The three days (June 3-5) that is the International Indian Film Awards (IIFA) 2010 weekend, of glitz and glamour, Bollywood masala style, will see the Bollywood circle descend upon our aisle to walk a green carpet, pick up awards while dancing through item numbers, play a charity cricket match, and host a global business forum.
Lara Dutta, Boman Irani and Riteish Deshmukh will be the hosts of IIFA 2010. More >>

Order has been restored in Bangkok and the rest of Thailand after days of violent clashes that crippled the capital, the country’s prime minister said Friday.
In a televised address, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Thailand plans to swiftly return to normalcy, but acknowledged that obstacles remain.
“We recognize that, as we move ahead, there are huge challenges ahead of us, particularly the challenge of overcoming the divisions that have occurred in this country,” he said. More >>

The Pakistan government blocked access to YouTube today in protest at its ‘sacrilegious’ content. The move comes just a day after the country blocked Facebook in outrage over a page that encouraged users to submit images of the Prophet Mohammed. The government is challenging the power of the world wide web in a growing crackdown against sites deemed offensive to the country’s majority Muslim population. More >>

The IMF officials led by mission chief Dr. Brian Aitken said they are taking a ‘positive assessment’ back to the IMF headquarters in USA on the third tranche of $ 2.6 bn Standby Arrangement, albeit with concerns over tax reforms and the budget, to be presented in early June. Whether Sri Lanka will be receiving the loan or not will be known in another six weeks, it was revealed. The mission met with officials of the Central Bank, Ministry of Finance & Planning, Presidential Tax Commission, and other government ministries and departments, and the Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabral.More >>

Central Bank of Sri Lanka kept its benchmark interest rates unchanged for a sixth straight month as slowing inflation enabled it to avoid joining regional counterparts in withdrawing monetary stimulus.
Inflation in the South Asian island is half the average rate of the five years through 2009 as agricultural supplies from former Tamil rebel-controlled areas increase after the end of a 26-year civil war. That’s helping Sri Lanka keep interest rates low to drive growth at a time when Malaysia, India and China are tightening monetary policies to check rising prices..More >>

Borobudur is the biggest temple in Indonesia. Borobudur temple is located in Magelang, Central Java, in addition to being a busy tourist attraction it is also a centre of worship for Buddhists in Indonesia, especially during celebration of Vesak. This is in accordance with the meaning of the name of ‘convent in the hills’. This temple was built around 750 A.D.
The Borobudur temple is located in Magelang, Central Java, about 40 km from Yogyakarta. Borobudur Temple has 10 levels consisting of 6 levels of a square, circular level 3 circular and a main stupa as a peak. More >>

This year, Vesak Full Moon Poya day falls on May 27. Vesak is a festival celebrated with enthusiasm by Buddhists all around the world.
The importance
Prince Siddhartha Gautama was born on a Vesak full moon poya day in the mid-500’s B.C. His father, King Sudhodana, ruled a small state in northern India, near the Himalayas. Prince Sidhartha was conceived when his mother, Queen Maya dreamed of a white elephant. When he was born, a sage predicted that he would become either a great leader or a Buddha. King Sudhodana did not want his son to dedicate himself to a religious life, More >>