The Democratic National Alliance (DNA) plans to inform the Commonwealth Parliamentary Union (CPU) Secretary General about the government’s attempts to prevent General Sarath Fonseka from attending the CPU conference to be held in Kenya.
He added that the government has no right to prevent Fonseka from travelling to Nairobi since the Speaker has given the greenlight.
“The Speaker gave permission and parliament is the supreme institution. More >>

Retail prices of vegetables have gone up by 100%, in the recent past, according to the Dambulla special economic centre sources.
But the government blames the vegetable sellers and the large scale vegetable cultivators for adopting fraudulent strategies to keep the vegetable prices steep.
According to the Dambulla special economic centre, the price of a kilogram of vegetables has gone up as follows: More >>

It is the season of discontent for the UNP, and the season of discontent for Tamilnadu politicians as well.
Ranil Wickremesinghe’s strategy to consolidate himself within the party seems to be in full throttle, with him now carrying out an all-out media blitz in favour of himself.
He told the business community last week that that as long as he is there at the helm of the UNP, the party would not be split down the middle. Some businessmen were splitting down their sides. More >>

The Tamil diaspora is likely to be livid. International human rights groups like Human Rights Watch, International Crisis Group and Amnesty International will not be happy. And this certainly was not what Navi Pillai, the UN high commissioner for human rights, had hoped for. Nevertheless, the Sri Lanka Government seems to have pulled it off–if the public statements of several visiting envoys last week are to be believed, an international war crimes investigation is off the cards for now. More >>

Tillekaratne Dilshan who was instrumental in sinking Bangladesh with a brilliant all round effort said that his stint as captain during the Zimbabwe tri-series helped him shape up well and to get his form back.
He was awarded man of the match for his exquisite batting display (71) that saw Sri Lanka scoring a mammoth 312, the highest score at the venue. He also picked up three crucial wickets for 37 to help Sri Lanka record a comfortable 126-run win against Bangladesh. “I was out of form for a while. I started training and watched video clips of my batting and the little things that had gone wrong with my batting, and I made the necessary adjustments. More >>

Discipline, commitment and ability to face challenges are the traits young school cricketers should strive to achieve, parliamentarian Thilanga Sumathipala said.
He said so during the launch of the ‘Lemonade Super 17’ school cricket tournament for this year, which was held at Sumathi Court Bambalapitiya on Thursday. “Nowhere in the world there’s structured school cricket like we find in Sri Lanka,” Sumathipala said. Speaking to a group of young cricketers he said: “I want you to walk into the middle of the national team soon.”More >>

Over the week, the Lankan state hit a most anti-romantic bottom. The English, The Independent, among other local and international press, had stressed on how upto 200 couples had been detained by police over the past two weeks in the districts of Matara and Kurunegala owing to what the authorities have deemed as ‘indecent behaviour at a public place’. Among those detained are couples who, so to speak, have been just only ‘holding hands’ -- and people being involved in the usual exchange of emotions. More >>

With a sudden boost in tourists’ numbers filling up every hotel, and boutique villas now costing boutique prices, how about going back to Sri Lanka’s roots and taking a holiday for a fraction of the price, in an old tea bungalow, in one of Sri Lanka’s lesser known provinces. Deniyaya, is “the gateway to the Sinharaja rain forest”, and one of Sri Lanka’s most interesting cow boy towns, 196 kilometres from the capital, Colombo. More >>

Not believing what they read in the papers, China’s leaders commission their own IN A country where independent information-gathering is kept in check, what China’s leaders know and how they know it matters hugely. A recently leaked speech by Xia Lin, a senior editor at Xinhua, China’s government-run news agency, suggests that even though press controls have been somewhat loosened in recent years, leaders still rely heavily on secret reports filed by Xinhua journalists. More >>

A six-week-old girl being monitored by social workers died after her mentally-ill mother sat on her, a court heard. Julia Lovemore, 41, had torn out pages of the Bible and stuffed them into baby Faith’s mouth before smothering her.
She was yesterday detained indefinitely under the mental health act after admitting the manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility , which happened in June 2009. More >>

The cabinet paper approved to buy back a majority stake (over 51 percent) in Shell Gas Lanka Limited will not have any impact on gas prices, said Petroleum Minister Susil Premajayanth. The government’s decision came after Shell Gas Lanka Limited announced it was considering a “review of ownership options” in May this year.
“The treasury already holds 49 % of assets in Shell Gas Lanka, and once the government purchases 51 percent of assets, the administrative power comes back to Sri Lanka. More >>

High level of activity continued at the Colombo Stock Exchange in the week with turnover remaining high and the indices moving up. The week though saw shortened trading with the government abruptly declaring a Friday to be a holiday on account of Victory Day celebrations. This caused a few headaches within the investing community, with settlements for Friday needing to be managed along with other corporate actions that are price sensitive. While a holiday on an important day like this is important, More >>

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is famous because it leans. Although it was designed to be perfectly vertical, it started to lean during construction. However, even without this famous characteristic, this building would still be one of the most remarkable architectural structures from medieval Europe. It stands at 60 metres and until 1990 was leaning at about a 10 degree angle. The Tower of Pisa is more accurately referred to simply as the bell tower, or campanile. More >>

Kurunegala is the capital of the Wayamba Province, Sri Lanka and the Kurunegala District. A transport hub, it has a railway station, and several main roads linking important parts of the country. It is situated about 94km from Colombo, and 42km from Kandy. Kurunegala has a population of about 28,571. Ethagala, a rock reaching 316 meters, towers over the town, which is located at an altitude of 116 meters above sea level. Ethagala, (Elephant Rock) is a magnificent creation of nature. The shape of Ethagala resembles an elephant. More >>