Over 50 percent of people who continue to receive Samurdhi benefits do not belong to the category of extreme poverty, according to statistics released by the Central Bank (CB)
The CB pointed out that 32 percent of the population receive Samurdhi benefits but the extreme poverty sector is 15.2 percent of the total population here. More >>

The prices of the country’s most demanding vehicle, the motor bike, are expected to increase by 5 percent, according to new import duty changes, motor bike importers point out.
It has happened as a production duty of 20 percent, which was not levied earlier, has been imposed.
As the duties are counted on compound interest, the overall price of a motor bike has increased by 5 percent even though the import duty has been slashed.More >>

How would you assess President Mahinda Rajapa-ksa’s approach towards constitutional change?
The process is the problem. It has been the case where a lot of constitutional amendments are concerned. There isn’t time to study and discuss this properly. A constitution is supposed to be the country’s basic law. Therefore, if it is to be changed it must be something that is carried out with a lot of deliberation and public discussion. But very often we find there is no public participation in the amendment process. Sometimes, amendments are even proposed in the form of an urgent bill. A constitutional amendment has to be first drafted in bill form after which it has to go before the Supreme Court which will decide whether it needs just a two-thirds majority-which is a basic requirement for any constitutional change-or whether it also needs to be put to the people at a referendum. More >>

What do you make of your allegedly forced ouster from the JHU leadership?
I came to know of this ouster through the media while I was on an excavation survey in the jungles of Mullativu and Vavuniya, and currently I am studying the process that led to my dumping as party leader.
The norm is usually to inform the current leader before such a decision is taken but, I was never even called for a discussion on the issue, hence it has come like a bolt from the blue.
However, I need to categorically stress that I am quite thrilled to hear that the party has decided to replace me even if that has not been done in keeping with the democratic protocol of an esteemed party like the JHU.
I also have never hankered after portfolios in my life and therefore could take this latest episode in my stride ever so easily.More >>

St. Peter’s College Colombo 4 which emerged undisputed Singer President’s Trophy league champs for 2010 achieved that landmark thanks to two ingredients in particular.
One was setting targets for each and every game they played in the league this year and meeting them, and the other was the excellent team unity displayed by all the players from captain to head coach and the officials in charge of the first xv rugby team.
These sentiments were expressed by St. Peter’s College rugby captain Keith Gurusinghe, who oversaw his beloved alma-mater regaining the coveted silverware offered for supremacy in the local schools league rugby sphere after a lapse of three years..More >>

For twenty-eight-year-old Gayan Manjula Senanayake his travelling bag is not just right if two huge national flags are not among its content. And he is not just happy by keeping them inside the bag. He wants to take them out, display them for everyone to see, and wave them endlessly so the ‘boys in the middle would see them and get encouraged to do better’. Gayan is Sri Lanka cricket team’s ‘one-man-cheer-squad’.With ‘Uncle Percy’ getting old and nearing his retirement, and his successor ‘Lionel’ allegedly doing the vanishing trick in England, cricket fans were wondering as to who will lead the crowd in cheering at matches. More >>

“On the first visit to my child’s paediatrician, the doctor asked us not to use the air conditioning at home, or at least the baby’s room, because it wasn’t good for newborns. I was so flabbergasted that I couldn’t find the speech to protest that I had no air conditioning at home. Having seen my jaw drop, my husband quickly jumped in and the doctor never noticed my expression. Apparently having walked in there in jeans and rubber slippers (Bata health slippers to be exact, the doctor had mistaken our hassled new parents look for actually being quite well off. More >>

The calm after the storm. Now the war is over tourists are flooding back into Jaffna and discovering its myriad of hidden delights. Guide book writer Juliet Coombe sets sail for Sacred Nainativu, one of Jaffna’s seven out islands and found herself surrounded by miniature dolls.
My classic Morris Minor hired in Jaffna old town glistens in the sun, which rises above dark ominous clouds, passing old men throwing fishing nets into a picturesque lagoon, or riding bicycles piled high with goods for the islands. More >>

A prisoner who dissected and ate a cellmate while his victim was still alive has been jailed for 30 years.
Nicolas Cocaign - nicknamed the Hannibal Lecter of France - said he ate the inmate’s lung because he gave him ‘a dirty look’.
He murdered and tortured Thierry Baudry in the cell they shared in the French city of Rouen.
Expert witness Dr Patrick Laburthe-Tolra told the court in Rouen: ‘Baudry was still alive when the defendant cut him open and severed a piece of lung.
‘Tests have shown the victim’s heart was still beating and he was still breathing when it happened.’ More >>

An Alaska ethics panel has ruled that a legal defence fund set up for thenGov. Sarah Palin was illegal.
The state Personnel Board said Thursday the Alaska Fund Trust inappropriately used the word “official” on its website to describe it, wrongly implying Palin’s endorsement as governor, The Associated Press reported.
However the board found that Palin acted in good faith and relied on a team of attorneys to make sure the fund was lawful, the AP said.
Palin’s attorney said the former GOP vice presidential nominee will return most of the $390,000 that the fund collected since it was set up in April 2009. More >>

Sri Lankan government’ decision to terminate talks on the GSP Plus tariff concession with the European Union, rejecting the 15 conditions set forth for the extension of the trade facility would deliver a huge, possibly lasting, blow to the economy, apparel exporters have warned.
Dankotuwa Porcelain Plc, which enjoys the tariff concession fears the slashing of GSP Plus would paralyse their business operations. Chief Operating Officer of Dankotuwa, K.S. Mallawa Arachchi said,” We are going to face great difficulties” in the case of losing the GSP concession, because 50% of our exports are to Europe. Though authorities say they could look for ‘alternatives’, it cannot be done in the short-term.”More >>

IFC, a member of the Word Bank Group, will share NDB Bank’s risks to help finance a larger quantum of renewable energyprojects, including mini-hydro and wind power projects in Sri Lanka.IFC is extending a $12.5 million risk-sharing facility to NDB Bank to support the country’s power-generation capacity while addressing climate change. The project is expected to produce economic benefits for local project developers, including small and medium enterprises. The initiative is part of IFC’s strategy to help the private sector mitigate climate change impacts while continuing to meet significant infrastructure gaps in South Asia.
“Lucrative mini-hydro energy options are becoming scarce while opportunities in wind power are growing. Bankers now need to secure projects with a different risk profile for funding,” said Russell de Mel, NDB Bank’s CEO.More >>

Venomous snakes are found in mostparts of the world (including many oceans), except for a few islands, frozen environments, and high altitudes.
Globally snake bites affect the lives of some 4.5 million people every year, and estimates suggest that at least 100,000 people die from snake bites, and another 250,000 are permanently disabled. Many of the victims are from the world’s poorest nations, a disproportionately higher number comprising young adults or children - an imbalance which has major socio-economic implications.
In Sri Lanka there is a rise in reported snake bites during the past two decades.More >>

“One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying.” - Joan of Arc The French patriot and martyr, Joan of Arc, was born the daughter of well-off peasants at Domrémy, a hamlet on the borders of Lorraine and Champagne, January 6, 1412. The English conquered the area in 1421 but their forces withdrew in 1424. Joan received no formal education but was endowed with an argumentative nature and shrewd common sense. More >>