Sri Lanka news and discussions

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copied from skyscrapercity.com

Sri Lanka tops Asia in 'World Giving Index'

The happier people are, the more likely they are to give time or money to charity, the largest ever study into global charitable behaviour suggests.

The survey - conducted by the UK's Charities Aid Foundation - suggests that well-being is a more reliable indicator of philanthropy than wealth.

The survey took place in 153 countries, covering 95% of the world's population.

The "World Giving Index" placed Australia and New Zealand joint top, with the US in fifth and the UK eighth.

The index aims to analyse global generosity in giving money, time as a volunteer or helping a stranger.

Researchers from Gallup found that predictably some of the richer countries with strong histories of philanthropy come out top, such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Republic of Ireland.

Bucking the trend

What was more surprising was that near the top too are poorer countries like Sri Lanka, Guyana and Turkmenistan, but they also registered high levels of contentment.

BBC News - Australia and New Zealand top World Giving Index'

FULL REPORT: http://www.cafonline.org/pdf/0882A_WorldGivingReport_Interactive_070910.pdf

 

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Sri Lanka war 'a waste of people's lives' - ex-Tiger

By Charles Haviland

BBC News, Colombo

A former media spokesman for the Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka has said the decades-long war between them and the state was a waste of people's lives.

Velayutham Dayanidhi, better known as Daya Master, also said he was glad that the country was now at peace.

He was speaking in an exclusive interview with the BBC.

It is the first broadcast interview by any of the former senior Tiger leaders since their movement was defeated on the battlefield in 2009.

BBC News - Sri Lanka war 'a waste of people's lives' - ex-Tiger


Lanka foreign minister to visit India next month

NEW DELHI: As India and Sri Lanka further step up engagement over the issue of resettlement and political solution, Sri Lankan foreign minister G L Peiris will visit India next month. The visit will be followed by his counterpart S M Krishna's visit to the island nation in the last week of October.

Lanka foreign minister to visit India next month - The Times of India


'India-Lanka Sea Link needs Close Watch'

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has to closely watch Indo-Lanka maritime boundary to thwart attempts by terror groups such as the LTTE, who may try to re-establish a clandestine line of communication between northern the island nation and India, commander of the Lankan navy, vice admiral TSG Samarasinghe, said.

“Maintaining surveillance over the Indian fishing fleet, as well as the local fishing population is one of the most important aspects of the overall Lankan naval strategy in the post-war era,” he told the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. “Although the LTTE no longer poses a conventional military threat, Sri Lanka shouldn’t be complacent,” he added.

The navy chief emphasised the importance of a “permanent blockade” of the clandestine India-Lanka sea route to thwart any eventuality.

With technical and photographic evidence, Samarasinghe explained how the LTTE had cleverly exploited the Indian fishing fleet to its advantage.

He said that over 500 Indian fishing craft poach in Sri Lankan waters on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and that their presence could be exploited by terrorists.

Setting up of fishing marshalling points had helped the close monitoring of boats in and out of Lanka, but still, illegal movements were taking place, he said.

In the post-war era, there could be “serious disputes” between Lankan and Indian fishermen due to the Indians’ poaching in Lankan waters.

And the situation had worsened because of the use of illegal fishing methods by the Indians, he said

?India-Lanka sea link needs close watch? | | | Indian Express

 

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China-Lanka agree to deepen military ties

Posted: Thu Sep 16 2010, 19:39 hrs

China and Sri Lanka today agreed to deepen their burgeoning defence ties as the powerful visiting Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa held a crucial meeting with a top Chinese military commander here.

The Chinese offer to enhance defence ties with Sri Lanka came during a key meeting between Defence Secretary Rajapaksa and Chen Bingde, the Chief of General Staff of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).

China was willing to work with Sri Lanka to further enhance friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two nations and armed forces, to promote their comprehensive and cooperative partnership, Chen said.

There has been continuous consolidation and development of China-Sri Lanka relations in recent years, state-run Chinese news agency Xinhua quoted Chen as saying today.

He said Beijing appreciated Sri Lanka's firm support on the issues of Taiwan and Tibet, which were related to China's core interests.

China-Lanka agree to deepen military ties



China to build another port in Sri Lanka

Indrani Bagchi, TNN, Sep 17, 2010, 01.23am IST

NEW DELHI: First, it was Hambantota port in south Sri Lanka which went to the Chinese. Now, an ambitious programme to develop Colombo port has been given to another Chinese consortium.

The Sri Lankan cabinet recently decided to award the contract to build a new deep-water container terminal in Colombo port to a consortium consisting of China Merchant Holdings International and Aitken Spence. According to reports from the island nation, the terminal will be built by the same company that built the Hambantota port complex -- China Harbour Engineering Company ( CHEC) and Sino Hydro Corporation.

No Indian company even bothered to bid for the project.

After Hambantota went to the Chinese and Indian strategists saw it as part of Beijing's "string of pearls" strategy, it was believed that India would be more proactive when it came to strategic projects in its neighbourhood, where more than mere economic interests are at stake. But for the ADB-funded Colombo Port project, there were no Indian entities participating in the bids, leaving the Chinese consortium as the sole bidder for the terminal.

That when China's engagement with Sri Lanka gets deeper. India is Sri Lanka's biggest trading partner, but China is its biggest donor. In 2009, China gave about $1.2 billion to Sri Lanka.

Read more: China to build another port in Sri Lanka - The Times of India


Sri Lanka records highest economic growth in 8 years

Fri, Sep 17, 2010, 01:47 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Sept 17, Colombo: Sri Lanka recorded an economic growth rate of 8.5 percent in the second quarter of 2010, the highest ever recorded quarterly GDP growth since 2002, a report released Thursday by the Department of Census and Statistics said.

Sri Lanka : Sri Lanka records highest economic growth in 8 years



Sri Lankan economy powers on

Sep 17, 2010

By R M Cutler

MONTREAL - Whatever doubts Sri Lanka's local and overseas investors had about constitutional amendments reinforcing President Mahinda Rajapaksa's already appreciable powers, they did not show up in the stock market in the week since parliament approved the changes.

Sri Lanka Stock Market Colombo All-Share Index has risen more than 4.5%, reaching 6,234 at the Wednesday close this week. It has doubled in the past nine months, after breaking its previous all-time record high just under 3,000 in early September last year, then retesting it from the upside to confirm it as a support.

Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pakistan


Sri Lanka bourse at fresh high

COLOMBO, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan shares hit a new high on Thursday, with the market still buoyed by the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) decision on Wednesday to remove a limit on share price moves from Sept. 20. [ID:nSGE68E087]

Sri Lanka's main share index .CSE ended up 1.7 percent at a record closing high of 6,343.71 point, after a record intraday high at 6,356.01.

The index is Asia's best performer in 2010, with an 87.4 percent gain.

Sri Lanka bourse at fresh high, limit removal helps | Reuters

 

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At least 60 killed in accidental blast in Sri Lanka

(Reuters) - An accidental explosion of a truck carrying explosives killed at least 60 people on Friday in a police station near the eastern Sri Lankan city of Batticaloa, the military said.

"Sixty people inside the police station have been killed. Most of them are policemen," military spokesman Major-General Ubaya Medawela said.

The truck was parked next to the police station in Karadiyanaru, near the eastern port of Batticaloa, when it exploded, Medawela said. The explosives were to be delivered to a rock quarry, he said.

Earlier, a spokesman for the state-run Media Center for National Security had said two foreign citizens were among the dead. He gave no details on their nationality but local media reported they were Chinese.

Sri Lanka, which ended a three-decade civil war last year, had suffered from years of suicide bombings carried out by Tamil Tiger separatists. This explosion was accidental, Medawela said.

(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez; Writing by Bryson Hull; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

At least 60 killed in accidental blast in Sri Lanka | Reuters



Chinese among more than 20 dead in Sri Lanka blasts

Friday, 17 September 2010 7:24:48 PM by BNO News ( Leave a comment )

BATTICALOA, SRI LANKA (BNO NEWS) — More than 20 people were killed on Friday after three containers carrying explosives exploded near a police station in eastern Sri Lanka, officials said.

The government said two Chinese citizens of a Chinese construction company had arrived at the Karadiyanaru Police station in the city of Batticaloa, in eastern Sri Lanka, in a double cab along with two dump trucks. The Chinese nationals were to obtain explosives from the containers.

Chinese among more than 20 dead in Sri Lanka blasts

 

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China footprint bothers Delhi day after Lanka blast

South Block pores over maps and works phone lines to estimate strategic space occupied by Beijing

SUJAN DUTTA

New Delhi, Sept. 18: When dynamite ripped through the fishing village of Karadiyanaru in eastern Sri Lanka, a former LTTE stronghold, on Friday and killed 25 people, officials in New Delhi’s South Block and army headquarters burned the phone lines to find out what caused it.

Had remnants of the now-decimated LTTE succeeded in a desperate act of sabotage? As the body count, initially estimated at 60, was revised by Colombo to 25 and Sri Lanka began an investigation into what it believes was an accident, the focus has gradually shifted to the presence of the Chinese.

The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Frontpage | China footprint bothers Delhi day after Lanka blast



US terror alert: Lashkar using Lanka as base to attack India

Pranab Dhal Samanta

Posted: Sun Sep 19 2010, 04:27 hrs

Days after it was revealed that German Bakery blast-accused Mirza Himayat Baig allegedly met his Lashkar-e-Toiba contact in Sri Lanka to avoid detection, US agencies have passed on intelligence inputs to India that the LeT already has some 200 cadres present in the island nation who plan to use the country as a “staging ground” to enter India.

It’s learnt that Washington has also informed Colombo about this after Lankan authorities denied that LeT had training facilities there. As per New Delhi’s assessment, the threat could be aggravated if remnants of the LTTE cadre are engaged in logistics for LeT.

US terror alert: Lashkar using Lanka as base to attack India

 

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Sri Lankan police station blast was accidental, says investigators

Colombo, Sept 19 (ANI): Investigators have ruled out that Friday's blast, which destroyed a police station at Karadiyanaru in east Sri Lanka, is not an outcome of a terrorist activity.

According to Xinhua, officials from the police spokesman's office said its Crime Investigation Department's probe had revealed that the blast was accidental.

On Friday, 19 people including two Chinese workers died in the blast caused by an explosion in a container loaded with dynamite in a police station.

The blast destroyed the police station completely and also damaged properties in the neighborhood.

Sri Lankan police station blast was accidental, says investigators - Oneindia News



How tiny Sri Lanka defeated terrorism

VAVUNIYA, Sri Lanka — If you think only Muslim extremists have used terrorism to further their aims, you should take a look at the recent history of Sri Lanka.

This would-be tropical paradise, a tear-shaped island in the Indian Ocean, experienced a wrenching civil war between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a group that had no qualms about blowing up civilians to terrorize the population, make headlines and achieve its goal of creating an independent state for Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamil minority. The fighting left at least 70,000 dead, and it shattered millions of lives over almost three decades.

The international community paid little attention to this carnage. When it did, however, it was to categorically lecture the Sri Lankan government that "there is no military solution."

Commentary: How tiny Sri Lanka defeated terrorism - Wire - Lifestyle - bellinghamherald.com

 

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Relatives tell Sri Lanka war panel scores of surrendered Tamil Tigers still missing

2010-09-21 16:00:00

A number of Tamils in Sri Lanka have complained before the government commission investigating the last phase of Tamil Eelam war that their family members who served with the Tamil Tigers disappeared after surrendering by the end of the war in May last year.

According to the BBC, the panel now intends to question security force officials on the subject of missing people.

A woman claimed that her husband and two children, all former Tigers, surrendered to the army after being mediated by two Roman Catholic priests. She further stated that her family and others who surrendered were taken away in 16 buses, but now she reportedly does not have any idea about their whereabouts.

Others, who said their family members were forcibly recruited by the rebels, had shared almost similar stories.

Relatives tell Sri Lanka war panel scores of surrendered Tamil Tigers still missing



Millennium Development Goals: Sri Lanka on track

Nadira Gunatilleke

*Lowest maternal mortality rate in South East Asia

*Universal primary education target achieved

*Lanka has reduced child mortality rate

*Decline in poverty

Sri Lanka is in the forefront of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) agenda. It has already achieved several MDGs, especially in the health and education sectors. Sri Lanka has also made great strides in poverty alleviation, child and maternal mortality rates and gender equality. Sri Lanka is on track to achieve the targets for most of the indicators by 2015, the Second Millennium Development Goals Progress Report said.

The report was launched at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo yesterday with the participation of Finance Deputy Minister Dr Sarath Amunugama and UNDP Resident Representative Neil Buhne.

According to the report, Sri Lanka has the lowest maternal mortality rate (MMR) in South East Asia and the country has achieved considerable success in reducing MMR. Sri Lanka has been extraordinarily successful in reducing the child mortality rate over the last half century. At its current level of 11.3 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, IMR is lower than that achieved by countries considerably wealthier than Sri Lanka.

The report said poverty in Sri Lanka declined from 26.1 percent in 1990-91 to 15.2 percent in 2006-07. The country is on course to attain the MDG target of halving poverty (down to 13 percent) at the national level by 2015. Mahinda Chintana has developed suitable approaches which are implemented , to stimulate economic growth and ensure it trickles down equitably.

The report said Sri Lanka has almost achieved the universal primary education target with net enrollment rate reaching 97.5 percent in 2006/07 for both males and females.

At this rate Sri Lanka will achieve the target of 100 percent well before 2015, if present trends are continued, it said.

Sri Lanka has almost reached gender parity in primary education with the `ratio of girls to boys in primary education’ reaching 99 percent in 2006/07. In secondary and tertiary education, the proportion of girls to boys exceeds 100 percent indicating that there are more girls than boys in secondary and tertiary levels of education. This also needs the attention of the authorities, the report said.

The report said Sri Lanka still remains as one of the few countries in the region with a low level HIV epidemic. High literacy, the relatively high status of women and good access to healthcare services act as a protective barrier against the spread of HIV infection in Sri Lanka, it said.

Sri Lanka News | Online edition of Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers



Ban on LTTE: Vaiko's plea rejected

2010-09-21 19:40:00

Last Updated: 2010-09-21 19:59:25

New Delhi: The special tribunal, headed by a High Court Justice to examine the legality of extension of ban on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE), on Tuesday declined a plea made by Vaiko, general secretary of the MDMK, to hear him before passing any order.

...Through a notification, the Home Ministry had stated that even though LTTE was defeated in Sri Lanka, the reports reveal that "remnant LTTE cadres and leaders were regrouping in Tamil Nadu".

The possibility of LTTE's remnant cadres using India and especially Tamil Nadu as a rear base for their regrouping activities.....LTTE sympathisers were posing a threat to India as they continue to spread anti-India sentiments through the medium of Internet," the Home Ministry had noted.

Ban on LTTE: Vaiko's plea rejected

 

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Sri Lanka government on track with five-year strategy to rehabilitate former LTTE combatants

Thu, Sep 23, 2010, 12:15 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Sept 23, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government has launched a five-year strategy from 2008 to 2012 to disarm, demobilize and rehabilitate former LTTE combatants and successfully integrate them into their families and communities.

The government has so far identified 11,698 ex-combatants for rehabilitation.

Prison Reforms and Rehabilitation Minister D.E.W. Gunasekara has said that a total of 3,023 former LTTE combatants had been released from August 2009 to date following a three pronged approach of rehabilitating, prosecuting, or releasing.

According to Gunasekara, those released comprised university students, children, sick and disabled cadres, court ordered releases, expectant mothers with infants and youths with minor involvement with the LTTE.

Sri Lanka : Sri Lanka government on track with five-year strategy to rehabilitate former LTTE combatants


Sri Lanka upgrades growth forecast

Sept 23, 2010 (LBO) - Sri Lanka has upgraded its growth forecast to between 7.5 to 8.0 percent for 2010, on a better than expected second quarter economic expansion and stronger credit flows, Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal said.

The central bank was earlier forecasting a growth of 7.0 percent for 2010.

"The momentum has built up so we are confident that it will go up," Cabraal said.

"We are seeing the signs of new developments."

Optimism is widespread and profits of firms have been rising and the government is also pumping money to upgrade creaking infrastructure in roads, power and ports.

Last week the ports authority gave the nod to Sino-Sri Lanka joint venture to build a new container terminal in Colombo. Rating agencies have also upgraded the outlook on Sri Lanka's sovereign rating. Fitch and S&P have rated Sri Lanka B+ and Moody's B1.

Unemployment is also recovering from 2009 highs.

Sri Lanka upgrades growth forecast - LANKA BUSINESS ONLINE


Lanka thanks Iran

The further strengthening of bonds between Sri Lanka and Iran was the theme of discussions between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa when they held bi-lateral discussions at the United Nations, Tuesday.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa meeting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York Tuesday. Picture by Sudath Silva
President Rajapaksa thanked the Iranian President for the assistance given to Sri Lanka by Iran, especially the concessionary terms for the sale of fuel, the upgrading of the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery and assistance for the Uma Oya Irrigation Project. The Iranian leader congratulated President Rajapaksa on his leadership in the defeat of terrorism and the steps being taken to build peace in the country with reconciliation among all communities.

Sri Lanka News | Online edition of Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers



Norway to probe failed peace effort, final phase of war

September 22, 2010, 8:45 pm

By Shamindra Ferdinando


Norway is preparing to launch a full scale inquiry into the failed Norwegian peace efforts in Sri Lanka from 1997 to 2009 with special emphasis on the final stage of the war between January and May 2009, while Premier Jens Stoltenberg’s government is seeking a new role in the post-war Sri Lanka, The Island learns.

The Norwegian government is likely to hire a Norwegian private consultancy firm to carry out a comprehensive examination of the peace process, whose failure led to Eelam war IV resulting in the eradication of the top LTTE leadership in May last year.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa in January 2008 withdrew from the Norwegian-arranged CFA after the army launched large scale offensive action on the Vanni front.

The investigation would focus on several key areas, including Norway’s relationship with China and India, its relationship with the Tamil Diaspora, Sri Lanka’s domestic political situation (Dec 2001 to April 2004), Norway’s relationship with civil society, media and the Muslim community, shortcomings in the CFA, limitations of the Nordic truce monitoring mission and aid as a tool to facilitate the peace process.

The Island

 

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Sri Lankan government urged to say sorry for war years

By Charles Haviland

BBC News, Sri Lanka

Both the army and the Tamil Tigers are accused of human rights abuses A business leader in Sri Lanka has called on the government to apologise for itself and on behalf of previous regimes for suffering during the war.

It was the latest in a series of submissions given to a government-appointed commission examining the final years of the conflict.

It has also emerged that witnesses in the north accused the armed forces of killing civilians in shell attacks.

The government says that defeated Tamil Tiger militants are to blame.

BBC News - Sri Lankan government urged to say sorry for war years


Sri Lanka on Course for Peace, Prosperity, President Rajapaksa Tells UN

By Bill Varner - Sep 24, 2010 2:31 AM GMT+1000

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said he has set the nation on a course toward political reconciliation with the Tamil minority and economic recovery following a three-decade civil war.

“The entire focus of our nation is now on building a lasting peace, healing wounds, ensuring prosperity and guaranteeing the rights of the whole nation to live in harmony,” Rajapaksa said in a speech today to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Sri Lankan soldiers defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May last year, ending their struggle for a separate homeland. The war killed more than 100,000 and has left about 76,000 Tamils displaced.

“No nation on earth can wish Sri Lanka’s Tamil community more good fortune than Sri Lanka itself,” Rajapaksa said. “Sri Lanka has already returned over 90 percent of the internally displaced persons to their original villages that were previously riddled with landmines and provided the essential infrastructure necessary to resume normal life.”

The economy expanded 8.5 percent in the three months ended June 30 from a year earlier, the fastest pace since 2002, the statistics department said on Sept. 16.

Rajapaksa said the aim of his second term in office, which begins in two months, was to make Sri Lanka “one of the top 30 countries for doing business by 2014” and to double per capita income by 2016.

Sri Lanka on Course for Peace, Prosperity, President Rajapaksa Tells UN - Bloomberg


Muslims a peaceful community says Governor Alavi Moulana

Friday, 24 September 2010 01:33

By B.M. Murshideen

Western Province Governor S. Alavi Moulana at a press conference held at his office yesterday said that Muslim Organizations in Sri Lanka were getting funds from the Middle East mainly for education and poverty alleviation.

Responding to the newspaper reports about the alleged involvement of Muslims in unlawful activities using foreign funds, Mr. Moulana said that there was absolutely no truth to them, adding Muslims also had no record of helping terrorists or promoting terrorism in the country.

On the contrary, the minister stated that said that Muslims in Sri Lanka had been the victims of terrorism. They had been forced out of Jaffna by the LTTE in 1990 and murdered while attending prayers at the Kattankudi Mosque the same year, he said.

“The Defence Secretary too had praised the role played by the Sri Lankan Muslim community in the affairs of this country, especially in its endeavour to bring about a peaceful co-existence among communities” he added.

Muslims a peaceful community says Governor Alavi Moulana


Significant increase in trade between India and Sri Lanka

Fri, Sep 24, 2010, 10:44 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Sept 24, Colombo: The trade between India and Sri Lanka has increased significantly following the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries, India's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kantha has revealed.

At a meeting with Sri Lankan media personnel, the High Commissioner has noted that Sri Lanka's exports to India have increased by 45 % during the first seven months of this year.

Reportedly Sri Lanka's exports to India have increased by 45% during the first seven months of 2010 and India's exports to Sri Lanka have also increased by 41%.

If the current trend continues, 2010 will be an all time high record in trade relations between the two countries, the High Commissioner has noted.

Sri Lanka : Significant increase in trade between India and Sri Lanka

 

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Sri Lanka stocks world top performer: Bloomberg data

Oct 01, 2010 (LBO) - Sri Lanka's stocks closed up 2.1 percent Friday becoming the best performing market in the world, up 110.9 percent so far according to Bloomberg newswires data, beating Mongolia at 109.7 percent.

Bangladesh was a distant third at 56.4 percent. Colombo's benchmark closed at 7,147 topping the 7,000 mark.

Sri Lanka stocks world top performer: Bloomberg data


Sri Lankan Car Company to Export Locally-Made Vehicles

Sri Lankan automobile company, Micro Cars, will begin exporting cars to Nepal. An initial order of the Sri Lankan-made Micro MX7 model will be shipped soon with a total of 150 cars scheduled to be exported during the first year of the agreement.

“The car market in Sri Lanka is around 20,000 a year, but we as a local company could only take 10 percent of the market share,” said Micro Cars CEO Lawrence Perera, speaking to local media.

Sri Lankan Car Company to Export Locally-Made Vehicles


Six Senses Resorts & Spas to set up its first property in Sri Lanka

Six Senses Resorts & Spas will set up its first property in Sri Lanka in a joint venture with Aitken Spence conglomerate and the Favourite Group. The project, worth USD 35-40 million, will comprise a resort and spa and beach front residential villas on a 10.5-acre plot in Ahungalla, close at an existing Aitken Spence resort and on a 27-acre island nearby.

Six Senses Resorts & Spas to set up its first property in Sri Lanka, signs JV with Aitken Spence


Fonseka moved to prison to serve 30-month sentence

Fri Oct 01 2010, 15:25 hrs

Sri Lanka's former Army Chief Sarath Fonseka has been moved to a prison where he is expected to serve his 30-month sentence that was ratified by the President, even as the opposition termed his incarceration as a 'degrading form of revenge'.

The 30-month sentence by a court martial on charges of corruption in defence deals was ratified by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and subsequently Fonseka was transferred to the prison from his detention centre at the naval headquarters.

Fonseka moved to prison to serve 30-month sentence


Sri Lanka and India Discuss Maritime Security

Sep 30, 2010 By Anuradha K. Herath

The navies of Sri Lanka and India met on an Indian patrol vessel stationed at the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) near Point Calimere on Wednesday to discuss maritime security in the territorial waters between the two countries.

India’s The Hindu newspaper stated that the meeting took place to discuss “the reported attacks on Indian fishermen” and “ways to avoid such incidents.” In the report, an Indian naval official said the Sri Lankan Navy had promised to address the issue.

However, Sri Lankan officials downplayed the fact that the meeting was called urgently. Officials stated that the meeting was routine and helped improve cooperation between the naval bodies of the two countries and further strengthen bilateral ties.

Sri Lanka and India Discuss Maritime Security


'Tigers' Become Tourists

By Amantha Perera

SIGIRIYA, Sri Lanka, Oct 1, 2010 (IPS) - The younger ones in the group tried to imitate the older boys, in their teens and early 20s, who wear the latest fashion promoted by Hindi and South Indian movie stars – faded denim jeans, tight T-shirts, and oversized belts hanging nonchalantly around their slim waists. Alongside them, the handful of women wore brightly coloured ‘shalwar kamiz’ (traditional South Asian dress) that fluttered in the wind.

The motley bunch of young travellers, who had just climbed Sigiriya, the famous 5th century rock fortress, was far from an uncommon sight among visitors who troop to hundreds of tourist spots across this South Asian island state.

But even a year back, it would have been unheard of – if not impossible – for this group of Tamil youth from Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna peninsula to travel together anywhere outside of the north and east of the country, unless they were on trips organised by the government or non-governmental organisations.

SRI LANKA: 'Tigers' Become Tourists

 

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Sri Lanka ex-army chief rejects clemency plea

Sri Lanka's jailed former military chief Sarath Fonseka has rejected a government offer to consider clemency.

President, Mahinda Rajapaksa had said he might be willing to pardon Sarath Fonseka if he were to request it.

But after a brief meeting with her husband in jail, Anoma Fonseka told reporters her husband will not go on bended knees to the government as he had not done anything wrong.

General Fonseka was feted as a hero for his part in defeating Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels last year, but soon fell out with Mr Rajapaksa and unsuccessfully challenged him in presidential elections.

Sri Lanka ex-army chief rejects clemency plea


Sri Lanka, India trade deal seen helping lure Indian investors

Oct 02, 2010 (LBO) - An upgraded free trade deal between India and Sri Lanka can help the island lure more investment from Indian companies who are increasingly venturing abroad, India's envoy in Colombo said.

The framework for closer economic integration between the two economies is provided in the proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Arrangement being discussed between the two governments, Indian high commissioner Ashok Kantha said.

Sri Lanka, India trade deal seen helping lure Indian investors


India Trying to Create Trouble in Sri Lanka – Again

Asim Alavi

Mr. Gotabaya Rajapakse is certainly right when he said that Sri Lanka remains free of terrorists.

Nowadays “terrorism business” has become a rapidly growing and lucrative industry. Funny stories of terror plots, wire-tappings, perceived threats, terror-breeding grounds, Madrasas and terror networks, nuclear and other lethal technologies going into the hands of non-state actors, terrorists contact points so on and so forth are hatched and fed to mischief-mongering media institutions.

India Trying to Create Trouble in Sri Lanka – Again

 

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Sri Lanka's 'Highway of Death' Becomes Tourist Hot Spot

Elephantpass, a narrow causeway linking the northern Jaffna Peninsula with the rest of Sri Lanka, was the site of many bloody battles during the island's quarter-century civil war. Now it's the site of nation's most famous bulldozer. Covered in iron meshing and armour plating, the mean-looking machine sits on a pedestal, a testament to the over 25 years of conflict that ended in May 2009, and the nearly 80,000 lives lost along the way.

The bulldozer was used by the Tamil Tigers in July 1991 in an attempt to breach the defenses of a Sri Lankan army garrison stationed at Elephantpass. They would have succeeded if it weren't for the actions of government soldier Gamini Kularatne, who lobbed a grenade into its belly, stopping it in its tracks and dying in the act. The war ended 18 years after Kularatne's heroics, when the Tamil Tigers were destroyed by government forces. Since then, the bulldozer has become the most popular stopover point on the A9 highway, a road that runs through the northern Vanni region that was under Tiger control for over a decade until the war's end. Opposite the bulldozer, four more vehicles once used by the Tigers lie close to where they were abandoned in battle, sunlight streaking into the darkened interiors through bullet holes.

Sri Lanka's 'Highway of Death' Becomes Tourist Hot Spot - TIME


Sri Lanka’s Economy Expands 8%, Faster Than Expected

Sri Lanka’s economy expanded faster than analysts estimated, stoking price pressures that may force the central bank to raise interest rates.

Gross domestic product rose 8 percent in the three months ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier after advancing 8.5 percent in the previous quarter, the statistics department said in a statement in Colombo today. The median of five estimates in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 7.6 percent gain.

Sri Lanka’s central bank said yesterday it will take “appropriate” steps to check any “build up of demand pressures” after it kept borrowing costs unchanged for a fourth straight month. The end of a 26-year civil war in the nation has encouraged investments from companies including Aitken Spence & Co., helping make Sri Lanka’s benchmark All-Share Index the world’s second-best performer this year.

Sri Lanka’s Economy Expands 8%, Faster Than Expected - BusinessWeek