Navy detects LTTE underground Ammunition Dump in Silavathura

Naval troops conducting a search operation in the General Area in Silawathura located south of Mannar in the North, detected an LTTE sea tiger underground ammunition dump and recovered a large stock of ammunitions and anti-personal mines yesterday (5th March 2008).

13,357 ammunitions and 329 anti-personal mines along with 58 grenades and 314 anti-personal mine fuses were recovered by the naval troops from the underground ammunition dump. They are suspected to have been left behind by the LTTE sea tigers who had fled the area unable to confront the Security Forces.

LTTE sea tigers had dominated Silavathura for sometime until the Security Forces captured it last August. The LTTE had used Silavathura as one of their sea bases to launch attacks on the Wilpattu Wild Life Sanctuary, bordering villages and the Colombo Harbour.

The effective surveillance put in place by the Sri Lanka Navy in the Western and North-western seas, has blocked the LTTE’s smuggling activities and its cadre induction and evacuation attempts.

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http://www.navy.lk/index.php?id=721

Hinduism one of the great religions: Rajapakse

Describing Hinduism as one of the great religions of the world, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday asked people to follow its principles of unity and harmony for achieving a better tomorrow.

Greeting the people on the occasion of Maha Shivratri, the President called for peace and amity amongst the people of the Island nation.

"May their prayers and expectations for a better tomorrow be fulfilled, and may every lamp they light on this day enrich them spiritually, enhance their understanding and stronger unity among all our people," he said.

Rajapakse also said devotion aims at dispelling ignorance and to overcome anger and hatred.

"The aim of all this devotion is the dispelling of ignorance and the search for knowledge to overcome the evil tendencies of lust, anger, greed, infatuation, jealousy and hatred, and seek peace and harmony both in their lives and in society," he said.

The President said many rituals were associated with this festival, including fasting, night-long vigil at temples, making of offerings to Lord Shiva, the lighting of lamps and singing hymns.

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http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200803061340.htm

Police raid LTTE suspect's house

Sleuths of the Q branch raided the rented house of V Premraj alias Duraikutti, a Sri Lankan Tamil, held for his alleged links with the LTTE, at K K Nagar here on Tuesday.

The police arrested Premraj (48) and his associate `Diesel' Kumar (44),another Sri Lankan Tamil residing at Rameswaram, when the two were moving around in a suspicious manner near Anna Stadium here on Monday.Subsequently, the police launched a raid at Premraj's house at Amman Nagar in K K Nagar, where he was residing for the past nine years.

They seized certain documents during the raid and interrogated his family members. Meanwhile, the duo were produced before the court and were remanded.

Premraj, with alleged links with a key `Sea Tiger' operative Susairaj, was planning to purchase a motor boat from Kerala and supply it to the LTTE.

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http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?

Sri Lankan pilots up for grabs by Indian carriers

At least 28 pilots, whose contracts with Sri Lankan Airlines are nearing completion, may be hired by Indian carriers which are facing a shortage of airmen, media reports said here on Wednesday.

After the Dubai-based Emirates pulled out its 43 per cent equity stake from Sri Lankan Airlines, the pilots, whose contracts expire in April, will be available for recruitment by Indian carriers.

As per official statistics, India required 4,540 pilots for airline operations in the country against the availability of 3950 by August 2007, thereby facing a shortfall of 590 airmen who could be recruited from abroad.

"The initial 10-year contract between the two airlines expires in April this year and will not be renewed", the Daily Mirror quoted sources from the Emirates as saying.

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/

Monitors give Batti polls clean bill of health

PAFFREL, the largest election monitoring body in Sri Lanka, releasing their final pre-election report on the Batticaloa local polls called it as one of the "best behaved elections" in comparison to the polls conducted in recent times.

After nominations were called, some political parties including the TMVP and UNP withdrew from the race, citing that the prevailing conditions were not conducive to hold elections in the district. The major concern attributed for the withdrawal was the presence of armed groups moving freely in the area.

However, according to PAFFREL and Police, complaints regarding carrying arms for election purposes has not been reported todate.

According to PAFFREL Chairman Kingsley Rodrigo, Police had played a critical role taking care to ensure that the environment for elections was as secure and safe as possible.

He said PAFFREL had recieved 26 complaints so far with the majority of them being minor. Non of the cases had resulted in court cases being filed nor arrests being made.

Read more,
http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/03/06/pol04.asp

Airtel to use Singtel expertise for 3G services rollout in Lanka

Bharti Airtel will leverage the expertise of Singtel to roll out third generation services in Sri Lanka. This is because Singapore-based Asian telecom major Singtel, which owns a little over 30% in Bharti Airtel, is a major player in the 3G space as it has already third generation networks in several markets across Asia.

“We plan to launch second and third generation mobile services in the island nation by September 2008. This will be Bharti Airtel’s first ever 3G network rollout. We will use the expertise of Singtel,” Bharti Airtel’s president (mobile services) Sanjay Kapoor told ET.

In fact, industry watchers share the view that Bharti’s 3G launch in Lanka will also serve as a test bed for offering similar services in India when 3G spectrum is made available here.

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http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/

Sri Lanka Navy rescues a Burmese Vessel in Distress off Eastern Coast

Sri Lanka Navy today (3rd March 2008) rescued a vessel load of illegal foreign job seekers who had been marooned for 13 days at sea at a distance of 150 nautical miles off the Eastern coast of Sri Lanka.

The wooden hull vessel with 91 persons on board had left from Cox’s Bazaar located on the Burmese and Bangladeshi boarder on the 9th February. The passengers comprised of 67 Burmese nationals and 24 Bangladeshi persons. They were heading for Thailand and Malaysia for lucrative employment.

The vessel had developed an engine defect on the 20th and begun to drift for 13 days until it was rescued by the Sri Lanka Navy. According to the passengers on the vessel, 20 of their colleagues had died of starvation and dehydration due to the lack of food and water.

The Navy launched the search operation for the vessel after they had been alerted of a sighting of a suspicious vessel by the fishermen off Mulaithievu on the Eastern Coast of Sri Lanka.

The ill-fated vessel is now being towed to the Trincomalee Harbour by the Navy after providing food and medical treatment to the 71 passengers who were lucky enough to be alive after the 13-day ordeal at sea.

Sri Lanka Navy has appraised the respective embassies and diplomatic missions of the incident.

Extracted from,
http://www.navy.lk/index.php?id=715

LTTE suicide bomber kills himself to avoid arrest

An LTTE suicide bomber has exploded himself when a group of police officers tried to check a room of a three story lodge down Aluth Mawatha at Ibbanwala Watta, in Modara this morning (February 29).

According to the available information 4 police personnel, including 3 women police personnel and 3 civilians have suffered injuries in the explosion. defence.lk special reporter in the area said one women police officer has suffered serious injuries.

According to the sources, the explosion has taken place around 6.15.a.m. when police acting on information has tried to check the room. The body of the bomber has destroyed into an unidentifiable condition and the walls of the room show lot of damages caused by iron balls, the sources added.

A senior defence official speaking to defence.lk noted that unless for the vigilant civilians in the area and for the police personnel who acted swiftly to the civilian information, the suicide bomber could have committed another civilian massacre in the South.

Therefore, he said due to commitment and the bravery of the police officers who involved in this incident, a large number of civilian lives have been spared from a possible disaster.

LTTE is a ruthless terrorists outfit that pioneered the techniques of suicide bombing using brainwashed individuals. The outfit has made a unique contribution development of terrorist tactics by introducing innovative brainwashing techniques and also techniques such as the use of suicide belts, jackets, breast bombs and placing bombs under female under garments, etc that are now being widely copied by all other terror organization in the world.

Extracted from,
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080229_02

Army Captures Sluice Gates of Sinnaodaippu

SINNAODAIPPU sluice gates and its adjacent areas north of GIANT TANK in MANNAR were captured by troops from Tiger terrorists this morning (28) after a fierce fire fight that lasted till about 6.00 a.m.

At least fourteen Tiger terrorists were feared killed and six T-56 weapons were recovered along with a number of other LTTE belongings during the incident.

Two soldiers received gunshot injuries and were rushed for medical treatment.

Extracted from,
http://www.army.lk/morenews.php?id=11139

Former Local Councilor Murdered

Two motorbike-riding gunmen, believed to be Tiger terrorists, Tuesday (26) around 5.30 p.m. have shot and killed a former Local Council (Pradeshiya Sabha) member in the general area of UPPUVELI, TRINCOMALEE. The victim, GOPAL KONESWARARAJA (32) of Farm road, SELVANAYAGAMPURA, was with one of his relatives when he was gunned down.

The victim according to the Police has been making his living on a day today basis visiting various places in the area.

The reason behind the killing is yet to be revealed.

The UPPUVELI Police are conducting investigations.

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http://army.lk/fulsit.php?idx=861

Relations with CPI(M) good, says JVP

The Sri Lankan Marxist JVP party today underlined its close relations with the Communist Party of India-Marxist despite not being invited for the CPI(M) conclave in Tamil Nadu next month. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which is usually amongst the invitees for the CPI-M's Congress, has been overlooked for the left party's conclave this year in Coimbatore from March 29 to April 3.

"We have not been invited," said R. Chandrasekaran, a senior JVP member and the Tamil face of the party.

It is being felt that the JVP supremo Somawansa Amar Singhe's recent utterances against India could be the reason for the Indian communist party not extending an invitation to the Island country's left party to attend the meeting. "Our relations with the CPI(M) will in no way be affected due to our not being invited for the conclave and it will remain good," Chandrasekaran told PTI.

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http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200802271654.htm

Cairn in race for two Lankan oil blocks

Cairn India has entered the race for acquiring two oil exploration blocks in Sri Lanka, by bidding for blocks 001 and 002 under the ongoing Sri Lankan licensing round. Back home, it has decided to undertake exploratory drilling in new areas in Rajasthan.

According to sources, Sri Lanka’s block 001 is spread over 3,338 sq km, and block 002, 3,572 sq km. Block 001 is, in fact, closer to the Cauvery basin, where oil and gas has already been discovered, hence it is attracting bids from other international oil exploration companies as well. The chances of striking oil here are higher as geological features of the blocks are similar.

In India, Cairn Energy India (CEIL) — the operator, on behalf of joint venture partners Cairn India and ONGC in contract area RJ-ON-90/1 in Rajasthan — has decided to commence production activities and development drilling at the Mangala Field.

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http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

UNP's fullest support for 13th Amendment

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday extended the UNP's fullest cooperation to implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which has been proposed by the APRC proposals. The Opposition Leader gave this assurance following an extensive discussion with President Mahinda Rajapaksa held at Temple Trees yesterday.

During the discussion, President Rajapaksa briefed the Opposition Leader on the implementation of the 13th Amendment proposed by the APRC proposals.

In addition, the discussions also centred on the 17th Amendment, a media release issued by the President's Media Unit said yesterday. The UNP's representation for the next rounds of the APRC discussions was also discussed.

The discussions were conducted in a very cordial manner. SLFP General Secretary Minister Maithripala Sirisena, Ministers Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, Prof. Tissa Vitharana, Prof. Vishwa Warnapala represented the SLFP while the UNP Chairman MP Rukman Senanayake and MP K.N. Choksy represented the UNP, the release added.

Extracted from,
http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/02/27/pol01.asp

Sri Lanka Telecom sets up internet TV unit

Sri Lanka Telecom, the island's dominant fixed line operator, Wednesday announced it had set up a subsidiary to provide internet television programmes with a planned investment of 100 million rupees.

The fully-owned subsidiary called SLT Visioncom would provide internet-based television services to its broadband customers, the company said in a statement to the Colombo bourse.

"By the deployment of IPTV, SLT expects to optimize the use of its existing broadband access networks," it said.

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http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/fullstory.php?