Pak to export 10,000 tonne cement to Lanka

Rising cement demand from India and China and high construction activity in Sri Lanka have led to a rise in cement prices in the island nation, as a result the country is planning to import 10,000 metric tonne of cement from Pakistan to meet its requirements.

According to Sri Lankas Trade, Marketing Development, Co-operatives and Consumer Affairs Minister Bandula Gunawardena, an agreement has been signed with a company in Pakistan to import 10,000 metric tonne of cement to the island country.

"A high cement demand has been created in the country with the commencement of many construction projects, including buildings and bridges," Gunawardena told reporters.

Meanwhile, private traders said besides high requirement in Sri Lanka, the problem of cement aggravated due to rise in world demand especially from India and China.

The stock from Pakistan, which is slated to arrive in Sri Lanka early this month, is expected to be distributed through the recently set up State Trading Co-operative Wholesale Company Ltd to consumers to meet the demand.

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45 Sri Lankan fishermen arrested in Indian waters

Forty five fishermen of Sri Lanka, who came in fishing trawlers, were apprehended by Coast Guard for entering the Exclusive Economic Zone of Indian waters.

Commandant K. Janardhanan, Commanding Officer, Coast Guard Station, Mandapam, told The Hindu that a Coast Guard ship on routine offshore patrol found a flotilla of trawlers moving 116 nautical miles off Chennai on April 27. The fishing boats, fitted with advanced navigational aids, were engaged in illegal exploitation of maritime resources deep inside the Indian waters. They did not have any valid documents.

Most of the fishermen were Sinhalese belonging to Chillaw near Negamboo. They were detained under Section 3/10 and 7/14 of Maritime Zone of India Act 1981 for illegal fishing. All nine boats had Global Positioning System (GPS) and high frequency sets, which were connected under the world wide communication network. About 2.10 tonnes of fish was seized from them.

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http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/03/stories/2008050357590100.htm

Wimal and Nandana agreed to form a new political party

Parliamentarian Nandana Gunatillake, said that they would form a new political party in the near future. He said that he has already discussed with Wimal Weerawansa about this party.

The new political movement will also include those who have left the JVP in dejection, and that doors were open for any would-be deserter as well, Mr. Gunatilake said.

Speaking to media regarding his talks with Mr. Weerawansa, the JVP MP said that the new movement would be launched this month.

The new party would be registered with the Elections Commissioner after May 10th, he added.

In the meantime, While claiming that the party membership of dissident MP Wimal Weerawansa would be cancelled constitutionally, JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva today said that Weerawasna should contact the party directly without conveying massages through media.

He said the Central Committee of the JVP would take a decision regarding Wimal Weerawansa soon.

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Break Wanni-Colombo logjam

Two developments in the Sri Lankan theatre need to make Delhi and other world capitals, particularly Washington and London, sit up and end the dichotomy that has characterised their reaction to and relations with Colombo.

Firstly, senior Lanka Minister Jeyraj Fernandopulle, the only Roman Catholic in the Rajapakse government was assassinated on April 6, just outside Colombo. His religion had lost relevance for the LTTE as he facilitated the Pillayan Group's entry into mainstream politics. Otherwise they would not have eliminated him so soon after the Madhu church episode exposed the clergy for yet another time to the criticism that the Church in Tamil belt remains sympathetic towards the Tigers. Also, through the targetted killing the LTTE wanted to signal that they are not dead as the government has been claiming for the past several months. This is a normal tactic of all insurgent groups under pressure as the Indian experience in Kashmir and northeast of the country shows.

The second development is no less significant though it took place miles away in the United States. The Washington Times has put the spotlight on how the Tigers have made inroads into the US to help bankroll and equip their operations back home in Sri Lanka. In a manner of speaking, there is no big deal about the WT report. That the LTTE runs a well oiled world-wide network spanning some 54 countries is by now well documented. Tigers' operations have considerable visibility in UK, France, Australia and the Scandinavian countries. Jen Haberkorn's despatch is significant nevertheless because for the first time the US has acknowledged LTTE as one of the most dangerous and deadly extremist organizations that has been an inspiration even for al Qaeda in Iraq.

Yet, the reaction to the killing of Jeyraj Fernandopulle appears just a routine or what can be termed as a proforma statement. The United States, European Union, Canada and India have denounced the attack that also killed 13 others and left nearly 100 wounded. "The United States denounces this vicious and reprehensible terrorist attack on civilians in the strongest possible terms," a US embassy statement said in Colombo. "Its perpetrators have achieved nothing other than to cause further suffering among the people of Sri Lanka. Only a political solution, not continued violence, offers the way forward to end the country's conflict".

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http://www.centralchronicle.com/20080503/0305302.htm

North Lanka would be liberated from LTTE soon: Rajapaksa

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said the LTTE domination in the northern part of the country would end soon and asked the people to vote for the government-backed alliance in the forthcoming Provincial Council elections in the eastern region.

"The security forces are advancing step by step in the northern theatre too. Soon the people there too would be liberated," Rajapaksa said in his May Day rally on Thursday at Dehiattakandiya in Ampara district of eastern Sri Lanka.

"The Eastern populace is poised to hand over a resounding victory to the Government at the May 10 Provincial Council Election to continue the momentum of the Eastern Resurgence programme," Rajapaksa said.

"We know the Easterners are a grateful people. They will show that on May 10. They will never let Prabhakaran take back the East. A vote for the Government is a vote for peace and development. A vote for the Opposition will be an endorsement of Prabhakaran. We need your support to take the development process forward," he said.

This year's May Day celebrations in the East should be dedicated to the heroic forces who spearheaded the humanitarian mission to liberate the people who were living under LTTE clutches for more than two decades, the President said.

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http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200805021422.htm