Mangala & Sripathi cross over to Opp. Benches; forms a new political wing

Former ministers Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Suriarachchi crossed over to the opposition benches this morning, before the government presented a supplementary budget to parliament to obtain approval, for 6 ministries exceeding 650 million rupees.

Meanwhile Suriarachchi and Samaraweera have decided to establish a separate wing of the SLFP called the Mahajana Wing.

The two former ministers have informed this move to the speaker in writing.

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http://www.lankaenews.com/English/news.php?id=4292

Warning Shots Fired by Sailor at Unidentified Person

A sentry on duty at the naval detachment in ALLES GARDEN area having observed an unidentified person approaching the detachment warned verbally and fired a few warning shots as he continued to walk despite his warning towards the point around 10.30 p.m. yesterday (13)...

...On investigations it was revealed that the person who had approached the detachment during dark was a Pilipino national named "Aptonio Vilamor" working in a NGO named "Mercy Corps" in TRINCOMALEE.

Due to the warning shots, the Pilipino national sustained minor injuries and was taken to the TRINCOMALEE hospital and later transferred to Colombo for medical treatment.

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http://www.rnhit.com/mcns/fullnews.php?id=6226

Court blocks Japan's NTT from selling stake in Sri Lanka Telecom

Sri Lanka's Supreme Court halted Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) from selling shares in the island's main telecom company pending a corruption probe.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Sarath Silva suspended the proposed sale to Global Telecom Holdings, a unit of Malaysia's Usaha Tegas Sdn, and set a new hearing date for Sept 17.

'This type of transaction must have a high degree of transparency,' the chief justice said, calling for documents relating to the transaction.

NTT, which owns a 35.2 pct stake in Sri Lanka Telecom, last month received approval from the Sri Lankan government to sell 25.3 pct to Global Telecom Holdings.

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http://www.hemscott.com/news/latest-news/item.do?newsId=45163728826678

Sri Lanka recalls Atapattu

SRI Lanka has recalled former captain Marvan Atapattu for the Test series with Bangladesh which starts this month.

Atapattu, 36, last played Test cricket against India in 2005, before he was sidelined for 18 months with a serious back injury.

The right-handed batsman, a veteran of 88 Tests, returns in place of Sanath Jayasuriya, who retired from the Test scene after this year's World Cup.

Uncapped left-hand batsman Malinda Warnapura and left-arm pace bowler Sujeewa de Silva are the two new faces in the 15-man squad.

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http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,,21903370-23210,00.html

Retired Major General Ashok K. Mehta criticized ManMohan Singh’s National Security Advisor

A retired Major General of the Indian Army has severely criticized Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh’s National Security Advisor for his blunt statement that proposes to cancel Sri Lanka’s sovereign right to purchase its weapons from anywhere it wants and says India has been only paying lip service to Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and territorial integrity without meeting its obligations.

Writing an op-ed piece in the Indian daily, The Tribune, retired Major General Ashok K. Mehta said that once, “Sri Lanka was forced to turn to Pakistan for the crucial multibarrel rocket launcher which saved Jaffna from being overwhelmed by the LTTE. Sri Lanka refers to Pakistan as a friend and saviour.”

Mehta very bluntly said, “As India has underwritten Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, it has the moral responsibility to sort out the mess in that country which endangers its own security.”

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http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items07/140607-1.html

Police finds roadside bomb in Colombo

A clamore mine weighing 15 Kg packed in a school bag and hidden among bushes on the sea shore near the NELSON LANE off the rail road in WELLAWATTA, COLOMBO was found by a the security personnel today (13) around 6.45 a.m.

A sanitary worker had observed the bomb immediately informed the Police post nearby.

The WELLAWATTA Police recovered the bomb which was checked by STF Bomb Disposal unit.

In recent weeks, LTTE terrorists blasted a series of bombs in the city and the suburbs causing heavy loss of life and limb and destruction of property.

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http://www.rnhit.com/mcns/fullnews.php?id=6211

Sri Lanka urges Qatar to ban LTTE

Sri Lanka has urged Qatar to ban the LTTE, Sri Lanka's Deputy Foreign Minister, who is on a tour of the region, told the media yesterday.

Hussein A Bhaila said after a meeting with Qatar's Assistant Foreign Minister, H E Muqaddam Al Bonain, that one of the issues discussed was to ban the LTTE.

Asked what impact he thought the move would have on the LTTE, Bhaila said if nothing else, it would put moral pressure on the terrorist organisation.

His comments came in response to a question from The Peninsula about reports that some LTTE operators were extorting money from low-income Sri Lankan workers here to remit funds home.

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http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=
Qatar+News&month=June2007&file=Local_News200706132220.xml

British MP Andy Love opens UK office of LTTE-TV "Tharisanam"

The British Member of Parliament (Edmonton) Andy Love MP declared open LTTE's new TV station "Tharisanam" UK Office yesterday.

Tharisanam UK Office is located at 72-74 Chase side Southgate London N14 4PR, reports said.

Reports added "many other Tamil councilors, religious leaders, representatives of Tamil organizations, and “Tharisanam” viewers were present on the occasion."

LTTE's “Tharisanam” TV was launched on May 21 as a result of rebels' previous TV channel (Tamil Television Network (TTN) shut out from the satellite.

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http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/6128

Sri Lanka Telecom to commence IPTV in six months

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) is planning to commence an Internet Protocol television service within six months. SLT has already obtained the license for the service, a SLT spokesperson said.

SLT hopes to use the country’s widest network available to provide a user-friendly TV service with competitively priced packages.

The multimedia service will provide TV, video on demand and many other facilities via the broadband connections in the beginning, said the SLT spokesman.

Extracted from,
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_07/June11140730SL.html

Attempt to Blast the Transformer Fails

An attempt has been taken by LTTE terrorists toblast a high voltage transformer at KURUNIYAWATTA, WELLAMPITIYA in COLOMBO today (12) around 7.10 a.m.

The explosion has not damaged the transformer or any other property or any person.

WELLAMPITIYA Police are conducting inquires.

Investigations have revealed that the explosion was caused by explosives weighing 500 g which had been designed as a time bomb.

Extracted from,
http://www.rnhit.com/mcns/fullnews.php?id=6196

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http://www.news.lk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2625&Itemid=44

LTTE was created by India

Two former commanders of the Army and Air Force last week came down hard on India over comments made by the Indian National Security Adviser that Sri Lanka should not seek weapons from Pakistan or China.

Former Army Chief Hamilton Wanasinghe said India should not tell Sri Lanka from where it should purchase military hardware or not. It is Sri Lanka's choice, so the request is 'unfair'," General Wanasinghe who commanded the Army from 1988 to 1991 told the Daily Mirror.

Praising Pakistan and China for their continued support to Sri Lanka, the former Army Chief also said we had to depend on Pakistan and China at critical points of time in the past. "We can't antagonize those two countries, as they were there when we needed them."

Accusing neighbouring India of creating Sri Lanka's conflict, the former Army Commander said India was partly responsible for creating the problem for us. "The LTTE was created by India. That's the truth."

Meanwhile, former Air Force Chief Air Vice Marshal Harry Gunatilake said Sri Lanka had the freedom to go to any country to purchase weapons.

Extracted from,
http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/publish/article_36720.shtml

Asia lifts the second edition of the Afro-Asia Cup

The Asian captain won the toss and elected to bat first.

But things didn’t go right for the Asians at first. Africa was obviously on top of the game as Asia kept loosing wickets at regular intervals.

The scoreboard read 5/72 when the Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene and Indian Wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni came to the team’s rescue. Elegant centuries from both batsmen ensured another successive 300+ total for them.

The two right-handers rebuilt the innings in a record breaking 218-run stand for the sixth wicket. Jayawardene recorded his 10th century in a 106-ball- 107 hitting 9 fours and two sixes while Dhoni was much quicker with 15 fours and 5 sixes in his unbeaten 97-ball-138, his third ODI century.

Read more,
http://lankacricket.wordpress.com/2007/06/10/
asia-lifts-the-second-edition-of-the-afro-asia-cup/

Sri Lanka PM expresses regret

Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake on Sunday expressed `regret' over Thursday's eviction of 376 "jobless Tamils" living temporarily in lodges in Colombo and suburbs to their places of permanent residence in the north and east.

Addressing a news conference here, Mr. Wickramanayake said his Government accepted "responsibility" for what happened and said such incidents would not recur. However, he was not ready at this juncture to pin the blame on anyone.

On Friday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa called for an immediate report from Inspector-General of Police Victor Perera on the `manner' of eviction, amid reports that the Tamils were put to great hardship and inconvenience.

Read more,
http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/11/stories/2007061115040100.htm

Sri Lankan Operator Announced Network Expansion Plans

Sri Lanka's Dialog Telekom has signed an investment agreement with the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BoI) to invest a further US$300 million in the country's Telecommunications and Media sectors within the next 2 years.

The investment will be targeted at large scale expansion of services across all regions of Sri Lanka. Associated infrastructure investments would include expansion of the company's GSM and 3G mobile networks, introduction of Value Added Services and the establishment of Broadband transmission networks across the island based on Fibre Optic and Microwave transmission technologies.

The Company will also make substantial investments in the provision of International Bandwidth to Sri Lanka's ICT sector via the SeMeWe4 submarine cable.

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http://www.cellular-news.com/story/24271.php