Army Reaches The Coast Again

The tempo of combat continues to increase, but the LTTE have developed a recruiting and training system that enables them to continue resisting the army. LTTE recruiters keep track of births and go looking for boys and girls when they reach 17. Potentially, that's over 10,000 recruits a year. But with those in hiding, or girls who are married, they get about half that.

This includes those who desert from training, although most go for the indoctrination and become loyal LTTE fighters. But these are young and inexperienced kids with guns. The LTTE cadres (veteran fighters) act as sergeants and officers to supervise the kids, who don't last long in combat. But this forces the army to fight bunker by bunker, and town by town. That reduces the amount of LTTE territory, and population, and the available recruits.

The air force has increased reconnaissance activities, partly because of new Israeli UAVs that arrived recently. The air force is looking for the LTTE construction equipment (bulldozers and such), that are used to build new bunkers, behind ones recently lost to the army.

The construction equipment can build new bunkers quickly enough to halt the army advance. Building new bunkers by hand is not nearly as quick. In many areas, the LTTE already has a second, or third, line of bunkers built. But not everywhere, and that has made construction equipment a prime air force target. And it's hard to hide the construction site, and the newly turned earth.

Read more,
http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/srilank/articles/20080718.aspx

Navy rescues an injured Sri Lankan Fisherman off 150 nautical miles North-east of Trincomalee

Sri Lanka Navy rescued an injured Sri Lankan fisherman 150 nautical miles north-east of Trincomalee on the 16th July 2008 and provided him with medical treatment.

The injured fisherman had left from Matara with his fellow crew members for fishing on board a multi-day fishing trawler. Their fishing trawler had begun to drift due to an engine failure in mid sea. He had fallen overboard while attempting to repair the boat and got seriously injured when he got entangled in the propeller. The fellow crew members had managed to take him on board and had treated him with medicine available on board their vessel.

However, his condition had worsened and the Navy was contacted for help. The Navy’s Offshore Patrol Vessel, SLNS Samudura, was dispatched to rescue the seriously wounded fisherman. The navy medical personnel had provided him with the emergency medical treatment after taking him on board the SLNS Samudura.

The patient, 18-year-old AMP Kasun Danushra of Beldeniya, Kottegoda, is now receiving medical treatment at the Navy Hospital in Trincomalee.

News and Photo,
http://www.navy.lk/index.php?id=898

Sri Lanka's armed forces eye Kilinochchi

Government defence spokesperson Minister Keheliya Rambukwella today revealed that the armed forces have already taken steps to liberate Kilinochchi from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as their next aim.

He pointed out that the security forces’ “liberation” of the Vidataltivu Sea Tiger base, where Sea Tiger leader Soosai had once operated, was a “great victory”. He made these comments at a press briefing held at his residence.

He went on to say that following the capture of the Vidataltivu area, troops consolidated their domination over 90% of the Mannar district. The government expects to cultivate paddy in the Rice Bowl area in Mannar in the future, he added.

Responding to a question asked by a media person on abductions carried out by “white vans”, the Minister said that the only way to resolve this issue is to stop importing “white vans from Japan since 90% of the vans imported to Sri Lanka are white-coloured.”

He added that there was evidence now surfacing that the majority of these cases are fabrications aimed at troubling the government.

Extracted from,
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_08/July18171054JR.html

Sri Lanka-India economic pact signing to be delayed

The Sri Lankan government said Friday that the signing of the much anticipated Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Sri Lanka would be delayed.

"We are not in a hurry to sign it. It is still at the discussion table, not finalized yet," Anura Yapa, the government spokesman and the minister of Information and Media told reporters.

It is reported earlier that the CEPA would be signed on the sidelines of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation ( SAARC) meeting to be held in Colombo from July 27 to Aug. 3.

The CEPA framework was presented to the Sri Lankan cabinet this week, government sources revealed.

Local industrialists have expressed interest to the CEPA and complained about the lack of information available to them on the proposed agreement.

The CEPA will come as a follow-up to the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement signed in 2005.

Officials said the CEPA will allow investment and trading of services between the two south Asian neighbors as opposed to the mere exchange of goods under the FTA.

extracted from,
http://calibre.mworld.com/m/m.w?lp=GetStory&id=314328821

We are comfortable playing in Pakistan: Ranatunga

Mumbai: Sri Lanka Cricket Board chief Arjuna Ranatunga gave Pakistan a thumbs up ahead of the important International Cricket Council's meeting at the week-end to discuss security concerns for the Champions Trophy to be held there in September.

"We have no problem in playing in Pakistan or India. Pakistan hosted six teams very well recently at the Asia Cup and I was there for the final. It was very well organised," said the 1996 World Cup-winning ex-Sri Lanka Test and ODI captain at a media conference on Thursday.

"So far the championship is in Pakistan and we have been told we are in the standby position," he added.

Ranatunga was also crystal clear in his views about Twenty20 cricket by saying they were good money spinners and should be used in protecting the sanctity and pre-eminence of Test cricket.

Read more,
http://sports.in.msn.com/cricket/stories/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1572235

Sri Lanka's Laugfs Holdings enters lubricant market

Sri Lanka's diversified Laugfs Holdings has introduced lubricants to the local market, working capture 30 percent share in two years, top officials said.

The lubricants were launched through the subsidiary of Laugfs Holdings, Laugfs Lubricants Limited.

"As a fully Sri Lankan company, we are proud to enter a market which is already dominated by international players," W K H Wegapitiya, chairman, Laugfs Lubricants said.

The company, with an initial investment of 225 million rupees, has introduced lubricants for both diesel and petrol engines.

"We are confident of commanding around 30 percent of the market share of the lubricant industry in less than two years," Wegapitiya said.

The chain of supermarkets and petroleum depots owned by Laugfs Holdings will be an advantage over other competitors for the sale of the lubricants, Wegapitiya says.

The company also sells Liquefied Petroleum Gas.

Sri Lanka's lube market has been dominated by Caltex Lubricants Lanka Limited with nearly 72 percent market share.

Lanka Indian Oil Corporation (LIOC) holds a 20 percent of market while the balance eight percent is split between Mobil, Valvoline, Shell and BP/Castrol.

Read more,
http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/fullstory.php?nid=623226559

Ten Sports lines up advertisers for Sri Lanka series

With the Idea Cup between India and Sri Lanka kicking off on 23 July, Ten Sports has roped in a clutch of sponsors. Besides Idea, which is the presenting sponsor, the channel has also roped in Bharti AGA Life Insurance and Hero Honda as co-presenting sponsors. The associate sponsors are LG and Maruti.

Speaking to indiantelevision.com Taj Television India GM Rukin Kizilbash says, “We have sold 80 per cent of our inventory for the Test matches at Rs 50,000 per 10 seconds. For ODIs, we started at Rs 200,000 and went up to Rs 250,000. There is a month still to go for the ODI series to kick off and we have sold 85 per cent of our inventory. Our aim is to take the rate up to Rs 350,000 as the event comes nearer. For ODIs there are around 20-25 spots left while for the Test matches there are around 10-12 spots left per playing day.”

Information available with indiantelevision.com indicates that the presenting sponsors paid around Rs 100 million while the associate sponsors have coughed up Rs 80 million. It is also believed that in total, Idea will spend Rs 300 million on the event as the title sponsor. Sri Lanka Cricket will get around Rs 200 million from Idea for the association.

The special packages like Action Replay are believed to have been sold for around Rs 18–20 million each.

The sponsors get between 240-300 seconds of ad time per match day. Bharti AGA has also taken the fall of wickets package. Maruti has the ratings deal. It also has a car on display, which will be given to the man of the series.

Hero Honda will present a bike to the batsman who hits the most number of sixes in the ODI event. HP has taken the super fours and sixes package.

Read more,
http://www.indiantelevision.com/mam/headlines/y2k8/july/julymam66.php

Sri Lanka denies firing team manager Hashan Tillakaratne

Sri Lanka's cricket authority denied Thursday that it had fired team manager Hashan Tillakaratne only two days after appointing him.

Local media reports earlier said Sports Minister Gamini Lokuge had refused to support Tillakaratne's appointment as manager for the test series against India because of his political allegiance.

The 41-year-old Tillakaratne, a former captain of Sri Lanka, is a member of the main opposition United National Party.

"No one has informed me that such a decision has been taken. I am working with the team and was at practice today," Tillakaratne told The Associated Press.

Sri Lanka Cricket media manager Shane Fernando also said Tillakaratne was still manager, adding that his name has been forwarded to Lokuge for approval.

Read more,
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/17/sports/AS-CRI-Sri-Lanka-Tillakaratne.php

Removing unauthorized constructions Sorrow, Tears and struggle at slave Island

Nearly Thousand families at Slave island in to a big trouble today morning. Police attempted to remove their temporary residences which were unauthorized constructions according to government, to strengthen the security in Colombo prior to SAARC conferences according to a decision taken by Ministry of defense.

Public become restless and all the people in the area faced the same problems

Where to go with their kids?

How to continue their day to day life, schooling, cooking?

The public Motivated to obstruct the police and arguments raised. Police managed to remove them by farce. Lot of people with their children were seen with sorrowful, hopeless faces with dought of their future and their children's future.

Considering this situation the court give and order to postponed the removal up to 22nd this month.

Extracted from,
http://www.lankatruth.com/New/Full_Story_Page/2008/July/18/20080718_04.htm

Photos,
www.lankatruth.com, www.dailymirror.lk and www.lankadeepa.lk

Mysterious presence of Indian in Tiger territory

A chance detection of a boat trying to move through an SLN cordon now in place in the Gulf of Mannar has revealed the presence of some Indians in the LTTE-held area in the Vanni.

An Indian holding passport (ETN/059/001/355/2001) was among seven persons attempting to cross the Indo-Lanka maritime boundary on Wednesday. Selvam Sudesh Kanan has claimed that he along with three other Indians arrived in the LTTE held area in the Vanni on January 10, 2003.

His boat would most probably have escaped if a special naval cordon had not been in place to discourage the Tamil Nadu fishing fleet from poaching in Sri Lankan waters. The SLN has placed the cordon following the detention of nearly 290 Indian trawlers poaching in Sri Lankan waters on July 2, which triggered protests in the Tamil Nadu.

After initial questioning in Mannar, the SLN had moved the Indian overland to Colombo to be handed over to the Indian High Commission.

Although the government has accepted Selvam’s claim that they were detained by the LTTE used as forced labour, the mystery surrounds the failure on the part of their families to raise the issue with the Sri Lankan mission in Chennai. The Tamil Nadu media, the Indian High Commission or the Norwegian-led truce monitoring mission deployed in the Northern and Eastern Province had not raised the issue, the sources said.

Sources pointed out that although Selvam had a valid Indian passport, he hadn’t entered Sri Lanka through the Bandaranaike International airport. "The bottom line is that he had entered the Vanni mainland clandestinely," an official said.

Read more,
http://www.island.lk/2008/07/18/news14.html
Photo,
MCNS

Wanni operation 16 th July 2008

Source,
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080715_11

Hashan chooses politics

Former Test captain Hashan Tilakaratne has said that he would choose the position of UNP organizer for Avissawella over the post of manager of the Sri Lanka cricket team.

Speaking to journalists, Mr. Tilakaratne said he would not let down the people of his electorate, who had placed trust in him.

Noting that even the UNP leadership has permitted him to play a dual role, he said that he was capable of balancing the two.

Sports Minister, Gamini Lokuge has said that he wanted Mr. Tilakaratne to choose between politics and cricket.

Extracted from,
http://www.lankaeverything.com/vinews/sports/20080717081046.php

Lanka's 'Outstanding Sportsman of the Year'

Just days ahead of the home Test series against India, spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan got the confidence booster as he was chosen for Sri Lanka's 'Most Outstanding Sportsman of the Year award'.

President Mahinda Rajapakse honoured Muralitharan the award at a glittering function here on Wednesday night. A beaming Muralitharan thanked the President after receiving the award.

Averaging more than six wickets per Test in his 16 years of international cricket, Muralitharan is one of the most successful bowlers in the history of the game.

He surpassed long time Australian rival Shane Warne's record 708 wickets in December last year on his home turf of Kandy to become the highest Test wicket-taker and has 735 scalps to his name now from 120 matches.

Extracted from,
http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14718517

I am just beginning, says Mendis

Ajantha Mendis stepped into the limelight at the Asia Cup final and it seems he just can’t step out of it. For a full forty minutes Mendis was the centre of attention as he got a taste of how the Indian media treated cricketers at the launch of Travelorg Holidays as official tour operator for the upcoming Indo-Lanka series.

Ever smiling, like that other Sri Lankan spinner, Mendis whispered answers in Sinhala for Arjuna Ranatunga to translate. Mendis, whose only unaided utterance, also in Sinhala, was something to the tune of “come watch us play.”

Ranatunga, never short of words, did more than just translate, generously adding to Mendis’ short answers. “Murali is a legend. He has gone very far and I am just beginning,” said Mendis when the inevitable comparison came his way.

Ranatunga let Mendis go in quick time as the bowler had a return flight to catch. “He took a day’s break from practice and I don’t want him to miss another day,” said Ranatunga. “I’m not too comfortable calling Ajantha a freak but he is a freak bowler. He has five different deliveries and is mastering one more,” said Ranatunga. “You have to be at him all the time. To play against Mendis will be the ultimate test.”

Read more,
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?