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Showing posts with label Local News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Local News. Show all posts

Sri Lanka Hit New Low

Sri Lanka were bowled out for their lowest ever one-day international score as South Africa thumped them by 258 runs in Paarl. South Africa batted first and posted an imposing 8-301 from their 50 overs, with Hashim Amla (112) and Jacques Kallis (72) leading the way.



They could have scored more if not for a batting collapse in the final stages but it mattered little as Sri Lanka were embarrassingly bowled out for just 43 in response.

Morne Morkel (4-10) and Lonwabo Tsotsobe (3-19) were the chief destroyers for the winners as the tourists scored the fourth-worst score in one-day international history.

Chasing 302, the tourists needed a first start but Upul Tharanga (zero) lasted just two balls before Morkel snared his first scalp.

Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan (zero) followed in the next over when he edged behind off Tsotsobe and Dinesh Chandimal (four), Kumar Sangakkara (four), Angelo Mathews (zero) and Mahela Jayawardene (two) all showed no resistance as they slumped to 6-13.

Morkel and Tsotsobe had done all the damage to that point but the introduction of Robin Peterson (2-5) and Dale Steyn (1-7) led to more carnage, with the latter snaring the wicket of Nuwan Kulasekara (six).

Peterson bowled Malinga before taking the catch that removed Kosala Kulasekara #8211; who amazingly was the only Sri Lankan batsman to pass six runs; on the mid-wicket fence as he trudged off with 19 from his 46 deliveries at the crease.

Peterson wrapped up the rout when he trapped Fernando lbw as Sri Lanka lasted just 108 minutes and 20.1 overs with the bat.

Earlier, Amla and Kallis gave South Africa the upper hand with a superb 144-run partnership that set their innings up.

Malinga (5-53) dismissed Graeme Smith (six) early, but the hosts quickly got to work as unusually, Amla played the anchor role while Kallis was the aggressor.

The pair turned the strike over freely and opted for accumulation rather than unnecessary big-hitting and it paid dividends until Kallis was run out by Mahela Jayawardene.

New captain AB de Villiers (52 from 40 balls) swung from the word go and whacked seven boundaries while Amla’s patience was rewarded when he turned the ball of his pads down to fine leg for a two that brought up his century.

Just two balls later de Villiers was bowled and in the hunt for late runs, Albie Morkel (25), Amla, JP Duminy (one), Faf Du Plessis (10) and Steyn (one) were all dismissed as Sri Lanka took 6-60 from the final 10 overs.

It proved academic in the end though, as South Africa romped home to an emphatic victory which gives them a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, Sky News reports.

Commission Submits Report On A/L Results – Sources

The commission appointed to probe issues pertaining to the released 2011 Advanced Level examination results, has handed over its final report to the President, sources said today.

President Rajapakse on December 30 appointed the committee to investigate the results of the examinations, which came under criticism due to the delay in releasing the results and the suspending of district rankings.

Authorities had stated that the District Rankings were suspended due to a ‘technical error’ during the calculation process.

There had been a delay in the releasing of A/L results as examinations were conducted under two syllabuses, which caused difficulties in deciding a general ‘Z-score’.

Secretary to the Ministry of Technology and Research Dara Wijayathilake was named as the Chairperson to the committee, which consists of Vice Chancellor of the Colombo University Prof. Kshanika Hirimburegama, Vice Chancellor of the Moratuwa University Prof. Ananda Jayawardane, Vice chancellor of the Uva Wellassa University Prof. Ranjith Premalal De Silva and also the Principal of Royal College Mr. Upali Gunasekara.

The committee was instructed by the President to conduct an extensive inquiry into the issue related to the District Rankings of the 2011 A/L results and to submit its recommendations within 2 weeks. 

Protesting against private medical college unethical - Minister S.B. Dissanayake

http://www.lankanewstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/cache/6102_NewsSP.jpgHigher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake said Sri Lanka has many private tertiary education institutions offering degree certificates and therefore it is not ethical for the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) or any other party to protest against the setting up of private medical colleges which will help the country produce more doctors in future.
According to Higher Education Ministry reports, over seven tertiary education institutions operate in the country at present, offering degree certificates on various educational fields.
The Minister also referred to the protest carried out by the GMOA last week against the decision taken by the Higher Education Ministry to legalise the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) at Malabe. He said only those who missed entry to Sri Lankan Medical Colleges by a few marks seek enrolment in this private medical college.
He said the SAITM was established in 2008 and the University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved it after monitoring its education facilities for over two years.
It is reported that the SAITM is affiliated to the University of Wolverhampton, University of Buckingham, Asian Institute of Technology and Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy and the quality and standard of the medical degrees awarded come under the purview of the UGC and the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC).
Meanwhile, a senior official of the SAITM said the private medical college has many facilities including lecture halls, auditoriums, tutorial rooms, laboratories and museums for anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, parasitology and pathology, while others are being constructed.
It is also reported that the GMOA's planned strike last Wednesday was called off after certain demands were made to the SAITM.
The SAITM also turned down the request made by the Health Ministry and the GMOA to suspend enrolling students to the institution.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Maithreepala Sirisena at a recent function at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital said education and other facilities at private medical colleges should be of a high standard and it is their duty to produce qualified doctors to cater to the needs of patients.

Marine drive to be extended to Panadura

http://www.janadhipathi.com/images/articles/admin/june2011/colombo-galle-road.jpgThe newly constructed marine drive from Kollupitiya junction to Wellawatte will be extended to Panadura from January next year.
According to the Ministry of Highways, construction work on the first phase between Wellawatte and Moratuwa will be completed soon to ease the heavy traffic congestion.
At present motorists take over 70 minutes to reach either destination.
Deputy Ports and Highways Minister Nirmala Kotalawala told the Sunday Observer that a marine drive from Wellawatte to Moratuwa is urgently needed and the road design process which is now being carried out will be completed before December.
After the first phase is completed motorists could access the new Galle Road from Moratuwa. At present it takes only five to six minutes to reach Panadura from Moratuwa on the new Galle Road which runs parallel to the Southern railway track.
Deputy Minister Kotalawala said that hoteliers, residents and land owners, living along the coastal belt from Wellawatte to Moratuwa have been warned to refrain from building new constructions.
The Minister said the road and other needs of the marine drive from Wellawatte to Kollupitiya are being regularly monitored, since all vehicles on the Galle Road from the South enter the city of Colombo from Dickman's Road.
Motorists could now drive to Kollupitiya from Dickman's Road junction within a few minutes due to the uniflow system, introduced by the City Police a few months ago.
 

Mervyn Silva intervenes to prevent animal sacrifice


VIDEO: Mervyn to the rescue…Public Relations and Public Affairs Minister Mervyn Silva took it upon himself to release the animals prepared to be sacrificed at the Sri Bhadra Kali Amman Kovil in Munneswaram, Chilaw today (September 13). Following the court order temporarily suspending the annual ritual, Minister Silva stated he would personally transport the animals to animal farms. (Pic by Jude Samantha)  Source - Ada Derana

Married couple drowns in Pottuvil

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A married couple drowned in Paanama area in Pottuvil today (September 9) morning while fishing in the Panagala lagoon, Police Spokesman SP Prishantha Jayakoddy stated.

The bodies of the two victims have been found and are awaiting the post mortem examinations.

Excise OIC arrested with ganja haul

http://www.srilankamirror.com/english/images/stories/demo/ARREST.gif The officer in charge (OIC) of the Excise Department Hambantota office has been arrested while transporting a stock of marijuana. The batch of illicit drugs was discovered by police officers at a security checkpoint in the Udawalawe area in Thanamalwila upon inspection of a cab.

Police state that 111kg of powdered ganja and 131kg of dried ganja were found concealed in the vehicle.

It has been reported that suspect in question had been taken into custody by a police team including the OIC of the Monaragala Anti-vice squad.

The OIC of the Hambantota Excise Department, suspected of transporting the stock of drugs is a resident of Siribopura, Hambantota.

Colombo-Badulla railway services disrupted

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A lorry has toppled on the railway line between Diyathalawa and Bandarawela disrupting railway services along the Badulla-Colombo line.  The control center of the Sri Lanka Railway Department informed that due to the disruption trains starting from Colombo would only travel to Diyathalawa.


Trains starting from Badulla might be delayed. The center said.

Cargills gets CB approval to set up new bank

Sri Lanka: Colombo picture 40
Cargill's had started as Milne, Cargill, and Company, but
Milne soon retired to Glasgow, while Cargill had other
interests, including Burmah Oil.  Long registered in
Glasgow.Cargills ws sold to Sri Lankans in 1946,
but they chose to keep the Cargill's name. 
The Central Bank has issued a provisional letter of approval to Cargills Ceylon PLC to establish a new commercial bank in Sri Lanka, a stock exchange filing said.


It said the application for a banking license had been made jointly by Cargills and its parent C T Holdings, who are the joint promoters of the new bank ‘Cargills Agriculture and Commercial Bank(CACB).

Lankan govt. expresses its sorrow over New Delhi bomb attack

http://www.ndpfront.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/nimal-siripala-de-silva.jpg Minister of Irrigation and Water Supply, Nimal Siripala De Silva expressed in Parliament today (September 7) the Sri Lankan governments sorrow regarding the bomb blast in new Delhi which killed nine people and injured 45

Private bus operators on 9 routes on strike

http://www.ilo.org/dyn/media/images/watermark/e0831.jpg Private bus operators on nine routes including Gampaha-Colombo, Kadawatha-Fort, Nittambuwa-Colombo are currently on strike following a permit issue, President of Lanka Private Bus Owners’ Association Gemunu Wijeratne said.

Sexual assault in bus


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A man who had allegedly sexually harassed a Japanese woman while she was travelling in a bus near Union Place, Colombo 2 was remanded till September 12 by the Colombo Fort Magistrate today.

The Japanese woman complaining to the Slave Island police, accused a person who stood beside her in the bus of touching her in an inappropriate manner.

She had further told police that she was a resident of Kammachi in Japan and arrived in Sri Lanka for a short holiday tour.

The suspect was produced before Magistrate Ms. Lanka Jayaratne, who ordered the suspect to be remanded till September 12.

The Slave Island police are conducting further investigations

Sri Lanka to woo 2.5 million tourists by 2016

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpUI8oZI3RC2x6GTrvkpiURX0rJNB5CNt_eXPBTXSkHOS7vUUkzJ6jezrlJ_uOBRsdw1nAnxJNqs0le0TLwSZ2qvRY9OnJ_imSwq8Fb7f8mokG98692ZBr4-Ka2PORVqeThdEypDuvI3s/s1600/Tourist_Arrivals_Sri_Lanka.jpgSri Lanka on Monday set an ambitious target of attracting 2.5 million foreign holiday-makers in the next five years, as the island nation emerges from decades of war.

“We had 650,000 tourists last year, but this year we crossed the 500,000 mark in the first eight months alone,” tourism chief Nalaka Godahewa said. “We have set a target of attracting 2.5 million tourists by 2016.”

Sri Lanka Tourism, the main regulatory authority for the tourism sector, said it will streamline approvals and seek greater investments in hotels to double room capacity to 45,000 by 2016.

Godahewa said he expected arrivals to rise more rapidly with the increase in hotel rooms. Sri Lanka hopes to increase its tourism earnings to $2.75 billion by 2016, he added.

The government is also expecting a boom in domestic aviation to meet the increasing tourism demand.

The island banned domestic flying during the height of fighting between troops and Tamil Tiger rebels.

The guerrillas had used light aircraft to bomb military as well as civilian targets before they were crushed in an onslaught by security forces in May 2009.

The fighting seriously hurt the leisure sector with many hotels closing down.

However, hotel rates have more than doubled since the end of the separatist conflict and tourism is seen as a key sector contributing to an average eight percent annual economic growth since the end of the fighting.

Sri Lanka wants to push its beaches, tea-growing mountains, heritage sites and wildlife parks to woo high-spending foreign holiday-makers, AFP reports.

President orders strict action against child rapists

http://www.unhcr.org/thumb1/456da9c34.jpgPresident Mahinda Rajapaksa has instructed to take the strictest actions against the perpetrators involved in the raping of a 10-year-old girl at an examination center in Matara, Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena told Parliament today.

Media revealed recently that an alleged air force deserter, two examination officers had sexually molested a 10-year-old school girl at Thelijjawila, Matara while the victim had visited the school with her mother for cleaning duties.

The examination officers had reportedly been consuming liquor at the time while engaging in G.C.E. A/L examination related duties.

Answering a question by UNP Parliamentarian Buddhika Pathirana, the Minister pointed out that the President dished out instructoions regarding action to be taken against the examination officers on a ministerial level and legal measures to be taken through court.



No CCTV cameras for Jaffna

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There is no truth to the reports that Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) cameras are to be installed in the Jaffna city, Jaffna Security Forces Commander Major General Mahinda Hathurusingha said today (September 5).

No such decision has been taken, he told Ada Derana completely refuting media reports that a CCTV camera system is to be implemented in Jaffna for security purposes.

Test 52 Tsunami early warning towers today

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The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) is to test 52 Tsunami early warning towers today between 9am and 4pm, public advised not to panic. They would be tested via VHF frequencies and the test would  be carried out in ten districts according  the DMC

Minister Champika Ranawaka is to take legal action...

http://kalagune.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/m5.jpg?w=183&h=263Minister Champika Ranawaka is to take legal action seeking Rs.500 million in damages against Operations Committee member of CEB Joint Trade Union Alliance, Ranjan Jayalal for tarnishing his credibility and reputation and also media institutions for publishing false statements.

Mr. Jayalal at a press conference on August 29 had claimed that a bed was purchased for Rs.80,000 and transported to Kataragama all the way from Colombo for Patali Champika Ranawaka.

In a statement issued today (September 5) the Minister affirms that he, as Power and Energy Minister, has never taken official vehicles, official residences, security personnel or any other privileges belonging to the CEB.

Sri Lankan Student Fined for posting naked pictures of ex-girlfriend on YouTube


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Two foreign students, both 20, met, fell in love and broke up. However, Sri Lankan Mohamed Ansar Mohamed Azeem could not get over it and posted revealing pictures of his ex-girlfriend on YouTube and called her a slut.
Under the law, this is criminal intimidation and, on Monday, he was fined $2,000. He was fined another $20,000 for having 287 obscene films stored in his laptop.
The ex-student of the Singapore Institute of Management admitted to threatening to injure the reputation of his ex-girlfriend with his homemade video.
He had taken the photographs with her consent during their relationship. After the break-up, he weaved these images into a video clip on his laptop and uploaded it on YouTube at 8am on Sept 28, 2010, with a title that included her name and the words 'slut in Singapore'.

Reply video to Channel 4 unvails today..

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Life upon head, the short film made as a reply to channel 4 video is screening at "Newyork UNO Darnhamsherjolmy" hall.American Inner City Press organization has filed a request in UN to abort this screening time.But the UN secretory Ban Ki Moon has rejected the request. This request was made by Mathew Russelly of Inner City Press