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The Senate of the  University  of  Colombo  has decided to confer the Degree of Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) and the Degree of Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) on President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa respectively.   The  Colombo   University states that these degrees will be conferred on them in recognition of their stupendous service rendered to the country in safeguarding territorial integrity, sovereignty and restoration of peace.

The United National Party (UNP) will contest the upcoming Jaffna and Vavunia Local Government elections, said party General Secretary Tissa Attanayake. The final decision is to be taken at the Working Committee meeting on June 9, he added.

A vote is to be taken in two hours time on the resolution submitted by  Sri Lanka  at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in  Geneva , says  Sri Lanka ’s Human Rights and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe.

Have you been hit like millions of Facebook users by a new phishing scam that can result in crashing your computers or mobile phones and steal your passwords? If not, beware, do not open the files ending with “.at” or “.be”. The phishing scam is being run through the spam messages which steals the sensitive information of the Facebook users. In the attack, the messages are circulated with a subject line of “Hello” and a prompt to check out “areps.at” or other URLs ending in “.at”. The mails with the subject line “Look at This” and links like -- goldbase.be, greenbuddy.be, silvertag.be, picoband.be -- leads to some malicious Web sites, which if visited, could secretly download malware onto computers through a “drive-by download” application. The URL connectivity, before being blocked directs the visitor to a fake Facebook page and the mail ID and password are stolen as soon as it is logged-in again. According to the All Facebook blog.Facebook, the password in such cases should be change

On May 7 the Mercy Mission ship, “Captain Ali” (IMO: 6619920) set sail from  Fos-Sur-Mer ,  France  on the 2nd leg of the “Mercy Mission to Vanni”. The Sri Lankan Government has not granted ships of any country to ferry aid cargo and this ship too has not been granted authority to act on behalf of  Sri Lanka , officials said. Meanwhile, reports say that the ship Captain Ali is carrying approximately 884 metric tons of food, medicine, and other essential humanitarian relief items destined for the 330,000 Tamil civilians in the Vanni area of  Northern Sri Lanka  displaced by the war, according to reports. The “Mercy Mission to Vanni” began the first leg of its journey from the Port of Ipswich, UK on April 20. The Captain Ali has just entered the Red Sea after travelling through the  Suez Canal . An ex-Sri Lanka Monitoring  Mission  (SLMM) monitor, doctors, and humanitarian workers are traveling with the humanitarian relief on board the Captain Ali. The ex-SLMM monitor Kristjan Guðmundsso

Six persons were killed and 15 others injured when a Kataragama bound passenger bus collided with a parked lorry at Tangalle last night, say Police.

The Centre for Policy Alternatives in a media release says that it ‘salutes their resilience and pay our respects to our fellow citizens who sacrificed their lives and who sustained grievous injuries to bring the military hostilities to a conclusion’. The statement in full: “The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) welcomes the end of military hostilities in Sri Lanka’s protracted ethnic conflict and the alleviation of suffering it brings to the tens of thousands of civilians who were trapped in the fighting. We salute their resilience and pay our respects to our fellow citizens who sacrificed their lives and who sustained grievous injuries to bring the military hostilities to a conclusion. We hope that that the grave and continuing human rights and humanitarian challenges faced by internally displaced civilians and a political settlement to the ethnic conflict, will be rapidly addressed within the framework of peace, national unity and reconciliation, thereby ensuring that the grievan

New Delhi : A day ahead of the crucial meeting of pre-poll UPA allies, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi yesterday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi amid speculation that the DMK is eyeing meaty cabinet portfolios. Karunanidhi was accompanied by his son M.K. Azhagiri, daughter Kanimozhi, grandnephew Dayanidhi Maran, a former telecommunications minister, and T.R. Baalu, also a former minister in the UPA government. A beaming Sonia Gandhi greeted the DMK patriarch at her 10, Janpath residence and wrapped a shawl around him in a gesture of respect. After meeting Gandhi, Karunanidhi met Manmohan Singh at his 7,  Race Course Road  residence. The issue of cabinet formation will figure prominently in the first meeting of the pre-poll allies of the Congress party here today. Defying pollsters and widespread speculation that his rival Jayalalithaa would sweep the state, the DMK put in a surprise performance, winning 18 of the state’s 39 seats. The DMK

The body of LTTE leader Prabakaran has been identified, confirms Army Commander Pictures By Ada Derana

The Government requests the public to hoist the National Flag at every home and building tomorrow (Sunday) to mark the victory over terrorism that has been achieved by the Sri Lankan Security Forces.

Addressing the G-11 summit in the Kingdom of Jordan, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said that he is returning to a nation that had vanquished terrorism which was in it worst form. He has decided to cut short his visit and return to  Sri Lanka  tomorrow 

Cabinet approved a Memorandum submitted by the Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha to implement the percentages as indicated below for admission of children to Grade One. 1.1: For proximity of the residence - 50% 1.2 : Other qualifications – 1.2.1: For past pupils - 25% 1.2.2: For brothers/sisters - 15% 1.2.3: Children of officers in Public Service the following will be considered: * Officers in Public Service who have transfers and children of parents engaged in the field of education * Children of Public Officers serving in difficult districts * Children of employees in Government Institutions returning from abroad.               The number of students admitted for a class should be 35. In addition, the children of the parents engaged in operational services should be reserved at the rate of seven students per class and the maximum number of students in a class should not exceed 42. (The admission of children if parents engaged in Operational services will be valid only for

Sabaragamuwa Provincial Governor Mohan Saliya Ellawala has passed away a short while ago after a brief illness.

KUALA LUMPUR, Thursday, April 2, 2009 - Axiata Group Berhad, formerly TM International Berhad (TMI), today unveiled its new company name and logo-. The new name and logo marks a major milestone in the company’s history and signifies its presence as a key regional player in the mobile telecommunications market. The rebranding exercise, which has been planned since its demerger from Telekom Malaysia Berhad in April 2008, will further establish Axiata as an independent regional identity with its own distinct aspirations and strategies. Following the demerger, Axiata has developed into one of the largest mobile players in South East Asia with nearly 90 million customers across 10 countries. A New Beginning Y Bhg Tan Sri Dato’ Azman Mokhtar, Chairman, Non-Independent Non-Executive Director of Axiata said “The name change and Axiata’s new brand identity symbolises a new beginning, uniting the operating companies with a visual and tangible sense of shared purpose and belonging. This is aligne

Sri Lankan police arrested three journalists for London-based Channel 4 television news Saturday on charges of tarnishing the image of government security forces, authorities said. Police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekera said the trio was arrested in the eastern city of  Trincomalee on Saturday. He said investigations are continuing. Nick Paton-Walsh, the channel’s Asian correspondent, spoke to the Associated Press by telephone shortly after the arrest, saying that he was being driven to the capital,  Colombo , along with producer Bessie Du and cameraman Matt Jasper. The Channel 4 had been covering fierce fighting between government forces and the separatist Tamil Tigers. Walsh said he believed the arrests were connected to his recent report on conditions for war refugees and alleged sexual abuse in camps for those who fled the northern war zone. ITN News, which produces Channel 4, confirmed that its reporting team has been ordered to leave the country by the Sri Lankan Defense Minister, “

DOHA : Hundreds of people gathered at the Sri Lankan Embassy yesterday to mark Vesak, which is celebrated as a religious and a cultural festival in  Sri Lanka . The day, observed by practicing Buddhists in many Asian countries, marks the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Gautama Buddha. “The embassy hosts this event to promote the oneness of the Sri Lankans here. The Vesak day, like any other festival, stresses on leading a moral and compassionate life. The celebration here is joined in by people of all communities and religions, which reflects the true message of the day,” said one of the embassy officials. The events, which began in the morning with traditional celebrations, concluded with a colourful cultural show staged by the Sri Lankan community in  Qatar . Electrically lit toranas, colourful lanterns called Vesak koodu and bhakti gee or Buddhist devotional songs were the highlights of the event. Enormous lighted structures erected at the embassy premises illustrated a sto

The Navy says two LTTE suicide boats were destroyed, another two seized and several sea tigers were believed killed during a clash with the Navy off Mullaitivu early today.

The earlier government demarcated ‘No Fire Zone’ for civilians in the conflict zone has been re-demarcated in keeping with current realities of the ground situation. The new area thus demarcated will be 2 kilometers by 1.5 kilometres, says military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says that it is not able to take food and medical supplies on a regular basis to the no fire zone in northeastern  Sri Lanka  where thousands of civilians are trapped. ICRC spokesman Marcal Izard who spoke to the BBC from  Geneva  said that heavy fighting prevented the ICRC ferry getting close to the civilians in Mullaiwaikkal on a regular basis. “The lack of security in the last seven days didn’t allow us to bring in food” said Izard. He said that the ferry that arrived in the vicinity of Mullaiwaikkal in the early hours of Thursday morning was delayed until the afternoon due to heavy fighting. Spokesman Izard confirmed that nearly six hundred civilians were taken on board for medical treatment and twenty five thousand metric tons of food was delivered on Thursday. The spokesman said that the ICRC has requested for security guarantees from both parties engaged in combat to ensure regular supplies. Meanwhile the Essential Services Com

Thousands of children recruited by the LTTE have surrendered. Forcefully recruited by the terrorists, the children and survivors recount horrific tales of the LTTE's brutalities. One of the child soldiers who surrendered, Sasi Kanakariga Pillai says; "We used to go to school, but were always in hiding. If the LTTE found out that we were at home they would catch us. They would give some training and deploy us as LTTE fighters." LTTE forcefully recruited thousands of children like Sasi to bolster its strength. "They caught me. I trained with them for two months. I managed to escape," he adds. There are many such shocking revelations which have come to fore in the refugee camps where LTTE's forced recruits and their parents are taking shelter. They are happy to have escaped the clutches of the Tigers. Principal Bhartiya Vidyalaya Kilinochchi, Rajendra says: "I am a principal in a school where we lost 100 students in the war. They were recruited by the LTTE

Hong Kong: The first confirmed case of swine flu in Asia was recorded in Hong Kong yesterday after a Mexican man who arrived via  Shanghai  tested positive, Chief Executive Donald Tsang announced. More than 300 guests and staff at the hotel where the patient had briefly stayed were placed under quarantine for seven days as officials announced “draconian” measures in a bid to contain the disease, reports AFP. “We have our first confirmed swine flu case in  Hong Kong . He is Mexican,” Tsang told reporters. The 25-year-old Mexican arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday from  Mexico  via  Shanghai  on China Eastern Airlines flight MU 505, Tsang said. He was admitted to hospital on Thursday night suffering from a fever and tested positive on Friday for swine flu. He was in stable condition, Tsang said. The Metropark Hotel in Wanchai district where he had been staying had been isolated, he said. “I will raise the alert level from serious to emergency,” the chief executive said. Despite putting  Ho

Passengers arriving at the  Bandaranaike   International   Airport  from  Mexico , the  USA ,  UK ,  Spain ,  New Zealand  and  Canada  will be screened for Swine Flu, in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, say airport officials.