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The Galle Film Festival to be held from Dec 2-6; will include Vimukthi Jayasundara’s ‘Ahasin Wetei’ & Nandita Das’s film Firaaq-Info Dept

The classic tale of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp has undergone a modern-day transformation at the Bollywood studios and is all set to weave its magic around the audiences in the form of a new fantasy flick. One of the best loved children stories, which first appeared in ‘The Book of One Thousand and One Nights’ has been adapted by film maker Sujoy Gosh to cater to the audience. Aladdin boasts of a commendable star cast, including Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan and Sri Lankan beauty queen Jacqueline Fernandez. Aladdin is the story of an orphan, Alaadin, played by actor Riteish Deshmukh who lives in the city of Khwaish and is bullied since childhood by Kasim and his gang. How his life takes a turn when he meets Jasmine played by Jacqueline, who gives him a magic lamp and what happens after that, forms the basic plot of the film. Riteish Deshmukh, who has made a mark in comic roles, sounded quite excited to take a break from comedy and do something different. “ Aladdin primarily i

UNP has nominated Buddhika Pathirana as the Southern Provincial Council opposition leader, the party said today. Pathirana registered a total of 57,802 preferential votes at the recently concluded polls.

Cabinet granted approval to a Memorandum submitted by the Minister of water supply and Drainage A.L.M Athaullah to award the tender for construction of Ja-Ela Ekala and Kandana Water Supply Scheme to M/s Nagarjuna & Sierra construction JV. The amount of this project is JPY 504,988,271.03 and LKR 1,376,528,966.09 plus VAT and other Government approved Taxes and Duties. Town North of Colombo Water Supply Project stage 11 is being implemented with loan funded provided by the Government of Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA). Ja-Ela Ekala and Kandana water supply schemes are components of this Project and part of the loan will be utilized to meet the cost of the Contract No.WSDP/TNC/C1 to be awarded for the implementation of these components.

Shares at the CSE rebounded strongly today. The Market ended up 32 points after being down over 100 points in the morning.

Democratic Peoples Front leader Mano Ganesan has told UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe that his party will not be a party to the proposed United National Alliance if General Sarath Fonseka is considered and proposed as the common candidate in the event of a presidential elections. The statement further says that, Name of General Sarath Fonseka is being considered by JVP as a common candidate for the presidential elections. Sarath Manemendra of Nava Sihala Urumaya too has invited Gen Sarath Fonseka to contest the presidential elections. He has spoken this from the office of SLFP (M) leader Mangala Samaraweera. Therefore this has given all reasonable signals to the nation that the proposed alliance between UNP, SLFP(M), SLMC and DPF wants General Sarath Fonseka to contest the presidential elections as the common opposition candidate. This position is not shared by Democratic Peoples Front (DPF). DPF will not be a party to the proposed United National Alliance if Gen

Supreme Court directs steps to be taken to provide easy access to public buildings for disabled persons, after FR by a former umpire-lawyer

The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) registered a resounding win at the Southern Provincial Council elections held yesterday. After the final results trickled in by morning today (Oct. 11), the UPFA had secured 38 seats, while the United National Party (UNP) had won only 14 and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has to be satisfied with three. The final Provincial results are as follows: UPFA – 804,071 votes (67.88%) 38 seats, UNP – 297,180 (25.09%) 14 seats and the JVP with 72,379 (6.1%) trailing third with only 03 seats.

United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) – 354,000 (68.34%) 16 seats. United National Party (UNP) – 140,175 (27.6%) 03 seats. Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) – 19,958 (03.85%) 01 seat.

End of voting turnout in Southern PC elections at 4pm – Hambantota 60%, Galle 52%, Matara 57%. 33 minor violent incidents reported-PAFFREL

PAFFREL says voter turnout by 12 noon was Hambantota 45%, Matara 30%-35% and Galle 40%. No major incidents of election violence toda

All government schools in the Southern Province will be closed on Friday (09) in view of the elections, the Education Ministry said today.

With today’s turnover of Rs. 1.1 Billion, the daily turnover of the Colombo Stock Exchange surpassed Rs. 1 Billion for six consecutive market days for the first time in history.

Countries in the Indian Ocean region are to set up a common tsunami warning centre in the area. Sri Lanka is among the 28 countries that that are to hold a joint tsunami warning and preparedness exercise on October 14. These moves are with the coordination of the United Nations Organisation (UNO), said the Disaster Management Centre. Hambantota and Batticaloa districts in Sri Lanka have been identified for this purpose.

Amaya Resorts, one of the leading names in the leisure industry joined the Star Points Network, Sri Lanka’s largest mobile-based rewards programme. This partnership will enable Dialog Mobile subscribers to earn and burn Star Points whenever they transact at Amaya Resorts and Spas. These include Amaya Lake Dambulla, Amaya Hills Kandy and Amaya Reef Hikkaduwa. “It is a pleasure to welcome Amaya Resorts into our network of Star Points partner merchants,” said Mr. Suren Goonewardene, Group Senior Vice President – Retail Business, Dialog Telekom. “The Star Points Network is continually expanding its portfolio of partner merchants in order to deliver an extensive array of value additions to our customers. Our partnership with Amaya Resorts will reinforce our commitment to reward our customers with exclusive offers and privileges that address a comprehensive range of consumer needs.” Commenting on its agreement with Star Points Denesh Silva, Director Marketing & Sales Amaya Resorts said,

Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe pledged the government would address recommendations made by Walter Kaelin, a representative of the United Nations secretary-general, who last week toured the detention facilities. “He (Kaelin) said a lot of factual things like getting the sewer and sanitation right on an urgent basis and to make things comfortable for those living inside the camps,” Samarasinghe told AFP. “It is a very positive statement. We take these things in the right spirit.” This Post By AFP

Out of the over 6,000 applications received for police constable jobs in Jaffna 600 Tamils have been selected, Police Spokesman Nimal Mediwaka told Ada Derana. He further added that after 1979 there have been no Tamil persons recruited for Jaffna due to various pressures from the LTTE