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One student was killed as a result of a brawl between two Grade 8 students near the Rambukkana railway station.  An argument between the two students had led to one of them throwing a stone at the other, police said. The victim of the stone attack was admitted to the Rambukkana and later transferred to the Kegalla Hospital for further treatment, where he had succumbed to injuries. The deceased, Damith Madushan, is a resident of Bangalawatta, Rambukkana and a student of Parakrama MV Rambukkana. Police are conducting further investigations.

British Prime Minister David Cameron urged Sri Lanka on Sunday to make progress on human rights before it hosts the next Commonwealth leaders meeting in 2013 to prevent the likelihood of boycotts. Cameron said he pressed President Mahinda Rajapaske during this year’s Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Australia to show that Colombo did not “have things to hide” following the end of the country’s civil war. Sri Lanka’s foreign minister has revealed that he had stopped Canada from raising during the talks a UN-commissioned report which alleges civilian casualties in 2009 in the final stages of the civil war. Put to him in a BBC interview from Perth that Canada might boycott the 2013 meeting, Cameron said: “I’ve been discussing this with the Canadians and I think we all have a similar view, which is we want to see Sri Lanka do more in terms of human rights, we want them to do more in terms of reconciliation after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers. “I’ve had that conv

A rare October snowstorm barreled up the East Coast on Saturday, cutting power to more than two million households, forcing cancellation of scores of airline flights and causing at least three deaths. Slippery conditions on a roadway caused the crash and death of a man driving in Colchester, Connecticut, said Scott Devico, a spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management. In Temple, Pennsylvania, an 84-year-old man was killed when a snow-caked tree fell through his home, said a Muhlenberg Township Police Department dispatcher. And a 20-year-old man was electrocuted in Springfield, Massachusetts when he stepped out of his vehicle and touched an electrified guard rail, a Springfield police spokesman said. New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts declared weather emergencies because of the storm. "We are expecting the snow to continue to fall from New York City through Maine. By tomorrow morning it should be pretty much wrapped

The Department of Immigration and Emigration says steps will be taken to reduce the visa fee for visitors from all countries. The relevant proposal has been submitted to the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Immigration and Emigration Controller Chulananda Perera said. A processing fee of USD 50 was proposed to be charged per person when obtaining visa for Sri Lanka under the new Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) system. The increase in the fee however had prompted India, through its High Commission, to request that the fee be reduced for its nationals and tourists from other SAARC nations. India currently tops the list of holiday makers to Sri Lanka and has replaced Britain as the island’s top inbound travel market.

The number of complaints from ATM users, alleging credit card fraud, lodged with the central crime branch (CCB) in Chennai has touched 120. The total amount of the illegally swiped money is estimated to be to the tune of 1 crore Indian rupees and the needle of suspicion points to another Sri Lankan gang. The latest set of complaints has poured in from customers of private and nationalised banks living in suburban areas, such as Madipakkam and Pallikaranai. Meanwhile, after a double breakthrough in October that led to the arrests of two gangs of credit card fraudsters, the CCB sleuths have sounded an alert to the US Consulate here after probe showed that some of the stolen data belonged to residents of that country. The arrests revealed two types of modus operandi (MO), a senior CCB officer told Express on Friday. Led by a Sri Lankan kingpin Sharcy alias B Umesh (27), the first group had stolen credit card data from ATM machines through insertion of skimmers. In the sec

A train derailment between Maradana and Fort has caused a delay in up country and Puttalam rail services.

About 40 people gathered on the outskirts of Villawood detention centre for a nighttime vigil on October 26 to commemorate the death of a Tamil refugee detainee who had taken his own life that morning. The gathering included refugee activists, members of the Tamil community and friends of Daya Jayasakara, or “Shooty,” as he was known. Shooty had been in detention for two years after arriving in Australia by boat seeking asylum. He had been granted refugee status several months earlier and was waiting for ASIO security clearance. During the vigil we received reports that Serco was preventing detainees inside the centre from accessing areas where they could view the gathering, a tactic the corporation has used during past protests at the site. Participants consistently spoke about Shooty as being a very jovial person, some expressing shock and confusion at the fact that such a happy man would commit suicide. A Tamil man recounted how Shooty took it upon himse

Nokia unveiled two sleek new Microsoft Windows phones on Wednesday in time for Christmas, a first step in the ailing cellphone maker's fightback against Apple and Google. Chief Executive Stephen Elop presented the two new smartphones, the first fruits of his big bet on Microsoft software, to a 3,000-strong audience in London, saying they represented the beginning of a new era for the Finnish giant. "It's a new dawn for Nokia," Elop said as he unveiled the high-end Lumia 800 and mid-range Lumia 710, which will go on sale in key European markets next month. In an interview with Reuters, Elop said the world's biggest cellphone maker had transformed itself during his 13-month tenure, which has seen a shake-up of senior management and thousands of lay-offs. "It is a different company operating on a different clock speed," he said. "The amount of effort and passion and work that's been accomplished that we were able to show off

Sri Lanka were bowled out for 239 in the first innings of the second Test match against Pakistan played in Dubai. Kumar Sangakkara top scored with 78 runs while Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal picked up three wickets each.

Excise tax for a litre of alcohol spirits has been increased by Rs.60 with effect today (Oct. 25), the Department of Excise announced. Accordingly the new price of a litre of alcohol spirits will be Rs.923. According to the Ministry of Finance and Planning excise duty on spirit (Ethyl Alcohol) has been revised as follows with effect from October 25, 2011. Article Previous Duty New Duty 1 Spirit (Ethyl Alcohol) to be used by licensed manufactures of potable liquor on which excise duty is otherwise payable, or by Government Departments, Hospitals and Research and Educational Institutions as approved by the Government. Nil Nil 2 Spirit (Ethyl Alcohol) to be used in the, manufacturing of medicinal preparations, industrial purposes and manufacturing of  finish

Over 40 persons were injured, 15 critically, following a head-on collision between two buses at Gokarella on Kurunegala- Dambulla main road, police said. According to police media spokesman SP Ajith Rohana the accident had occurred at around 2.50pm today (Oct. 24). The wounded passengers have been admitted to Gokarella, Polgolla and Kurunegala hospitals. One of the buses was traveling from Colombo to Madirigiriya while the other was heading towards Colombo from Kurunduwela.

Investigations are underway into a riot involving more than 100 people at an immigration detention centre in far north of Australia. The Immigration Department says a guard and two detainees have been treated in hospital after violence broke out Saturday afternoon at the Scherger detention centre. Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Collective says a Tamil detainee from Sri Lanka suffered several broken teeth and a suspected nose fracture after a dispute over internet use. Mr Rintoul says almost 700 people are crammed into the facility and it’s very tense. “There is a very high use of medications inside the place because of the long term consequences on the mental health of asylum seekers,” Mr Rintoul said. “Many of the Tamils have been in there 18 months and some of them over two years in detention waiting for answers. Some of them have been found to be refugees many many months ago and they’re still waiting to get security clearance,” he said. - ABC

Sri Lanka drew their first Test match in Abu Dhabi against Pakistan following a fighting performance in the second innings. Kumar Sangakkara scored his eighth double-century and Prasanna Jayawardena scored a century while Pakistan were only able to 21 runs before the end of play. Sri Lanka were all out for 197 in the first innings while Pakistan declared on 511/6 in their first innings. Sri Lanka managed 483 in the second innings giving Pakistan a total of 170 runs to win the first test. However, only 10 overs were bowled before the end of play on the fifth day while Pakistan were 21/1 at stumps.

Thalangama Police have recorded a verbal statement from JVP General Secretary, Tilvin Silva over a complaint filed regarding a threatening incident. The complaint had been lodged by an individual working at the JVP party headquarters, police media spokesman SP Ajith Rohana said. The individual in his complaint had claimed he was threatened by a group of three persons while traveling to the party headquarters. The complaint had been filed by an individual belonging to the dissident group of the party, Tilvin Silva said when inquired by Ada Derana regarding the incident. “The facts included in the complaint are completely baseless.” he said. He claimed that certain individuals have resorted to such acts to weaken the operations of the party, when all other attempts to grab power of the party have failed.  

Muammar Gaddafi's body lay in an old meat store on Friday as arguments over a burial, and his killing after being captured, dogged efforts by Libya's new leaders to make a formal start on a new era of democracy. With a bullet wound visible through the familiar curly hair, the corpse shown to Reuters in Misrata bore other marks of the violent end to a violent life that was being broadcast to the world in snatches of grainy, gory cellphone video. The interim prime minister offered a tale of "crossfire" to explain the fallen strongman's death after he was dragged, very much alive, from a highway drainage culvert. But with footage showing him being beaten, while demanding legal rights, to the sound of gunfire, many assume he was simply summarily shot. Gaddafi's wife, Aisha, who found refuge in neighboring Algeria while her husband and several sons kept their word to fight to the death, demanded an inquiry from the United Nations. I

MERCY Malaysia today handed over to the local authorities in Sri Lanka a divisional hospital which will provide health care services to the people in Jaffna. The hospital was reconstructed at a cost of USD259,707 (about RM817,947) using the Disaster Fund under the Malaysian Foreign Ministry. MERCY Malaysia executive council member Dr Heng Aik Cheng said the hospital would be able to provide maternity care and primary health care for the people of Ampan and much of the population in the eastern part of Jaffna. “Once operational, we hope that this hospital will be able to serve approximately 10,000 people from the surrounding areas,” he said in a statement issued here today. The handing over ceremony was held this morning at the newly reconstructed building in Ampan, Jaffna. Since MERCY Malaysia assisted flood survivors in the country through 11 clinics eight years ago, they had reconstructed the Sadat Primary School in Akuressa, Matara -- the first reconstruction project

Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi died of wounds suffered in his capture near his hometown of Sirte on Thursday, a senior NTC military official said.   National Transitional Council official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters earlier that Gaddafi was captured and wounded in both legs at dawn on Thursday as he tried to flee in a convoy which NATO warplanes attacked.   “He was also hit in his head,” the official said. “There was a lot of firing against his group and he died.”   There was no independent confirmation of his remarks.   (Reuters)

Drug dealers and underworld criminals should not be allowed to do politics, says Miniter Champika Ranawaka. Speaking during a press conference today he said it has tragic consequences and that the incident in Kolonnawa was the best example for that. Thugs, criminals and drug dealers have entered into politics in the country since 1977, he said and explained that it is not a new situation. The Minister of Power and Energy and General Secretary of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) accused that such individuals only entered politics for power, wealth and to build their reputation through the media, not to serve the country. I can responsibly say that 95% of those engaged in politics today are doing so by dishing out black money, he told media at the Mahaweli centre, Colombo. “We (JHU) demand that the government introduce laws to ensure drug dealers, extortionists, underworld leaders and thugs cannot enter into politics.” he added.

The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) stated that compensation for all motorists, whose vehicles suffered damages due to pumping substandard petrol, will be compensated before November 15. The CPC stated that it will compensate around 3300 vehicle owners who made complaints regarding damages while adding that compensation had been delayed in certain cases due to complainants not presenting the necessary documentation.

A sum of approximately Rs. 4.75 million has been robbed from a businessman in Puttalam by individuals who arrived on a motorbike. Police however said that the bag containing the cash had torn, spilling around Rs. 3 million, while the robbers were making their getaway. The suspects had made away with the remaining 1.75 million, according to police. The businessman had been robbed near the Puttalam bus stand while he was on his way to a bank to deposit the large sum of money. Puttalam Police are conducting further investigation into the incident

Around 370 students from a school in Talawakelle have been admitted to hospital due to food poisoning up to now, say hospital sources. Lindula Hospital sources said around 200 children were admitted to the hospital while Kotagala Hospital sources gave over 100 being admitted there. Nuwara Eliya Hospital sources said around 70 were admitted this afternoon. Sources told Adaderana that this incident had been reported after the students had partaken their lunch during a function to mark World Children’s Day in a school at Talawakelle. The students had begun vomiting and most of them had fainted, the sources added. Photo caption: The students being rushed to the Kotagala Hospital this afternoon with concerned parents too joining the rush. Pics. By Ranjith Rajapakse.

Kenyan crewmembers of a Taiwanese ship that has been stranded in Sri Lanka for the last 10 months are finally headed home, according to Kenyan media. Six Kenyans and two Chinese of the fishing vessel FV TAI YUAN 227 had been stranded in Port Colombo since January 23, when they sailed to Colombo after Somali pirates freed them. On Saturday the Mombasa-based Seafarers Assistance Programme (SAP) announced they were on their way back. Andrew Mwangura, a director with SAP, said that he had received a call on Thursday from the crew saying they were at the Colombo airport heading to Kenya. Mwangura said the men sailed for ten days from Somalia to Colombo. After being dumped in Colombo, the crew reported their ordeal to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) Inspector at the Port of Colombo, Ranjan Perera, who is also secretary of the National Union of Seafarers of Sri Lanka. Mr Perera told Mwangura that the ITF’s London office was trying to find ways of helping th

A group of students of the Karapitiya Medical Faculty today (Oct. 15) staged ‘satyagraha’ against the increase of student hostel fees. The monthly hostel fee, which had been limited to Rs.50 thus far, has been increased to Rs.400, the student union of the Medical Faculty said. It has been reported that Medical Faculty students have neglected paying hostel fees in protest to the fees hike. The students meanwhile accuse that authorities are preparing to suspend examination results claiming that students are occupying hostels by force, without paying fees.

Libyan government forces pushed tanks deep into the city of Sirte on Friday to try to smash the last pocket of resistance by loyalists of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi in his home town. The mostly untrained militia army of the National Transitional Council (NTC) has gradually tightened its strangle-hold around Sirte for weeks in a chaotic struggle that has cost scores of lives and left thousands homeless. It has also held up the attempt by Libya's new leaders to try to build a democratic government, as they say the process will begin only after the city is captured. NTC commanders say Gaddafi's die-hard loyalists now only control an area measuring about 700 meters (yards) north to south, and around 1.5 km east to west in a residential neighborhood mostly of apartment blocks. "We are going to engage them with tanks and heavy artillery first, after that we will send in the pick-up trucks with anti-aircraft guns, then the infantry," said Abdul Hadi

The Colombo Magistrate’s Court today (Oct. 14) remanded a Maldivian national who had fled Maldives and hidden in Sri Lanka after being involved in a bombing which occurred in Sultan Park in Maldives.  The suspect, Mohamed Ameen, was apprehended by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) according to a notice by Interpol. He had been arrested in connection to the Sultan Park bombing on September 29, 2007 which injured 12 persons, the CID informed court in a report submitted. The CID had also stated that further interrogation of the suspect, arrested in the Payagala area, is required.

The government of Sri Lanka may soon finalize an agreement with Philippine civil aviation authorities to begin commercial flights from Sri Lanka to the Philippines via Sri Lankan airlines, Philippine media reports. This was relayed by Sri Lankan Ambassador Nawalage Bennet Cooray, who called on the PhilippineVice President Jejomar C. Binay at the Coconut Palace in Pasay City. The ambassador said the Sri Lankan government is hopeful that, once in place, the flights will pave the way for stronger economic ties between the two countries. There are currently no direct flights between the two countries. Under the new deal, the flights between Manila and the Sri Lankan capital Colombo will reportedly be increased to four from two a week. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Jayaratne also visited Binay early this year during Wesak. Binay said the two countries could share experiences especially on insurgency problem. He noted that the

A three-day disruption to BlackBerry services spread to North America on Wednesday, frustrating millions of users of the Research In Motion devices just two days before rival Apple's new iPhone 4S goes on sale. RIM advised clients of an outage in the Americas and said it was working to restore services as customers in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India continued to suffer patchy email and no access to browsing and messaging. RBC analysts Mike Abramsky and Paul Treiber estimated that about half of BlackBerry's 70 million subscribers outside North America could be affected. RIM, which had said on Tuesday services had returned to normal, said later it was still working to resolve the problem. "The messaging and browsing delays ... were caused by a core switch failure within RIM's infrastructure," it said. "As a result, a large backlog of data was generated and we are now working to clear that backlog and restore normal service."

Two Sri Lankan youths were arrested with five kg of ganja at Erandurai coast near Erwadi in the district and also allegedly illegally helping Sri Lankan refugees to go back to the island nation, Indian media reported. N Sudharshan (25) of Talaimannar, and C Santharaman (25) of Mullippallam were arrested yesterday by Q branch police and handed over to the Erwadi police for registering cases, they said. The youths had planned to ask some refugees to assemble at the famous Erwadi dargah during the Santhankoodu festival when thousands of people would assemble, and then send them illegally to Lanka in ferries, police said. The refugees would have to obtain prior permission from the Indian and Sri Lankan governments before they can go back to the island nation, they said. The accused persons have been involved in many criminal cases, including smuggling narcotics and illegally helping the refugees cross over to Sri Lanka, they added. (PTI)

The decision to dissolve the board of Directors at the Sri Jayawardenapura Hospital was a timely one, the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) stated. Deputy Secretary of the GMOA, Sankalpa Marasinghe stated that there had been several issues between the board of directors and the specialist doctors at the Hospital while the GMOA had taken measures to inform the Health Minister about the situation. He further added that the GMOA will cautiously look at the new board of directors said to be appointed some time next week.

The CID today (October 11) arrested five suspects in Colombo allegedly connected with the shooting at Mulleriyawa while further investigations are being carried out into the incident that claimed four lives, Police Spokesman, SSP Maxi Procter stated.

The French company has supplied two sets of high tech medical equipment to the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital in Galle. The opening ceremony of the new operating theatres of the hospital was inaugurated by the Ambassador of France, Christine Robichon at the invitation of the Sri Lankan authorities. A Twin Modular Operating Theatre and a Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory Angiography System from the French company Euroformed have been financed by a soft loan granted by the Government of France, for a total amount of 9.5 million Euros (1.6 billion LKR), to upgrade the medical equipment of public hospitals in several cities of Sri Lanka, mainly Galle, Jaffna, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura, states the French embassy in Colombo. “The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being and France is particularly happy to contribute to the improvement of the capacities of the Sri Lankan governme

The United States has 10 times more affluent households than China or India, research shows, undermining arguments the global economy can be sustained by consumption in emerging markets. A survey of affluent households around the world -- defined as having wealth of more than $100,000 -- by research firm TNS found 80 percent of such people live in Western countries. While the number of affluent households in China and India is 3 million each, the U.S. has more than 31 million, the survey shows. The results challenge hopes that the boom economies of Asia can supplant an ailing U.S. as the world's consumer of last resort, and keep global growth ticking over. Reg van Steen, a director of business and finance at TNS, said researchers had to drop the wealth threshold to $40,000 for Brazil to make it possible to find a large-enough sample. "What really surprises is China has surpassed Germany, France and the UK when it comes to the number of affluent. (But) it will ta

UNP Mayoral Candidate for the Colombo Municipal Council, A.J.M. Muzammil received the highest number of preferential votes with 55,448 votes ahead of UPFA candidate Milinda Moragoda who received 32,103. UNP candidate Sri Ram received 9966 preference votes while while UPFA candidate Azadh Sally received 10,350.

The remains former Parliamentarian Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra has been brought to his residence in Jawatta. The remains were brought from a funeral parlor in Colombo to his residence today (October 9) morning, reporter stated. The mortal remains of Mr. Premachandra are scheduled to be taken to his other residence in the Kolonnawa area shortly. Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, presidential advisor on trade unions, was killed following a shooting incident which took place in Mulleriyawa yesterday (October 8). MP Duminda Silva was also injured in the incident and hospitalized.

The investigation into the shooting incident that took place in Mulleriyawa has been handed over to the CID, Police Spokesman Maxi Proctor said a short while ago. From the shootout Former Parliamentarian and Presidential Adviser Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and two more persons were killed. Five persons including MP Duminda Silva who were injured in the shootout and clash are currently receiving treatment.

The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources states that 19 Sri Lankan fishermen in Indian custody have been released. The fishermen, who had put out to sea from Dewundara, Mirissa, Chilaw and Beruwala, are currently at the Mahabodhi Center in India. Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Rajitha Senaratne says that necessary facilities will be provided in order to repatriate the 19 fishermen.

President, while expressing his condolence over the death of Apple Co-Founder Steve Jobs said that his contribution was greatly appreciated by all, Director General President’s Media said.

Passionate, prickly, and deemed irreplaceable by many Apple fans and investors, Steve Jobs made a life defying conventions and expectations. And despite years of poor health, his death on Wednesday at the age of 56 prompted a global gasp as many people remembered how much he had done to transform the worlds of computing, music and mobile phones, changing the way people communicate and access information and entertainment. "The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come," said Microsoft co-founder and long-time rival Bill Gates. "For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor." The founder of Apple Inc died on Wednesday in Palo Alto, surrounded by his family. The circumstances of his passing were unclear, but Jobs has had a long battle with cancer and other health issues. Jobs' family thanked many for their

Election Chief decides to go ahead with polls in Galle and Matara under observation, after obtaining assurance from political parties and police, sources confirmed.

Sports Minister, Mahindananda Aluthgamage today (October 4) denied previous AFP reports that stated the Sports Ministry has scrapped its medical unit. Speaking exclusively to Ada Derana, Minister Aluthgamage stated that he plans to revamp and restructure the sports unit of the Ministry. Earlier this week, Professor Arjun de Silva was appointed as the Director General of the Sports Medical Unit by the Minister.

MOGADISHU, Somalia—Islamist militants detonated a truck bomb Tuesday in front of the Ministry of Education in Mogadishu, killing at least 70 people, wounding dozens and shattering a relative calm that had prevailed in the Somali capital for weeks. The bomb blew up after coming to a halt at a security checkpoint. It left blackened corpses on the debris-strewn street and set other vehicles alight. Uniformed soldiers were seen dragging the wounded away. Ali Muse, the chief of Mogadishu’s ambulance service, said that at least 70 people died and at least 42 others were wounded. The al Qaeda-linked group al Shabab immediately claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack on a website it uses. It was the biggest attack in Somalia’s capital since al Shabab withdrew most of its forces in August amid an offensive by African Union forces. The group had been expected to fight back with guerrilla-style attacks, including car bombs. Several car bombs have been defused or exploded befo