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The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) is pleased to announce that it has successfully developed the new FM broadcast frequency plan prepared under the National Telecommunications Policy which was drawn upon the instructions of His Excellency the President Mahinda Rajapaksa and executed under the direction of Mr. Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the President, in an effort to minimise the technical problems hindering the listeners from obtaining a clear sound reception. The TRCSL is vested with full powers to determine and allocate the use of FM frequencies among radio broadcasters within Sri Lanka. At present there are about 45 FM broadcasting channels which operate within the 87.5 – 108 MHz frequency range. The TRCSL prepared a new transparent plan to re- allocate the frequencies among the FM channels taking into account the frequencies used by them at present. This was done on the basis of a national policy to reform the existing system, with the o

Will Major Vikas Kumar of the Indian Army be able to marry his Sri Lankan girlfriend Arnila Ranamali Gunaratne who is pursuing her M.Phil. in Bangalore? A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Vkramajit Sen and Justice B.V. Nagarathna, of the High Court will soon decide on the order of the Indian Army, which had rejected the 34-year-old’s request to cast away his uniform so that he can marry a foreign national. As Army rules don’t permit personnel to marry those who loath to give up their foreign citizenship, Major Kumar, an officer with Corps of Signals, decided to resign post as Ms. Gunaratne (29) was unwilling to give up her Sri Lankan nationality. However, the Army did not accept his resignation saying he had not completed the mandatory period service, there is a shortage of officers in the Corps of Signals and he is under investigation for unauthorised contract with a foreign national and failing to report it to the authorities. A single judge bench had set

Militants from Sri Lanka’s war are posing as asylum seekers on boats headed for Australia - and could be financed by former Tamil Tiger combatants already here, The Australian reported. Six former combatants were arrested leaving Sri Lanka this year, with another six people smugglers also collared. Five of the six were arrested since June in a crackdown by Sri Lankan authorities. The arrests come after 14 asylum pirates stole a fishing boat, cutting one crewman’s throat before throwing at least two into the sea. They were flown directly to Sri Lanka on Saturday after being intercepted by Australian authorities off the Cocos Islands, The Australian reported yesterday(29). Superintendent Prashantha Jayakody confirmed three crew members were still missing, presumed dead. The pirates were being questioned in police custody, he added, and would face a long list of charges when they appeared in court. Sri Lankan High Commissioner Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe said t

Due to an increasing high pressure in the central region of the Bay of Bengal there will be be high winds towards the east of the island, the Meteorology department of Sri Lanka stated. The department warned fisherman going to deeper areas from the eastern shores to be aware. The department also predicted rainfall for different areas toward the central province.

The price of a kilogram of flour was increased by Rs.4-6 with effect from today (October 26), sources stated.

Microsoft Corp put its Surface tablet center stage at its Windows 8 launch event, hoping the sleek new device will spark a fightback against Apple Inc and Google Inc in the exploding mobile computing market. With interest in traditional computers waning, the world's largest software company is attempting to reinvent the Windows PC in a new format and directly challenge Apple's all-conquering iPad. "One person called it historic, unique," said Steven Sinofsky, head of Microsoft's Windows unit and the driving force behind Windows 8, who opened the launch event in New York in front about 1,000 media and PC industry partners. "It's twice the amount of storage as a competing tablet for the same price," Sinofsky said, comparing the entry level 32 GB Surface with the cheapest 16 GB model of Apple's latest full-sized iPad, which both cost $499. Sinofsky and his team showed off a range of devices running Windows 8 from PC makers such as Lenov

The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has decided to engage in an island-wide strike action demanding a salary hike. The decision received approval at the Special Executive Committee Meeting held yesterday (22), spokesman of the association Dr. Naveen de Soysa said. He stated that an island-wide strike will be launched within this week. The GMOA during the university lecturers’ strike opposed a certain section of state employees being afforded a ‘special’ salary hike and warned that doctors would resort to trade union action if the government increases the wages of state employees in violation of the 2006/6 circular.

Veteran film-maker Yash Chopra, known as India's king of celluloid romance, died on Sunday just weeks after announcing he would not direct any more movies. He was 80. A Yash Raj Films spokeswoman said Chopra died in the evening. The film-maker had been admitted to a Mumbai hospital last week and was being treated for dengue fever. "I'm in shock and numb, can't believe the news, the man who immortalised love, Mr. Yash Chopra is no more," actor Akshay Kumar said on Twitter. Born in 1932 in Lahore, now in Pakistan, Chopra was favoured by leading Indian actors with his movies seen as a sure-fire way to become a hit with audiences. The film-maker proved his mettle with intensely emotional and tragic movies, many of which went on to become box-office blockbusters. Chopra's Bollywood career spanned five decades, and at an event marking his 80th birthday last month, Chopra narrated how he came to Mumbai with 200 rupees in his pocket, hoping to make it a

Muslims in Sri Lanka will celebrate the Haj festival on October 27 Saturday, the Colombo Grand Mosque announced today. The decision was taken despite Eid al-Adha falling on October 26 as the moon was not seen today.

China's top telecoms gear makers should be shut out of the U.S. market as potential Chinese state influence on them poses a security threat, the U.S. House of Representatives' Intelligence Committee said in a draft of a report to be released on Monday. U.S. intelligence must stay focused on efforts by Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp to expand in the United States, and tell the private sector as much as possible about the purported espionage threat, the panel leaders said, based on their 11-month investigation of the two firms. Employee-owned and unlisted Huawei is the world's second-biggest maker of routers, switches and telecoms equipment by revenue after Sweden's Ericsson. ZTE ranks fifth. In the global mobile phone sector, ZTE is fourth and Huawei sixth. Huawei generated around 4 percent of its group sales from the United States, while ZTE's U.S. revenues made up 2-3 percent of its overall figure. The bulk of both companies' U.S. sales come

All judges to refrain from court duties tomorrow in protest of the attack on the Judicial Services Commission Secretary Manjula Thilakarathne, the Judicial Officers Union said today. Tilakaratne was hospitalized earlier today following an alleged assault by a group of unidentified persons.

Indian High Commissioner Shri Ashok K. Kantha, stated that the housing projects in the North East funded by the Indian government will be completed in 3 years. India’s project of building 50 000 houses for the war affected people in the North have begun. The Indian High Commissioner made his remarks at the opening ceremony of phase 2 of the housing project. The High Commissioner further stated that the money needed for the housing projects have already been transferred to the relevant banks. He added that the railroad being constructed from Medawachchiya to Talaimannar and from Omanthai to Kankasanthurai, which is funded by the Indian Government, will be completed by the next year.