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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...

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...

SLT’s Next Generation Network is already serving major Government institutes and key enterprise customers on  IPv6  ready platform Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), the nation’s number one integrated communications service provider and the leading broadband and backbone infrastructure services provider in the country, proudly announced the successful deployment of IPv6, the world’s latest Internet Protocol (IP) version in its Internet Service Provider (ISP) arm, SLTnet on the world’s IPv6 launch day. As a dominant player in the internet market, this is part of the company’s commitment to take the country to greater heights and broader dimensions in the ICT arena by bringing home the latest futuristic and cutting-edge technologies. SLT has IPv6-enabled its corporate web site, http://www.slt.lk, to celebrate the theme of this year’s Global IPv6 day – “This time it is for real” – which was on 6 June. SLT has been operating a separate IPv6-enabled web site, http://www.ipv6.s...

President Mahinda Rajapaksa got the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to release Sarath Fonseka, Presidential Spokesman Bandula Jayasekera stated.

A trailblazer in Sri Lanka’s radio broadcasting industry the ABC radio network is due to launch its maiden television station 'Hiru T.V.' on the 23rd of May. Hiru TV will stamp its place in the 3 decade history of television in Sri Lanka, as the first station to provide the widest coverage from test transmission stages. Hiru TV will enter the chronicles of television technology as the country’s first ever Digital ready-High definition television carrier broadcasting with crystal clear image quality. The ABC media network which perpetually bears in mind the requirements of its audiences committed a daring feat in making the highest capitol investment for a single television station in the country's entire history. Thereby Hiru TV will combine qualitative programming, stunning High definition image clarity giving its viewers a novel & never before seen television experience. The technology used by Hiru TV is on par with the technology utilized by global telev...

Last week it was revealed that Megaupload had retained the services of Andrew Schapiro, the lawyer who led YouTube to a summary judgment in its copyright trial against Viacom. But now the US government has filed papers objecting to Schapiro’s law firm working on Megaupload’s defense, citing conflicts of interest involving Google, YouTube, Disney, Fox and other movie, TV show and software companies. Following the raids on Megaupload in January, tens of millions of dollars in assets and funds belonging to the company were seized. Initially a law firm called Sidley Austin LLP had been negotiating on Megaupload’s behalf for the return of such assets and funds held in Hong Kong, New Zealand and Canada. Funds were indeed released from Hong Kong in February (to pay Mega employees) and from New Zealand in March (to pay for Kim Dotcom’s living expenses). At the end of last month, Sidley Austin LLP and Rothken law firm filed a motion in the US to have more funds released to cover Mega’...

Following in the footsteps of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (The Pink Panther 2) and Bipasha Basu (Singularity), Jacqueline Fernandez might also be set for her big break in Hollywood.  The actor has been approached for Definition of Fear, a Canadian-British venture that marks the directorial debut of producer James Simpson who backed The Merchant of Venice (2004), starring Al Pacino.  “I have been approached for the film. Things are still at a discussion stage, so I will announce it only once the project is finalised,” she says. To be shot in Canada, UK and New York, the film is likely to go on floors this summer. In the meantime, the former Miss Sri Lanka has signed up for her maiden outing in a film from her motherland, Pravegaya.  “I will just make a small appearance in the film. It’s something I was also keen on doing because the film industry (in Sri Lanka) is starting to open up and so it needs all the encouragement it can get. This is my way of showing them support,”...

The U.S. government shut down the Megaupload.com content sharing website, charging its founders and several employees with massive copyright infringement, the latest skirmish in a high-profile battle against piracy of movies and music. The Department of Justice announced the indictment and arrests of four company executives in New Zealand on Friday as debate over online piracy reaches fever pitch in Washington where lawmakers are trying to craft tougher legislation. The movie and music industries want Congress to crack down on Internet piracy and content theft, but major Internet companies like Google and Facebook have complained that current drafts of the legislation would lead to censorship. A Justice Department official said the timing of the arrests was not related to the battle in Congress. New Zealand police on Friday raided a mansion in Auckland and arrested Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom, also known as Kim Schmitz, 37, a German national with New Zealand residenc...

The construction of South Asia’s tallest multi-functional Tower ‘Lotus Tower’ will commence on January 20. The proposed tower with an entertainment centre will be constructed at the Beira Lake water front in Colombo and the total height of the tower is 350 meters, a statement issued by the Sri Lanka Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRCSL) said yesterday. TRCSL is planning the construction of a multi-functional telecommunication tower and an Entertainment Centre which has been approved by the Cabinet. The proposed tower will be constructed on a plot of land of 3.06 hectares, and it will be situated between the Eastern Beira Lake and D R Wijewardena Mawatha. It is destined to be a striking city symbol and an important landmark by being the tallest Tower in South Asia. It will be a free -standing tower with a four-storey high podium; a concrete tower shaft of moderate diameter; eight storied tower head; and a steel framed antennae mast surmounted at the top. ...

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 ...

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.

Minister of Irrigation and Water Supply, Nimal Siripala De Silva expressed in Parliament today (September 7) the Sri Lankan government ’ s sorrow regarding the bomb blast in new Delhi which killed nine people and injured 45.

Sprint Nextel Corp has scrapped plans to sell a high-speed version of Research In Motion Ltd's PlayBook tablet because of slack demand, delivering another blow to BlackBerry phone maker. Eight months after being announced as the first operator to partner with RIM on tablets, Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. mobile service, said on Friday it canceled a version of PlayBook for its fourth generation (4G) WiMax service. PlayBook is struggling to compete with the hugely popular Apple Inc iPadtablet, while RIM's BlackBerry is fighting an uphill battle against Apple's iPhone. Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. mobile service, said the cancellation of the cellular product was a "mutual decision." But Paget Alves, Sprint's head of business services, said tablets with short-range Wi-Fi Internet connections are far more popular today than tablets for wide range networks such as WiMax. "Right now the majority of tablets are Wi-Fi only," Alves told Reuters earlier this ...

The first Randoli Perahera of the Historical Kandy Esala Festival paraded the streets in Kandy yesterday night. The Kandy Esala Perahera, the biggest Buddhist festival of Sri Lanka, held annually in honour of the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha enshrined at the Temple of Tooth in Kandy, draws thousands of devotees, pilgrims and visitors from abroad.

Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa today addressing a press conference said that he did not see any partiality in the broadcasting of the nomination handing over today morning at the Election Secretariat today by the State media. He said this when he was questioned as to why the Rtd. General Sarath Fonseka was not shown giving in his nomination. Minister also added that he felt that all the candidates were given equal coverage by the State broadcast. If there was any partiality the relevant authorities will be advised on the matter, he said.