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Spill gates of Parakrama Samudraya, Kaudulla and Kanthale reservoirs have been opened due to rising water level following heavy rain, the Disaster Management Center (DMC) said. It also advised people living downstream to remain vigilant. 

Not many will doubt that one of the most sought after keyword on Internet is “sex”. And Sri Lankans, it seems, are the most search savvy when it comes to Googling that term. This is according to Google Trends, a public web facility that shows how often a particular search-term is entered relative to the total search-volume across various regions of the world, and in various languages. Second-placed India is not far behind in search for the term, and so isn’t (surprise, surprise) #3 Papua New Guinea and #4 Ethiopia even as Pakistan completes the Top 5 nations that Googled for ‘sex’ in 2012. According to Google Trends, search for the term peaked in Sri Lanka during the week April 15-21, 2012, even as the partial data for the current week (December 23-29, 2012) shows it as second-highest week during which the term was Goggled in 2012. In India, people most Googled for the term during the week November 11-17, 2012 while the week October 21-27, 2012, wasn’t far behind. ...

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.

Muslims in Sri Lanka will celebrate Ramadan festival tomorrow as the new moon has been sighted, the Colombo Grand Mosque said a short while ago.

Director of the Accident Ward in the National Hospital, Dr. Prasad Ariyawansa stated that 228 persons were admitted to the hospital as of 7am today (April 13) following accidents which occurred within a 24 hour period during this festive season. Speaking to Media, Dr. Ariyawansa said that 100 patients were warded at the hospital for treatment while 27 others were transferred from other hospitals. He further said that 60 persons were hospitalized due to road accidents, 49 due to domestic accidents, 11 due to assaults and malicious attacks and 5 due to sporting accidents. He said that during this 24 hour period no accidents regarding fireworks had been reported while adding that the amount of accidents reported during this time was generally lower than usual days.

Dialog Enterprise, the corporate solutions arm of Dialog Axiata PLC successfully commissioned an integrated communication solution to enable Road Development Authority (RDA) to start operations of Sri Lanka’s first expressway with a very high note. The solution provided by Dialog Enterprise enabled real time ticket transactions at all entry/exit points in the highway with secure and faster connectivity being provided using a mobile access point network solution (APN) branded as Dialog BizConnect. With this solution all Point of Sales (POS) machines are interconnected to the central server system hosted at the Dialog data centre. The state of the art solution provided by Dialog Enterprise would allow officials at RDA to get real time updates on information such as number of vehicles entered, revenue generated from each exit points and the registration numbers of vehicles that have entered or exited the newly opened Southern Expressway. Dialog enterprise partnered with Access Teleco...

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.

Sri Lankan authorities on Wednesday said that there has been an increase in the number of homosexuals in the country despite its strong Buddhist culture and traditions. A survey conducted by the Sri Lankan Health Authorities have revealed that there are over 30,000 homosexuals and over 40,000 prostitutes in the island amongst its estimated 20 million population. Out of these figures, more than 8,000 prostitutes are found in the capital Colombo where illegal brothels continue to operate, Sri Lankan Medical Authorities said. Prostitution is illegal in the island nation and has become a severe problem for the local police who continue to carry out raids and arrests on secretly functioning brothels in many parts of the country. Homosexuality is also a taboo subject in Sri Lanka where socially it is unaccepted and most often seen as an offence. According to Sri Lankan Medical Authorities, while the numbers for homosexuality have increased, most homosexua...

One person has been reported killed and over 20 injured following a collision between three trains in Alawwa. The injured have been admitted to the Alawwa Hospital. According to hospital sources, the seriously injured are being transferred to the Kurunegala Hospital. The accident took place after a train crashed into the back of another which was in turn pushing along the broken-down Kandy-Colombo train according to Sri Lanka Railways.

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.

Former Sri Lankan Cricket Captain, Kumar Sangakkara was named the captain of the ICC Test Team of the Year which was announced today (August 26). Sangakkara appears in the team of the year for the second time running. The Test Team of the Year, was chosen by a specially appointed selection panel chaired by West Indian batting legend Clive Lloyd.    The announcement was made at the media conference to announce the short-lists for the LG ICC Awards 2011 which are due to be held in London on September 12. Presented in association with FICA, the LG ICC Awards recognise the best international players of the past 12 months.   The ICC Test Team of the Year is (in batting order): Alastair Cook (Eng) Hashim Amla (SA) Jonathan Trott (Eng) Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) Kumar Sangakkara (SL – wicketkeeper/captain) AB de Villiers (SA) Jacques Kallis (SA) Stuart Broad (Eng) Graeme Swann (Eng) Dale Steyn (SA) James Anderson (Eng) Zaheer Khan (Ind) (12th m...

Libyan rebels battled on Tuesday around Muammar Gaddafi's headquarters, where a son of the veteran leader had emerged overnight to confound reports of his capture and to rally cheering loyalists for a rearguard fightback. NATO jets flew in support of the rebels, who said they were trying to break into Gaddafi's fortified Bab al-Aziziya compound. His son and presumed heir Saif al-Islam had earlier told a crowd that his father was well and still in Tripoli. Heavy smoke drifted across the city center and a Reuters correspondent at a government-controlled hotel near the sprawling compound heard heavy gunfire and explosions. NATO declined comment on whether it had struck Bab al-Aziziya. "The revolutionaries are trying to get in through the Old Gate on the western side," rebel fighter Muftah Ahmad Othman told Al-Arabiya television from Tripoli. "If they're successful, the fighting will move inside the compound." Al Jazeera ...

The Epidemiological Unit of the Ministry of Health informs that the vaccination (immunization) procedure will be subject to change starting from October 01. Accordingly steps have been taken to provide one vaccination for three viruses, namely measles, rubella and mumps, says Dr. Paba Palihawadana, Director Epidemiology Unit. The vaccine MMR will be injected to children from October 01 for all three diseases instead of using three vaccines. According to Dr. Palihawadana children will be provided the vaccine MMR at the age of one (1) and again at the age of three (3). Previously the MR vaccine was provided for the treatment of only measles and rubella.

Sri Lankan women in the Kingdom who want to go home for their Eid holidays are panicking over recent incidents in the country caused by night prowlers dubbed “grease devils.” A grease devil is a thief who wears only underwear and covers his body in grease to make himself hard to grab if pursued. Panic over midnight assaults by the alleged grease devils is rising across rural Sri Lanka, leading to the deaths of at least three people last week. This has prompted women to stay indoors and men to arm themselves, police and local media said. At least seven were wounded fighting with police outside the navy base in Kinniya after hundreds of mainly Muslim residents in the eastern coastal area demanded soldiers hand over two men who tried to abduct a 28-year-old Muslim woman the night before. The incidents are happening mainly in areas where there is a concentration of minority communities such as Muslims and Tamils. According to police, incidents relating to grease devi...

Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment says 50,930 applications for the proficiency test in Korean language have been issued, from August 8 to 11 at 28 centers island wide. While a majority of the applications (9617) were issued from the center at Police Park in Colombo, 3433 were  issued from Ratnapura, 2402 from Tangalle, 2455 from Kadawatha, 2246 from Kalutara, 3290 from Kandy and 3437 were issued from the center at Matara.

A Sri Lankan priest in US accused of three counts of misdemeanor sexual assault was arraigned Friday in Superior Court in Enfield and ordered back to court Aug. 26. According to the warrant for the arrest of the Rev. Edward Warnakulasuriya, he touched the pubic area of an 18-year-old man who had gone to the priest’s residence for confession. A prosecutor termed the allegations against Warnakulasuriya as “extremely serious.” Warnakulasuriya, who is from Sri Lanka, was also ordered to surrender his passport. On Thursday, Simsbury police charged Warnakulasuriya, who was the administrator at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Tariffville, with three counts of fouth-degree sexual assault, police said. Warnakulasuriya has not been at the church or conducting services for several weeks, a former parishioner said. The archdiocese of Hartford said Thursday Warnakulasuriya had been placed on administrative leave. “In light of the police investigation and charges, the Archdiocese of Hartford has...

World stocks and the euro fell back Thursday, prompting a rush to safe-haven government bonds as concerns resurfaced about the euro zone banking system and signs of funding stress. In a nervous, fast-moving market, the euro fell to a near five-month low against the low-yielding yen and oil tumbled, while renewed buying by the European Central Bank pushed Italian and Spanish government bonds higher. Banking sources told Reuters that one bank in Asia had cut credit lines to major French lenders while others in the region were reviewing trades and counterparty risks due to concerns about the exposure of French banks to peripheral euro zone bonds European banks sought to secure dollar funding beyond one week in the currency derivatives market, pushing one gauge of funding costs to its highest levels since the 2008 crisis as investors and banks hoarded funds to protect themselves from further market volatility. Societe Generale, which suffered a sha...

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.

Sri Lanka were bowled out for a total of 191 in 41.1 overs against Australia in the first One Day International played in Kandy a short while ago. Brett Lee picked up his 350th wicket in ODIs after dismissing Nuwan Kulasekera while Mitchel Johnson picked up 6 wickets for 31 runs.

Apple Inc scored a big victory in its patent infringement battle against Samsung Electronics after a German court barred the Korean firm from temporarily selling its flagship Galaxy tablet in the European Union except the Netherlands. The court order comes a week after Samsung was forced to delay the Australian launch of its latest Galaxy tablet because of similar lawsuits. Apple has said Samsung's Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablets "slavishly" copied the iPhone and iPad. It has sued in the United States,Australia and elsewhere. Samsung has countersued Apple. "There's no doubt the court decision will have an adverse effect on Samsung. Samsung is clashing with Apple in many places, which could result in a temporary fall in sales and increase costs related to litigation," said Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at Shinyoung Securities in Seoul. By 0230 GMT (10:30 p.m. EDT), Samsung shares were up 0.8 percent in a broader market up 1.2 percent after s...