Vocational and Technical Training Minister Piyasena Gamage who made an inspection tour in Polonnaruwa, Welikanda area recently has made arrangements to acquire a land of 50 acres in extent belonging to Mahaweli Authority to set up a farm to provide training facilities for the youth held in Detention Camps.

Nalanda College, Colombo, paid tribute to old-Nalandians who had laid their lives during the past three decades in the battle against terrorism, at a War Hero commemoration event held at the College auditorium yesterday (August 02). The event was organized by the Old Boys Association of the Nalanda College.

Vavuniya 2 August 2009 - More than 36,000 internally displaced children in camps will be vaccinated against measles in a special ‘child health campaign’ launched this week. In a joint effort with the Ministry of Health, UNICEF, WHO and a coalition of other partners the campaign aims to counter the sporadic cases of measles which have occurred in the past months and prevent risk of further outbreak.

Sri Lanka welcomes investment in tourism among other areas, said Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka.

Sri Lanka had recently embarked on a new chapter in its history and after the defeat of terrorism, Sri Lanka was now poised to recover the lost grounds, economically, for nearly three decades, the Prime Minister told a Chinese Trade and Investment Mission when they called on him.

NEW DELHI: Some 80 former Indian soldiers have left for Sri Lanka to join the Indians who are already there clearing thousands of buried landmines.  

The new group has teamed up with their compatriots working in Sri Lanka since 2003, mainly in the northern districts of Mannar and Vavuniya, in defusing mines laid by both the Sri Lankan military and the Tigers during their prolonged conflict.

Internally Displaced Children in North: 

Rasika Somarathna  

The Health Ministry has initiated a series of programs to upgrade health facilities provided for the displaced people in the North including an immunization project targeting over 40,000 children in welfare villages, which is set to start from today.

New Delhi,30 July (Asiantribune.com):  Asserting his nationalist credentials Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa has told all countries ‘ eve n if I call them friends’, that he is nobody’s stooge. ‘I will never be’, he declared in ringing tones     ‘…all countries must realise that even if I call them friends, I am nobody’s stooge and never will be. I am a Sri Lankan nationalist’, the President said in an interview to an Indian journalist. 

He rejected outright the criticism that India was pressurizing him on the ethnic Tamil issue. And disclosed that if there was any pressure on him it has been coming from the West.

Interview with Palitha Kohona

INTERVIEW

The resolution by the UN Council for Human Rights (UNCHR) generated a great deal of dissatisfaction. As regards the neighbourhood, you have received support from Pakistan, India and China. How do you view this Asian backing of Sri Lanka at the Council? 

It was not only support from Asia, which has only five votes in the Council. We got 29 votes, due to support from Latin America and other quarters. The message is clear: no individual country can be hounded. We must remember that the UNCHR was established to cooperatively develop a culture of human rights. The intention was not to put individual countries in the dock. We hope that the philosophy of the Council will prevail.

Irangika RANGE in Batticaloa

Devolution of power was necessary for the uplift of the economy among all groups of people and the government was totally committed to provide infrastructure and other facilities like education and health to the people of all provinces, said Senior Presidential Advisor and Parliamentarian Basil Rajapaksa addressing the function to launch the first rail-bus service between Batticaloa and Trincomalee at Batticaloa yesterday.

On the invitation by His Excellency the President of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minster of the Kingdom of Bahrain and accompanying delegation, visited Sri Lanka From 28th to 30th July 2009.The Bahraini Prime Minister and his delegation was received at the Bandaranaike International Airport by Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake and Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama. He was accorded a red carpet welcome, gun salute and a Guard of honour.

A leadership training program for 3000 school children in Vavuniya, Jaffna, Mannar and the Mullaitivu has been launched.

The inaugural ceremony was held in Vavuniya under the patronage of   Minister of Nation Building and Public Utilities, S.M Candrasena.  

Bahrain and Sri Lanka have signed a number of MoUs to enhance bilateral trade ties during the visit of the Prime Minister of Bahrain, Shaikh Khallifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, to the island nation.

The Prime Minister said in a statement that Bahrain's bilateral relations with Sri Lanka have achieved an important milestone over the years. He also said that it is the expectation of Bahrain to enhance these ties and cooperation in order to satisfy the ambitions of both states and nations.

July 29, Colombo: Incidences of communicable diseases in the camps housing the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Northern Sri Lanka continue to decrease, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a recent report.  

As the disease surveillance activities in the camps continue to improve, the incidence of hepatitis, chickenpox, dysentery, and watery diarrhoea have shown declining trends, the WHO reported. According to the WHO there were few cases of measles and mumps but no new cases have been reported from the IDP sites.

His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al-Khalifa, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain assures support to “rebuild” Sri Lanka.

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama during a courtesy call on His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al-Khalifa, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain on 28^th July 2009 stated that the Government of Sri Lanka was appreciative of the support rendered by the Kingdom of Bahrain which proved to be ‘a good friend’ during Sri Lanka’s fight against terrorism.

Responding, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain congratulated the  Government of Sri Lanka for eliminating terrorism and assured the support of the Kingdom of Bahrain to “help rebuild” Sri Lanka. He also expressed the hope that such help would be forthcoming from other Gulf countries as well.

Environment and Natural Resources Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka addressing the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change South Asian Sub Regional Meeting in Colombo yesterday said Sri Lanka would propose three amendments to the Kyoto Protocol because the present Carbon Emission cut included in it was not enough to save humanity in future.

Excerpts from a symposium held on the National Question :  

Manjari Peiris

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund defended a $2.6 billion loan to Sri Lanka on Monday saying it is aware of human rights concerns by donors but the funding is needed to prevent a devastating balance of payments crisis.

Nepal and Sri Lanka are signing an air service agreement within two weeks to resume direct flights between the two countries by December. 

The agreement was reached during talks in Nepal between Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohana, Nepal Prime Minister Madhav Kumar and Nepal Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala on Monday.