According to the Ministry, priority will be given for the persons who do not have any relatives or guardians.

courtesy: news.lk

COLOMBO (AFP) — Sri Lanka is pouring more troops into former rebel-held areas in the east of the island to hunt down remnants of the Tamil Tigers following their defeat in the north, a state-run weekly said Sunday.

 The military was boosting its strength in the east -- around the towns of Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Ampara -- to where some guerrillas are thought to have fled, the Sunday Observer said.

Chamikara WEERASINGHE

Nation Building Minister Susantha Punchinilame yesterday said the people of the North are responding positively to develop their provinces under the 180-day accelerated development program planned for the North under the Uthuru Vasanthaya while the process of demining and clearance of unexpected objects have reached near-completion in the province.

By Sandun A Jayasekera  

Sri Lanka’s Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) is in the process of exploring the possibility of using nuclear energy for future power generation, Chairman and Minister Tissa Vitharana said yesterday.  

ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.  

June 21, Colombo: Sri Lanka is to build a war museum soon in order to exhibit varieties of military items, Sri Lanka Army Chief said.

Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka said that the proposed war museum will have military equipments that were recovered from the Tamil Tigers.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, June 20 (UPI) -- A United Nations agency says it is helping thousands of displaced Sri Lankan residents return to their village homes.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in a news release Friday it helped 2,231 people return to Sri Lankan villages June 6 in the wake of the defeat of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels.

Defeating the enemy on the battlefield 

By Peter Leitner and Rajika Jayatilake 

Sri Lanka recently emerged victorious from one of the world's longest-running conflicts, once termed an "unwinnable" war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers.

By Manjari Peiris

Colombo, 19 June, (Asiantribune.com):  “We should improve the status of transport, especially make the railway to use mostly as the mode of transport; the public bus transport in urban areas too should be improved by making it more efficient and comfortable for passengers so that flooding of private vehicles into the traffic jam could be prevented.” Professor Tissa Vitarana, Minister of Science & Technology said so addressing a seminar to discuss on the status of sustainable energy in Sri Lanka and the potentials and the policy gaps, held recently at the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science at Colombo 7

Transparent policy on human rights issues

In an interview with the Daily News Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe speaks about Sri Lanka’s recent diplomatic triumphs. Its international human rights obligations and the way forward.  

Rasika SOMARATHNA  

Excerpts of the interview:

Q: Sri Lanka has had several diplomatic triumphs in recent times including the one at the UN Human Rights Council special session, what is your observation?

Sri Lanka and the Maldives have reached agreement to share intelligence and exchange information on the flow of funds that may be linked to terrorist activities. This understanding emerged following discussions between Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama and the visiting Maldivian President, H.E. Mohamed Nasheed in Colombo today (19 June 2009). The Maldivian dignitary arrived last evening on a brief visit to Sri Lanka, during which he will also be meeting President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Anuradhapura today.

The MFA has dispatched a shipment of humanitarian aid to assist the people of Sri Lanka, left homeless due to the war with the Tamil rebels.

A shipment of medical equipment and drugs, contributed by the MFA and the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, will be delivered tomorrow (Friday, June 19 2009) to the Sri Lankan health authorities.

Though some attempts were made to produce the leaders who decimated the LTTE terrorism before an International tribunal, there was certainly no legal or moral basis for such action, Prof. G. L. Peiris, Minister of Export Development and International Trade and Acting Minister of Posts and Telecommunications said. He was addressing a meeting held to rename Badulla Postal Complex and Auditorium after Nimal Siripala de Silva, Minister of Health and Nutrition.

The UK Pro Surf Tour has announced it will be returning to Sri Lanka in July this year for the “Sri Lanka Champion of Champions Surf Contest” at Arugam Bay. Renowned as one of the best ‘point breaks’ in the world, Arugam Bay on the East coast of Sri Lanka is now a surfing hotspot and is accessible as a result of the recent end to the civil unrest in the country.

Address made by Hon Athauda Seneviratne, Minister of Labour Relations and Manpower Sri Lanka at the 98^th  Session of the International Labour Conference on June 18^th, 2009

By Amantha Perera / Colombo  

Hoteliers big and small in Sri Lanka are getting ready to cash in on what they say is the inevitable boom around the corner after last month's end to the nation's bloody quarter-century old civil conflict. Tourism in this tropical island nation was one of the industries hit hardest by the war between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The industry, from the white sand beaches of Hikkaduwa to the verdant mountains of Kandy — has endured a 25-year-old yo-yo ride with profits fluctuating from year-to-year with the state of the conflict.

By Cherian Thomas

June 18 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka’s economy can bounce back from its weakest growth in six years and become the “Hong Kong of India” as the end of almost three decades of civil war boosts business opportunities, HSBC Private Bank said.

Press Trust of India / Yekaterinburg/Russia

Granting Sri Lanka the status of a 'dialogue partner', the SCO today hailed the end of 'internal armed conflict' there, even as it hoped that all the ethnic groups will be given equal rights for a lasting peace in the country.

"Sri Lanka and Belarus have been granted the status of SCO dialogue partner," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at the end of two-day summit of the regional grouping.

Address by Mahinda Samarasinghe MP Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights at the Second Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction Geneva, Switzerland 17 June 2009

George Binoy at Trent Bridge    

Cricket lovers everywhere haven't had enough of Tillakaratne Dilshan's audacious scoop over the wicketkeeper yet and they are already being treated to a second unconventional shot from another Sri Lankan batsman. Mahela Jayawardene took innovation in batting to a higher plane by playing a reverse sweep with the back of his bat against Jacob Oram during the Super Eights match versus New Zealand at Trent Bridge. He bent down low, got into position to play the shot, and just when we expected him to switch his bat around, he simply let the ball go off the back, placing it fine enough to beat the man at short third man.