Lanka will solve ethnic issue after finishing terrorists

New Delhi, Oct 22 (ANI): Sri Lanka today promised to address the decades-old ethnic conflict in the island nation through a political settlement but only after finishing terrorists.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's senior adviser Basil Rajapaksa is scheduled to visit India next week to discuss the issue with the Indian leadership.

Sri Lankan Minister of Rural Industries and Self Employment Promotion S B Nawinna said the government is committed to protecting Tamils in the restive northern region and that it had made efforts to supply food and other essential items to those affected.

"The government will end the conflict through a political settlement. After liberating the eastern region from the LTTE, the Government conducted elections and has made a Tamil as the Chief Ministers. Likewise, due representation will be given to people in north also," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

"We will settle the (ethnic) issue after finishing terrorists," Nawinna said.

His comments assume significance as India has been insisting that Sri Lanka should address the ethnic issue through a political settlement, as there could be no military solution to the problem. (ANI)

Friday 13th June' - NO PETROL DAY

Dear Friends !!!

Petrol in Pakistan Rs. 17 per litre
Malaysia Rs. 18 per litre
In India it's Rs. 48 per litre
In Sri Lanka it is Rs. 157 per litre

Why this difference in Asia itself?
World Market CRUDE Oil is not
the reason for this. It's all Gain for private owners?
As we are the general public, or
Common Man as R.K.Laxman would
have said, we have to raise our voice,
let's raise thru Emails.

Forward this to all
Indians and Sri Lankans who cares.

IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED THAT IF
EVERYONE DID NOT PURCHASE A
DROP OF PETROL FOR ONE DAY
AND ALL AT THE SAME TIME,
THE OIL COMPANIES WOULD
CHOKE ON THEIR STOCKPILES.

AT THE SAME TIME IT WOULD HIT
THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY WITH A
NET LOSS OVER 4.6 BILLION DOLLARS
WHICH AFFECTS THE BOTTOM LINES
OF THE OIL COMPANIES.

THEREFORE 'Friday 13^th June'
HAS BEEN DECLARED
'STICK IT UP THEIR BEHIND' DAY
AND THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION
SHOULD NOT BUY A SINGLE DROP
OF PETROL THAT DAY.

THE ONLY WAY THIS CAN BE DONE IS
IF YOU FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO AS
MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN AND AS
QUICKLY AS YOU CAN TO GET THE
WORD OUT. WAITING ON THE
GOVERNMENT TO STEP IN AND
CONTROL THE PRICES IS NOT GOING
TO HAPPEN.

REMEMBER ONE THING, NOT ONLY
IS THE PRICE OF PETROL GOING UP
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, AIRLINES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES,
TRUCKING COMPANIES ARE FORCED
TO RAISE THEIR PRICES WHICH AFFECTS
PRICES ON EVERYTHING THAT IS
SHIPPED. THINGS LIKE FOOD, CLOTHING, BUILDING SUPPLIES MEDICAL SUPPLIES
ETC.

WHO PAYS IN THE END?

WE DO!

WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
IF THEY DON'T GET THE MESSAGE
AFTER ONE DAY, WE WILL DO IT
AGAIN AND AGAIN. SO DO YOUR
PART AND SPREAD THE WORD.
FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO
EVERYONE YOU KNOW .
MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND MAKE
June 13^th A DAY THAT THE
CITIZENS SAY

'ENOUGH IS ENOUGH'

We forward so many junk email to
many of our friends, now let us do it
for some useful cause to cut down the
price of the petrol .. ....

REMEMBER :
June 13^th Friday 2008

Britain condemns LTTE bus bomb attacks targeting civilians

The last few months have seen an increasing number of violent attacks targeting civilians. Lives have been lost in all communities and in all regions of Sri Lanka. My thoughts and condolences are with the victims and their families. There is no justification for practices which targets civilians or puts them in danger", the British Foreign Office Minister Lord Malloch-Brown, said condemning the two bomb blasts on Friday which left 24 civilians killed and over 50 wounded.

"There is an urgent need to end the senseless loss of lives caused by such acts of violence and for all parties to the conflict in Sri Lanka to take responsibility for the protection and safety of the civilian population," he further asserted.

Bomb explosion in Wellawatta

A bomb has been exploded in a location along the rail track between Wellawatta and Dehiwala railway stations this morning, June 04. It is believed that the bomb had been triggered off targeting the Colombo bound highly crowed passenger train.

According to the available information, explosion occurred around 7.10 a.m.

The director of the Kalubowila teaching hospital said that 18 civilians, 15 males and 3 females, who suffered minor injuries have already been admitted to the hospital following the explosion.

Minor damages reported to the railway track, police sources added.

27000 persons affected by flood in Sri Lanka

Around 27,000 persons of nearly six thousand families have been affected by flood conditions that prevailed during the last two days.

The National Disaster Relief Services Centre says the highest number of the affected persons are reported from the Kalutara district. Over 22 thousand persons are affected in the Divisional Secretariat of Palinda-Nuwara and Bulathsinhala which are the worst affected. The Divisional Secretariats of Ayagama, Kalawana and Kuruvita of the Ratnapura district are also seriously affected. The Baduraliya town has been completely submerged.

Transportation has been affected along several routes as a consequent of torrential rains. The main roads from Horana to Matugama via both Negoda and Kalawellawa has been submerged due to the overflowing of the Kalu Ganga. Transportation has come to halt along the road from Matugama to Kalawana and Kelin-kanda. Bus operations have been suspended in the Akuressa area. Several sections of the Ranapura-Panadura Highway are also affected by floods. Several sections of the Awissawella-Colombo Low Level road are also impassable due to floods

Private sector salary hike by June 30

Labour Relations and Manpower Minister Athauda Seneviratne yesterday said that the proposed 15-25 per cent salary increase in the private sector will come into effect by the end of this month.

The Gazette notification in this regard will be issued before June 30. “Since it was reported that some business enterprises were not in a position to pay the full 25 per cent wage increase according to the monthly income received by them, the percentage of salary increment will depend according to the nature of each establishment,” Minister Seneviratne told the Sunday Observer.

A Labour Ministry delegation, led by Minister Seneviratne held extensive talks with officials of the Wages Control Board last week on the directive of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The Ministry has sought the views of all stakeholders in the private sector in this connection within the next few days.

Lanka IOC raises diesel prices for the second time

Lanka IOC Ltd, the Sri Lankan unit of Indian Oil Corporation, raised diesel prices for the second time this year to narrow losses amid record-high crude oil costs.

Lanka IOC today increased the price of diesel by 20 rupees (19 US cents) to 100 rupees a litre, said Managing Director K Ramakrishnan in a telephone interview. The Colombo-based company held the price of petrol.

Crude oil rose to a record above $135 a barrel in New York on concern that supplies are inadequate after US stockpiles unexpectedly dropped last week.

Sri Lankan oil companies have been free to set prices since June 2006, although Lanka IOC sells fuel below cost because larger state rival Ceylon Petroleum Corp caps prices to help the government control inflation.

Lanka IOC, which runs a third of the island's gas stations, expects to report a profit in the quarter ended March 31 after hedging oil imports and increasing reserves, Ramakrishnan said last month.

"We might be able to minimize the loss in the April-June quarter and we expect the government to also make revisions to prices,'' Ramakrishnan said today. "If we waited for the government, we would have come to a grinding halt."

Bus fares Increased

Private bus fares will be increased by 27.2 per cent from 27th of May 2008 in the wake of Sunday’s fuel price hike, Private Bus Owners Association President Gamunu Wijeratne said yesterday after he met Transport Minister Dallas Alhaperuma and National Transport Commission officials.

Accordingly the minimum fare will be increased from Rs 6 to Rs 7 while the maximum fare from Rs 32 to Rs 42. But fares on CTB buses have been increased only by 17% considering the hardships faced by the commuters.

A Ministry spokesman said the Transport Minister, NTC officials and Private Bus Owners Association representatives were due to hold a joint news conference today to explain the national policy on bus fares and circumstances which led to the fare hike

He said the NTC is expected to officially announce the new fares on SLTB and private buses today while the revised rail fares are to be announced shortly by Sri Lanka Railways.

Minister Alahapperuma told Daily Mirror the government would further subsidize the public transport sector and thus reduce the burden on the commuters.

“The fare increase of the public transport sector is inevitable but we will do our best to reduce the burden on commuters. The Treasury has agreed to continue subsidizing the transport sector as the government does intend passing the full impact of the fuel increase to the commuters. The government is absorbing 50% of the world market fuel price by permitting the CPC to limit the price increase on a litre of diesel to only Rs. 30. The Transport Ministry meanwhile was able to convince the Treasury of the need to further subsidize the public transport sector,” Minister Alahapperuma said.

He said the Ministry had maded several suggestions to President Mahinda Ranapaksa on how best to offset the burden on the economy following the huge increase of fuel prices in the world market.

“One option is to pay a monthly travel allowance of Rs. 30,000 to public officers entitled to an official vehicle. The rationing of fuel was another option but it has to be carefully thought through before implementing it. The public must be encouraged to use public transport instead of their private vehicles. The traffic in cities annually use up fuel worth some Rs. 15 billion and this is a heavy burden on the economy,” the Minister said.

LTTE bomb explosion - Dehiwala

According to the latest report received from the Kalubowila hospital, 9 civilians were killed including a pregnant mother and 84 more passengers suffered injuries when the LTTE terrorists exploded a bomb inside a highly crowded Colombo-Panadura train around 4.55 p.m yesterday.

Kalubowila hospital sources said that injured 84 civilians were admitted to the hospital following the explosion. Another pregnant mother is also among the victims and now she is being treated in ward 21, hospital sources said. Among the injured, 6 suffered severe injuries are being treated in Intensive Care Unit at Kalubowila hospital.

The director of the Accident Ward in National hospital Colombo, Dr Anil Jasinha, said that 8 victims suffered injuries, 6 females and 2 males, who were transferred from Kalubowila hospital were admitted to the National hospital last evening. "Three females are undergoing treatments in ICU from the time they were admitted and one of them succumbed to her injuries while being treated this morning (May 27)", Dr Jasinha said.

It is believed that the parcel bomb exploded had been placed on the luggage rack in the train, police sources said.

Earlier, LTTE terrorists detonated two bombs in two carriages of a highly crowded train at the same railway station killing more than seventy and wounding over hundreds of innocent civilians in the same manner on 24th July 1996.

LTTE is a ruthless terrorist outfit notorious for crimes against innocent civilians. In its pursuit for a mono ethnic separate homeland for Tamils, the outfit has killed and maimed over tens and innocent children, Tamil and Sinhalese political leaders in indiscriminate bomb attacks. FBI in a recent report called LTTE the most dangerous terrorist outfit in the world