Attack at Kadiraveli was after thorough verification of facts - Defence Spokesman

The government reiterates that it launched retaliatory attack at Kadiraveli in Batticaloa after thoroughly verifying the facts. The government's defence spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the Army has launched a retaliatory attack at Kadiraveli in Batticaloa after verifying facts obtained through RADAR plots.

28 people were killed and 74 others were injured in the attack. The Minister further said that the LTTE terrorists launching attacks at the security forces are shielding themselves in the areas where there are displaced persons.

The government is fully committed to the security of the displaced and the ordinary civilians. The minister added that the foreign ministry yesterday enlightened the co-chairmen of the Tokyo donor conference. The SLMM is also conducting inquiry on this regard.

The minister also revealed that 600 displaced persons had arrived to the government control areas from Kadiraveli and Verugal.

Sri Lanka appoint Jayawardene World Cup captain

Jayawardene, named Captain of the Year at the recent International Cricket Council awards ceremony, was appointed as a caretaker captain in February after an injury to Marvan Atapattu.

But Jayawardene's outstanding leadership, coupled with Atapattu's decision to opt-out of the forthcoming test series in New Zealand, persuaded the selectors to give him the job on a full-time basis.

"Mahela has done a good job since taking over from Marvan Atapattu and he will continue till the World Cup," Sri Lanka's chairman of selectors Ashantha de Mel told reporters on Monday.

"We are working towards the World Cup and we wanted to ensure that Mahela felt comfortable ahead of the tournament," de Mel added.

Jayawardene thrived as a batsman under the increased responsibility of the captaincy, averaging 62 in test cricket and 46 in one-day cricket.

He also hit test cricket's fourth highest score of 374 during a recent 2-0 win against South Africa.

President: No room for communalism

President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared yesterday that communalism would never be tolerated by his Government.

"We dearly love our Motherland and respect our various communities, but we are in no way racist. We denounce all forms of communalism," President Rajapaksa told the 29th D.A. Rajapaksa memorial ceremony in Tangalle.

"Sisura" scholarships were granted to schoolchildren to mark the occasion.

The President stressed that the Government was not fighting a war, but only retaliating terrorist attacks to defend the Motherland. "We can only wage war with another country and not with our own citizens. We must cast aside race, religion and caste differences and be together as one united nation."

The President underscored the importance of developing the child's psyche to value and appreciate true patriotism, morals, values and norms of the nation, without being confined solely to physical development.

He had directed the authorities in the education sector to ensure that quality teachers are available not only in the Western Province but also in the other under-privileged regions of the country such as Hambantota, Ampara, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura.

"We have allocated Rs.500 million for infrastructure development in villages. However, we will pursue development while protecting the environment. We will ensure that the cities as well as the villages are protected environmentally," the President added.

Anagarika Dharmasekera who made the main commemoration speech, urged workers to refrain from engaging in strikes at their workplaces demanding wage hikes, as that would have a detrimental impact on President Rajapaksa's efforts of solving the crucial national issues at this decisive moment.

Courtesy: Daily News (Wednesday the 08th of November)

Welcome Guys!!!

The two Ceremonies to welcome the New Admissions for the year 2007 was commenced at 8.30 a.m. & 11.00 a.m . respectively on Monday, 23 rd October 2006 , in the Auditorium of the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology(SLIIT), Malabe Campus.

Maldives-Lanka undersea-link could be first leg of trans-Indian Ocean cable to Africa

November 6, 2006 (LBO) – An undersea optical fibre cable between Sri Lanka and the Maldive Islands could be the first leg of a trans-Indian Ocean cable system that would link Africa with the Far East, officials said.

A 20 million dollar joint venture with Sri Lanka Telecom and Dhiraagu Telecom of Maldives, the 850 kilometre cable is due to be commissioned in the first quarter of 2007.

“This cable has a 10 Gigabit capacity, but it can be expanded to 1 terabit because there is a possibility that we can connect to the African side, via Maurtius, Seychelles, Madagascar and also South Africa,” Shuhei Anan Chief Executive of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) told Lanka Business Online shortly after a cable laying ship set off towards the Maldives from the West coast of Sri Lanka.

20,000 tons of food monthly to Jaffna

20 000 Metric Tonnes of essential food items will be sent to Jaffna, on monthly basis. The Sri Lankan Government has already taken the necessary steps to initiate the process and the adequate amounts of stocks are available to assure the continuation of the supply chain.

Already, 8000 Metric Tonnes of items is lined up to be sent to North within the next two days. The ships will start sailing from Colombo and Trincomalee habours. As the first step 3525 Metric Tonnes of essential food items will be sent to North initially that will consists of 1000 Metric Tonnes of Rice, Sugar 918 Metric Tonnes, 350 Metric Tonnes of Dhal, 200 Metric Tonnes of Coconuts and related products, 250 Metric Tonnes of Milk Powder and 25 Metric Tonnes of tea leaves etc.

The goods sent to North are being properly distributed through the Divisional Secretariat offices and Co-operative societies and so far totally thirteen ships with Rs. 600 million worth essential items were sent to North.