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Ancient Buddhas '80% destroyed'
BBC South Asia,
Saturday, 10 March, 2001, 18:05 GMT .
Afghanistan's ruling Taleban, brushing aside international criticism, say they have destroyed 80% of
two giant ancient Buddhist statues in the centre of the country. Spokesman Abdul-Hoai Mutma'in said the Taleban hoped to complete the destruction soon.But the statement fits in with reports from the Afghan opposition and local people that Taleban
demolition plans are well underway.
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Published: Sat Mar 10 15:44:50 EST 2001
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CEB chairman resigns
Rohan Gunasekera in Colombo,
08.45 p.m. SLT Friday March 9.
Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) chairman Arjun Deraniyagala has resigned. His
resignation came in the wake of allegations of corruption made against the
CEB by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga in a recent television
interview. President Kumaratunga said corrupt officials in the CEB have built
expensive homes in Cinnamon Gardens and added that she may have to sack some
officials as she had done previously. Following her remarks, Power Minister
Anuruddha Ratwatte asked the auditor-general to probe the allegations of
corruption in the CEB.The power utility has been under fire in recent months
because of alleged corruption and mismanagement and for buying electricity
at high prices from private power plants.
Published: Fri Mar 9 10:14:28 EST 2001
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Pakistan Interior Min To Ask Taliban To Save Statues
Yahoo India,
March 9.
Pakistan, the Taliban's closest ally, said it will send its Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider to
Kandahar Saturday to try to dissuade the Taliban from destroying two towering statues of Buddha. "The minister will impress upon the Afghan authorities not to implement their decision, in view of the spirit of
tolerance enjoined upon by Islam and also in response to the international sentiments," said a Pakistan foreign ministry
statement.
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Published: Fri Mar 9 16:48:35 EST 2001
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CBK goes ahead with European tour, PM too will be out
Island,
11 March 2001.
Despite opposition calls to cancel or at least delay her official European tour in view of the debate on the budget scheduled to begin on Monday, President Chandrika Kumaratunga left the country in the early hours of yesterday.Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake too would be out of the island for about 48 hours, an aide to the premier said. The Prime Minister will be flying to Islamabad today to meet with the Chief Executive General Pervaz Mushaaraff, he said adding that the talks will cover bi-lateral relations, SAARC and the efforts to save Bamiyan Buddha statues
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Published: Sat Mar 10 19:34:01 EST 2001
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Kandy Test in the balance
BBC South Asia,
Saturday, 10 March, 2001, 08:18 GMT .
However after a day of absorbing cricket in Kandy the match remains much as it did at the start of the day - finely poised. When play resumes on the fifth day England, with six.wickets in hand, will require a further 70 runs to square the series.
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Published: Sat Mar 10 16:42:05 EST 2001
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Charity law has far-reaching consequences
The Toronto Star,
february 24.
In an uncharted collision between political reality and fundamental justice, the federal government is introducing tough new charity legislation just as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case that challenges many of that bill's underlying methods and motives. Even though it will be months before the legislation becomes law or the court rules, politicians, lawyers and the shadowy residents of the intelligence community are already scrambling to grasp the implications.The vehicle for testing the ultimate weights of those heavy concepts is the current appeal against the deportation of Manickavasagam Suresh, a refugee claimant linked by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to violent Tamil groups that raise funds here to advance their political agenda in Sri Lanka. Echoing a week-old Supreme Court decision that prisoners should not be extradited to countries that impose the death penalty, Suresh is arguing against being sent home where he might well be tortured.
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Published: Sat Mar 10 22:41:44 EST 2001
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Cricket-Sri Lankan and English media blame umpires and players
Yahoo India,
March 10, 10:20 AM.
The Sri Lankan and English media united on
Saturday to condemn both umpires and players for the controversies
blighting the second test between the two countries. Newspapers in both countries agreed that a string of bad decisions in
favour of the tourists had poisoned the atmosphere but that the players
had aggravated the situation.Former first-class umpire Barry Dudleston told the Daily Mail: "It has been verging on war
out there in the middle. Both sides are guilty in this game... there is so much being said by
the players. Some of the appealing has been ludicrous.
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Published: Sat Mar 10 16:03:38 EST 2001
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Media thunder at umpire's
blunders
TOI,
march 9.
Sri Lankan newspapers
criticised Test umpire Bulathsingala
Cooray on Friday for poor judgment in
rejecting bat and pad catch appeals against
England skipper Nasser Hussain, who
scored a century against Sri Lanka in the
second Test. The newspapers said the television replays
of the second day's play Thursday clearly
showed that on two occasions Hussain hit
the ball with his bat and was cleanly
caught.
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Published: Sat Mar 10 00:29:53 EST 2001
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Politics trumping security: ex-spy
Former CSIS chief accuses Liberals of being timid on terror for fear of losing ethnic votes
National Post,
march 9.
A former director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service says the Liberal government is reluctant to take strong measures against groups that raise funds for international terrorism because ethnic communities are among the party's biggest supporters.Mr. Morden also criticized Paul Martin, Minister of Finance, and Maria Minna, Minister for International Co-operation, for attending a dinner in Toronto last year for a Tamil group that has been accused by both CSIS and the U.S. State Department of raising money for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam."I really am disappointed when government ministers attend their fundraising events because it gives everybody the sort of good housekeeping stamp of approval and it makes it look like it is OK," he said. "It would have shown a lot more leadership to say, 'No, not until ... we can be assured that your money is going to go to the widows and children of that civil war.' "
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Published: Fri Mar 9 22:45:16 EST 2001
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Protest threatens tea industry in Sri Lanka
Times of India,
11 March 2001 .
Sri Lanka will begin
losing foreign buyers if 300,000 tea estate
workers continue their 17-day-old protest
for a wage hike, tea planters warned on
Saturday. Already, tea production has dropped by 50
percent following the labor campaign at
nearly 400 plantations.
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Published: Sat Mar 10 16:04:43 EST 2001
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Lankan women demand end to war, protest price hikes
Times of India,
9 March 2001 .
More than 1,000
women held two demonstrations Thursday,
demanding an end to the 17-year civil war
and protesting a hike in taxes and utility
prices.Both demonstrations marked International
Women's Day in the capital, Colombo.One group traveled in scooter rickshaws
decorated with colorful banners, asking the
government to begin Norway-backed peace
talks with the rebels.
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Published: Fri Mar 9 09:36:18 EST 2001
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US consultancy firm to find out how SME could be helped
The Island,
Saturday March 10, 2001 8:53 PST .
Chemonics, a US based consultancy firm, on behalf of the Industrial Development Ministry is currently conducting a field study to ascertain how small and medium scale enterprises (SME) could be developed through the provision of business development services (BDS).
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Published: Sat Mar 10 11:59:00 EST 2001
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Defence levy increased in Sri Lanka
The Hindu (International),
Saturday, March 10, 2001.
COLOMBO, MARCH 9. Sri Lanka's budget for 2001 has been dictated by the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, with the Government raising its defence levy by one per cent and placing a 20 per cent surcharge on corporate income tax in an effort to balance its increasing defence expenditure. The allocation for defence in this year's budget is Rs. 75 billion, approximately $882 million, and Rs. 12 billion more than the projected estimate.
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Published: Sat Mar 10 11:55:36 EST 2001
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Sri Lanka sees lower growth, more defence spending
Yahoo India,
March 8.
Sri Lanka said on Thursday economic growth would slip to 4.5 percent this
year and forecast surprisingly high defence spending that raised questions about last year's military
spending and budget. Deputy Finance Minister G.L. Peiris told parliament in a budget speech Sri Lanka would spend 75
billion rupees ($862 million) on defence, but added some of the money would cover purchases made last year.
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Published: Fri Mar 9 09:38:35 EST 2001
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Colombo banking on peace to revive growth
Asia Times,
March 9.
Sri Lanka's government is banking on likely peace talks with Tamil
Tiger rebels to kick-start an economy slowed down considerably by 18 years of
ethnic conflict.Economic analysts said the government's March 8 budget was based on the hope
that the peace talks, widely expected to start in May, would trigger a major
economic revival, helped by an infusion of US$700 million in foreign aid. The
aid has been promised to support rehabilitation programs in the conflict-torn
northern region of the country.
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Published: Fri Mar 9 09:54:43 EST 2001
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Imports kill Lankan economy
The Hindustan Times,
Colombo, March 9.
IF THE Sri Lankan economy has been in poor shape for the last 10 years, it is not just due to the unending war, but because of the systematic neglect of domestic industry and agriculture by successive governments. In a seminal piece in The Island daily today, economist Dr J B Kalegama said that between 1989 and 1999, both the United National Party (UNP) and the Peoples' Alliance (PA) governments have favoured imports.
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Published: Fri Mar 9 16:43:54 EST 2001
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Sri Lankan president to visit Germany next week
123India.com,
Mar 09 2001 21:12 IST.
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga will make a four-day visit to Germany beginning Monday for talks on increasing bilateral trade and economic aid.
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Published: Fri Mar 9 16:53:11 EST 2001
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Sri Lanka Won't Privatize State Banks - Tsy Secy
Yahoo India,
Friday, 9 March.
Sri Lanka's budget for 2001 looks beyond the government's war against Tamil Tiger rebels and aims to boost long-term growth and fix imbalances in the economy, the secretary to the treasury said Friday. P.B. Jayasundera told Dow Jones Newswires the government had earmarked 75 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($1=LKR85.70) for defense spending to fight the separatist rebels, but bold revenue-generating measures, including the initial public offering of Sri Lanka Telecom, would help achieve a lower budget deficit this year. "While recognizing the cost of the war, we are focusing on more forward-looking strategies to find long-term solutions," he said. The budget for the fiscal year beginning Jan. 1, unveiled Thursday, didn't give a breakdown for defense spending this year. However, the government last month allocated LKR63.4 billion for defense in 2001 in its appropriation bill.
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Published: Fri Mar 9 07:03:50 EST 2001
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Indian jets add color to Lankan air force celebrations
India Abroad,
March 09.
DOZENS of Indian skydivers trailing flags and streamers and air force jets blazing across
the sky added a splash of color to the Sri Lankan air force's 50th anniversary
celebrations held Friday. ndia's 'Akash Ganga' skydivers and 'Suriya Kiran' aerobatic team performed their breathtaking
stunts before a large audience of dignitaries and service personnel at the air force's main base at
Ratmalana, a Colombo suburb.
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Published: Fri Mar 9 09:33:01 EST 2001
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'We will never ask India for military help'
Yahoo India,
Friday, 9 March.
Whether token or otherwise, Sri Lanka will ``never ask India for military help. That unfortunate chapter is closed,'' says Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Mr Lakshman Kadirgamar. In an interview to Business Line on Wednesday at his heavily guarded Colombo residence, which practically functions as his office for security reasons, the Minister described India's stand on the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka as a ``very good stand, which we appreciate.'' But when asked to spell out the unstated apprehension in certain quarters in New Delhi that if India is asked for any help in finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the island-nation, it might involve some token military assistance, Mr. Kadirgamar flatly ruled out such a possibility. ``This is absolutely ruled out. We will never, under any circumstances, ask India for any military help. That rather unfortunate chapter, when you look at it in hindsight, is closed. Neither country wants to reopen it.'' On the other hand, ``India's stand is a very, very good one.
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Published: Fri Mar 9 03:34:44 EST 2001
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Ban on LTTE could curtail Lankan Tamils' migration
Times of India,
9 March 2001 .
The British move to ban the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) could curtail the rising number of Sri Lankan Tamils seeking refuge in Britain every year.Most Sri Lankan Tamils arriving in Britain sought refugee status on the ground that they faced political persecution back home because they are supporters of the LTTE, which is waging a bloody war for a separate state in the island's northeast. That itself could become the basis now for denying admission into Britain.British immigration officers would now have to be convinced that anyone seeking to stay in Britain is not coming to support any banned organization. Between 1989 and 1999, as many as 19,740 persons from Sri Lanka were accepted in Britain for settlement and an overwhelming majority of them was Tamils, a spokesman for the Home Office told IANS.The numbers being admitted into Britain for settlement is rising year on year. In 1999, a total of 5,370 Sri Lankans were accepted for settlement in Britain. That was well over twice the 2,100 accepted in 1998.
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Published: Fri Mar 9 03:34:30 EST 2001
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