The Lanka Academic

 
MARCH 28, 2003 EST, USA
 
A NEWSPAPER PUBLISHED BY LACNET
 
VOL. 3, NO. 356

TLA FEATURE CORNER
Headline Summary
F R E E      C L A S S I F I E D S
T  O  P      H  E  A  D  L  I  N  E
CWE paid 200,000 USD to UB 40- Peoples Alliance
Bandula Jayasekara in Colombo, SLT 4.30 p.m Friday 28 March. Peoples Alliance Member of Parliament Nimal Siripala Silva said today that the Co-operative Wholesale Establishment (CWE) had paid USD 200,000 to the London based musical group UB 40 when the CWE is undergoing financial difficulties. Silva said that the CWE had taken an Over Draft from the Hatton National Bank on 21 November last year for this purpose. Addressing the Peoples Alliance weekly media conference the MP said that the Auditor General had questioned the Chairman of the CWE as to why they remitted 200,000 USD in Barclays in London without following proper procedures and at a time the CWE in financial difficulties. He said that according to the Auditor Generals query the amount is not mentioned in any CWE books and not accounted for either. Silva said that the CWE had remitted the amount against government and CWE financial and accounting procedures. He added "The Auditor General says that there is no justification to pay such a big amount from CWE money. This amounts to clear misappropriation and the CWE chairman is answerable for this. We commend the Auditor General for his courage " UB 40 was in Sri Lanka last December for a peace concert. They performed at the R. Premadasa stadium in Colombo.
Published: Fri Mar 28 05:34:44 EST 2003

ASK LAKSHMAN!
A Q&A with Sri Lanka's Former Minister of Foreign Affairs
ANSWERS 1-9 NOW AVAILABLE.
We are pleased to introduce Mr. Lakshman Kadiragamar, former Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, as the 11th guest in our series of Q&A sessions. Presidents Counsel and Member of Parliament, Mr. Kadiragamar is currently the special adviser on Foreign Affairs to the President of Sri Lanka. Send in your questions to Mr. Kadiragamar and receive his answers here.

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IT'S NOT CRICKET, STUPID, IT'S COMPUTERS, LOVELY COMPUTERS Fulbright Scholar Brings Computers to Urban Disadvantaged Children in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
By Chulie de Silva, Colombo. You would think on a warm Saturday morning, children in Sri Lanka would be watching a cricket match and cheering on their heroes. No, not in Kew Road, Slave Island, a multi-ethnic enclave just five minutes away from the exclusive Trans Asia Hotel in Colombo's central down town area. The cricket match played on at the Malay Cricket Club, on Saturday 25, January but thirty children were flocked round five computers in a little rectangular room of the Vocational Training Center (VTC) run by the Sri Lanka Malay Association's (SLMA) Rupee Fund. [More...]

O  T  H  E  R      H  E  A  D  L  I  N  E  S
SLFP for quick end to war
The Hindu (International), MARCH 28.. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the country's main Opposition party, today described the war against Iraq, led by the U.S. and backed by 40 countries, as one waged by "Ali Baba and the 40 thieves" and wanted it stopped immediately. Condemning the war led by the "chief priest of capitalism", the spokesperson of the left-of-centre SLFP, Sarath Amunugama, wanted the Sri Lankan Government to spell out its stand on the war and also make it clear if it was among the 40 countries that had signed support for the U.S. More...
Published: Fri Mar 28 20:04:09 EST 2003 Back to the top

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European truce monitors in Sri Lanka say no conclusive evidence that Tamil rebels behind attack on Chinese boat
Associated Press, Fri March 28, 2003 09:58 EST . - - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) European truce monitors in Sri Lanka - said Friday there was no conclusive evidence to show that Tamil Tiger rebels were behind a deadly attack on a Chinese fishing boat that killed 17 people. ``This is a serious crime and a terrorist act ... (but) there is no verifiable information to conclude that either the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam or the Sri Lanka - navy were responsible for the attack,'' said Hagrup Haukland, deputy head of the monitors.

``If both parties are not responsible then obviously there is a third armed element operating in the area who needs to be hunted down, disarmed and charged,'' Haukland said.

He did not elaborate. Pirates are not known to operate in the area.

The European mission, which is monitoring a cease-fire between the government and rebels, handed over its inquiry into the incident to both sides Friday. The government is conducting a separate investigation.

The government and the rebels signed the truce on Feb. 22 last year, ending 19 years of fighting that has killed nearly 65,000 people. They have held six rounds of peace talks so far.

Both sides are set to meet on April 24 to discuss how to avoid sea battles that have posed the greatest threats to the island's peace process.

Separately, rebel negotiators returned to Sri Lanka - Friday after the most recent round of peace talks in Japan. The talks ended last week, but the team stayed to hold discussions with Japanese officials and toured several cities, including Hiroshima, rebel sources said.
Published: Fri Mar 28 10:49:06 EST 2003 Back to the top


Protest against US led war
Leo de Lile in Colombo, 6.00 pm, SLT March 28, 2003. Anti-war Protesters burn an effigy of US President Gorge W... Back to the top

Police fire tear gas to break up anti-war protest in Sri Lanka
ProLog, COLOMBO, March 28 (AFP) . Sri Lankan police fired teargas at about 5,000 anti-war demonstrators who tried to march to the US embassy here Friday, officials said... Back to the top

Australian funding to help prevent child abuse in Colombo
Bandula Jayasekara in Colombo, SLT 3. 30 p.m Friday 28 March. The Australian High Commission has provided 245,000 rupees to a program to help prevent the commercial sexual exploitation of children in the Colombo area... Back to the top

Foreign Ministry says NO
Bandula Jayasekara in Colombo, SLT 12.50 p.m Friday 28 March. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Riz Hassen said that the Sri Lankan government is not a signatory to a letter supporting the war against Iraq... Back to the top

Opposition questions if the government is supporting the war against Iraq
Bandula Jayasekara in Colombo, SLT 12. 40 p.m Friday 28 March. Opposition Peoples Alliance questioned if the United National Front is supporting Americas war against Iraq... Back to the top

JVP/PA talks on track
Bandula Jayasekara in Colombo, SLT 12.15 p.m Friday 28 March. Peoples Alliance said that the talks between the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and the Peoples Alliance were on track and the two parties hope to come to an agreement soon... Back to the top

How can we canvass for peace when we are not treated as equals?-LTTE
Bandula Jayasekara in Colombo, SLT 4.30 p.m Thursday 27 March. Head of LTTE's Education Wing Illankumaran alias Baby Subramaniam said that the LTTE cannot canvass for peace and educate children in areas under their control on the peace process when they are not treated as equals... Back to the top

Rocca Outlines U.S. Assistance to South Asia
US State Dept. Washinton File, 26 March 2003 . The United States must stay "actively and effectively engaged" in South Asia, says Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Christina Rocca... Back to the top

Sri Lankan SC verdicit on right to vote
The Hindu (International), March 26. In what is termed as a landmark verdict, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court on Tuesday held that the right to vote cannot be compromised in the name of security and ruled that preventing those living in areas under the control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from voting in polling stations located in Government-held territory during the 2001 Parliamentary elections was an infringement of fundamental rights... Back to the top

Sri Lankan trade unions stage strike demanding wage hike, XINHUA
Associated Press, Wed March 26, 2003 13:45 EST . - - COLOMBO, March 26 (Xinhua)--Some 52 trade unions representing Sri Lanka - 's state sector staged a one-day token work stoppage Wednesday demanding a wage hike... Back to the top

Kenya to play in Sharjah
BBC Sport, Thursday, 27 March, 2003. Kenya have been confirmed as a last-minute replacement for South Africa for next week's Sharjah tournament... Back to the top

Three Sri Lankan women cricketers missing in London
Associated Press, Thu March 27, 2003 01:52 EST . COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) The captain and two other members of Sri Lanka - 's women's cricket team have gone missing during a stopover in London following a tour of the West Indies, news reports said Thursday... Back to the top

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