I n the backdrop of disturbingly frequent divisive comments and speeches made by certain TNA MPs in Parliament and during campaigns in the Northern Province, calling for the celebration of LTTE martyr days, a separate national anthem for the Northern Province and attempts at glorifying terrorist leaders, the Sunday Observer interviewed international terrorism expert and Head of International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Prof. Rohan Gunaratna for his views on these

Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran, in a bold statement, said the Tamil speaking people in the North were not against the Sinhalese per se, but were against the ‘Sinhalization’ of the island’s North and East.
 
Addressing the Annual General Meeting of the Sarvodaya Movement on Saturday (21), he said it was the duty of the Sinhalese in the South to raise their voice against the presence of the military in the North.“We have no doubt that the Army is stationed in the North with

Muslim Members of Parliament (MP) met Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne, who is also the Minister of Buddhasasana and Religious Affairs, this afternoon and raised concerns over attempts to close three Mosques in the Dehiwala area.

Ministers A.H.M. Fowzie, Rauff Hakeem, Rishad Bathiudeen and Deputy Minister Faizer Mustapha as well as MPs Hassan Ali were among those present at today’s meeting at the Parliamentary complex, sources told the Colombo Gazette.

The Speaker of the Pakistani National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq lauded efforts of the Sri Lankan government in defeating the menace of terrorism from its soil, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

In a courtesy call on with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo, the Speaker said Pakistan and Sri Lanka are historically bonded in a relationship of trust, mutual respect and deep friendship which is manifest at all the phases of their histories.

He said the meeting between the Prime Minister of Pakist

Superintendent of the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) P.W.D.N.R. Rodrigo in response to reports regarding the losses amounting to Rs. 8.1 billion suffered by EPF said there was “no crisis” in the Fund and they had distributed Rs. 115. rate of 11.5 per cent in 2012.

With regard to EPF stock market transactions he said: “The EPF’s stock market transactions have been carried out with utmost care, diligence and professionalism in terms of the guidelines approved by t

The police has launched investigations into an incident where it was reported that the Chairman of the Kataragama Pradeshiya Sabha had attacked a female flower vendor at the Kiri  Vehera temple.

According to the Police Media Unit, an argument had risen between the Kataragama PS Chairman and the female vendor at a ceremony that was held near the temple.

The police stated that the women who was reported to have been attacked by the PS Chairman is currently receiving treatment at the Kataragama Hospital.

The Chairman of the Provincial Road Development Authority of the Western Province had been arrested on suspicion of stabbing a man following a brawl at a rest house in Horana.

Rohana Kualasiri is now under the custody of the Horana Police and would be produced in court today, the Police said.

Lt. Gen. Mikhail T. Kalashnikov, the arms designer credited by the Soviet Union with creating the AK-47, the first in a series of rifles and machine guns that would indelibly associate his name with modern war and become the most abundant firearms ever made, died on Monday in Izhevsk, the capital of the Udmurtia republic, where he lived. He was 94.
 
Viktor Chulkov, a spokesman for the republic’s president, confirmed the death, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.
 
Born a peasant on the southern Siberia

A fire that broke out at the Ministry of Education early few days ago has destroyed a large number of documents stored inside the Pension Division, police said.

Initial investigations have revealed that the fire was probably caused a computer short circuit, they said.

The blaze was brought under control and no one was injured, they added.

The United Nations (UN) says even the UN Security Council (UNSC) had failed on the Sri Lankan issue during the final stages of the war.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, in a press briefing at the UN Headquarters on Thursday, said that the Internal Review Panel on UN Action in Sri Lanka had noted in its report authored by Charles Petrie, how UN Member States had failed to take action on Sri Lanka in 2009.