Teacher allegedly burnt soles of girl’s feet to drive away evil spirit

A horrific tale of alleged torture on a school-girl from Horowpathana was reported recently. A. Ranjani Kumari (17) of Suwa Udana village, Morakawa, Horowpathana alleged that she had to face severe cruelty at the hands of a teacher at school who had allegedly also dabbled in black magic and exorcism for a living at a ‘Devale’ that he owned along with his wife who was also said to engage in fortune telling

Specimens of skeletons to be sent to Florida lab

Specimens of the skeletal remains recovered from the mass grave at Matale are to be referred to the Beta Analytical Archaeological Laboratory in Florida USA in order to date them

Lankadeepa wins most popular newspaper award

Our sister paper ‘Lankadeepa’ won the most popular newspaper award for the eighth  consecutive time  at  “SLIM-Nielsen Peoples Awards’ last night

No trust in SL’s process-UK

Britain on Tuesday said it did not believe that the processes set up by the Sri Lankan Government, such as the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission or the Commission of inquiry on Disappearances announced last year, adequately addressed accountability

Cumin seeds found to be mixed with abortifacients

The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) today recovered 22,000 kg. of cumin seeds which had been mixed with Sathakuppa seeds

Video: Campaign for Rs. 100 a success- Gammanpila

Although the opposition parties complained that JHU candidate Udaya Gammanpila was begging for funds for the election campaign, Mr. Gammanpila said begging for funds was always better than robbing funds unlike some candidates ???

Singh to meet MR

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hold talks with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa next week in Myanmar, three months after skipping a visit to the island nation to attend Commonwealth heads of government meet due to pressure from Tamil parties and within government

Defamatory texts doing the rounds

The Colombo Fort Magistrate today ordered two mobile phone service providers to provide details pertaining to three telephone numbers alleged to have been used by a person who allegedly sent text messages posing as President Mahinda Rajapaksa

Video: Linking SF for Lasantha’s killing: DP to take legal action

The Democratic Party would take legal action against its former Media Coordinator Sanjeewa Samarasinghe for making defamatory statements involving party leader Sarath Fonseka with the killing of the Editor of the Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickramatunga a few years ago

Two Lankans nabbed with 29 gold nuggets

Two Sri Lankans who attempted to board flights to India after having swallowed gold 29 gold nuggets had been arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) by Customs Officials on February 19, Customs spokesman Leslie Gamini said

Thirty students stung by wasps

More than 30 students of Mahanama College, Colombo who were on a visit to the Victoria reservoir in Teldeniya had been stung by wasps and were admitted to Teldeniya base hospital this evening, the Police said

Two parliament employees arrested

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) arrested two Parliament employees over the alleged Rs. 11 million-fraud at the Parliament Employees’ Thrift Society

TN court extends SL fishermen's remand to March 6

A local court today extended till March 6 the remand of 25 Sri Lankan fishermen arrested recently by the Indian Coast Guard

Free Wi-Fi to entire world

US company is planning to build an 'Outernet' - a global network of cube satellites broadcasting Internet data to all the people on the planet - for free

Census on human and property damage; Pre-processing of data begins

The Department of Census and Statistics has begun the pre-processing of data of the island wide census to assess the human and property damages that occurred during the nearly three-decade long war

Seven new code share destinations added to SriLankan network

SriLankan Airlines extends its network in the Austral-Asian Region adding seven new codeshare destinations in Australia, Vietnam and Malaysia, expanding a long-standing partnership with Malaysia Airlines, the airline sai

Lankan Tamils lock Nigerian officials

A group of Sri Lankan Tamils in a special camp within the Central Prison campus in Tamil Nadu locked up the inner gate with three Nigerian officials inside on Tuesday.

Colombo-bound SriLankan flight makes forced landing

A high-octane drama unfolded at the international airport in Thiruvananthapuram  in Kerala on Tuesday when Customs and Central Excise enforcers forced a Sri Lankan Airlines plane, bound for Colombo, to land 20 minutes after it became airborne and arrested three passengers on board on the charge of attempting to smuggle red sanders, a fragrant wood, concealed in their check-in baggage.

Eight injured in bus-truck collision

At least eight people had been injured following a head on collision of a private bus and an navy truck in the Mirisgoniya Junction at Dambulla this morning, the Police said

Sinha vows to end fishermen row in 90 days

Senior BJP leader and former foreign minister Yashwant Sinha on Wednesday said concrete steps would be taken to solve the Tamil Nadu fishermen issue and the Sri Lankan Tamils issue within three months of the NDA forming the government at the Centre

Briton, Indian arrested for illegal overstay

A 73-year-old British national was arrested by the Alawathugoda Police yesterday for overstaying his visa and violating immigration laws, the Police said

Magistrate flags traffic police for not knowing traffic laws

Puttalam Magistrate Ranga Dissanayake reprimanded the police when a suspect who stood charged with a traffic offence successfully cross-examined the police and defended himself

A cache of buried weapons discovered

Five T-56 weapons and several other weapons were recovered by the army at the third mile post in Murugapuri in Trincomalee this evening, Media Spokesman Ruwan Wanigasuriya said

Video: Banning Facebook not practical: MR

Banning of social media network Facebook, is impracticable as modern technology needs to be used, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said at an event held at Keragala Pathmawathie Pirivena on Monday. ???

Mannar: Skeletons reach 80

The skeletal remains of 80 bodies had been unearthed from a mass grave at Thiruketheeswaram in Mannar during the excavation work carried out so far, the Police said

Police spokesman playing politics: UNP

United National Party (UNP) in a statement said today that Police Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana was playing politics by making statements favorable to the ruling UPFA

Court to Skype evidence

The Colombo Fort Magistrate has decided to use Skype technology to record evidence from a witness in Italy regarding a theft of US$700 belonging to an Italian woman while she was staying at a hotel in Colombo.

Jayalalitha’s manifesto calls for Eelam referendum

The AIADMK's poll manifesto released by its general secretary and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in Chennai on Tuesday has proposed to hold ‘a referendum amongst Tamils in Sri Lanka and displaced Sri Lankan Tamils across the world for formation of a separate Eelam,’ the Zee News agency reported.’

SL to open honorary consulate in Kerala

An honorary consulate of Sri Lanka will be opened in the Kerala capital on Wednesday by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

Video: Suicides should not be blamed on Facebook: SYU

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) affiliated Socialist Youth Union (SYU) said Facebook should not be banned or restricted as it could not be blamed for the recent suicides.