Go forth and bring me back peace

President Mahinda Rajapakse articulates his strategy to the government’s negotiating team for two-day meeting in Geneva with the LTTE on October 28 and 29. The President met the team for a session at Temple Trees on Saturday.
 (pic by Chandana Perera)

• Report on amputation of infant’s hand ordered
  Health and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva has ordered the Acting Director General of Health Services Dr. Ajith Mendis to submit a full report within two days on the amputation of the left hand of a 14-month-old girl, who was transferred to the Colombo National Hospital from the Kandy hospital on October 20.
  
  

• Health workers threaten strike over free meals
  All Ceylon Health Service Union is threatening trade union action against the government decision to discontinue free meals to approximately 30,000 workers. The union accused the health administration of conspiring against the workers. According to the union the government recently increased the workers’ share of their subsidised meals to Rs. 1,000 a month from Rs. 10.

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• Half a dollar education allowance and a neck tie as dress allowance!
  Is Foreign Service a Lotus Eaters’ paradise?
  The recent highly publicised reports in the media on President Mahinda Rajapakse’s ‘hard talk’ to our top diplomats at a conference summoned in Colombo have unfortunately led to much misleading information about the state of affairs in the Sri Lankan Foreign service. This was further enhanced by news reports on questions raised by the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC), in which as settling in allowance paid to members of the Foreign Service figured. These reports give the impression that the Foreign Service is a bed of roses if not a proverbial Lotus Eaters’ Paradise.
   
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• Lanka Milk Foods bounds back against all odds
  Lanka Milk Foods (CWE) Ltd. (LMF) has recently recorded Rs. 100.7 million net profits compared to the loss of Rs. 32.5 million incurred during the FY 2004/05 despite the unfavorable market conditions in FY 2005/06.
   

• Pioneering Mass Alert Early Warning Network
  Dialog recognised by British Computer Society
  Dialog Telekom Sri Lanka’s flagship telecommunications company was recognised and commended for their pioneering Disaster and Emergency Warning Network (DEWN) at the National Best Quality Software Awards (NBQSA) held in Colombo.

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• Jayasuriya visits Colombo to see new-born son
  COLOMBO, Oct 22, 2006 (AFP) - Sri Lanka's star batsman Sanath Jayasuriya managed to take time off from his team's tour of India for the ongoing Champions Trophy to see his new-born son here."It's a great feeling and I was keen to get back home to see the baby," Jayasuriya told AFP on Sunday as he prepared to depart after seeing his wife and son, both of whom were doing well.
   

• Martyn spurs Australia to crushing win
  The pundits had been anticipating a firecracker of a contest to celebrate Diwali, but England's batsmen and bowlers contrived instead to produce yet another damp squib, as Australia secured an emphatic six-wicket victory in the unofficial Ashes curtain-raiser at Jaipur. In a game full of sub-plots and psychological by-plays, Australia's greater determination won the day, as they recovered from shaky starts in both innings to win by a margin even more emphatic than the scoreline would suggest.

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  Australia's Damien Martyn, center, plays a shot as England's wicket keeper Chris Read, right, looks on during the one-day international cricket match for the ICC Champions Trophy in Jaipur, India, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006. (AP)

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