Engulfed in grief, a daughter and the brother of slain UNP parliamentarian T. Maheswaran bid a tearful farewell to this key Tamil politician at last Thursday’s funeral in Colombo .
(Pic by Nishan S. Priyantha)

Maheswaran was a wealthy ship operator
Thiyagarajah Maheswaran who lost his life to an assassin’s bullet in a Kochchikade Hindu kovil of New Year’s day was a wealthy ship operator

• Wounded assassin key to MP’s killing: Hulugalle
  Had the assassin of UNP MP T. Maheswaran escaped after the Jan. 1 killing in a Kochchikade Hindu Temple, the government would have been serious trouble, Lakshman Hulugalle, head of the Media Centre for National Security admitted.In an interview with The Sunday Island, the official said that the UNP-led Opposition would have then squarely placed the blame on the Rajapaksa administration.
   
• No date could be specified for final proposals - APRC Chairman
  The APRC is meeting regularly to finalize some outstanding issues in its deliberations to put into shape its final proposals as quickly as possible, although no definite date could be specified as to when this could be achieved, APRC Chairman and Science and Technology Minister Prof. Tissa Vitarana told the 'Sunday Island'.
   

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• Ceasefire dies with Maheswaran
  The government started the New Year with egg on its face and blood on its hands. The Mervyn Silva incident on Dec. 28 and the assassination of Maheswaran on Jan. 1 have left the president with much to ponder about. Rajapaksa heard of MP Maheswaran’s death as he was preparing to attend the customary New Year get together with his staff at the presidential secretariat. He immediately phoned the IGP and discussed the situation. The president arrived late for the New Year do and lamented that he expects something untoward to happen on every important day. 


 
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• The food versus fuel debate
  Ethanol: Disaster or salvation?
  The debate about bio-fuels is getting scientists, economists, motor car designers and even political wiseacres like the aging Fidel Castro, hot under the collar. It is easy to use one line of argument to show that bio-fuels are the salvation of the future and no more difficult, using a different logic, to cast ethanol as a hopeless loser. It all depends on whether you choose energy efficiency, potential impact on food supplies, environmental concerns, farm subsidies or energy security as the king-pin of your case.

• The Mouth, the Belly and Living
  Today hotels and eating houses, supplying tasty dishes, have begun to spring-up, at a fast pace, not only in Colombo and other big cities, but, even in the remote villages.It is quite satisfying that such air-conditioned luxury hotels and restaurants have begun to appear in various parts of our country.Halls, where weddings, birthday parties and other social events take place, with high-level catering, have become a common sight, in most parts of our country.
   
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• Leasing company and parent to be listed on CSE this year
  Capital Reach Leasing profitable but group still losing
  Two-and-half years after its founding by Central Bank Governor Ajit Nivard Cabraal, Capital Reach Holdings has in its first annual report said that it was looking at listing its bigger subsidiary, Capital Reach Leasing Limited (CRLL), on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) in the first half of this year.
   

• Earnings fall short of minority interest
  E.B. Creasy posts mid-year group loss of Rs. 31 mn.
  E.B. Creasy & Co. Ltd. has posted an attributable group loss of Rs.31.2 million for the half year ended September 30, 2007, down from a profit of Rs.38 million a year earlier despite the group’s bottom line remaining positive at Rs.76.8 million, though down 73% from Rs.283.6 million in the comparative period the previous year.
   
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• An inspiration to women
  Benazir Bhutto was the first woman to head a Muslim nation.Born in Sinah and political heir to her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto she honed her mind in the stimulating enviorn of Oxford and Harvard and was looked up by women all over the world as a beacon of hope .Her exemplary personal and political life were the inspiration to women all over to overcome the roadblocks imposed by men in their progress in life 

 
• My Island in the Sun
  New Years past
  Since this is my first column for 2008, let me begin by wishing all my readers a year of happiness and contentment. May the year ahead be a peaceful one for you wherever you may be living, on this island or in some corner of a foreign land. May I also wish you good health and express the hope that if you do have to visit a doctor or a hospital during 2008, the visit will be purely for social reasons.
   
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• A taste of their own medicine
  They say, what goes around comes around. And having dished out racial taunts and abuses for years and years on opposition teams, Australia is indeed getting a taste of their own medicine. First time ever, an Australian player has complained to the game’s governing body that he was racially abused by an Indian player.  

 

• Aussie pair keep Test in balance
  Matthew Hayden and Michael Hussey gave Australia an outside chance of forcing a 16th consecutive Test victory with a doughty partnership against India. Australia closed day four of the second Test in Sydney on 282-4, with Hayden out for 123 and Hussey still there on 87, leading overall by 213 runs.
   

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