The Colombo-bound private bus ablaze after a powerful bomb ripped through it at Mt. Lavinia junction yesterday morning.
(Pic by Kamal Wanniarachchi)

• Ford Foundation and Canadian H.C. pushed for Mani’s reinstatement
  The reversal of the decision of the International Center for Ethnic Studies to dismiss Dr. Rama Mani, its executive director, was influenced by requests by the Canadian High Commission and the Ford Foundation, a Parliamentary Select Committee was told last week.ICES Chairman Kingsley de Silva told the committee probing NGOs/INGOs that he received written appeals for the immediate reinstatement of the foreign executive director.
   
• Govt. ducking questions on missing Prados says ex-Speaker
  Angered by an increasingly evident tendency by government not to answer embarrassing parliamentary questions, the UNP yesterday accused the government of ducking such questions by asking for unreasonably long time periods to provide the answers. "This has become a despicable practice," former Speaker Joseph Michael Perera told The Sunday Island. A case in point was the government’s refusal to reveal the whereabouts of three luxury Prado SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles) belonging to the Bank of Ceylon.

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• The end of devolution
  Last week a meeting of the UNP’s committee on ‘National Policy and Philosophy’ was convened at parliamentarian Ravi Karunanyake’s home. It was attended by Mangala Samaraweera, Malik Samarawickrema, Tissa Attanayake and Lakshman Seneviratne and it was decided that the views of the public would be sought on the stand the party should take in the future on a whole range of national issues. This meeting, which many would have dismissed as yet another meeting of the UNP’s innumerable committees, will in fact have far reaching implications for the UNP.
   

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• Dangerous Delusions and Unpalatable Realties
  Kosovo in her Unilateral Declaration of Independence violated a UN Resolution; the US, Britain, France and Germany in promoting and accepting that UDI acted in contravention of international law. However illegal the birth of the new state of Kosovo may be, it is now a fait accompli. No amount of protests by Serbia, no amount of threats by Russia will change this reality. Peace, stability and prosperity may elude Kosovo, but it will survive, an intensely troubled ‘post-modern state’ guarded by more than 16,000 NATO troops, buttressed by a US base (Camp Bondsteel), "an entity that is sovereign in name but a US-EU protectorate in practice" (The Guardian – 19.2.2008).

• NUJ: Ups and downs of a remarkable life
  In the time-tested journalistic tradition of checking out a story, I once asked Mr. N.U. Jayawardena, whose birth centenary falls tomorrow, whether it was correct that his younger son, Nimal, had once asked his father: ``Why do you speak so harshly to people?’’NUJ’s reply, as reported by the person who told me the story, had been, ``You are the son of a former Governor of the Central Bank and the way you speak to people reflects that background. I am the son of the rest house keeper of Tangalle, and the way I talk to people reflects that background.’’
   
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• Demand to reduce shareholding in CommBank being resisted
  DFCC takes Monetary Board to court seeking Writ of Certiorari
  The DFCC Bank which is a major shareholder of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon Ltd. (CBC) has moved the Court of Appeal seeking a writ of Certiorari against the Monetary Board of the Central Bank to quash a determination under Declaration No. 1 of 2007 requiring the DFCC to reduce its shareholding in CBC to 15% by Oct. 23 this year, DFCC has announced in an interim statement incorporating its nine month results to Dec. 31, 2007.
   

• High interest rates reduces debt service ability of borrowers
  DFCC Bank sustains profitability despite lending dip
  The DFCC Bank last week announced a nine-month attributable profit of Rs.1.66 billion translating to Rs.13.27 per share, up from Rs.1.37 billion (Rs.12.45 per share) a year earlier.The bank’s General Manager/CEO, Mr. Nihal Fonseka, said that unaudited figures indicated a consolidated pre-tax earning of Rs.3.64 billion, up 19% from a year earlier while the after-tax result was up 21% over the comparable period the previous year.
   

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• KOLUU –larger than life !
  Versatility is the spice of life for an extremely flamboyant persona; Koluu who is widely known in the elite circles for his scrumptious recipes, witty columns and wild and wacky drag shows will venture into the television arena soon. A programme titled ‘Koluu Larger than Life’ will be launched in April, featuring parodies, talk shows, skits, agony aunt specials and social events. Veteran television specialist, Shehan Wijeyratne, has approached Koluu with this novel theme which is bound to attract the attention of many and keep the viewers enthralled.
   

• My Island in the Sun
  "We’re all going on a summerholiday"
  Isn’t it amazing how hearing a few bars of a song can suddenly bring a host of memories flooding back?I was at a restaurant with my wife the other day – it was one of those quiet restaurants where they have soft music playing in the background. The music is soft enough not to disturb one’s conversation, but just loud enough so that you are aware of this melody playing in the background. We had just given our order and were lightheartedly talking about something totally unrelated when I distinctly heard the strains of the song Summer Holiday – Cliff Richard’s popular song of the sixties.
   

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• Sri Lanka paying for poor selections
  With two more games to go and with Sri Lanka's chances of making it to the best of three finals in the Commonwealth Bank Series beyond their reach, the selectors have plenty of issues to deal with in coming months. Sri Lanka hardly look the side that took them to the finals of World Cup in the Caribbean last year. There hasn't been much change of faces in the team and they need to find out what has gone wrong with their batting.The Sri Lankans have played six games so far in the competition and have managed to win just a single game that too a rain shortened one in Canberra.
   
• Davis Cup Trials Row
  Enter Minister Lokuge
  In a further twist in the ongoing Davis Cup trials row, Gamini Lokuge, Minister of Sports and Public Recreation, has intervened into the process of picking the fourth player for this year’s Davis Cup, it was reported on Friday (22).The Ministerial intervention came as a result of Artha Hewacottege, complaining to the Sports Ministry, reportedly on Thursday (21), saying an injustice had happened to him in this year’s Davis Cup trials conducted by the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA).
   
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