Married the person I loved, son attend Royal College.Very happy, Nayana Kumari

The Tele drama actress Nayana Kumari  giving an interview to the Rivira newspaper had this to say:

" To go in search of gossip mongers I have absolutely no time.I never regard the mud slashed on me as a draw back to my work and
progress as an actress and to my beauty culture business.Foe those who make the gossip I wish they would be protected by gods.We as a family are happily  living.

I began to commence by journey in the arts field at the tender age of just 14 years.I was lucky to have got the opportunity to work under very knowledgeable  and competent directors.I have won all awards like for the best actor and popular actress and feel contented.I married the person I loved.We have a son 10 years who attends Royal College and is performing well in his studies.

In the business side also I am doing well.At home also we are living a happy but simple life."

I backed MR as Presidential candidate at 2005 polls: President

President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday said when Mahinda Rajapaksa was nominated as the Presidential candidate in 2005 many party leaders did not support him.

“However, I did,” President Sirisena said in Galle. “I was behind him since the beginning until his success. Even former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga did not support him. She preferred the victory of Ranil Wickremesinghe to Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2005. When she asked me not to support Mahinda I was shocked and hurt and I came out of the room sobbing,” he said.

The President was addressing a gathering of UPFA former local government representatives of the Galle district. The meeting was held at the Sri Lanka Ports Authority circuit bungalow in Galle Fort.

“However despite all such obstacles I dedicated myself wholeheartedly towards Mahinda’s presidential victory. Only a few in the party, including me worked honestly with dedication for the former President’s victory,” President Sirisena said. He said as the party’s then General Secretary he did everything possible for Rajapaksa’s victory. The President said Rajapaksa’s brothers who were overseas arrived in Sri Lanka only “after we set all winning grounds for Mahinda.” The meeting was convened to give a last minute briefing to the local government representatives over the arrangements for the SLFP May Day celebrations. “My prioritised aim is to ensure unity in the party and then transform it into a virtuous and orderly party ushering freedom and democracy within it. To ensure a morally upright country, we have to first guarantee a good party for which purpose we need to refine the party, ” the President said.

“I can unite the party and lead it towards success provided all stand in harmony together with me. Some who are rallying round other retrogressive forces are demanding me to unite the party. I urge them to first stand with the party and then help unite the party,” he said. “Together with all these attempts we have to study the causes for the defeat of our party at two consecutive national elections in 2015. A lack of discipline and unruly behaviours of some of local government heads during that period contributed to this. Many allegations of sexual abuse, corruption and fraud were leveled against a number of Pradeshiya Sabha Chairmen. But no action was taken against any of them. So people lost faith on our party,” the President said. “On the other hand democracy and freedom of party members including even Cabinet ministers were lost. Decisions over vital national issues were taken by five members of Rajapaksa family at the tea table.

There were no consultations from Cabinet ministers. Cabinet portfolios were just nominal. I can give many more reasons for the party’s downfall which would take days to talk about and need number of volumes to scribe,” he said. “At the previous election people did not give a clear victory to any party. The UNP obtained 103 seats while the UPFA sustained 95 slots in Parliament. As the President according powers vested on me I did the best thing I could do,” President Sirisena said.

“However many political transformations will take after the May Day celebrations both in the party and the country. There would be a reshuffle in the Provincial Council Board of Ministers,” he said.

Ministers Chandima Weerakkody, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardana, Faizer Musthapa, Southern Province Chief Minister Shan Wijayalal de Silva and Western Province Chief Minister Isuru Devapriya, former minister Piyasena Gamage, Deputy Minister Manusha Nanaykkara and former Minister Gunarathna Weerakoon also participated.

NCP to improve pirivena education

North Central Chief Minister Peshala Jayarathna Bandara has launched a programme to meet the educational needs at pirivenas in the NCP heeding to the request by the Maha Sangha.

Under the programme at an Anuradhapura ceremony held at the North Central Province Chief Ministry auditorium 58 multi media projectors and appliances were handed over to Maha Sangha represented by the 58 pirivena institutes; 43 in the Anuradhapura district and 15 in Polonnaruwa.

The Chief Minister said at the occasion in which a large number of the Maha Sangha participated that he and the NCP were prepared to solve the problems faced at the privenas in the NCP without waiting for the Central Government to remedy such shortcomings.

"There is a dearth of teachers in the province. We need 4,000 teachers more.

When we took action  using the powers vested in us under the Provincial Council Act to recruit Advanced Level passed persons to fill the vacancies for the benefit of 300,000 of students in NCP, the present line education minister in the good governance government used his ministerial powers to stop the recruitment examination being held.

It is a pity that a minister has been acting in volition of the desires of the public service commission to hold this competitive examination through the examination department," he said.

He appealed to the Maha Sangha to take note of this injustice.

Former PS member injured in accident

A former member of the Tissamaharama Pradeshiya Sabha Sujeewa Samarasinha sustained injuries as a result of an accident that occurred on Weerawila-Hambantota road. The accident occurred when the  the jeep driven by the former PS member met with a head-on collision with a private commuter coach that was on its way to  Colombo from Kataragama.

Motorcyclist dies in accident

A motorcycle travelling from Thirukkovil to Akkaraipattu ran off the road at Thambaddai in the Thirukkovil DS division killing the rider.

The rider Ravindran Vijaya Prabakar, 24 of Panankadu, Akkaraipattu was rushed to the Akkaraipattu Base Hospital and transferred to the Batticaloa General Hospital but succumbed to his injuries.

Man arrested with ganja

The Panadura Walana Anti Corruption Unit acting on a tip-off arrested a suspect in Hambegamuwa in possesion of 239 kilogrammes of ganja valued at Rs. 3 million.

He is due to be produced before the Wellawaya Magistrate.

Man arrested with leopard and elephant body parts

A suspect who had in his possession the body parts of a leopard and an elephant was taken into custody by wildlife officials on the instructions of the park warden at the Yala National Park. Two valampuris made from of ivory and the teeth and nails of several animals were counted among the items confiscated from his possesion, wildlife officials said.

They said the suspect, Thenuwara Hennedige Sunil would be produced before the Tissamaharama Magistrate.

Schools in NCP to close at 12 noon

All schools in the North Central Province have been advised to be closed by 12 noon, due to the prevailing hot weather condition. This closure will be in effect until further notice. 

Court ordered against entering Shalika Ground

Court issued an interim order to prevent Joint Opposition leaders and members from entering Shalika ground at Narahenpita for two weeks from today.

Swedish FM turns down Wiggie’s plea

Says Sri Lanka now a middle income country

Any request should come from the country’s top leadership

Visiting Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom yesterday, turned down a request made by Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran to lend special assistance to the Northern and Eastern provinces as Sri Lanka had already achieved middle income status.

Foreign Minister Wallstrom said Sweden was not in a position to lend special assistance to the Northern and Eastern Provinces for his reason . She said this during a meeting with Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran when he requested special assistance from Sweden to the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

The Northern Province Chief Minister who met the visiting Swedish Foreign Minister during her tour of Jaffna had insisted that the North and East needed special foreign aid since the two regions were still in a state of underdevelopment despite the lapse of seven years after the ending of the war. The Foreign Minister had replied that if Sweden was to extend such special assistance, the decision should be made by the country’s high level leadership.

During discussions on the political situation Chief Minister Wigneswaran had said establishment of democratic values was clearly visible in the country at present. He also pointed out that he had requested the government to grant a federal type of administration to the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

Margot Wallstrom had asked him whether it would succeed given the vehement opposition to the proposal by the people and parties in the South. Wigneswaran had replied that history showed that several agreements had been made in the past to grant federal status to the North and East. Margot Wallstrom had said that she expected the opposition to the proposal from the South to wane systematically with the passage of time when the political forces in the South slowly begin to understand the situation in the country.

Minister refutes drug shortage charges

 There is no shortage of drugs in hospitals, assured Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne.

He said some sections of the media without proper facts had mistakenly reported recently that there was a drug shortage in the country. He challenged any one to provide the facts if there was a drug shortage at hospitals.

The minister made these observations at yesterday’s Cabinet press briefing at the Information Department Auditorium.

Dr. Senaratne said the government spends billions of rupees on drugs for the country’s free health service.

Over 1,400 types of drugs are available at hospitals and only 16 types of drugs which are rarely used are in short supply at hospitals.

“If there is a shortage of drugs, just point out to us where such a shortage exists and what type of drug is not available,” the Minister requested. “The other matter is if someone makes baseless allegations about substandard drugs, it is the private sector that stands to benefit.

The quality of drugs at public hospitals are far better than those of private hospitals,” he said.

The minister added that measures are also being taken to provide more MRI scanners to the Colombo North and Kalutara Hospitals.

Parliamentary Affairs and Mass Media Deputy Minister Karunaratne Paranavithana and Military Spokesman Brigadier Jayantha Jayaweera were also present.

‘Former regime high ups doling out money to cripple Galle rally’

President Maithripala Sirisena said certain top-brass members of the previous administration are now going from village to village, distributing money to sabotage the SLFP’s May Day rally. “It is important to find where this money came from,” the President said, addressing a breakfast meeting with media heads and newspaper editors at the President’s House, yesterday.

“We all know how they ran the country. Every morning, about five members of the former first family got together at the breakfast table and made important decisions about the country. Then they were passed on to the Cabinet and to Parliament. The previous ruler completely disregarded the opinion of other senior leaders of the government and the party’s important decision making bodies,” the President said.

Criticizing the conduct of former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, the President said he attempted to run the government using the ‘state machinery.’

“He went to every district and the district secretaries were asked to organize meetings. People’s representatives in the districts were kept in the dark about those events. They were not even given a chance to deliver the vote of thanks. At the event, the minister would deliver a letter to the District Secretary, allocating funds for development projects in the area. Disappointed with this whole process, some senior MPs in Matale, Ratnapura and Badulla districts even boycotted such events,” he added.

“The majority of Cabinet ministers were utterly dissatisfied with their conduct. But, they were helpless. It was against this backdrop that I stepped down from my ministerial position to become the common candidate of the opposition.

The President also said negative criticism coming form certain sections about the present government’s good governance track record was natural and justifiable.

“This is a democratic country and anyone can criticize. But, we must understand that this is a damaged road and we are in the process of repairing it. Until we fully repair it, we too have to use the same road.

“But I can guarantee that we will fully repair it. I request all our critics to focus on the end result,” the President said.

Plans to scuttle JO rally: Wimal

 National Freedom Front leader Wimal Weerawansa said news has been received from reliable sources that there are plans to scuttle the May Day Rally of the Joint Opposition by an organised group.

Addressing a media briefing at the N.M.Perera Auditorium yesterday, he said the government’s planned obstruction of the Joint Opposition rally demonstrates its fear for the Joint Opposition rally and their first step was to cancel the reservation of the Shalika Grounds in Narahenpita.

Weerawansa said numerous efforts are being made by the government to collect crowds for their rally while spending a huge sum.

“Last year Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri was sent to the Joint Opposition May Day Rally along with a group of men wearing blue T shirts who themselves assaulted him. Therefore, we request Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri not to come to our May Day Rally to create a political drama,” he said.

Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) spokesman Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri, was assaulted near the Lalith Athulathmudali Grounds in Kirulapone, the venue of the Joint Opposition May Day rally last year.

Weerawansa also said the government had violated democracy by appointing Heads of Government Departments according to their own whims and fancies.

These heads of departments nod like lamp posts to any decision taken by the government, he said.

“Even though the Constitutional Council (CC) is called to have made independent and fair decisions we did not experience it either in the appointment of the Attorney General or the IGP. Although the historical tradition is to offer the post to the most senior officer among all, the CC did not follow that procedure on the last two occasions,” he said.

“The new IGP Pujith Jayasundara himself stated that the Head of the Police FCID Division has been appointed by the President and the Prime Minister after considering many factors correctly. However, the CC or the IGP has the power to appoint the Head of Police FCID. This statement itself proves that the government is in the process of making the FCID as an instrument for a political witch hunt,” he said.

CEB fine-tunes Norochcholai coal power plant to prevent blackouts

 The 900 mw coal-fired power plant in Norochcholai has been fine tuned to make it less sensitive to frequency changes that could interrupt generation, a senior official said.

“We have taken measures to improve generation at the Norochcholai coal power station,” Ceylon Electricity Board Chairman Anura Wijepala said.

“We hope we can control the system better now.” The Norochcholai power plant, supplied and installed by China, shut down automatically during recent disturbances in the transmission network that had a cascading effect on the system and caused islandwide blackouts. CEB and Chinese engineers had fine-tuned the operating parameters of the Norochcholai power plant to make it less sensitive to changes in frequency that had led to the blackouts, Wijepala told a forum on the electricity crisis. “Now we’ve taken steps to avoid over reaction of the Norochcholai power plant,” he told the forum held by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka. (EconomyNext)

Govt. seeks investor to bail out

  The government is calling for proposals from interested parties to enter into a business venture with the national carrier SriLankan Airlines, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said.

The Finance Ministry has already been instructed to call for expressions of interest for investment in the national carrier or enter into a partnership.

The national airline has accumulated debt to the tune of $ 3.5 billion (Rs. 460 billion), an unbearable burden to the country’s economy, he said.

“If we don’t solve the issue of debt in SriLankan Airlines now, the airline will go bankrupt, the country’s economy will collapse, and our tourism sector will also collapse. This should not be allowed to happen,” Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said.

Three papers were passed by the Cabinet regarding the management of SriLankan Airlines; one is to enter into a partnership with the viable business partner.

The options before the government in managing the situation was either to close down the business – which was not entertained, or to enter into a partnership to manage the airline, the Prime Minister said. The government will finance and manage the airline till October this year or until a viable partnership is established. The Finance Ministry has allocated $ 201 million for this purpose, while a further loan of $ 76 million has been obtained with the government signing as the guarantor.

To minimise future losses, SriLankan Airlines has also been instructed to explore the possibility of cancelling the order for four new aircraft.

“We have been informed that the manufacturing of the aircraft has not yet begun, therefore we have asked the airline to see if we can cancel the order,” he said. Special Assignments Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama said the government is looking for a large scale airline operator to enter into partnership to support and manage SriLankan Airlines.

Criticising the past government’s decision to terminate the agreement with Emirates, the minister said they are looking for a business partner of similar capacity.

Amunugama also assured that that no SriLankan employee would lose their jobs in the restructuring process.

The Prime Minister also highlighted that this is one of the measures taken by the government to ensure that the country’s economy averts any possible crisis situation in the future.

The government is also planning to establish a separate office in Parliament to deal with all matters relating to state finance, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said adding that a draft bill has been prepared to enable Parliament to gain more control and monitor power on all state financial matters.

“To prevent issues such as SriLankan Airlines from arising in the future we have also drafted an Audit bill. But to manage already existing issues we will have to go into a partnership,” Wickremesinghe said.

NPC resolution of no value: Akila

The Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Resolution on a federal state has no impact as the decision making powers on those matters lie solely with the Central Government and Parliament, Education Minister and UNP Deputy General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam said. Addressing a press conference at Sirikotha yesterday, he stressed the Resolution bears no legal validity, adding what was proposed in it was not workable.

“The President and the Prime Minister won’t let anybody to divide this country.They are firm about it. Any solution to the national question must be within a unitary state. We accept there must be power devolution in a manner that the rights of all are protected. We also uphold that the Sri Lankan identity must be promoted disregarding ethnic and religious differences,” he said.

Kariyawasam, responding to a question by a journalist, said the act of the NPC could have been aimed at gaining more popularity among the voters in that constituency.

The minister also reacting to the Joint Opposition’s demands to arrest Opposition Leader R.Sampanthan for allegedly entering an Army Camp forcibly, asked whether the arrest would solve the issues of the people in the North.

“We do not approve such behaviour from Sapmanthan and the NPC. However, the government deals on such problems in a careful and strategic manner. We take appropriate action regarding them. At the same time we do not fall into the traps of pseudo-patriots who try to fan communalism,” he said.

Responding to a question, Kariyawasam said the draft guidelines for print and electronic media during periods of elections would be presented to Parliament shortly subject to Cabinet approval.

He said the set of guidelines are aimed at ensuring justice for both media and the politicians and balancing media content.

Commenting on granting appointments in the education sector to those who had been subjected to various political and other injustices over the past years, the minister said the granting of these appointments have been temporarily halted.

However, he said the process of selection had been carried out in a very transparent and systematic manner.

Kariyawasam said justice would be ensured to this group without discriminating against those who had qualified in competitive examinations.

He said out of the 4,500 shortlisted after inquiries, about 2,000 had already retired.

Drug pedlar arrested

A drug pedlar was arrested with 2.5 milligrammes of heroin in his possession by the Tangalle Anti-Narcotics Flying Squad. Police said the 35-year-old suspect would supply the drug to customers in the areas of Halumana and Walasmulla. He is a resident of Halumana. Tangalle Police is investigating.

SLFP won’t support Federalism: Mahinda S.

The SLFP neither supports nor is willing to discuss federalism, Skills Development and Vocational Training Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said.

He was addressing a media briefing at the Information Department yesterday.

Samarasinghe added that such moves would destabilise the current politically stable environment.

The minister’s statement was in response to the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) having passed a resolution sponsored by the TNA to urge the government to introduce provisions to the proposed new constitution enabling the merger of the North and East and granting federalism.

“The NPC can pass any motion but we cannot support something which goes against our constitution,” Samarasinghe said.

The minister added that the central government would instead be more open to discuss greater devolution of financial and political powers to local government.

He cited the move to revert back to local governments controlling their own finances from the Treasury rather than it being channelled through line ministries as one such example.

Southern Provincial Council Chief Minister Shan Wijayalal de Silva explained that while many motions were regularly passed at every Provincial Council in the country, in the end, it was only the Governor of the Province who had the legal authority to implement them.

“All local governments meet annually to discuss our common problems but the Northern Province Chief Minister sadly never attends these meetings. He accepts the invitation but never turns up,” de Silva said.

Samarasinghe who also commented on Opposition Leader, R. Sampanthan’s recent unannounced visit to the Kilinochchi Army Camp, said: “We don’t expect such behaviour from such an experienced politician. Neither he nor his MPs are barred from the camps, there is no war, he can go there anytime as a public representative but there is procedure to be followed when doing so”.

He added: “Such actions merely provide fodder for extremists to achieve their own narrow agendas. That is something neither Sampanthan nor we want.”

Sri Lanka among worst marine polluters

Sri Lanka has been ranked as one of the world’s worst marine polluters in a study conducted by international Business Times Magazine.

In the study where a country-by-country breakdown of plastics in oceans was recorded, Sri Lanka has been ranked as No 5, along with a number of other Asian countries.

China has been named as the number one offender, followed by Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam.

Sri Lanka has been ranked fifth in the chart with a waste generation rate of 5.1 kg per person per day. The study records that 0.299 kg of plastic is mismanaged by a person every day while the country generates 5,163,689 kilograms of plastic waste per day. The total waste generation is 74,297,687 kilograms per day.

Study highlights that plastic kills thousands of seabirds, sea turtles and marine mammals each year. Discarded bottles and packaging containers can also leak chemicals such as bisphenol A, which could be consumed by fish

and eventually cause health problems for consumers.

AG to indict Raviraj murder accused in High Court

The Attorney General today informed Court that indictments would be filed soon in the High Court against the seven accused over the killing of former TNA Jaffna District MP Nadaraja Raviraj.

Deputy Solicitor General Rohantha Abeysooriya appearing on behalf of the accused informed Colombo High Court Judge Manilal Waidyatilleke that indictments could be filed against the accused since the non-summary inquiry has been concluded.

Abeysooriya made this remarks when the AG’s request to further remand the two accused for a period of three months was taken up for inquiry. Both petitioner and respondent parties were ordered to file their written submissions on May 26.

The AG filed this application before the Colombo High Court in accordance with Section 17 of the Bail Act. The Attorney General has sought a period of three months for remand extension of Pradeep Chaminda and Gamini Seneviratne since they have already spent over a year in remand.

While concluding the non-summary inquiry in connection with the murder of Raviraj, Colombo Additional Magistrate Thilina Gamage had earlier ruled that there is sufficient evidence to indict the seven accused in the High Court on four charges including the killing of the former MP and his driver in Narahenpita in 2006.

The Attorney General had given instructions to conduct a non-summary inquiry in respect of seven accused namely Palana Sami Suresh, Hettiarachchilage Prasath Chandana Kumara, Gamini Seneviratne, Pradeep Chaminda, Sivakanthan Vivekanandan alias Charan, Fabian Royston Tusen and Sampath Munasinghe.

Raviraj was shot dead near his residence at Manning Town in Narahenpita in 2006 when he was driving his vehicle along Martha Road. The CID recovered the trishaw and the weapon allegedly used in the killing of the former parliamentarian.

Heroin worth Rs. 87 million seized

A Pakistani national has been arrested by the Police Narcotic Bureau with heroin worth an estimated Rs. 87 million, weighing 8.7 kilograms. The suspect was arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport this evening. The Police Narcotic Bureau is conducting further investigations. 

Over 30 arrested for illegal fishing

The Sri Lanka Navy arrested 30 fishermen for the illegal harvesting of sea cucumbers between the Chundikulam and Vettalakerni sea area today.

2,264 sea cucumbers, 102 oxygen cylinders, 25 diving masks, 22 pairs of diving fins and 10 GPS units were taken into custody. Those arrested and the seized items were handed over to the Inspectorate of Fisheries in Jaffna for investigations.

On the same day, naval troops attached to Naval Sub Unit in the Batticaloa Fort of the Eastern Naval Command apprehended two other local fishermen engaged in fishing using banned fishing nets in the Periyauppodai sea area.

The two were handed over to the Police in Batticaloa for investigation.

Sambandan should apologize

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress says no need for any of the North and East combined.

Minister of the Supreme Board of Health Mohammad Nasir East had shown that the Northern and Eastern provinces merge LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran that purpose.

But the people in the North or East has been no such need that Mohammad Nizar had shown that. North and East should be integrated into the proposal was passed recently NPC.

It has been proposed federal controls. The Minister Mohammed Nasir said Neth News contacted East expressed these views.

North Korea launches missile from submarine, South Korea says

North Korea fired what is believed to be a submarine-launched ballistic missile off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said Saturday.

 

The missile was fired at 6:30 p.m. Saturday (5:30 a.m. ET), South Korean officials said, and appears to have flown about 30 km (about 19 miles) -- well short of the 300 km (roughly 186 miles) that would be considered a successful test.

 

North Korean state news agency KCNA claimed the launch was successful, and said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "guided on the spot the underwater test-fire of strategic submarine ballistic missile."

 

"At the observation post he was briefed on the plan for the test-fire and gave an order for it," KCNA reported. "As soon as the order was issued, the submarine submerged as low as the biggest depth of waters for launching and fired the ballistic missile. The test-fire was aimed to confirm the stability of the underwater ballistic launching system in the maximum depth of waters."

 

One U.S. official said Saturday the launch "was provocative but not a threat to the U.S. and the missile was fired away from South Korea and Japan." But another U.S. official noted that after previous launch attempts by Pyongyang that didn't appear to be successful, this one seems to have gone much better.

"North Korea's sub launch capability has gone from a joke to something very serious," this official said. "The U.S. is watching this very closely."

 

U.S. denounces launch

 

Launching a missile from a submarine has always been a military priority for North Korea, CNN's Barbara Starr reports, and if this test was successful, it would be a military victory for Pyongyang.

 

But such a launch is in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, the U.S. State Department said.

 

"We have seen the reports that North Korea launched what appeared to be a ballistic missile from a submarine in the Sea of Japan," State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. "Launches using ballistic missile technology are a clear violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions."

"We call on North Korea to refrain from actions that further destabilize the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its commitments and international obligations.

 

"The United States remains steadfast in its commitments to the defense of its allies. We will continue to coordinate closely with the ROK, Japan, and other allies and partners," Kirby added.

 

Previous launch a failure

 

Saturday's launch comes about a week after another attempt, which was apparently unsuccessful.

A U.S. defense official said April 14 that U.S. Strategic Command systems detected and tracked an attempted North Korean missile launch, but there was "no evidence the missile reached flight," a U.S. official told Starr.

 

Tensions have risen on the divided Korean peninsula this year as Pyongyang has made a series of assertions about developments in its military capability.

South Korea's military did not specify what sort of missile was part of the April 14 test, but South Korean media reported it involved an intermediate-range Musudan missile.

 

Pyongyang carried out its fourth nuclear test in January. It said it succeeded in miniaturizing nuclear warheads to fit on medium-range ballistic missiles, which U.S. intelligence analysts say is probably true.

 

South Korean military on high alert

 

Ballistic missiles are missiles fired in an arc toward their targets.

CNN's Paula Hancocks said it was not yet known whether the latest North Korean test was a success. But she said the ability to launch ballistic missiles from submarines makes possible launch points far more difficult to detect.

 

The South Korean military was on high alert following the test, Hancocks said. (CNN)

We will seek dual citizenship for Lankan Tamils: Jaya

IADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today asserted her party would take "continuous steps" to attain a separate homeland for Tamils in Sri Lanka and demand that the Centre grant dual citizenship for refugees from the island nation living in the state.

 

Addressing a huge election rally here, she said she has been continuously demanding an independent, international probe over war crimes and alleged genocide against Tamils in Sri Lanka.

 

"So as to enable Sri lankan Tamils live with full freedom and self-respect and to attain a separate Eelam, continuous steps will be taken," she said.

 

Launching a diatribe against arch rival DMK over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, she alleged that DMK and Congress were together responsible for the destruction of Sri Lankan Tamils.

 

"We will urge the central government to confer dual citizenship on Sri Lankan Tamils living here so that they can easily get job opportunities," she said.

 

Noting that Sri Lankan Tamils have for long been living in and outside camps in Tamil Nadu, she said her regime was giving them all facilities.

 

"There are also people who were born to refugees here and raised in the state. When the central government tried to repatriate them all, it was opposed by my government."

 

She stressed that her party's policy was that any repatriation should be voluntary and based on the choice of refugees "after the situation in Sri Lanka, including security aspects changes fully, (for the better)".

 

Jayalalithaa accused DMK of staging "dramas" over the issue against their interests. Such farce included a 'three hour hunger strike" by party chief Karunanidhi, she said. "Not only for Tamils here, he also betrayed Tamils in Sri Lanka," she said.

 

She recalled that the Tamil Nadu Assembly had passed several resolutions on the Sri Lankan issue moved by her.

 

Some of these included her demand for economic sanctions against Sri Lanka, an international probe against 'war crimes' and another related to a referendum (that she wanted to be sponsored by India in the UN forum) among Tamils on the question of a separate Eelam (Tamil homeland).

 

Slamming DMK for what she termed was false propaganda against the AIADMK regime, Jayalalithaa said the Karunanidhi- led party is "harried by fear" that it would not even be "runner-up" in the May 16 assembly polls and was therefore resorting to such methods.

 

Referring to some recent instances of so-called opposition to AIADMK nominees in some places, she alleged that such episodes were "staged" by DMK.

 

"People of Tamil Nadu cannot be duped. It is DMK which is going to be disappointed. People are on my side and unable to tolerate that, DMK is indulging in fraudulent acts. I appeal to the Election Commission to monitor the party and take action," she said.

 

Listing out various welfare schemes for farmers like Uzhavar Pathukappu Thittam (Farmers Protection Scheme), she alleged that DMK was indulging in false propaganda over alleged farmers' suicides.

 

DMK in an advertisement had raised the issues of fertiliser price rise and farmers suicide, she noted.

 

"Who is responsible for fertiliser price rise? DMK is making a wrong calculation that people would have forgotten (the reason for price rise)," she said.

 

The chief minister recalled that it was during the UPA regime fertiliser prices were increased and pointed out that DMK was an ally of the Congress-led government then.

 

"In the Cabinet meeting that paved the way for the increase, did not the then Union minister M K Alagiri of the DMK give his consent for the increase?" she asked.

 

"After having been responsible for price rise, how big a deception it is to issue an advertisement to make it appear as if the AIADMK government was responsible for it," she said.

 

She alleged that 1060 farmers had committed suicide in 2009 when DMK was in power and claimed the number had declined to 68 in 2014 in her regime.

 

"Even such suicides were due to family issues," she further claimed. (NewIndianExpress)

PM eyes trade with India, China

Sri Lanka aims to strengthen its economy and move the country forward by entering into bilateral agreements with several countries including India and China, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said here on Saturday.

Wickremesinghe said the hour arrived for Sri Lanka to be once again the economic hub it was in the ancient world on the Silk Route, Xinhua reported.

 

He further said that his government was in the final stages of formulating the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India and were also reviewing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China.

Additionally, his government was also looking at entering into such partnerships with Singapore, Turkey, USA and Pakistan.

 

"Our end goal is the creation and sustenance of a dynamic and thriving economic hub that will generate thousands of jobs," he said.

 

Sri Lanka is also planning to regain the Generalised System of Preference (GSP) Plus trade concessions from the EU after it was withdrawn from Sri Lanka as the island nation failed to meet certain conditions on human rights issues in 2010 when Mahinda Rajapakse was president.

 

The Sri Lankan government was currently in discussions with the EU and are confident to regain the trade concessions this year.

 

Meanwhile Wickremesinghe also welcomed the decision by the EU this week to lift a ban on Sri Lanka's fish exports which he said is a significant step towards reaping economic benefits for Sri Lanka and will fuel the growth potential of the fishing industry in the country.

 

The European Commission decided to lift of the ban on fisheries exports from Sri Lanka to the European Union, stating that Sri Lanka now had a robust legal and policy framework to fight illegal fishing activities.

The Sri Lankan government said that it was facing a loss of over $100 million per year because of the ban. (IANS)