Some Govt. Workers Get 78% Pay Hike
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Vol. 31 No. 46 Wednesday 11th January, 2012, 48 pages Rs. 20 Registered in Sri Lanka as a Newspaper - City Edition EPPAWELA MYANMAR DEFENCE PROTEAS HAVE APATITE – CANCELS BUDGETS AND NEW CAPTAIN FACT OR PLANNED COAL CAVEMEN FOR ODIS 8 10 FICTION 11 POWER PLANT 16 President’s kin Ranil tells UNP rebels: attacked in Tamil Nadu Obey rules or depart BY ZACKI JABBAR BY S VENKAT NARAYAN In an obvious reference ters at Pitakotte, to Our Special Correspondent to Sajith Premadasa’s launch the website independent political www.srilankaxnews.com activities, UNP leader he said that in terms of NEW DELHI, January 10: A group According to information reach- Ranil Wickremesinghe the new constitution all of political activists protesting ing here, the attack occurred when said yesterday that mem- party programmes would Britain ‘still has a against Sri Lankan President Nadesan was coming out of a house bers should work as a have to be discussed and Mahinda Rajapaksa today attacked after performing puja. He was on a team and have the bless- approved by the Advisory problem with racism’ ings of the party’s deci- Committee or the Thirukumar Nadesan, husband of two-day visit to Rameswaram to offer Ranil Sajith Prime Minister David the President’s niece and Member of prayers at the Sri Ramanathaswamy sion making body or face Working Committee as Cameron has admitted Parliament Nirupama Rajapaksa, in temple. the prospect of being expelled. the case might be. Speaking at a ceremony held at the there is “a lot more” to be Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu. done to tackle racism in Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya headquar- the wake of the high pro- file conviction of two men for the murder of Stephen Lawrence. New ethnic violence Some govt. in South Sudan Members of a South Sudanese tribe targeted in massive attacks late last month have killed 22 peo- ple and burned down three villages of the opposing workers get tribe in new attacks, a state governor said. Sanctions against 78% pay hike Myanmar eased Australia said Monday it was easing ... demand another 45% increase some restrictions on members of BY SHAMINDRA FERDINANDO Myanmar’s ruling elite The government is under pressure trade unions affiliated to the UNP, the in response to politi- cal reforms by its mili- to review a controversial formula JVP and the ruling SLFP are demand- tary-backed govern- under which four key state institu- ing a 45 per cent salary increase (15 tions, namely the Ceylon Electricity per cent annual increase for a three- Medical students of the Rajarata University demonstrated at the Anuradhapura town yesterday in protest against the temporary closure of their faculty. They were ordered by the Anuradhapura Chief Board (CEB), Ceylon Petroleum year period effective Jan. 2012). Magistrate to vacate the university premises by midnight on Monday. However, they remained there Corporation (CPC), National Water Responding to a query, sources until yesterday morning, when they left the campus. Commercialisation Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) said that even at the height of the war and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority those workers had been given huge of exams attacked (SLPA) are given substantial salary salary increases, though others were Examiners should be increases. asked to tighten their belts for the banned from endors- Ministerial sources told The sake of the country. JVP rebels planning “Security wise, we ing their own text- Island that the national economy In 2003, employees of those four books or staging are dependent on seminars for teach- couldn’t meet unions’ demand for a institutions received 23 per cent ers to curb the “aggressive commercialisa- staggering 15 per cent yearly salary increase, 33 per cent in 2006 and 22 Arab Spring style Sri Lanka” tion” of GCSEs and A-levels, a leading hike for those employed at cash- per cent in 2009. Sources said that in headmaster warned today. strapped institutions. Asked whether Oct. 2011, trade unions demanded a – UGC Chief any other state sector institution had staggering 45 per cent increase for campaign – Indian External Affairs Minister given such an increment to its 2012-2015 period warning of dire con- Close on the heels of “Security employees, sources said the aforesaid sequences unless the government met JVP rebels launching wise, we are Death sentence for outfits got preferential treatment. their demand. ‘Youth for Change’ to dependent on CPC, CEB, NWSDB and SLPA protest against the the Sri Lanka – American condemned alleged abduction of two there are large The Obama administration of its activists in Jaffna security con- flatly rejected Monday that on Dec. 9, University cerns that can a young Iranian-American Grants Commission affect both coun- man used a family trip to (UGC) Chairman Prof. tries in the Iran as cover for espionage, Gamini Samaranayake S M Krishna after Iran issued the first Indian Ocean. has warned of those dis- death penalty against a U.S. citizen since the Samaranayake We would like to continue to keep sidents trying to launch Islamic Revolution 33 years ago. on the right side of Sri Lanka”, a campaign similar to ‘Arab Spring’. said Indian External Affairs In an interview with a private TV chan- nel, Prof. Samaranayake urged parents of Minister S M Krishna in an inter- view with the Business Standard NKorea to issue special Deputy Water the protesting undergraduates to keep a on January 1st. pardons for convicts Supply and watchful eye on their children as they Drainage could be used as pawns in a major desta- North Korea will issue Minister bilisation campaign. special pardons for con- On Sunday, the government alleged victs to commemorate Nirupama that JVP rebels were receiving funds from milestone birthdays of its Rajapaksa two late leaders, state and her hus- at least three overseas sources to desta- media said Tuesday, in the band bilise the country. Rebel spokesman, Udul first such dispensations in Thirukumara Premaratne denied the charge. more than six years. n Nadesan at The UGC chief asserted that the Inter Rameswaram University Students Federation (IUSF) yesterday. affiliated to the JVP had been carrying Rally shows leftist Pic courtesy out the campaign at the behest of the rebels. (SF) strategy against Putin The Hindu Leftist opposition lead- ers have drawn about 200 activists to a Moscow rally and UK to grant UPFA running an agent in reached out to blue- collar workers to try to Scotland binding expand the protest movement against UNP WC, allege Reformists Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. independence vote BY SHAMINDRA FERDINANDO ! After so many failed deadlines LONDON (AP) — Britain’s government he reformist The Reformists are Norachcholai GM gives another. says it will give Scotland the power to hold a group of the UNP on the warpath over the ‘Cameron meddling in binding vote that would give it independence Taccuses party appointment of Central ! Has CEB got its wires crossed? from Britain, turning back centuries of histo- independence vote’ ry. leader Ranil Provincial Council Scotland’s govern- Scotland’s ruling Scottish National Party, Wickremesinghe of member and head of ment says British which has long advocated independence, had accommodating a UPFA the UNP women’s Prime Minister David pledged to hold a referendum before 2016. agent in the decision arm, Lakvanitha Cameron is attempt- Under law, only Britain’s Parliament can making Working Sarath Shanthini organisation order a binding vote — meaning it must tem- ing to pressure the Committee, thereby Shanthini Kongahage porarily offer the power to Scotland’s semiau- making it easy for President Mahinda to the WC due to her husband, country into an early vote on its long prom- tonomous administration. ised independence referendum. Rajapaksa to manipulate the main Sarath, being a government loyalist. opposition party..