Thu, 14 July, 2011 14:02:

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Sri Lanka News

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Sri Lanka appeals against British court

EelamEnews, July 14th, 2011 – Sri Lanka is to lodge an appeal against a ruling by a British court, which had said that the island’s petroleum corporation owed nearly 162 million U.S. dollars plus interest to Standard Chartered Bank over a hedging deal.

Sri Lanka said Tuesday it has decided to appeal against the ruling on the hedging deal after a London court found that the state owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation was in violation of payment of dues to the international bank.

According to Sri Lankan authorities the British judge sitting for the case has approved the decision to lodge an appeal against the ruling.

Sri Lanka has meanwhile objected to conditions mentioned by the Standard Chartered Bank for such an appeal to be filed.

Report said Monday that London High Court judge Justice Hamblen concluded Ceylon Petroleum Corporation must pay Standard Chartered Bank under the agreement reached between the two companies at the time the deal was signed.

Ceylon Petroleum Corporation which imported some 26 million barrels at a cost of two billion dollars in 2007, needed to hedge its purchases of crude oil and refined products on the international market. It was exposed to the record oil rally of 2008 when oil hit an all-time high above 147 dollars a barrel for U.S. crude in July before crashing to less than 40 dollars a barrel in December of that year.

However Standard Chartered Bank told court that Ceylon Petroleum Corporation had always been aware that a fall in oil prices would have made it liable to make payments to the bank.

http://www.eelamenews.com/archives/105550

President gets the support of JHU’s Gammanpila

Lanka News Web, 2011-07-13 - President Mahinda Rajapaksa has decided to weaken the JHU and is trying to get JHU’s Western Provincial Council Minister Udaya Gammanpila to join the SLFP since JHU Secretary and Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka posed a threat to the President’s Sinhala Buddhist image, a senior government minister said.

The President who practices the condom theory of discarding persons after using them for his work earlier got hold of former JHU Leader Ven. Ellawela Medhananda Thero and Western Provincial Councilor Kotakadeniya.

The President has decided to use Gammanpila to control Ranawaka and Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thero in the JHU and has asked Gammanpila not to attend the JHU Central Committee meetings.

Gammanpila has also been asked to inform the JHU leaders of the actions taken by him in the Western Provincial Council.

It has also been agreed to appoint Gammanpila as the SLFP organizer for Maharagama.

The senior minister said that the President was angered over the alliance formed between the JHU and the NFF against the multi national companies on the arsenic issue.

http://www.lankanewsweb.com/news/EN_2011_07_14_003.html

The finding of illegal weapons in the East,

a story created by Boniface Perera

Lanka News Web, 2011-07-13 - The story that a stock of weapons discarded in a jungle in the East by a paramilitary group after an announcement was made to hand over all illegal weapons in the area to the police, is yet another story created by Eastern Commander Major General Boniface Perera, sources from the Army headquarters said.

Major General Boniface Perera had told the media that following the announcement to hand over all illegal weapons; an armed group had informed the Eastern Command office that they had hidden a stock of weapons in a jungle in Vaharai.

He has said that a group of military personnel had recovered 36 T-56 weapons, seven RPG weapons, seven 12.7mm anti aircraft weapons, five RMG weapons, 2 FMG weapons, an MPG weapon and a whole load of other weapons.

It has been said that the weapons had been found in buried plastic containers wrapped in polythene covered after applying grease on them.

Major General Perera made a public announcement on June 30 to hand over all illegal weapons in the area. The above mentioned weapons were recovered on July 12.

A senior Army officer who spoke to us about this matter said that weapons that are to be used in the short term are not covered in polythene and buried in plastic barrels. He said that it is the LTTE that stores away weapons to be used in the long term. He explained that if an armed group was scared of the Eastern Commanders order and decided to discard their weapons, they would have thrown them by the side of the road.

The officer said that it is only the Muslim Jihad group, Karuna’s group and Pillayan’s group that carry arms in the East. He added that most of the weapons being carried by the Karuna and Pillayan faction have been handed over by the security forces during the war and that the serial number of the weapons were with the forces.

The officer said that since most of the cadres in those groups were either dead or missing, their weapons have also gone missing.

Although it is 14 days since the Eastern Commander has asked for the handing over of all illegal weapons and warned that the security forces knew the persons carrying such weapons, the Army has not received even a bullet from any one.

The Eastern Commander has created the story in order to overcome the embarrassment of no one heeding his announcement.

http://www.lankanewsweb.com/news/EN_2011_07_14_002.html

The President’s son forces the Rugby Federation

to say the lost game was won

Lanka News Web, 2011-07-13 - The President’s son, Upper Lieutenant Yoshitha Rajapaksa who is the Captain of the Navy Sports Club rugby team is forcing the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) to cancel the final scores of the final game in the Caltex Rugby Tournament saying that Navy lost the game due to the shortcoming of the match referee. He has asked that the Navy team be announced as the winners of the game.

Although the Navy rugby team received full state backing, the team was defeated by the Kandy Sports Club team for 15-12 in the tournament.

The game was played in Nittawela on June 9th.

The Navy Sports Club is now putting pressure on the SLRFU to cancel the final scorers and announce that the Navy team as the winners of the tournament, since the team would have won the game had it not been for the shortcoming on the part of the match referee.

However, SLRFU’s tournament head Jehan Kanagaratne has told the media that the request was not practical.

A senior SLRFU official said that for the first time in the country’s rugby history, there was pressure from the country’s highest office to cancel the final match score.

The game between Navy and CR&FC ended in a draw. The Kandy team is the only undefeated team in the tournament.

The photograph shows the Navy personnel who were brought to watch the match in Nittawela from all parts of the country using state buses.

http://www.lankanewsweb.com/news/EN_2011_07_14_001.html