by Sean GLEESON and Amal JAYASINGHE (AFP) Lankan security forces demolished the main anti-government protest camp in the capital Friday, evicting activists in a pre-dawn assault that raised international concern for dissent under the crisis-wracked country’s new pro-Western president. Troops and police Special Task Force commandos wielding batons and armed with automatic assault rifles charged on ...

Owned and operated by Sri Lanka’s largest blue chip conglomerate, John Keells Holdings PLC and positioned as a star value addition at John Keells Hotels Group, ‘Nature Trails’, the dedicated Wildlife and Adventure Tourism division of Chaaya and Cinnamon Resorts, bagged the award for the ‘Best Nature and Wildlife Service Provider’ at the Sri Lanka ...

A gallery of images depicting the story of how the Nature Trails team headed by Chitral Jayathilake and Head Naturalist Nilantha Kodithuwakku, launched whale watching in the Eastern coast; was displayed at Chaaya Blu Trincomalee recently. Once approval was obtained by relevant authorities, the Nature Trails team headed out from Chaaya Blu Trincomalee in their ...

Let’s accept it, Sri Lanka made a statement to the world that we are open for business with Expo 2012, even though it had its limitations like the faulty air conditioner at the launch that grabbed media attention. Whilst some can say that the shine was taken off the event due to the very uncomfortable ...

Below is an interview with Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleke published in the French Diplomatic Review – La Lettre Diplomatique (The Diplomatic Letter) Two years after the end of a three decades conflict, the lifting of the emergency rule in late August 2011 confirmed the beginning of a new era for Sri Lanka. With the recent discovery of ...

BBC: Hoteliers in a popular tourist destination in Sri Lanka have accused a local politician of blackmailing them and demanding ransom from hotels at the peak of a tourism season. The Hikkaduwa Hoteliers Association (HHA) told BBC Sandeshaya that the town’s Mayor, Winnie Kariyawasam

“…by clever and persevering use of propaganda, even heaven can be represented as  hell to the people, and conversely the most wretched life as paradise”. Hitler (Mein Kampf) By Tisaranee Gunasekara Impunity is illimitable.   If the law was allowed to take its normal course after the Kolonnawa mini-war, the Christmas Eve murder of a ...

A shocked leisure industry yesterday decried the deadly attack on tourists in Tangalle over the weekend as the biggest setback for the sector which was rebounding following the end of the war. They urged the Government and law enforcement authorities to ensure harshest punishment against those responsible whilst calling for adequate measures to ensure safety ...

Offering epic safari adventures, Chaaya Wild transcends expectations and enthrals nature enthusiastsBy Marianne David If there’s one message that Yala reinforces, it’s the fact Sri Lanka is so abundantly blessed – a miracle in many ways. Despite its rising position as a hotspot for leopards being temporarily halted in its tracks during the latter stages ...

In an exclusive interview with the Daily FT, Keells Hotel Management Services Head of Eco Tourism and Special Projects Chitral Jayatilake said that over the years, Yala has progressed from being a great place to go on safari to a great place to see leopards. According to Jayatilake, the transition took place over the last ...

Noel Bruno Dawsan, a Sri Lankan, has been recognized as the world's best tour guide by the British travel magazine Wanderlust. The winner says he is delighted and will help disadvantaged people into further education with his bursary. A Tamil of Indian origin, he comes from a family of impoverished tea pickers in a remote Sri Lankan town. Mr. Dawsan was hailed by the judges as a ...

By Tisaranee Gunasekara Nazism offered….a society that had been scarred by deep divisions…a sense of lofty purpose, almost a national mission….” — Michael Burleigh (The Third Reich – A New History) Barring a last-minute judicial-intervention, the Rajapaksa plan to make ‘leadership training’ by army officers mandatory for all university-entrants will become a reality, this month. ...

The Galle Literary festival is a haven of civilised values in a country that is no stranger to strife by Robert McCrum Associate editor, The Observer, UK [Click for more pictures] Ever since the Hay festival set up shop overseas...

June 16, 2010: 11.00 am Siobhain McDonagh: (Mitcham and Morden) (Lab): I am grateful for the chance to highlight again the appalling treatment of Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan Government....

The headline and two articles of four in the front page of The Sunday Leader of last week was on money. The lead article screamed “UNP Leader Got Rs. 48 mn From One ‘Donor’” . The other two titles were: “One Billion Rupees For IIFA”; “Sumal Wants Rs. 19 bn For Waters Edge”. With pulse racing ...