Employees of banks countrywide will stage a walk-out from their offices on July 6 in protest against the failure of Regional Rural Development Banks’ (RRDB) management to address the salary issues of RRDB employees.

The decision was taken at an executive committee meeting of the Ceylon Bank Employees Union (CBEU) held on Thursday evening. The walk-out will take place from 3.15 pm onwards. A CBEU source said employees in the branches of eleven private banks and five state banks will be involved.

The source said, however, that there is still chance of a change in the scenario due to a hurried meeting called by the Central Bank under whose purview the RRDBs fall. The CBEU was informed of the meeting - which was taking place at the time of going to press - only on Thursday evening. None of the senior representatives of the CBEU were available for comment at the time of going to press.

The CBEU recently staged a successful picketing campaign throughout the country with the involvement of all banks. They threaten more hard-hitting action if the management continues to ‘dilly-dally’ on the issue of RRDB salary scales and demanded revision of the Cost of Living Allowance.

LONDON, June 26 -- Reuters, the international news and information organisation, said on Friday it had urged the Sri Lankan government to lift censorship of war reporting to ensure balanced coverage of the ethnic strife.

"I feel obliged to appeal to you to revoke the regulations and permit the immediate resumption of free reporting," Reuters Group Ltd Editor-in-Chief Mark Wood said in a letter to President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.

There was no immediate comment from the government in response to the letter.

Wood said thousands of media and business customers world-wide, including many in the international investment community, depended on Reuters for comprehensive and balanced coverage of events in Sri Lanka.

"Censorship severely undermines the credibility of news reporting," he said, adding that censorship was also damaging to Sri Lanka’s interests.

Sri Lankan government troops have been fighting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who demand a separate homeland for minority Tamils in Sri Lanka’s north and east, since 1983.

Sri Lanka imposed censorship on war reporting for local and foreign media earlier this month after the military stepped up its year-long campaign to wrest control of a strategic highway in the northern Wanni region. (Reuters)

The Organisation of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka (OPA) states in a press release it welcomes meaningful steps being taken to reactivate the Bribery Commission because of the concern it has for the deterioration of values due to the commission having been made inoperative over a prolonged period.

The citizens of the country eagerly awaited the minimization, if not the total eradication, of bribery and corruption after the government rushed through parliament the first two enactments namely.

Commission to investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption Act. No. 19 of 1994 and Bribery (Amendment) Act No. 20 of 1994, Acts which were signed into law by the Speaker on 27th October 1994.

The OPA hailed this as a meaningful step to usher in clean and transparent Government. Minister G. L. Peiris, who has been an active member of the Executive Council of the OPA, in an address, informed us with justifiable pride that these two Bills introduced by him were unanimously passed by Parliament.

However, we now find that the Commission has become ineffective following an internal dispute and its efforts are further thwarted as a result of the Attorney General and the Inspector General of Police withdrawing their Attorneys-at-Law and Police Officers assigned to work for the Commission. Some of these acts are punishable by the Supreme Court as Contempts of the Commission, in terms of section 20 of Act. No. 19, of 1994. But we find that these acts cannot be brought to the notice of the Supreme Court as there is no Director General to do so.

The result is that Bribery and Corruption continue to be unchecked and, further, the deterrent effects of the relevant legislation are being diluted, thereby creating a sense of helplessness and hopelessness in Society.

In these circumstances, the OPA urges that steps be taken to arrest this laps and reactivate the intent and content of this important legislation by :-

Appointing a Commissioner to fill the vacancy created by the demise of the Late Siva Selliah;

Appointing a Director General, and Directing the Attorney General and the Inspector General of Police to reassign sufficient staff to serve the Commission.

KANDY: A soldier attached to the Sri Dalada Maligawa security service shot himself to death yesterday (26), police said.

The soldier K. T. Jayantha (20) killed himself using the T56 revolver issued to him. He had walked in to the Udawattekele forest reserve during duty hours around 2 p.m. yesterday, according to sources.

The dead soldier attached to 2SR Regiment was said to have returned to service about two months ago after having deserted the army earlier.

Investigations are being conducted jointly by the army and police.

A MI 24 helicopter crashed approximately 1 km Southeast of Vavuniya air field around 8.30 a.m. yesterday. This helicopter was being positioned along with another helicopter at Vavuniya to provide air support for Jayasikuru Operation. The crashed MI 24 had four crew members and all were killed during the crash. The helicopter was totally destroyed by fire after the crash, operational headquarters reported.

The cause of the accident is not yet established. A court of inquiry has been appointed to inquire in to the incident. The names of the crew members are as follows: Flying Officer K. L. P. Kodithuwakku (Capt.), Pilot Officer N. J. N. Aathique (Co-Pilot), Lac Witharana W. N. S. (Air Gunner) and Lac Perera P. K. (Air Mech), Op. Hq. said in a news communique.

An attractive secretary falling into the arms of a well known arms dealer, is the talk of Colombo's socialites.

The lady, wife of a company director has left her two kids and has been provided with a luxury apartment, by the arms dealer.

Its safer to fall into the arms of an arms dealer than into his hands, cracked a wag.

Developing methods to restrict of free availability of pesticides is being given top priority from among the recommendations made for Prevention of Suicide. The Presidential Committee appointed by the President last year have begun implementing most of the recommendations, that were accepted by the President to curb the high incidence of suicides in country.

Free availability of pesticides is considered a major reason for this social problem. Currently there are about 3500 registered pesticide outlets in the country. In addition there are about 500 ''mushroom'' type pesticide dealers who appear only during the cultivation season.

Measures are being taken to introduce a stringent dealer certification system. This scheme would include, training of dealers on legal and safety issues followed by an evaluation. Thereafter successful candidates will also be subject to periodic inspections of the outlets by authorised Officers and certificates will be issued if they only satisfy the required criteria. This dealer certification system would automatically eliminate these "mushroom" type dealers. In addition, sale of pesticides will be prohibited if food items and animal feed are sold in the same building. Certain pesticides (eg. Gramoxone) with added emetic and stenching agents would be less suitable as tools for suicide. A comprehensive scheme on the promotion of safer formulation of pesticides is being introduced by the Pesticides Registration Office.

Creating a culture which discourages suicide and obtaining the support of the media (print and electronic) to actively discourage suicide were two major recommendations of this Committee. The Health Education Bureau organized a series of work shops with print and electronic media personnel during the past month, and guidelines have now been developed with regard to reporting suicide via the mass media.

Measures are also underway to develop a research programme in collaboration with National Science Foundation (NSF) on the development of alternative pest control methods. It is intended to phase out the use of chemical pesticides over period of ten years and to promote biological methods in an islandwide programme on Integrated Pest Management. Correct information regarding the use of pesticides and the dangers will be displayed on labels used on bottles.

In addition, participation of the community (for example religious leaders, school teachers and health care volunteers etc...) is being actively canvassed in creating such a culture. Community counselling centres where young people are able to discuss their problems and receive counselling on how to face the challenges of the life is being organized with the help of Samurdhi Authority and National Youth Services Centre.

The Presidential Committee consists of senior officials from relevant line Ministries, Sociologists, Psychiatrists, Health Education Bureau, Family Health Bureau and NGO's like Sumitrayo.

The General Secretary of the UNP, Gamini Atukorale and six party members of the UNP, have filed a‘special leave to appeal’ application in the Supreme Court, seeking to appeal against a Court of Appeal judgement dated 30. 7. 97.

By that judgement the Court had dismissed a Writ Application filed by Gamini Atukorale and six UNP candidates who had contested to get elected to the Urban Council of Seeduwa, Katunayake, on 21.3.97.

In their appeal the petitioners have moved the Supreme Court to set aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal, and issue a Writ of Certiorari quashing the election of members to the U.C. of Katunayake Seeduwa.

The petition alleges that UNP supporters were intimidated by PA supporters and the elections laws were violated by thuggery and violence.

The petition further alleges that, at some polling stations, impersonators were not taken into account by the authorities.

On June 11, the application for leave to appeal, was supported in the Supreme Court by, Faiz Mustapha P.C. with Sanjeewa Jayewardene and Mrs. Faizar Mustapha Markar, instructed by Amarasiri Panditha-ratne.

The Supreme Court granted leave to appeal and fixed the arguments for October 15.

The Bench comprised, Chief Justice P. S. de Silva, Justice A. S. Wijetunga and Dr. Shirani Bandara-nayake.

Some of the students, who were involved in the recent incident of holding the Dean of the Art Faculty and several other members of academic and non academic staff in University premises, are attempting through the "Common Students Front" to prevent other students from sitting the mid-term examinations currently being held, University authorities said.

Though students answered question papers on Wednesday, due to the presence of Police deployed outside the University premises they however did not turn up to answer the Economics paper on Thursday due to the threats held out by the Student's Front on Thursday, Police had been withdrawn.

The main purpose of this is to pressurize the students by their parents not to get involved in such cases and to prevent them participating in such incidents.

Several students, who had come with their individual appeals along with their parents, had already got the chance to sit for their exams, though they will still be under suspension.

One student, attached to the education faculty, had come with his parents and after appealing had been given the chance to sit for the examination.

Examinations of the Colombo University started recently and incidents were reported where many suspended student and their supporters were interrupting and forcing the majority of students who were willing to sit for the examinations to refrain from doing so.

The Chancellor further said that they will post a Police guard till the examination are over.

Any suspended students or supporters found in the University premises will be forwarded to the Police by University authorities.

It is reported that several students, from various Universities, had also been participating in this under 'Antar Shishya Balamandalaya's which is a pro JVP movement.

The examination which was due to be held on June 25 by the Economics departments was boycotted by the students.

All 150 students who did not sit the examination will not get any marks.

The acting Chancellor further said that they had put five Marshals to guard six gates of the University and also they had taken action with the staff to identify all trouble makers.

He said the majority of the students want to sit for their examinations but the minority is preventing it by telling them that they have to act like brothers.

Under the General Education Reforms programme, based on the recommendations of the Presidential Task Force, significant reforms will come into effect in September for 1998 with pupils who enter Grade 12, and January 1999, for pupils who will enter Grades 1, 6 and 9, a Presidential Secretariat media release claims.

These changes were discussed at a meeting chaired by Minister Viswa Warnapala at Temple Trees on 23rd June.

Biology, Mathematics, Combined Mathematics and Higher Mathematics will be available, as new subjects in September 1998. Science and Society (for Arts pupils) General English (for all students) and Management (for Science pupils) will be available from September 1999.

Practical work and Project work as appropriate, will be compulsory. These will form the basis of Class Based Assessment. Practical Guide Books for Chemistry and Physics are ready and those for Biology are being prepared. Practical work will be compulsory for Agricultural Science, as well. In other subjects project work will become a requirement where appropriate. Before September 1998, laboratories and libraries of A/L schools will be strengthened, where necessary. Pupils will have to complete 80% of the practical project work assignments satisfactorily, in order to sit for the GCE A/Level in 2000.

A Pupils Record Book will be maintained for each pupil, in Grade 12. Teachers will mark the practical and field work records of each pupils, regularly and maintain a record of each pupil’s performance in a Teacher’s Record Book. Average marks will be entered into the Pupils Record Book every term. This record book will also have reports on sports activities, involvement in Societies and leadership, participation in school activities, community interactions and general assessments of the pupils record at school. A monitoring system is being developed with the Provincial Education Directors to ensure that the School Based Assessments are carried out uniformly.

Training of Teachers in the new Biology syllabus has been completed, except for the Jaffna group which will take place shortly. Master teacher training in the Mathematics subjects has been completed and training through the master teachers is on-going. A refresher course for teachers, in practical work and assessment will be conducted with the help of university departments. The A/L Reform package was explained to provincial and zonal directors of education on the 23rd June.

Meanwhile work is going on in relation to introducing the Common General Paper (formally called the Aptitude Test) for the A/L examination in 2000. A pilot test was held at eighty different centres on 30 April 1998, which included a mix of National, IAB and IO schools spread throughout the country. A total of 2469 candidates sat the test. They included students studying in Sinhala or Tamil belonging to all three streams (Arts. Commerce and Science) in the GCE (A/Levels) classes.

The test paper comprised 60 MCs designed to test.

1. General awareness, 2. Reasoning ability (logical, numerical, spatial, analytical), 3. Problem solving ability, 4. Comprehension and communication skills.

The marking of the answer scripts and analysis of the results using the programme called QUEST was done by the department of Examinations, in collaboration with the University of Colombo. Another statistical analysis of the results was done in the department of Mathematics, University of Kelaniya. The results show that of the 2469 students who sat the test, 1998 i.e. 78% passed the test. The educational reforms of introducing a Common General Paper was specifically intended to induce students to take a general interest in the world in which they live, to encourage them to acquire the habit of critical reasoning; to train them to solve problems systematically and to impress on them the need to cultivate the habit of careful and critical reading with understanding. Students sitting the GCE A/L in 2000 will need to past this paper, to qualify for University entry.

Meanwhile the Primary School Reform introduced in January 1998 to Grade 1, in the Gampaha District, are being closely monitored. Work Books, Text Books and Teachers’ Guides, now in use have been reviewed and edited and handed over for printing for 1999. Training programmes on the implementation of the new Grade I curriculum have been scheduled for all Primary Level In-service Advisors. Personnel from Colleges of Education and Teacher Colleges will also be trained and will participate in the training of all Grade I teachers in their individual provinces. Awareness programmes have been conducted in the Western and Southern provinces on Primary Education Reforms and will be extended to other areas as well. Special training will be given to officers from the provinces, especially those in charge of primary education.

The Grade I reforms will be implemented in all parts of the island in January 1999. The reform package will be based on the Gampaha experience and will be aimed at providing equal opportunity at Grade I to all children in the country.

Reforms will be introduced into the Junior Secondary school in January 1999 to Grades 6 and Grade 9. Grades 7 and 8 will have these reforms in 2000. New syllabuses and new test books, will be available for distribution, as required. Training programmes for teachers have been scheduled. Activity Rooms for children to engage in hand-work and manual skills and to handle simple equipment will be established all over the island in 2000. A model Activity Room is already functional at Maharagama MMV and 15 schools have been selected for development of similar models in 1999.

The entire cycle of General Education Reforms i.e. Primary Junior Secondary, Senior Secondary and A/L will go on from 1998 until 2003.

The Tourist Board has temporarily suspended approval for films on Sri Lanka, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ravinath Ariyasinghe told yesterday’s cabinet press briefing.

Asked about withdrawal of permission to a British television crew now in the country to film a holiday programme, he said that in this case clearance has now been given since the television crew was already on their way to Sri Lanka when the Tourist Board decision was taken.

However all future applications for film projects on Sri Lanka will be carefully examined by both the Tourist Board and the Foreign Ministry, he added.

The Tourist Board decision follows the controversial German film on Sri Lanka "Ina Wernar Through Sri Lanka".

Minister of Tourism and Aviation Dharmasiri Sena-nayake on Wednesday appointed a one-man committee to examine and report on the German film. (ZJ)

Counsel for the Archbishop of Colombo, Romesh de Silva, PC told Court that the defamation suit against his client be dismissed as the publication referred to was privileged?

He was making submissions before Colombo District Judge Sarath Ambepitiya on Monday.

Francis Pietersz, a former public servant is the petitioner in this case.

Rev. Nicholas Marcus Fernando, Archbishop of Colombo, Rev. Fr. Bertram Dabrera and Mrs. Manel Abhayaratne are the defendants in the case.

In this case the petitioner has filed a defamation suit claiming damages in a sum of Rs. 1,000,000 allegedly for the publication of an article defamatory of him in the'Messenger', a publication of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka.

The plaint filed through attorney-at-law M. H. P. Perera stated that the first defendant was the proprietor of the Catholic Press. The second defendant was the printer and publisher of "Messenger" the third defendant was the Editor of the newspaper.

Mr. Silva appearing with Hiran de Alwis submitted that there was no action against the first and the second defendants. There was a misjoinder of defendants.

The plaint was not in conformity with the imperative provisions of the Civil Procedure Code.

The proprietor of the "Messenger" is the Archbishop of Colombo who is a body corporate. The plaintiff cannot, therefore, have and maintain the said action against the first defendant, Mr. Silva concluded.

Twenty six Air Force personnel arrested by the CID and produced in courts for an identification parade in connection with the case of threatening 'Sunday Times' Consultant Editor and Defence Correspondent Iqbal Athas, were ordered to be released by Gangodawila Magistrate, V. Karunatilake as the witnesses for the prosecution were unable to identify any of them.

Meanwhile the two suspects Flight Lt. Herath Mudiyanselage Rukman Herath and Squadron Leader Don Sujeewa Pradeep Kannangara already taken into custody and released on bail under certain conditions were allowed relaxations of the conditions imposed on an appeal made to courts by attorney A. R. O. Perera who appeared on their behalf. They were ordered only to report to the Criminal Investigations Depart-ment twice a week.

Further hearing was postponed to August 12.

Criminal Investiga-tions Department prosecuted.

Sri Lanka's first 'Stroke Unit' will be opened by Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine Nimal Siripala de Silva on Monday (June 29).

This specialized unit. initially consisting of a 10 bed area, is located at the Institute of Neurology - National Hospital of Sri Lanka in Colombo.

Stroke is a major killer in Sri Lanka - in fact, it is the country's second leading cause of death.

Studies show that 'Stroke Units' in other countries have produced significant short and long term benefits to stroke victims. 'Stroke Units' ensure that all the various health care specialists involved in the care of stroke patients such as physicians, nursing staff, speech language therapists, occupational therapists, physio-therapists and social workers are fully co-ordinated and brought under one roof. Such units have also proven to be convenient and cost-effective.

As in the international model, the 'Stroke Unit' of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka will have a multidisciplinary team of health care professionals attached to it - a team that specializes in and is dedicated to stroke care.

The 'Stroke Unit' of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka is headed by Dr. Jagath Wijesekera, Consultant Neurologist. Other key members of this specialized team are Dr. Ranjani Gamage - Consultant Neurologist, Dr. Lalith Wijeyaratna - Director of the Rehabilitation Hospital - Ragama and Mrs. Shiranee Joseph - de Saram - Consultant Speech Language Pathologist.