Postinor 2 is the most popular pill in FTZs

Postinor 2 - the emergency contraceptive pill introduced by the Family Planning Association to be used to avoid unexpected pregnancy only at failure of regular contraceptive has become popular among the female workers in Free Trade Zones (FTZ).

Speaking, a Family Health Nurse stated that this emergency contraceptive pill must to be taken within 72 hours of unprotected sexual intercourse in order to avoid unexpected pregnancy.

Due to the high intensity of hormones contained in the pill, it can cause irregularities in the normal menstruation cycle, triggering menstruation to occur two three times a month, she added.

Even though the pill must not be used as a regular contraceptive method , it is becoming popular among the female workers in FTZs.

When the doctors who operate medical dispensaries near FTZs were questioned regarding the situation they stated that many female workers, who are addicted to Postinor 2, have consulted them regarding disruptions in menstruation.

Out of 40,000 FTZ workers 80% are females and majority of them are living together with their partners, which has become a sub-culture in FTZs.

The factory owners of Free Trade Zones had to decrease the age limit of a worker to 16 as they could not find enough workers for the remaining 700 vacancies. As a result workers between 16 to 17 of age has started joining the work force at FTZs .Even teens of this age are getting addicted to the use of Postinor 2.

Under such a backdrop, providing them with sex education has become as a vital necessity.

68 year old molests a 15 year old girl

Monaragala Police has arrested a 68 year old businessman in Hulandawa South for allegedly molesting a 15 year old girl.

The suspect was produced in Monaragala Magistrates Court yesterday (21).

Police investigations revealed that the suspect has lured the girl who visited his shop after offering her gifts and other benefits.

The victim has been admitted to Monaragala General Hospital.

Nadeesha Hemamali's heart broken

Cinema and tele actress and producer Nadeesha Hemamali has suffered heartbreak as her boy friend, the head of Siyatha television channel has left her according to SLM.

Her boy friend is a Muslim national and a father of two children. Media had reported that he had promised to marry Nadeesha after divorcing his wife.

However, he has previously maintained a close relationship with the actress Anushka Mediwaka as well.

Event though these two were planning to get married this year, Nadeesha she has broken up with her boy friend due to incompatibilities between them.

She was bold enough to say that she will not remain single forever and ready to marry even a divorced man.

‘ People make mistakes, they should be given an opportunity to correct those mistakes’, she said.

Actress Sheshadrie Priyasad Photos

Sheshadri Priyasad is young talented upcoming Sinhala film actress in Sri Lankan film industry and she is acting the film call “Challengers” which is suppose to preview this year. However she is a very beautiful romantic actress who is perfectly matched for the love films in Sinhala. I think this film is directed by famous love film director in Sri Lanka Udayakantha Warnakulasooriya.

Her father is  Dinesh Priyasad who is a movie director. Dinakshi Priyasad who is presenting the ‘C View’ musical programme which is on Channel C at the Dialog TV is her sister.

Sheshadrie Priyasad School Uniform Photos

Iraj Weeraratne Wedding Photos

Iraj Weeraratne is a Sinhalese R &  B and hip hop artist and music producer who raised the international profile of Sinhalese RnB and pop.

He got married few days ago and wedding held in Cinnamon Lake side Colombo.

It was limited to very few people.

PS : This wedding is a story to promote his latest music video ' Manamali '. He did not get married for real. Iraj’s new song featured by Infaas Noor and Janani Karunartne has been titled as ‘ Manamali’ . Lyricist of the song is Achala Solomons and the music was by Iraj. Prasad Ranasinghe has directed the music video. The song was Mixed and Mastered by Ranga Dasanayake The young model Maria Yusefovna Al-Kasas appears as the bride in the music video.
or Manamali

Kingsley Ratnayake to head Sirasa radio

Kingsley Ratnayake has been appointed as the head of Sirasa radio channel with effect from today (20).

Kingsly Ratnayake is a popular television and radio personality.  He is one of the first members of Sirasa radio. Being an excellent presenter with great communication skills who he has won the hearts of island wide viewers.

He is a former student of Ananda College and a outstanding member of school debating team.

He recently served as the head of Kirula radio.

‘Gossip Lanka’ blocked

Popular website ‘ Gossip Lanka ‘ (gossip lankanews .com) has been blocked, stated the Director General of Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Anusha Palpita.

He stated that it was blocked by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission under a written order of the Ministry of Mass Media & Information.

However, the administrators of the website yesterday stated that the Sri Lanka viewers cannot access ‘ Gossip Lanka’ due to a technical error.

The administrators further stated that those who wish to view the website can gain access through proxy.

The blocking of two popular news websites in Sri Lanka ‘ Gossip Lanka’ (gossiplanka.lk ) and ‘ Gossip Lanka News’ ( gossiplankanews.com ) is completely illegal, says Sunil Jayasekara  the Secretary of Free Media Movement.

He stated that there are no legal provisions in the prevailing constitution to regulate the activities of internet media including websites, blogs, facebook and twitter. Similarly, Telecommunications Regulatory Commission possess no authority to block websites, he said.

Telecommunications Regulatory Act was implemented to regulate the activities of Television channels and Radio channels and when the act was implemented the internet was not at such an advanced level.

The Director General of Telecommunications Regulatory Commission or the Secretary of the Ministry of Mass Media and Information do not possess authority to regulate internet and being involved in such activities is illegal, he added.

However, Free Media Movement have submitted a petition in Supreme Court regarding the ban on 5 other news websites. Even though the petition was rejected the court was unable provide a clear explanation on the grounds which it was rejected.

Therefore, there is no code of ethics passed by the parliament to regulate new media, Jayasekara stated.

Under this situation government is misusing government authorities to gain control or regulate the websites which criticize the government and the government has already banned several websits which expressed discontentment towards it.

Following the regulations implemented by the Ministry of Mass Media and Information ‘Gossip Lanka’ has been registered under the Ministry as a news website after paying an amount of Rs. 25,000. Therefore blocking the website without any prior notification is an extension of government’s media suppression, he noted.

Few months ago goverment blocked gossip9.com as well.

related :  Gossip9 No more ?

Ministry warns of Influenza A and B virus outbreak

The Health Ministry yesterday warned of a possible influenza A and B virus outbreak and appealed to the people to rush patients in the risk group to the nearest hospital if cough and fever continued for more than a day after treatment.

Health Services Director General Dr. Mahipala identified expectant mothers, those over 65 years of age and children less than two years and those with non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, kidney failure and coronary heart diseases as those vulnerable.

The Health Ministry sprung to accelerate its influenza preventive drive when the number of deaths from influenza rose to four yesterday when another expectant mother with diabetes died at the Castle Street Maternity Hospital and the number of patients rose to 538 island-wide.

Dr. Mahipala said 108 PSR (Percutaneous Steriotactic Radiofrequency) tests conducted from among 538 specimens received by the Medical Research Institute (MRI) in April were positive for influenza. 13 of the 44 samples obtained from expectant mothers were also positive for influenza.

Dr. Mahipala said the influenza A or B was not fatal but could harm the respiratory system and lungs. Therefore early treatment is extremely vital and said 87out of 221 samples analyzed by MRI in the first week of May were also found to be positive for influenza.

He advised the public to rush influenza patients to the nearest hospital immediately and use a mask when talking to them as influenza virus contaminates air when the patients speak and cough.

A circular sent out by the DGHS has instructed health authorities to give a short training to health staff of their respective establishments on handling and treatment of influenza patients, Dr. Mahipala stressed.

Rohitha Rajapaksha attacks referee

Rugby Referees are facing a life threatening situation following their complaint lodged with Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union against the President’s son Rohitha Rajapaksa.

The complaint urged to probe on the incident where Rohitha had assaulted a Rugby referee at a recent match.

Rohitha Rajapaksa assaulted Rugby referee Dimitri Gunasekera on May 05th at the Havelock Grounds in Colombo after the Navy lost a qualifying match.

The incident took place when the Police A team defeated Navy knocking the latter out of the Inter-club Rugby sevens tournament organized by the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union.

The youngest son of President Mahinda Rajapaksa was captaining the Navy A team at the game.

Following the Navy defeat, Rohitha Rajapaksa picked up referee Gunesekera by the collar and assaulted him in full public view stating that the Navy lost because he did not count the try points.

Eyewitnesses stated that the referee might have sustained severe injuries if other referees had not intervened.

However, desiring to put an end to this incident, captain of the Navy team and elder brother of Rohitha - Yoshitha Rajapaksa had intervened, even slapping his younger sibling in a bid to break up the confrontation.

Referees representing Dimitri Gunasekera had refused to continue and the tournament was held up for around one hour.

Again, Yoshitha Rajapaksa has intervened and requested to continue, stating that this was not an issue that was needed to be prolonged and cause disruption.

The referees have stated that the actions of Rohitha are completely inappropriate for a player and it is illegal to threaten or cause physical harm to a referee.

They have informed that they are ready to consider standing for the next matches if Rohitha Rajapaksa apologized.

However, Rohitha has vehemently refused to apologize.

Finally, after nearly an hour of discussions the referees were compelled to resume the tournament.

Sri Lanka Rugby Referees Society has made a written request to the President of Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union Asanga Seneviratne to hold a proper disciplinary inquiry regarding the incident.

Speaking to ‘ Sri Lanka Mirror’ President of Sri Lanka Rugby Referees Society - Orville Fernando said that actions should be taken against wrongdoers irrespective of their position to avoid the recurrence of such a situation.

If not, the referees might consider boycotting the next games in line, he adds.

Upon contacting the President of Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union - Asanga Seneviratne, he stated that an investigation is under way and results will be released within a week.

However, the Rugby internal sources are in doubt whether Asanga Seneviratne, who reached a higher position in sports and excelled in business with the support of Rajapaksas, will conduct any investigation at all.

The ‘Sunday Leader’ publication, which was highly critical of the government, too, was also bought by Asanga Seneviratne.

Dhammika Perera gains control of tile industry

The duo does have a knack for it or perhaps it is in their DNA, as the market saw yet another DNA as one analyst coined it the Dhammika – Nimal Acquisition.

Giving a major boost to the country’s corporate sentiment, which had been under gloomy weather for some time, Dhammika and Nimal yesterday effected their 18th acquisition when related parties acquired a controlling 80% stake in Lanka Ceramics Plc, from CT Holdings Plc of the Ceylon Theatres Group.

High net worth investor and Director Dr. T. Senthilverl also sold his 7% stake.

The acquisition was via Royal Ceramics Plc, which picked up 76% stake along with Vallibel One (3.3%), Nimal Perera (3.3%) on his personal account, and Lanka Ceramics Chairman Anthony Page (3.3%), Dr. Sellaiah and Managing Director Rajiv Casie Chitty. Page previously had a 1.17% stake.

RCL’s acquisition of Lanka Ceramics is part of consolidating its dominant position in the ceramics tiles and bathware market in addition to wooden flooring business and packaging. With Hayleys’ and Dhammika’s interests, the Group also gets control of the aluminium industry which is booming in tandem with post-war construction spree. Additionally is the stronger foothold in rubber plantation business.

Nimal Perera told  that after Hayleys Plc, this was the most important acquisition under the D&N combination. The duo to date has made nearly 20 acquisitions or strategic investments.
Nimal, who is the Managing Director of RCL and Chairman of Pan Asia Bank, also said that the deal was finalised within a week largely on the goodwill of and the strong ties with Anthony Page, whose was appointed to Pan Asia Bank in April 2008 even when he was serving on the Board of Lanka Ceramics.

The entire acquisition is financed by HNB, whose Acting CEO Jonathan Alles was commended by Nimal for agreeing to the deal via a call over the weekend.

Direct subsidiary of Lanka Ceramics is Lanka Walltiles Plc in which it holds 62% whilst other indirect subsidiaries are Horana Plantations Plc (17%), Ceytea Plantation Management Ltd. (33%), Lanka Floortiles Plc (34%), Uni Dil Packaging (33%), Uni Dil Paper Sacks (33%), Swisstek (Ceylon) Ltd. (23%) and Swisstek Aluminium Ltd. (20%).

RCL said in a filing to the CSE that it acquired a 76.1% stake or 22.83 million shares between Rs. 86.90 and Rs. 120 per share with bulk done at the latter price. A mandatory offer will be made by all parties acting in concert shortly.  In total 26.92 million shares of Lanka Ceramics traded for Rs.3.2 billion via 419 trades with an intra-day highest price of Rs. 120 and a lowest of Rs. 82 before closing at Rs. 120, up by Rs. 40.

Lanka Ceramics’ asset per share is Rs. 17 (at Company level) and Rs. 83 (at Group level). Earnings per share is Rs. 5.47 down from Rs. 8.90 at group level at the end of third quarter of FY13. Last week Lanka Ceramic figured among the top five gainers percentage with near 18% or Rs. 12 to close at Rs. 80 though only 241,338 shares traded.

Related party Lanka Floortiles Plc closed up by Rs. 4 to Rs. 69 after hitting a peak of Rs. 70. Investors also toasted RCL in anticipation of major boost with its share price up by Rs. 3.30 to Rs. 100.50 whilst the share touched an intra-day high of Rs. 105. Horana Plantations gained by Rs. 2.30 to Rs. 28.30 with a peak of Rs. 29.80. Seller CT Holdings saw its share price jump by Rs. 8.70 to Rs. 148.20 after peaking to Rs. 150.

In the first nine months of FY13, Group turnover rose by 22% to Rs. 8.8 billion whilst profit from operations was up 17% to Rs. 1.08 billion. After tax profit was Rs. 525 million, down by 5% and profit attributable to equity holders of Lanka Ceramics was Rs. 164 million, down by 39%.
Lanka Ceramics Group assets as at 31 December 2012 was Rs. 14.3 billion, up from Rs. 12.3 billion a year earlier and Rs. 13 billion as at 31 March 2012.

Capital and reserves were Rs. 7 billion including Rs. 1.6 billion in retained profits. Liabilities amounted to Rs. 4.4 billion including Rs. 3 billion in non-current.
In FY13, Lanka Ceramics has obtained a loan amounting to Rs. 610 million from the Parent Company (C T Holdings) at the rate of interest 10% p.a. which was utilised for the purchase of Lanka Walltile PLC shares.

The Company in FY12 recorded a profit after tax of Rs. 71.4 million, a marginal decrease from the Rs. 73.7m reported in the previous financial year. The decrease was due to the sharp increase in financial costs incurred during the latter part of the year on account of investment in its subsidiary.
The Group recorded a consolidated profit attributable to shareholder of Rs. 522.7 million. This was a significant increase over that reported in the previous year of Rs. 254.9 million.

Manilal Fernando banned for eight years

The adjudicatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee has decided to ban FIFA Executive Committee member Manilal Fernando from taking part in any kind of football related activity at national and international level for a period of eight years after he was found guilty of several breaches of the FIFA Code of Ethics.

The decision was reached following two days of hearings held on 29 and 30 April at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich, the FIFA said in a statement.

The ban is effective from 11 March 2013, the date on which he was provisionally suspended by the chairman of the adjudicatory chamber.

19 year old guy abuses 15 year old girl in house

Disturbing news is reported from Kaluthara court about a 19 year old mason who had worked in a house in Nagoda, Kaluthara area, sexually abusing a 15 year old school girl who was living in the house.

It has been revealed that the suspect who had had a love affair with the girl four months ago and  that he had sexually abused her at times when no one else was around, making the girl three months pregnant at present.

The victim has been admitted to the Nagoda hospital for medical tests and the suspect boyfriend has been arrested

Marusira.com Admin remanded

A local internet hacker, who is alleged to have operated the website www.marusira.com and provided software and codes to his clients to access and hack other websites, was produced in Court and remanded till Thursday .

The suspect Gayan Ushantha Silva of Dharmasoka Mawatha, Kandy was arrested by the CID and produced before Colombo Chief Magistrate Rashmi Singappuli.

The arrest was made on April 29 after a complaint was made by the Army Intelligence Unit on March 3.

The investigations had revealed that the suspect had operated the website www.marusira.com and had a list of clients who had registered with him on the payment of a specified fee.

After registration the suspect is alleged to have supplied software and necessary instructions and access codes to hack websites belonging to others.

The CID told Court the suspect’s clients were youngsters who could be easily tempted to commit criminal acts, which could be a threat to national security.

The CID said it hoped to identify the websites that were hacked by the suspect or his clients and the nature of the damage or crime that might have been committed.