Sri Lanka News | Sundayobserver.lk

Elena Jayewardene passes away

Mrs. Elena Jayewardene, the wife of Sri Lanka's first executive President J. R. Jayewardene passed away at a private hospital in Colombo last morning.

She had been in a state of coma for the past few days. Born on 15 December 1912, Miss Elena Rupasinghe was married to J. R. Jayewardene on 28 February 1935. The cremation will take place at Borella Cemetary at 6.00 pm today.

Ottamawaddi Bridge opened

The newly constructed Ottamawaddi Bridge, built as a token of goodwill and friendship which would bridge the hearts of the people of the South and the East, was opened yesterday. The 250m bridge project, costing Rs. 700 million, was funded by the Government of Spain and the World Bank.

Simultaneously the modernised Jayanthipura-Tricondiyadimadu road too was opened for the people of the East.

Negotiate peace, says US envoy

US Ambassador Robert Blake called upon the LTTE to renounce terrorism and negotiate a permanent peace with the Government after Washington launched another crackdown on funding for the rebels. "The lesson for the LTTE is that they are never going to get a better deal and now is the time to negotiate," Blake told the media.

Dayan on jury committee

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva, Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka has accepted an invitation to serve on the jury committee of the 2007-2008 Time for Peace Film and Music Awards.

Dr. Jayatilleka is one of 24 Ambassadors who will serve as jury committee members selected from among the 163 Ambassadors/Permanent Representatives based in Geneva.

BoC's Rs 6b bond issue

Sri Lanka's oldest State bank, the Bank of Ceylon (BoC) announced a Rs. six billion bond issue next year targeting to reach the Central Bank capital margins through this bond issue. The Bank also hopes to reduce the rate of lending from the current 30% to 20% through this measure.

The Government recently settled a portion of loans obtained from the Bank of Ceylon and the bank in return reduced the lending interest by 1%.