News stories by Amantha Perera, page 7

COLOMBO, Feb 28 (IPS) - Sri Lanka is heading into a major crisis under extreme heat, with the rains staying away. Fears are growing of power cuts and interruption to water supply because reservoir levels are running scarily low.

COLOMBO, Feb 12 (IPS) - Sri Lanka's war-battered Northern Province had reason to celebrate when the results of a countrywide exam were announced last December. Of the 16,604 students from the province who sat for the exam, 63.8 percent secured the required marks for entry into prestigious national universities.

COLOMBO, Feb 02 (IPS) - Four thousand HIV infections in a population of 20 million should not be a difficult figure to manage. But experts in Sri Lanka say social customs and strict laws are hindering them from carrying out prevention and awareness campaigns among high-risk groups.

COLOMBO, Dic 29 (IPS) - When the American Centre in Colombo held a memorial event honouring the late South African President Nelson Mandela, the first few questions at the question and answer session had nothing to do with the great freedom fighter.

TOKYO, Nov 29 (IPS) - For years, it was the power chamber at the headquarters of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva - the Director General's Conference Room, more popularly known as the Green Room, where a handful of delegates would gather for important discussions and meetings.

KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka, Nov 07 (IPS) - When the first trains in almost two and a half decades started running through this war-ravaged town in Sri Lanka in mid-September, Sinngamuththu Jesudasan could not resist the temptation to go and have a look - repeatedly.

BATTICALOA/KILLINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka, Oct 30 (IPS) - The battle might have been over four long years ago, but for the women in Sri Lanka's former conflict zones in the northern and eastern provinces, the war continues.

COLOMBO/KATHMANDU, Oct 17 (IPS) - Some call it ‘frozen loss,' a point in time that families and relatives find almost impossible to extricate themselves out of, even years after their loved ones have disappeared.

DHARMAPURAM, Sri Lanka, Oct 14 (IPS) - True democracy at last or a toothless tiger propped up to appease unfavourable international opinion? As Sri Lanka's Northern Province got its first council after an election last month, many in this South Asian island nation were mulling this conundrum.

COLOMBO, Oct 09 (IPS) - Stricter laws could curb the rising trend of child abuse in Sri Lanka, experts say. However, recommendations like witness protection, special courts and procedures to hear abuse cases and more legal assistance to victims are unlikely to be included in a new draft Child Protection Policy that is to be presented to parliament before the end of the year.