Kumar Sangakkara has won three awards, including the prestigious Cricketer of the Year and Test Cricketer of the Year at the annual ICC awards ceremony in Colombo. Sangakkara also won the People’s Choice prize, an honour he had received last year as well.

For Cricketer and Test Cricketer of the Year, Sangakkara was chosen ahead of South Africa’s Hashim Amla and Vernon Philander, and Australia captain Michael Clarke.

He was prolific in both Tests and ODIs during the 12-month voting period ending in early August: in 14 Tests, he compiled 1,444 runs at an average of 60.16, including five centuries and five half-centuries, highlighted by a match-saving 211 against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi; in 37 ODIs, he scored 1457 runs with three hundreds, and also completed 39 catches and three stumpings as a wicketkeeper.

“This is an amazing honour and I’ve seen the people who have won it before me and the nominees too, to be named alongside them is wonderful,” Sangakkara said after receiving the Sir Garfield Sobers trophy for Cricketer of the Year from ICC president Alan Isaac. “I admire them greatly and even more so when I looked up at their records on the screen this evening. It’s great to be amongst them. Now to receive this honour this evening, is simply fantastic.”

Previous winners of the Cricketer of the Year award include Rahul Dravid (2004), Andrew Flintoff and Jacques Kallis (joint winners in 2005), Ricky Ponting (2006 and 2007), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (2008), Mitchell Johnson (2009), Sachin Tendulkar (2010) and Jonathan Trott (2011).

West Indies legend Brian Lara presented Sangakkara with the Test Cricketer award. “I’m continuing to ensure I am consistent and I need to keep raising the bar each year and keep trying harder and harder to ensure I keep playing good Test cricket,” Sangakkara said. “It’s a constant battle but I have the support of a great team that helps me to do the best I can.”

Sangakkara missed out, though, on a third major gong when Virat Kohli was named ODI Cricketer of the Year, an award Sangakkara had won in 2011. During the period under consideration, Kohli played 31 ODIs and scored 1733 runs at an average of 66.65, including eight hundreds and six half-centuries.

Among the other winners was West Indies offspinner Sunil Narine, who was named Emerging Cricketer of the Year. His hard-to-read variations quickly led to him being labelled a mystery spinner, and he was instrumental in West Indies’ series wins over New Zealand in all three formats in July-August.

Another mystery spinner, Ajantha Mendis, missed out on Twenty20 Performance of the Year, which was won by South Africa opener Richard Levi, for his record-breaking 45-ball century against New Zealand.

New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori received the Spirit of Cricket Award for his sporting recall of a Zimbabwe batsman during a tense Test in Bulawayo.

Ireland left-arm-spinner George Dockrell took home the Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year prize, becoming the second Irishman to win the award after William Porterfield in 2009.

Women’s cricket had two prizes for the first time, with the ICC awarding the ODI Cricketer and T20I Cricketer of the Year, instead of awarding a single honour. Last year’s winner West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor won the ODI gong, while England’s Sarah Taylor took the T20 award.

Besides Sangakkara’s three prizes, Sri Lanka won one more: umpire Kumar Dharmasena took the Umpire of the Year award. That ended a three-year winning run for Aleem Dar and left Pakistan, already unhappy at offspinner Saeed Ajmal’s exclusion from two top award shortlists, without a prize on the day.

Source – CricInfo

This was revealed at the media workshop on tourism at the Colombo University Economic Department on June 24. The programme was held under the patronage of Colombo University Vice Chancellor Prof Kanishka Hirimburegama.

Sri Lankan Airlines official Buddhika Hewawasam said, around 127,000 tourists arrived in the country last year from India while 20,000 tourists came from China.

“Community based tourism is important to develop this sector. People in the country need to think that tourists are also a part of the country’s economy. It will be a new development point of view,” Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Bhaswara Senanka Gunarathna said.

Colombo University Economic Department lecturer and coordinator Dr Suranga Silva said: “every part of the country is connected with tourism. With the development of tourism all other industries can also develop.”

Tourism in the Northern and Eastern parts of the country can be developed as well, he said.

Ven Prof Vijithapura Wimalarathana Thera, Prof Sarath Kotagama, Sri Lanka Tourists Hotel Owners Association’s Chairman Anura Lokuhetti, Government Additional Information Director Chandrapala Liyanage and Prof Kamal Waleboda addressed the workshop. Media coordinators were Sham Nuwan Ganewattha and Patum Wickramarathna.

sri lana tourism,Tourist

Prime Minister Shinawatra will host a luncheon in honour of President Rajapaksa, according to a release issued by Presidential Spokesman and International Media Advisor Bandula Jayasekera.

A Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of External Affairs of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand on Bilateral Political Consultations and Exchanging of the Instruments of Ratification for the Treaty between the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters will also take place during the visit of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Thailand.

Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will grant an audience to President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Srapathum Palace. The Princess will host a dinner in honour of the President.

President Rajapaksa will attend the opening ceremony of the Buddha Jayanthi, the celebration of 2,600 years of the Buddha’s Enlightenment on Thursday, May 31. President Mahinda Rajapaksa will deliver a speech on ‘Buddha’s enlightenment for the well-being of humanity’ on Saturday, June 2 at the celebration of the Buddha Jayanthi.

During his visit to the Thai capital, President Rajapaksa will attend a Business Forum and a Business luncheon with Thai and Sri Lankan business leaders.

From time immemorial Sri Lanka and Thailand have had very close religious, cultural, political and trade relations. Sri Lanka and Thailand established modern diplomatic relations on November 20, 1955.

source – daily news

He added that the company was monitoring the situation and working to ensure old people’s homes have enough water.

The burst mains has affected customers in Chiswick, Cranford, Heston, Hounslow, Isleworth, Southall and beyond.

According to Thames Water, the postcodes affected are: TW3, TW5, TW7, W4, UB2, NW2, NW10 and W3.

Anushka Wijesinghe and Fadhil Bakeer Markar will represent the Sri Lankan Youth at the World Bank Spring Meetings 2012 in Washington, DC this week, the World Bank announced in a statement issued on Wednesday.

The two young development professionals were selected following an open selection process.

Each Spring, thousands of government officials, the private sector, journalists, civil society representatives and other interested observers gather in Washington, DC for the Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank. At the heart of the gathering are meetings of the IMF’s International Monetary and Financial Committee and the joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee, which discuss progress on the work of the IMF and the World Bank. Also featured are seminars, regional briefings, press conferences and many other events focused on the global economy, international development, and the world’s financial markets.

Anushka is a young economist working with a leading think tank in Sri Lanka and also the co- founder of a leading youth movement that is involved in country-wide ethnic integration. Fadhil is a qualified economist who has ventured into promoting volunteerism amongst youth in Sri Lanka.

Both Anushka and Fadhil will make presentations on the challenges and opportunities faced by the Sri Lankan youth at a regional forum. Their presence at the Spring Meetings reinforces the commitment of the World Bank towards creating an active platform for the youth of Sri Lanka.

Upon their return they will share their experiences with peer groups and initiate dialogue on youth issues with policy makers and key opinion leaders.

Source – The Island

Angela denies involvement

British suspect being grilled

Many an eye brow has been raised over the apparent reluctance on the part of the officialdom to reveal the arrest of a British national on a narcotics charge yesterday.

The suspect was taken into custody yesterday, when he arrived at the the Central Mail Exchange at D. R. Wijewardene Mawatha, Colombo to collect three parcels. An accomplice managed to escape in spite of the presence of security personnel. However, the suspect was handed over to the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) on a detention order effective for one week.

The British High Commission, though aware of the arrest wasn’t available for comment. Our repeated attempts to contact the High Commission spokesperson were in vain.

The External Affairs Ministry confirmed the arrest of the Britisher on a narcotics charge.

After the detection of 356 grammes of hashish in three parcels of magazines,  addressed to a one time beauty queen and actress on Wednesday evening, a special police narcotics team, assigned to the case, had gone to the address given on the parcels several times, but they had found the place locked and the occupant missing.

Police spokesman, Superintendent of Police, Ajith Rohana said a neighbour of No. 67, Hudson Road, Colombo 03, to which the contraband was addressed, had told the investigators that the occupant had been there on Wednesday morning, but they had not seen her since.

When asked whether they had spoken to the actress, SP Rohana said what they were interested in now was the current occupant of the house. Besides, he said the parcels might have been addressed to the actress just to tarnish her image.

When The Island contacted Angela Seneviratne, she said it was correct that she had lived at that address but about ten years back.

But, she had known nothing about the parcels of magazines containing hashish being mailed to her till we informed her.

The smuggling attempt came to light when a young British man went to collect the three parcels, from the Parcels Office of the Central Mail Exchange at D. R. Wijewardene Mawatha, Colombo on Wednesday evening, with an alleged endorsement from the actress that he was authorised to collect them.

“When one of the parcels was opened by the customs officials, they had found a magazine with a black substance hidden in it. When interrogated, the suspect Britisher had attempted to run away. The customs officials had then arrested him,” the Police Media Spokesman said.

Sources said the 23-year-old suspect was due to be produced before a Magistrate last night to obtain a detention order to continue with the questioning and the inquiry would resume this morning.

They said he had been travelling to Sri Lanka periodically and had been living with his mother, a permanent resident here.

By Norman Palihawadana - The Island