Mar 1 (Island) Asking the people to be patient, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe assured that all corrupt politicians and officials will be brought before the law and punitive action initiated for any wrong-doing. "There is no delay in dealing with those in the previous govt accused of bribery and corruption. They will be hauled before the court of justice", he said in an interview with Ths Sunday Island during more..

Mar 1 (NS) With many of the main objectives listed in the 100-Day program of the govt now running into unforeseen delays, senior figures in the govt have become more cautious regarding meeting targeted deadlines that had been set earlier. According to the 100-Day program, this month is set to be an extremely busy one for the govt. On March 2, new election laws are due to be introduced while amendments to a change in more..

Mar 1 (Guardian) British-based travel agencies are among the European holiday firms criticised in a report that alleges tourism development in Sri Lanka is prompting new human rights abuses. Large-scale tourism developments since the end of the civil war six years ago have had disastrous effects on local communities, including cases of fishermen losing their access to the sea and allegations of land grabbing by military, more..

Mar 1 (CT) The SLFP said they will not support the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which is to be presented to the Parliament in the second week of March, if the Amendment was finalized without the SLFP's consent. National Organizer of the SLFP, Susil Premajayantha told Ceylon Today that the government is preparing to obtain their support and give Ranil Wickremesinghe the post of Prime Minister. more..

Mar 1 (ST) Indian-based Krrish Group has indicated that it�s committed to working with the new Sri Lankan govt on the long delayed controversial multimillion Krrish Transworks Tower project in Colombo Fort. Representatives of the company met BOI Chairman Upul Jayasuriya on Monday. Mr. Jayasuriya said that Krrish representatives have given an assurance that the company will pay the due Rs.589.7 million more..

Mar 1 (SL) A group of MPs, who fear that they will not receive nominations for the upcoming General Elections by the SLFP or the UPFA, are planning on forming a separate political party to contest the elections. It has also been revealed that the political leaders of certain parties in the UPFA alliance have held secret meetings in this regard. Accordingly it has been decided to nominate former president Rajapaksa as leader of this group. more..

Mar 1 (CI) Sri Lanka made a chase of 310 seem like a weekend stroll in the park as Kumar Sangakkara unfurled a majestic hundred, his second of the tournament, alongside Lahiru Thirimanne's fourth ODI ton. They ensured Joe Root's hundred became merely a footnote and left England facing two must-win matches to make the quarter-finals. The pair added 212 for the second wicket in 28.2 overs with Sangakkara more..

Mar 1 (CG) The domestic investigation into some of the allegations over the war will not be completed by September and only the structure and laws will be in place before that, Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith Perera said. Perera said that it will be difficult to complete the legal process before the September session of the UNHRC. UNHRC had earlier agreed to defer a report on Sri Lanka which was to be submitted to the Council during more..

Mar 1 (Island) Ella and Badulla now have two new police stations. "We had two very successful sessions this morning where we opened a police station at Ella and another at Badulla," said Minister John Amaratunga. "I also looked into the welfare and the privileges of police officers," he further said. Minister also noted that the station in Badulla is a HQ grade station. IGP was a prominent absentee with Acting IGP, Mr. Gamini Navaratne accompanying the minister. more..

Mar 1 (Island) The Nugegoda meeting of 18 February, organised by Reincarnate Mahinda Zombies (RMZ) Wimal, Vasu, Gammanpila and Dinesh, which attracted about 10,000 people, may be Colombo�s baptismal Nuremburg Rally. It could lead to the birth of proto-fascism if Rajapaksa�s prime ministerial bid falters. The bid could stall if he is charged with bribery or attempting a coup, if wiser counsel prevails in the SLFP and his aspirations are blocked, or if his "faction" is defeated more..

Mar 1 (CT) Life is about gaining as well as losing. We all experience it in different ways. Dr. Samitha Samanmali, who became paralyzed when she was an undergraduate, experienced this differently. However, on Friday she achieved her goal. As a result of the case she had filed against the BMICH administration demanding compensation, Colombo District Court ordered to pay Rs 180 million as compensation to her. more..

Mar 1 (Island) 1.1: As an elected representative of the Party you should set an example to the whole nation by leading a simple, clean and disciplined life. 1.2: Both in your personal and public life you should display exemplary behaviour and honourable conduct which is likely to receive the acclamation and approval of the people. 1.3: You should refrain from levelling any criticism about Party matters in public which is likely to cause embarrassment or bring disrepute to the Party. more..

Mar 1 (Island) The stated undertaking by the President on page 21 of his election manifesto regarding the raising of interest on senior citizens�s Fixed Deposit (FD) accounts was worded as follows. "Interest on the first 1 million rupees in fixed deposits of senior citizens will be raised to 15%." Specifying "the first" in this way implicitly acknowledges that a senior citizen may posses a second, a third and even a fourth deposit account over and above the first. It merely indicates that ONLY the first more..

Mar 1 (CI) Rangana Herath is in doubt for Sri Lanka's match against Australia next Sunday, after splitting the skin on the inside of his spinning finger during the match against England. Herath required four stitches on his left index finger, and will also undergo an X-ray to ensure there is no damage to the bone. "The doctor says he's out for 8-10 days, but we'll see how he heals up and then reassess," team manager Michael de Zoysa said. more..

Mar 1 (CI) It was difficult to decide what was more brutal: the giant that is Mohammad Irfan stretching the Zimbabwe batsmen's every sinew of resolve, the grimacing of Elton Chigumbura every time he took a step, no doubt ripping his torn quadricep up a little more, or the gulf between Pakistan and Zimbabwe, which grew smaller, larger, smaller and then finished the same way it began. The giants were not slayed, the little guys did not win, and in the end, what matters is that Pakistan's quarter-final hopes more..

Mar 1 (CI) Bowling at the death in limited-overs cricket is a thankless business. With Jos Buttler hitting even the good deliveries to the boundary, Lakmal found himself struggling for answers. The first delivery of the final over - perhaps an attempted yorker - was a high full toss that was called as a no-ball due to its height and pulled to the boundary. Later in the over, after a perfectly respectable full ball had been driven over mid-off for six, Lakmal delivered a head-high beamer - presumably more..

Mar 1 (CI) The best bowlers in the world have a way of scrambling young batsmen's brains. In the last English summer, James Anderson eroded Lahiru Thirimanne's game so intensely, it sometimes seemed he only needed to sneeze in Thirimanne's direction to reduce him to dust. Thirimanne by then was no easy target. This was a man who had won his team an Asia Cup months before, and played crucial innings in a more..

Mar 1 (CI) 2: Times a team has successfully chased a target of 300 or more in an ODI while losing less than two wickets. The only previous instance was by India against Australia in Jaipur in 2013, when they chased down 360 for the loss of one batsman. 212: The unbroken partnership between Lahiru Thirimanne and Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka's third-highest in World Cups. It's the second double-century stand for them in consecutive games: Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sangakkara had more..

Mar 1 (ICC) Sri Lanka fast bowler Suranga Lakmal has been fined for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code for Players and Players Support Personnel during his side�s Pool A match in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 against England in Wellington on Sunday. Lakmal was fined 30 per cent of his match fee by David Boon of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, after he pleaded guilty to breaching Article 2.1.8, that relates to �conduct contrary to the spirit of the game�. more..

Mar 1 (SCMP) At a lookout point high above the city of Kandy, a Chinese tour group gather around their guide. The Sri Lankan points into the distance, fires off a sentence in rapid Putonghua and is rewarded with a ripple of laughter. "I told them how fitting it is that Kandy has a Temple of the Tooth," he says to me. The mainlanders don't hang around for long. Photos are hurriedly taken and, as the minibus roars away, smartphone screens more..

Mar 1 (AM) A top level spokesman of the UNP said that the party has still not arrived at any agreement with Kumar Sangakkara on contesting the forthcoming General Election. However, highly placed party sources said that a person by the name of Thushara Wanniarachchi had attempted to approach Sangakkara to contest the election from the district of Kandy. Wanniarachchi was a staunch supporter of the party during the recent presidential election campaign. more..

Mar 1 (AN) As many as 85 Sri Lankan nationals are being detained in an Immigrant Detention House of Medan, North Sumatra, for trespassing Indonesian territory without any legal documents and passports. "The detained foreign nationals are considered to violate the Immigration Law and some of them are asylum seekers to some countries such as Australia," Head of Medans Immigrant Detention House said. Sri Lankans are detained along with other 310 illegal immigrants at Medans more..

Mar 1 (CG) Govt has sought assistance from India, the US and Britain to investigate large scale financial fraud committed by the former Govt. PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said that Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Justice Minister Wijeydasa Rajapaksa have visited these countries to seek assistance from institutions there for the investigation. �We have sought assistance from the World Bank, the US more..

Mar 1 (AM) Seniors of the SLFP have decided to push for a 'delayed' Parliamentary election, allowing the govt to retain its power beyond the 100 day programme. Highly placed party sources said that the decision to call for electoral system before the dissolution of Parliament comes as part of the strategy to delay the General Election, at least by a few months. SLFP clearly stated that the electoral system should be amended along with the abolition of the Executive Presidency. more..

Mar 1 (BL) Jacqueline Fernandez has ample reason to be on cloud 9. And it�s not just her Bollywood success or the million mark she reached today on Instagram; it is the fact that her first film back home, According To Matthew, will soon hit screens internationally. Directed by Sri Lankan director Chandran Rutnam, the film is based on the real life story of Reverend Father Matthew Pieris, an Anglican pastor in Colombo, who was tried by the law for the murder of his wife and more..

Mar 1 (LT) It is being revealed that a Rajapaksa from the new govt is behind the obstruction regarding the investigations on the �floating armoury� belonging to Avant Garde that created an outburst in the society. There was a dialogue in the legal sector that instructions given to AG�s Dept to release passport of the owner of the company that had been impounded by Court to facilitate ongoing investigations was suspicious. more..

Mar 1 (CT) A leading businessman cum electronic media station owner who had his licence to import Ethanol cancelled by the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration is very likely to be issued with a fresh licence shortly with the backing of certain ministers in the present govt, authoritative sources disclosed. They said the businessman who had fallen out with the previous administration following the cancellation of his Ethanol permit is reported to have worked alongside some ministers of the present govt more..

Mar 1 (AM) The duel between JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Minister of Justice Wijedasa Rajapakshe over the release of the passport of Avant Garde head ex-serviceman Nissanka Senadhipathy intensified with Dissanayake reaffirming his stance. Meanwhile, Rajapakshe called for an open debate on the matter. On January 24, Dissanayake said that Senadhipathy�s passport was released with the interference of Rajapakshe and former Minister of Defense of more..

Mar 1 (AFP) Sri Lanka's new president has cancelled mining licences issued by the previous govt to 16 foreign companies to search for blue sapphires and other gems. The office of Maithripala Sirisena said permits granted to the unidentified companies were being withdrawn immediately to better protect the local mining industry. "16 foreign companies had been given gem mining licences by previous administration, more..

Mar 1 (ST) The Council of Legal Education of the Sri Lanka Law College has made several decisions including removal of the upper age limit, which was reduced from 35 years to 30 years last year. According to the Principal of SL Law College, Dr Jayatissa De Costa P.C., question papers will be in English, Sinhala and Tamil with candidates free to answer in the language of their choice. Among the other decisions by the Council of Legal Education is to exempt those who have Bachelor of Laws more..

Mar 1 (SL) Nearly 20 tons of diesel from the Jaya Container Terminal (JCT) oil bank had been sold to a private company at Rs. 7 per litre. The Human Resource manager of the JCT oil bank (which provides fuel to the ships that call at the Colombo harbor), Milton Marasinghe stated that the former Managing Director of the storage facility had fraudulently altered the documentation to show that the diesel was unusable and contained sediments and fraudulently sold the diesel. more..

Mar 1 (ST) Sri Lanka�s northern fishermen are to demand compensation from India for damages allegedly caused by Indian fishermen to their fishing boats in a mid-sea clash off the northern seas on Thursday, a fishermen federation leader said. The demand would be placed at a meeting tomorrow with India�s Consular General in Jaffna. The northern fishermen claimed that three fishermen were injured and fishing nets and more..

Mar 1 (ENS) Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wignewaran has attributed the NPC�s resolution on an �on-going genocide against Tamils in Sri Lanka� to Central govt ministers� saying that not a single army camp will be removed from the province. Addressing a meeting on the cooperative movement attended by Ministers Gamini Jayawickrema Perera and D.M.Swaminathan in Jaffna, Wigneswaran said that recent public pronouncements that not even a single army camp will more..

Mar 1 (DM) A group of Sri Lankan pilgrims returning after a pilgrimage to Dambadiva in India had tried to smuggle in a large consignment of satellite receivers worth at Rs.1.3 million. They were detected by the Customs this evening. Customs officers at the BIA searched the group of pilgrims returning from Chennai on Sri Lankan Airlines flight UL122 and found the contraband. Customs had found 335 satellite receivers and 81 remote controls in the baggage of 11 of the pilgrims. more..

Mar 1 (AD) Govt has launched a special survey to find out the opinion of the general public and to analyze the progress of the 100-days programme, PM Ranil Wickramasinghe said in a statement. Details of this programme could be obtained from the website www.pmm.gov.lk. Aim of the govt is to carry out this programme effectively in a transparent manner with maximum public participation. more..

Mar 2 (CT) Hon Governor, Hon Minister Gamini Jayawickrama Perera, Hon Minister D.M. Swaminathan, Hon Deputy Minister Mrs. Vijekala Maheswaran, Hon Ministers of the Provincial Council, officers of the NPC, other officers, my dear brothers and sisters, The change in Govt is showing favourably in the number of visits by VIPs from Colombo last few days. We welcome all of them. Earlier the point of contact of the Ministers from the Central Govt was a Minister who ran more..

Mar 2 (CT) The new govt of President Maithiripala Sirisena has taken heartening steps to deal with serious issues such as good governance, accountability and to bring an end to the autocratic governance of familial rules embodied in deep rooted hate feelings. This encouraging process must be strengthened to deal with wider issues and the govt that is in the transitional process with the 100 day good governance programme must transit into a much more stable govt after more..

Mar 2 (SO) "I have been appointed as the Chairman of the Public Performance Board (PPB) also known as the Censor Board to put an end to censorship which is long overdue," declares Saman Athaudahetti, writer, lyricist and newly appointed chairman of the PPB. Mr. Athaudahetti said: "We are ending an era where artistes and creative workers were the so-called custodians of decency and goodness. more..

Mar 2 (ST) A most discomfiting sight witnessed in Sri Lanka post the January 2015 yahapalanaya elections was this week�s less than coherent public haranguing of the country�s IGP and his officers by the new Govt�s Public Security Minister John Amaratunga. The general theme appeared to be that govt politicians are lily white while the apparent inability to catch the big time criminals of the Rajapaksa regime lie fairly and squarely at the feet of law enforcement officers. more..

Mar 2 (NS) The govt formed by President Maithripala Sirisena with a UNP dominated cabinet led by PM Ranil Wickremesinghe passed the fifty-day mark yesterday, the half-way point in its self-proclaimed �100-day� plan to usher in a different era for the country. The 100-Day plan was seen as a means of restoring �good governance�, tackling the twin issues of law and order and bribery and corruption while at the same time enacting key constitutional reforms that would replace the more..