Mar 12 (Island) A mother gave birth to conjoined twin - girls at the Mahamodera Teaching Hospital yesterday morning. Director of the Teaching Hospital, Dr. Priyani Senadheera said that the birth took place through a caesarian operation and the twins were being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital, she said. However the parents of the conjoined twins were against the news being publicised, the Director said. The Caesarian operation was performed by more..

Mar 12 (PTI) Tata Housing expressed deep disappointment over the new SL govt reportedly reviewing its housing project in Colombo, saying the arbitrary move will hurt investor confidence. Tata group's realty firm also dismissed as factually incorrect allegations that it was making miniscule investment and selling houses at higher rates, saying the company was committed to investing over USD 400 million over next 8-10 years. more..

Mar 12 (EN) A team of Indian business leaders has arrived in Sri Lanka ahead of Indian PM Narendra Modi's two-day visit starting Friday, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce said. "A group of Indian business leaders led by the Confederation of Indian Industry is currently in Sri Lanka," it said in a statement. "Indian business delegation will explore opportunities in the areas of infrastructure, water supply, property development, sugar, irrigation and renewable energy among many others." more..

Mar 12 (MoD) Sri Lanka Army constructed and gifted a Basketball Court for the students of the St. Henry's College in Ilavalai, Jaffna under the patronage of the Commander Security Forces Headquarters, Jaffna (SFHQ-J) Major General Nanadana Udawatta recently (6). Reverent Fr. J.A. Jesuthasan accompanied by the College Principal was also present at the event. This magnanimous project was implemented in association with the financial assistance extended by a more..

Mar 12 (DM) Colombo Chief Magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya today refused the Chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi of Avant Guarde Maritime Service to go to Nigeria for business as the CID objected asserting that if the petitioner travelled to Nigeria it would hold back the on-going investigations. IP Sunil Samaratunge appearing for the CID said according to the Court�s direction they obtained reports from the Secretaries of more..

Mar 12 (CI) UAE's slow bowlers had tossed sugar into the fuel tank of the South African batting machine on a sluggish track at the Regional Stadium. But AB de Villiers' rapid 99 had it purring in no time for Farhaan Behardien to step on the gas in the final overs with an unbeaten 64 off 31 balls to reprise their record of scoring 300-plus every time they have batted first in this World Cup, and thump UAE by 146 runs. You wouldn't want to be the team that comes up against SA after a loss. more..

Mar 12 (AM) Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake stated that everyone should treat the young woman who scribbled on the Mirror Wall at Sigiriya with sympathy. He said that he discussed her issue with relevant authorities. Ramanayake said that Sinnathambi Uthaya Sri could not have written her name on the Mirror Wall with the intention of damaging a historical site. �This two year jail term will create a huge black mark on her future life. Therefore I think everyone must look into more..

Mar 12 (CG) Tamil Diaspora have noted that any delay in addressing Tamil concerns, whether humanitarian or political, can only give scope for hard-line attitudes from all sides to re-emerge, and this will make the task of achieving meaningful progress more difficult in the future. The Global Tamil Forum, an inferential Tamil group based in London, said that the new coalition govt in Sri Lanka under the leadership of President more..

Mar 12 (CT) NFF Leader, Wimal Weerawansa, stated that SLFP leaders are afraid of former President Rajapaksa contesting at the upcoming general election. He also said, Chairman of the SLFP, President Maithripala Sirisena did not want to see Rajapaksa's return as the latter has a larger vote base. Since the newly-appointed govt pledges fake promises regarding their good governance, Rajapaksa's vote base has increased even beyond the 5.8 million who voted for him during more..

Mar 12 (DM) Three young men had been arrested at the Katunayake BIA by the CID while attempting to illegally take flight to the UK on forged visa. The suspects were 21, 25, and 32 years of age and residents of the Maullaithivu area, sources said. The CID had checked the three passengers on information that a group of former LTTE cadres were attempting to leave the country illegally. Investigations revealed that two of the suspects were rehabilitated LTTE carders who more..

Mar 12 (AM) Former Deputy Minister Sarana Gunawardane was arrested by the CID on charges of a financial fraud. He appeared at the CID office this morning on being summoned to record a statement from him. He was later imprisoned till March 23 by the Attanagalle Magistrate. ASP Ruwan Gunasekara said that he was arrested in connection a 9.6 Million rupee fraud and a breach of trust.

Mar 12 (DM) Skeletons of two women were recovered today from the ground floor of a two storied house at Uyankele in Panadura, the Police said. The deceased were identified as Pathma Fernando (72) and Mallika Fernando (70). The women had been the only occupants of the house. Residents who found the two elderly ladies missing had informed of their relatives, who had in turn informed the Police. Police are investigation into the incident to determine whether more..

Mar 12 (NF) Thirty Central Provincial Councilors have submitted affidavits to the Governor of Central Province, to appoint Thilina Bandara Tennakoon as the new Chief Minister of Central Province. UPFA Central Provincial Councilor, Thilina Bandara Tennakoon stated that out of those who handed over affidavits, 15 are from the UPFA. Meanwhile, Opposition Leader of the council, Ranjith Aluwihare was also present during the handing over of the Affidavits. more..

Mar 12 (PRIU) President Maithripala Sirisena, the current Commonwealth Chair-in-Office had an audience with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace yesterday. President Sirisena accompanied by his wife Mrs. Jayanthi Sirisena visited the Palace on an invitation extended by Her Majesty and were warmly received by the Queen. They were engaged in a very cordial and friendly discussion. more..

Mar 12 (PTI) No Indian worker involved in labour dispute with any Sri Lankan company is held captive in that country, govt told Rajya Sabha. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj stated this on the basis of information received from the Indian High Commission. Replying to questions, she said 77 labourers stranded in Sri Lanka were brought back on Jan 6 and Jan 8 this year. The workers had been sent to a black listed Indian company in Sri Lanka by unauthorised agents, she said, more..

Mar 12 (DM) Supreme Court today issued notices on UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, Secretary General Kabeer Hashim and other respondents through the petitioner sequent to a petition filed by former UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake against his expulsion from the party. Accordingly, the matter was fixed to be mentioned on March 19. Mr. Attanayake, who crossed over to the UPFA during the presidential election, had cited UNP leader, Secretary General and all members of more..

Mar 12 (AD) Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa says that politicians have now started to say things which should be said by the IGP or Attorney General and that politicians are the ones announcing who will be remanded, who will be arrested and within how many days. �If this is good governance, then god bless to this country,� he said, speaking to reporters during a visit to the Mihintale Raja Maha Viharaya this morning. more..

Mar 12 (SMH) The World Cup may not be the last opportunity admirers of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene get to watch them in Australia, with the Sri Lanka greats believed to be keen to play in next season's Big Bash League. Both have confirmed they will retire from one-dayers after the World Cup. By the end of the year they are likely to have retired from all international cricket, which would allow them to be available for the entire BBL season. They have previously confirmed more..

Mar 12 (DM) The Kandy High Court Judge Manilal Waidyatilleke sentenced to death a Nepalese National, who had been in possession pure heroin in September, 2009. Chet Bahaduila Thapa of Lallipur Pttan Nepal was indicted on two counts, one for possession of heroin and the other for trading. High Court Judge Mailal Waidtatiilleke dismissed the indictment against trading and sentenced for the first count on possession. He was found with 60 pellets of heroin in his person at more..

Mar 12 (CT) Producer of Channel-4, Callum Macrae has shouted at President Maithripala Sirisena opposite the British Prime Minister's official residence, asking him to exhibit the film No Fire Zone produced by him, in Sri Lanka. This request had been made by Callum Macrae when President Sirisena, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera and the SL delegation were leaving No. 10 Downing Street more..

Mar 13 (CT) The following arises out of Ms Coomaraswamy�s forceful article of 8 March 2015. I don�t know where her contribution appeared but understand it has been widely read: those who haven�t encountered it, should be able to piece together the gist of the case presented by her from the following. The essence seems to me that to spend much time and energy trying to establish that the Sri Lankan state is guilty of genocide is futile because, among other reasons, genocide more..

Mar 12 (NS) 25 years ago this month we fled Sri Lanka. We have since returned intermittently, to live and work there, and on vacation. We fled days after the bullet-riddled body of our good friend and colleague, Richard de Zoysa was found. Richard worked for the Interpress Service (IPS) at the time, and was due to take up a position abroad for the Agency. That was not to be. Members of a goon squad directly connected to the police of the R Premadasa govt snuffed out more..

Mar 13 (FT) There is a gap between the President and Premier in terms of how they think, stressed former Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara adding the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe combination is a very uncomfortable one. According to Nanayakkara, the President is dependent on the Premier. �Wickremesinghe is not used to Sirisena�s ideologies. As a result they are going in their own directions. They are thinking differently and more..

Mar 12 (GV) The Maithripala Sirisena manifesto promised to implement a programme to stabilise the country in two stages, and the first of those stages is the Hundred Day programme which would be devoted to solving urgent issues. Among those matters that were signposted for reform during the first stage is the abolition of the executive presidential system with unlimited powers and replacing it with a new constitutional structure including an executive that would be more..

Mar 13 (CT) Governance in broad terms encapsulates the importance of transparency, predictability, accountability, stakeholder participation, rule of law, anticorruption, independence of judiciary and media freedom, among others. Sri Lanka has suffered substantially in upholding many of these values in recent years largely due to the adoption of undemocratic and often ill-conceived policies and practices in implementing varied development programs. more..

Mar 12 (SO) Women around the world are business leaders and activists, peacemakers and homemakers, mothers and daughters. In all these roles, they directly influence the direction of their families, of their communities, and even their countries. As we mark International Women's Day, we recognise women's daily struggles and adversities, but also highlight those remarkable stories of courage, strength and more..

Mar 12 (NS) As a nation we had enough opportunities, but lost or missed most of them due to our political system that had nurtured Political egoism complicated by leadership cults, which left us with a set of political parties and leaders, who have either neglected or forgotten the main issues. It is a verdict people can give regarding any issue. If there can be a possibility of national resources being pooled, what else can be there more effective than that? UNP is a party that has more experts more..

Mar 12 (SL) Independent of ideas and reservations mooted by Ministers Rajiva Wijesinha and Wasantha Senanayake over the past weeks and months, the ruling coalition should be looking at the promised constitutional reforms with greater introspection and circumspection than at present. Committed to a self-inflicted 100-day programme, which can be self-destructive for the nation too if not the deadline and time-frame are not made flexible, it was not the issue that decided presidential poll. more..

Mar 12 (ST) Seated in the modest workshop at Gampaha, Shanika Pathirana is putting the finishing touches on a handmade violin before it is carefully packed and sent off to a customer in Europe or the USA. She has mastered the intricate art of hand varnishing the instrument having worked as a violin maker for the past ten years. She is also one of the few who have retained their jobs at this factory where during the past 10 years more..

Mar 13 (Island) The new govt is on a mission to reverse and undo things its predecessor did. It has suspended the Chinese-funded Colombo Port City Project (CPCP) pending some studies allegedly in a bid to scrap it to appease India and others opposed to it. But, will the govt be able to cancel the project even if it really wants to? This is the 1.4 billion dollar question! Environmentalists have condemned the CPCP. It was only after the then Opposition announced its intention to stop the project more..

Mar 13 (CT) When the London returned rich young men formed the Ceylon National Congress and wanted self-determination from 1912, by 1924 the youth in Jaffna formed the Student's Congress irrespective of caste, creed or religion. The Sinhalese youth too joined. In March 1929, a youth league on the same lines was formed in Colombo, it too became all island. The Suriyamal Campaign was started by the socialist parties against the British sponsored Poppy Day. more..

Mar 13 (FT) Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran seems to have got embroiled in another controversy quite soon into his new job. There was controversy about his appointment itself on two fronts; firstly, he was not a Sri Lankan citizen and secondly, due to his son-in-law�s alleged involvement in an irregular share transaction involving the EPF which was supposedly pending an investigation. more..

Mar 13 (CT) Fijian centre Kolinio Tamanitoakula who played for Army Sports Club during the league's first round, had complained to World Rugby about his balance on salary of US dollars 3500 unpaid by the club for the period of January and February. The Sport's World Governing Body had informed the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) and they have requested the SLRFU to look into the issue. Army Sports Club had agreed to pay US$2,500 a month. Kolinio played two matches for the Army more..

Mar 13 (AFP) The tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, the lowest-ranked team in international football, enjoyed a dream debut in the World Cup qualifiers Thursday by recording a shock 1-0 away victory over Sri Lanka. Tshering Dorji scored the only goal in the 81st minute at Colombo's Sugathadasa stadium, stunning the vast majority of the 3,500-strong crowd who had been expecting the hosts to swat aside the visitors. The winner came as Bhutan launched a counter attack after more..

Mar 13 (DM) Minister Navin Dissanayake has ordered Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to call explanation from Executive Committee member Nalin Aponso for allegedly threatening National Cricket selection committee member Hashan Tillekaratne. The former Sri Lanka captain had made a written complain to SLC that Aponso who works for SL Ports Authority had telephoned him and questioned him in a threatening manner more..

Mar 13 (HT) Telling signs of Sri Lanka-China bonhomie that New Delhi has been watching with unease are scattered around the beaches across the road from Taj Samudra, where PM Narendra Modi will check in on Friday. Launched with fanfare during Chinese president Xi Jinping�s visit last Sept, work to build a $1.5-billion city with a glittering skyline adjacent to the Colombo port has been stalled after Maithripala Sirisena succeeded pro-China, strongman-politician Rajapaksa more..

Mar 13 (Reuters) Govt borrowed more than $1 billion in four days, mostly through local Govt securities, data showed on Thursday, with economists blaming poor revenues and higher expenditures for the move. The Public Debt Department of the Central Bank borrowed Rs. 142.68 billion ($1.07 billion) in the four days through Thursday, with Govt securities making up 85.2% of the total. �We are embarking on very heavy investment drive,� Finance Minister Ravi more..

Mar 13 (DM) Echoing the sentiments recently expressed by IMF, research arm of The Economist said the fiscal deficit target of the new govt is too optimistic. Minister Ravi Karunanayake projected a budget deficit in 2015 equivalent to 4.4% of GDP, lower than 4.6% of GDP forecast in previous govt�s 2015 budget. �Although lower global oil prices may help to reduce govt�s energy subsidy bill, we assess that govt�s projection is too optimistic,� more..

Mar 13 (Wisden) Just as the sun was beginning to rise on the eastern horizon, the beautiful port city of Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, the only island state in Australia, welcomed a majestic, unexpected visitor. Voyager Of The Seas, a giant of a cruise ship with 14 decks, a passenger capacity of 3114 and a crew numbering 1176 eased into Princes Wharf 1, the second-deepest wharf in the southern hemisphere. The stately ship was headed for Fiji until inclement weather forced a pleasant more..

Mar 13 (Island) A trial run was conducted on the newly completed railway track between Madhu Road to Talai Mannar Pier on March 11, covering a distance of 63 kms, to ensure its successful commissioning on the 14th by none other than Indian PM Shri Narendra Modi during his visit to Sri Lanka. D.K.L.P. Kumara, Project Director of Sri Lanka Railways, T.G.D.T Dharmawardana, AGM/Projects of CECB and S.L Gupta, Project Director of Ircon, along with other officers more..